Death in Adam or Life in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 9 April 2023. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

Well, good morning brothers and sisters. If you are visiting with us this morning, or if we haven’t met before, my name is Alex. I’m a member here at Grace Church and serve as Assistant Minister. This morning we are going to be considering God’s Word together from 1 Corinthians 15. So please do turn back to that passage we read earlier. You can find that on page 1157 of the church Bibles. Earlier in our service, we read 15:12-34. And usually here at Grace Church, we would spend our sermon considering that whole passage. However, this Easter morning, we are going to look at a single verse together.

It is a verse that perfectly captures what Easter is all about. Why do Christians rejoice so much in the resurrection? Why do we gather like this on Easter Sunday, indeed on every Sunday, to worship Jesus as our resurrected Lord? Well, this verse gives us the reason for that. It’s a verse that goes right to the heart of the Christian message. And while it is just a single sentence long, it manages to summarise the whole story of the Bible. If you haven’t read much of the Bible. Or if you can’t quite get your head around what Christianity is all about, then this verse is the one you want to look at. You find it in 15:22, where we read: [READ]. This morning, we are going to consider our in two parts: (1) Humanity leads to death; (2) Christianity leads to life. 

1.     HUMANITY LEADS TO DEATH

That’s what the first half of 15:22 tells us, for there Paul explains: “in Adam all die”. If you know how the Bible begins, in the book of Genesis, you’ll know that Adam was the first human being. In the Garden of Eden, Adam, along with his wife Eve, were created by God to fill the earth with their family, a family that over the years has grown to become what we know as humanity today. Adam was the head of humanity, the first in our family, the leader of our race. And the opening chapters of the Bible tell us what happened to his family. Indeed, in Genesis 5 we are given a brief family history. Why don’t we turn there to look at it together. Turn back to Genesis 5, you can find that on page 7 of the church Bibles. I’m sure some of you have looked into your own family history. But, here in Genesis 5 we have Adam’s family history, a record of what happened to his descendants, those “in Adam”.

In 5:1 we read: [READ]. If you kept on reading through the chapter, you would see that the same pattern continues. The lives of Adam’s descendants are all basically the same: they are born, they live, they die. That’s what we see happened to Adam’s first descendants in Genesis 5, and the same has happened to every descendent since then. Pick any individual member of Adam’s family, of humanity, down through the years and you will find no matter who they were or what they did, their life always boils down to the same three facts: they were born, they lived, they died. And so, considering the family history of humanity, from Adam down through all his descendants, Paul rightly concludes that being part of Adam’s family, being part of humanity, means death. Humanity leads to death.

Or as he puts in here in 15:22: “in Adam all die”. We are going to see that those four words have serious, indeed terrible consequences for each one of us. This morning I want us to stop for a while and just focus on those four words together: “in Adam all die”. For I want us to see how just far reaching those four words really are. How they sum up so much of the sorrow and heartbreak we experience in this world. We need to avoid any temptation to skip past these words this morning, to overlook the true weight of the bad news that makes the events of that first Easter such wonderfully good news. If you don’t understand the implications of those 4 words, “in Adam all die”, you can never understand Christianity. We will consider 3 sobering implications of these words this morning.

a.     Our lives

In Adam all die. And, of course, that means that you yourself will die. There may be many things we don’t know about our deaths: When will we die? How will we die? Where will we die? And yet the one thing we all do know is that we will die. We know that if our life ends up in a family history book, it too will be summed up by those three facts we read in Genesis 5: we were born, we lived and then we died. You know that from common sense.

However, you may also know it from experience. Perhaps you have been reminded of your own mortality recently. Your health has deteriorated. The diagnosis isn’t good. Your body isn’t what it used to be. Of course, you will do all you can to delay death, embrace a healthy diet and get good exercise. And yet, you know even if you manage to prevent that heart attack, avoid that cancer, stave off a stroke, that something else will go wrong someday. We are all going to die of something. Even if we manage to delay death, we can never defeat it. For in Adam all die.

