Can Life Come from Death?

6th Sunday after Pentecost, 6/30/24 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 Can Life Come from Death? Indeed, it can: I. The life of the gospel through jars of clay II. The life of eternal glory through the resurrection You and I cannot start with nothing and come up with something. Likewise, we cannot take what’s dead and make it alive. That’s one of the reasons we confess in the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, that we believe in an almighty God who made heaven and earth. I realize that billions of people on earth today believe that every living and non-living thing here on earth and even in our universe, including every galaxy, even the ones we haven’t discovered yet, came from an explosion of energy, but we cannot take what has no life in it at all and use it to produce something with life in it. It’s not possible. Instead, we know that life comes from life, and the stronger the original life, the better is the resulting life, at least statistically speaking. For instance, if I’m raising livestock and I want the best herd possible, I start with the best animals I can find. It won’t pay me to use an animal or a pair of animals that is diseased-riddled or genetically inferior. I might get life from that combination, but I will probably be disappointed. In other words, the stronger the life I begin with, the stronger the resulting life will be. Am I right? However, today’s worship theme reminds us that Jesus has the power to bring life where there is death. He revealed that power to the world on a number of occasions when he raised the dead to life, as today’s Gospel reading shared with us. In the text before us this morning from 2 Corinthians 4, Paul is speaking about a different kind of life. He’s speaking about spiritual life and eternal life. Now, we might imagine that our experience with life in this world would still apply in the life that Paul addresses here. We might assume that, if we want spiritual life which results in eternal life, we should seek out the best examples of life that we can find and hope to get such a great life from that source. In other words, we would seek what the world considers to be a good life, an impressive life, a life that is displaying something astounding that we and the rest of the world desire for our own. If that’s the case, however, we’re going to be disappointed. Why is that? Because the life that is most important, the life that lasts forever, the life we desperately need more than any other, is life with our Savior, and that life comes through death. Let me say that again: the life we need more than anything else comes through death. Really? Can life come from death? Indeed, it can. Let’s see how through the truths that Paul shares with us this morning. I. A friend of mine once described someone as having a good face for radio. It was a classic back-handed criticism. In other words, this person wasn’t that attractive, if that mattered, which it doesn’t in the radio business. We don’t have any idea what the Apostle Paul looked like. Was he tall or short? Thin or stocky? Fair or dark? Well, it’s quite possible that Paul wasn’t much to look at. Why do I say that? Because of some of the hints that the Bible gives us. We know he was severely beaten more than once. One time he was left for dead. You don’t endure such beatings without scars, especially in Bible times when surgery methods were crude at best. You were lucky to heal without an infection, to say nothing of healing without a scar. We also know that Paul endured a “thorn in the flesh.” We aren’t positive about what that was. Some think it was epilepsy. Others think it was a speech impediment such as stuttering. Still others think he was prone to malaria. Whatever the case, it would be a stretch to say that Paul was known as a prime physical specimen. Instead, in some way, he had a “face made for radio.” And that was a problem for some people. But that wasn’t the only reason some people had a problem. Paul’s ministry was also a problem for some people because of what happened to Paul as he carried it out. Listen to Paul himself describe what his life was like as an apostle of Jesus Christ, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Sometimes the truth hurts. This is one of those times. Paul is blatantly honest here. His ministry as an apostle sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ was not glorious, at least from an earthly perspective. It was brutal at times. And it went on day after day. Paul described himself as a clay jar. In Bible times, clay jars were ubiquitous, like plastic bags are today. They’re everywhere. People use them for all sorts of things. They’re nothing special. Neither was Paul. But what he shared was special. In the previous chapters of this letter, Paul has shared how glorious the gospel is—the good news about Jesus and what he did to be the world’s Savior from sin. That is eternal truth—the only truth that will last forever. And it’s the only truth that saves sinners from hell. That news brings life to dead souls. That news rescues souls destined for eternal death and brings them into eternal life. There is no greater transformation in this sinful world! Nothing compares to it. Not even close! Paul lived to share that life-giving and life-saving news about Jesus. It looked like Paul was nothing, like he was dying for a lost cause. And yet Paul shared life. Can life comes from death? Indeed, it can! The life of the gospel through clay jars like Paul and you and me. Clay jars. That’s what Paul was. And if we’re honest, that’s what we are, too. Nothing special. In fact, we don’t have to dig too deeply to see how many scars and cracks and weaknesses we have. So, imagine if the Lord had worked spiritual life in other people using just the opposite—people who are strong, admired, emulated, worshipped. Imagine if Paul was a gorgeous physical specimen and he had a golden tongue. Imagine if his face and physique were splashed on countless media outlets. Everyone knew Paul and wanted to be like Paul. If that had been the case, wouldn’t people have paid more attention to him and his message? If that had been the case, wouldn’t more people have become Christians? Not a chance. Had that been the case, it would have hindered Christ’s church, not helped it. If that had been the case, then Christians—you and me included—would be led to believe that there was some power in us that caused life to come from death. And nothing is further from the truth. Paul’s weaknesses and ours point to the all-surpassing greatness and power of our God, which is just the way we need it to be. I’ve tried fixing everything wrong in my life, to no avail. How about you? Same thing? I’m not surprised. We come into this world dead in sin and unbelief and only our God has the power to change that, to make life come from death. And he does so in one way only—through the saving good news about Jesus. As God’s people, he has given us the high calling and privilege of sharing that good news, clay jars that we are. II. There are few modern engineering achievements greater than manned rockets which are designed and intended to propel human beings into space. The sheer size and power of those gleaming cylinders cause your jaw to drop. But we’ve come to learn to be realistic about their potential power as they sit on a launch pad. We know from experience that it only takes the smallest of issues to scrap a launch, and rightly so. We’ve learned the hard way that a small, faulty O-ring can be catastrophic, resulting in the horrific loss of human life. It’s an example of glorious potential that failed. The glory of that rocket is literally nothing compared the glory of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. There is no more powerful event in the history of the world. It’s the only event that affects every human being for eternity, not just a lifetime. Nothing will ever surpass the power of the resurrection of Jesus. And that glorious power affects you every moment of your life by faith in Jesus. Listen to Paul state that very thing, “We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.” Paul isn’t sharing with you a fairy tale intended to make you feel better about your dismal situation. He’s sharing God’s eternal, powerful truth. That truth is that, even though we may die, we will rise again on the Last Day. On that day, Jesus will return and glorify our bodies. He will bring life from death in the most real of ways. He will give you what you spend countless hours and days wishing for—a perfect life, with a perfect body, forever. Your eternal future can’t get any better than that. It’s perfect! Jesus will make it so. We know that what he promises us will occur because he raised himself from the dead. Can life come from death? Indeed, it can! The life of eternal glory through the resurrection. Are you somewhat skeptical about your future? Unsure what tomorrow, next month, next year will bring? Are you fairly certain things are not going to get any better for you? Will you be happy if they don’t get any worse? Is that all we can hope for—just a slow death of everything we enjoy? Chin up, Christian! Life comes from death. And I’m talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus. He has declared that he is the way, the truth, and the life. True life—eternal life—is yours right now by faith in him. He has an eternal home for you. Your name is on the eternal reservation. It was written in God’s reservation book on the day of your baptism. And it's all yours, even if this life disappoints you. It’s yours, even if this life becomes full of sorrow and pain. It’s yours, because Jesus has brought you from spiritual death to spiritual life through the gospel. And now you have eternal life for soul and body—a glorified body—promised to you by Jesus himself. Can life come from death? Indeed, it can when you trust Jesus as your Savior. So, enjoy life with him! Live for him! Amen.