If you are young, or in good health, this may all seem a bit surreal to you. Like an exam that is so far in the future, you haven’t even started thinking about revising for it yet. Death can feel so far away when you are young and healthy. And yet, that exam can creep up on you much sooner than you think. For no matter how young or healthy you may feel, you are only ever a single short step away from death. All it takes is for you to have an accident on the road or to find a lump or strange mark on your skin, and death will suddenly be very near. Death really does wait for us around every corner. Young person, it’s not just old people that die. If you went to the Royal Surrey later today, you would find people your age, at your stage of life, coming to terms with the fact they are about to die. Friends, in Adam all die. Whether sooner or later, whether it is unforeseen or not, even the longest lives will come to an end.

b.     Our loved ones

As I reflected on our verse this week, it really struck me just how bitter those words are that “in Adam all die”. For that all not includes ourselves, but it includes everyone else. Friend, not only will you die, but everyone you know will one day die as well. Your parents, your siblings, your friends, your spouse, your children. For “in Adam all die”. There is no one left untouched by this disease of death. All of us are heading to this destination. Not only could your life be taken away in a moment, but the lives of your loved ones could end, will end, just as quickly.

Every time your phone rings, it could be that news you dread, someone calling to tell you a loved one has died. Indeed, every time you pick up the phone and discover that that hasn’t happened, you are probably just another phone call closer to having that conversation. For some day your phone will ring and you will hear that news. Again, we try not to think too much about it, but every time we say goodbye to someone, whether its our spouse as we head out to work each morning, or our children as we visit them, it could be the last time we ever see them. Indeed, some day it will be the last time. For we see here that death has no mercy, it makes no exceptions. One day the grave will swallow up everyone you have ever loved. For Paul says here, “in Adam all die.” Friends, do you realise there are only two ways that your relationships with your loved ones can end: either you will attend their funeral, or they will attend yours. Either you will stand at their graveside, or they will stand at yours.

If all of this seems somehow remote to you this morning, as if I am speaking about something that happens in theory, but you won’t experience in practice. I want you to realise there are many in our congregation this morning, who even in this last year have buried loved ones, indeed some who are still grieving such loses today. Friends, there are men and women in that row of seats you are sitting in, and all around you, who have stood at the graveside of parents or spouses. Who can tell you with tears in their eyes just how bitter those words are, “in Adam all die.”

c.      Our legacies

As if that doesn’t make death bitter enough, see that the grave not only swallows up everyone you have ever loved, but it also swallows up everything that you will ever do. That body you are building in the gym, will one day go into the ground. That house you are pouring your heart and soul into, it will one day lie in ruins. That reputation you have earned with others, will one day be forgotten by all. That wealth you are stashing in the bank, will one day belong to another. Friends, like a black hole, death will not only swallow you up, but it will also swallow up everyone that you have ever loved and everything you have ever done. That is the cold hard reality of death.

If you are here this morning and not a Christian, I don’t think you could disagree with anything I have said so far. You can’t really disagree with the reality of death. You may try not to think about it in such stark terms, but it is evident that humanity leads to death. However, I want you to see that Christianity not only exposes the reality of death, it also explains the reason for death. Christianity provides an answer to the question: Why? Why does humanity lead to death? For you see, while people may say death is just ‘a normal part of life’, the Bible says there is nothing normal about it. For it tells us Adam was not created to die, but rather humanity was made to live.

Last week, Sarah and I finished watching a documentary on Russia. It was a national geographic series showing you the different wildlife and habits across that vast country. And for a few minutes it focused in on the mayfly. I’m not sure if you have heard of the mayfly. They are a tiny little insect that only live for a single day. They pop out the ground, fly around a bit, find a mate, lay eggs, and fall to the earth dead, all on the same day. But you see, we humans are not like that. We are not mayflys, content to live while we live and then just die when we die. No, we want something more, we hunger for significance, we dream dreams and desire meaning and happiness. We love and laugh and long for life to on and on and on. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 puts it, eternity is in our hearts. It feels like we were made to live forever. And yet, we find ourselves torn apart by a terrible tension. For while eternity is in our hearts, mortality is in our veins. O yes, we long to live, and yet as we have seen, we are doomed to die.

Why? How did this happen? Well, the Bible explains that the reason for this terrible tension, the reason for death, is that while Adam was created to live, he foolishly chose to die. For he turned against the God who gave him life, he rebelled against his ruler. God told Adam that we could eat from every tree in the Garden of Eden except one, and warned him that if he did eat of that tree then he would surely die. And that’s what happened. Adam ate from that tree, he sinned against God, and so he died. For as Paul explains in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death”. To break God’s law, rebel against his rule, is to deserve his just judgment, which is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death. Death may be the end of life, but the Bible says it is only the beginning of judgement. A suffering that starts in the grave, and goes on forever and ever and ever. Friends, death is not merely a predicament; death is a punishment, it is a curse. A curse that every member of Adam’s family falls under, including you and me. For like Adam, we too have sinned, rebelled against our ruler, and so come under his just judgement. While we were not in the Garden of Eden like Adam was, we all do what Adam did. We all sin. And so, like Adam we all die.

Friends, the truth is that the Bible not only says we are doomed to die, but that we deserve to die. And except for Easter, that would be the end of our sermon this morning. That would be our service finished. I’m not sure what final song we could sing, for what is there really to sing about? All there is really left to do in life is what Paul suggests there in 15:32 – eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! If Adam is our only option, if death is the only possible outcome. Then our lives really are no different to those of the mayflies. We are born, we live for a short while, sucking all the pleasure that is possible out of life, and then we drop dead like flies. And yet, praise God, that the Bible not only exposes the reality of death and explains the reason for death, but it also explains how to be rescued from death. Yes, Humanity leads to death. But Paul also says Christianity leads to life.

2.     CHRISTIANITY LEADS TO LIFE

That’s what Paul presses on to say in 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Paul draws a powerful parallel in our verse between humanity and Christianity, between Adam and Christ. He sets the same words out in the same way so as to really drive home the difference between the two. [...] Paul paints a dark canvas of death in Adam, to bring out the bright beauty of life in Christ. And brothers and sisters, having dwelt on the horror of death in Adam together, can you now newly appreciate the hope of life in Jesus? For as deep as the darkness of death in Adam is, the dazzling sunshine of life in Jesus Christ is far brighter and better!

Friends, do you see now what was so special about that first Easter Sunday? For thousands of years, every human life had followed the same pattern: they were born, they lived and then they died. And yet that first Easter Sunday, Jesus broke that trend, began a new pattern. O yes, he was born and lived and died, but then he lived again. After Jesus died on the cross to suffer the punishment of God for his people, to take the full curse of death for his church, his body was laid in the tomb. And yet, three days later, as we read together this morning, the tomb was emptied, the grave was opened, and Jesus rose to life again. And Paul explains here that this same resurrection life is given to all who are “in Christ”. Just as God raised Jesus, his Son, from the dead, Paul says that “in Christ all will be made alive.” As he explained in 15:21, death came through a man, through Adam, but now life also comes through a man, through Jesus. Jesus starts a new chapter in the history books of humanity, founds a new family of those who die but then who live again. Having died for them on the cross, they will now rise with him from the grave.

Who is in this family? Who is this “all” that in Christ will be made alive? Today we often talk about Christians, and yet you might be surprised to realise that that word only appears three times in the Bible. Instead, across his letters, Paul prefers to use the term “in Christ” (he’ll use it over 150 times) to refer to those who believe in Jesus, who are connected to Jesus by faith, united to him as their Lord and adopted into his new family. We see that this is clearly who it is referring to in 15:23, for there Paul speaks of those who “belong to” Christ. All who belong to Adam suffer death, but all who belong to Christ rise to life. We who were born into Adam’s family by birth, can be adopted into Christ’s family by faith. By repenting of our sins and trusting in him as our Saviour, by becoming a Christian, we move from being in Adam to being in Christ, move from death to life. And that changes everything.

Brothers and sisters, just as those four words about Adam had terrible implications for each of our lives, our loved ones and our legacies. These words about Christ can have wonderful implications for the very same things! Paul declares, “in Christ all will be made alive.” And so, that means if you are a Christian, though you will die, you will one day rise again. Death is not your destination; you will just be passing through. No matter what ailments or illness you suffer now, no matter how your body is broken, or health is difficult, one day all of that will be undone. Your pain will be gone. Your memory will be restored. Your energy will be unending. Your condition will be cured.

Brother or sister, if you are struggling with health, suffering with pain and your broken body this morning, let this Easter Sunday be your reminder that one day all these things will come to an end. There is no malady that Jesus cannot mend, there is no hurt that he cannot heal. His death and resurrections delivers us from all the effects of sin, both body and soul. And so one day you will feel like you have never felt before, for like Jesus you will have passed through death and into life. And not just a life like this life, but a life that will never end, can never be taken away. [A life that will satisfy those echoes of eternity if your heart] A life in Jesus, with Jesus. Of Heaven not Hell, of happiness and hope forever. A life, which as we will see in our sermon series on Heaven after Easter, will be better than this life in everyway.

Yes, Humanity leads to death. But Christianity leads to life. Life for ourselves, but perhaps even more joyfully, life for your loved ones in Christ as well. Did you notice that here in 15:22, Paul not only suggests a parallel, but even makes an explicit comparison between death in Adam and life in Christ. He says, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Paul is saying as surely and as certainly as we die in Adam, is as surely and as certainly that we will be made alive in Christ. Oh do you see what comfort and hope that brings when we think about our loved ones who have died in Christ? How Easter allows Paul to write in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 that we need “not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” Brothers and sisters, as surely as you stood at that graveside that day and watched your loved one in Christ being lowered into the ground, you can be just as sure and as certain that one day you will see that grave broken open, and your loved one who trusted in Jesus alive again. Those of you who are grieving loved ones in Christ this morning don’t need me to tell you just how heart breaking the death of a loved one can be. And yet do you see how the hope of Easter can begin to mend and make your heart whole? For Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Rom 8:29). He made a way through death for you, and for all your loved ones who trust him as well. For Paul says, “in Christ all will be made alive”.

Finally, do you see the implication for our legacies? How Easter enables Paul to go on to conclude at the very end of the chapter, in 15:58: “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Our legacies in this world will be buried by time. So much labour in this life is in vain. Like those ancient cities of the Mayans and Aztecs in Mexico, or the ruins of the Romans and Greeks around the Mediterranean, so many of the great achievements and conquests of the civilisations of this world are for nothing. When you visit those places today, they are covered by the jungle, buried by desert sand, their crumbling temples stand like tombstones, their empty streets are signs attesting to the fact that death destroys even the greatest things we do. And yet, Paul explains that in Christ our labour is not in vain. That as we serve our Saviour, we are building a temple that will stand throughout all eternity, we are contributing to a city that no desert or jungle can overgrow, but rather one which will stretch from shore to shore, a civilisation that will cover the face of this earth and do so forever. Because of Easter, we know that we can always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. Because Jesus laid down his life and yet lived again, we know we can follow in his footsteps. We can lay down our lives, our time, our money, our energy, knowing because of the resurrection, that investing in Jesus and his kingdom is guaranteed to have a return, to be a legacy that lasts.

Conclusion

If you are here this morning and are not a Christian, do you see what this means for you? As we close, I want to urge you to not make the same mistake that my wife Sarah and I did a few years ago. You see we were on holiday in Italy and we decided to visit Venice for the day. It was only a few hours away from where we were staying, and so we got up early one morning and made our way to the local train station. We arrived just before the next train left for Venice. And so we quickly jumped on it, and as it moved off we settled down to enjoy our journey... Or at least, we thought we had jumped on the train to Venice. For some time later, we realised instead of taking the train to Venice, a few hours east, we had accidently got a train from the same platform going the other way, a few hours west, to the less well-known and rather less pretty city of Bergamo. Of course, as we were in Italy in July, all was not lost, for we were still able to enjoy some gelato at our unexpected destination. However, that day we learnt an important lesson: before you get on a train, you want to make sure you know where it is going. And even if you think you know where it is taking you, you should probably double check just in case.

If you are here this morning and you are not a Christian, can I urge you not to make the same mistake as we did. You see this morning we have heard about two groups, two possibilities, two trains as it were heading to two very different destinations. Not to Venice and Bergamo, but to death and to life. In Adam all die. In Christ all will be made alive. Now, as our service comes to an end, every single one of us will be taking our seats on one of those two trains, continuing our journey towards one of those two destinations. [...]