A young business owner was opening a new branch office, and a friend decided to send a floral arrangement for the grand opening. When the friend arrived at the opening, he was appalled to find that his wreath bore the inscription: "Rest in peace." Angry about this, he complained to the florist. After apologizing, the florist said, "Look at it this way - somewhere a man was buried under a wreath today that said, "Good luck in your new location!"

How would you like that to be the epitaph on your grave stone? "Good luck in your new location!" How would you like your new location to be determined by luck or chance? Do we spend a whole lot of time thinking about our new location? I mean, do you spend a lot of time each day thinking about death? About what will happen to you? Wondering if there is something after death? Wondering if you are ready? Or is it something that you rarely think about? Do you leave that kind of thinking just for Sunday mornings? Most religions in the world speak of life after death. The Bible tells us about the resurrection of Jesus. In your life, is that an every day relevant fact you wake up with and go to bed with? Or is it a distant, sometimes irrelevant piece of information that doesn't have a whole lot of bearing on how you live your life? Or maybe even something you doubt altogether? Some of the people in the Corinthian congregation did deny the resurrection of Jesus altogether. The rest of them believed it happened, but that it was just an obscure event, a fluke that had nothing to do with them. What about you?

A man named Ray had been in a coma for four days. Once powerful and muscular, his arms lay quietly at his side. Physically exhausted by his two-year struggle with cancer, he lay in his hospital bed motionless. He would soon die, most likely within the day. A pastor went to visit Ray early that morning. He found Ray's wife of 40 years, Jean, by his side with her hand placed softly on his shoulder. No more examinations or medical help would be necessary. The pastor pulled up a chair and joined Jean in her silent vigil. The two of them marveled at the endurance of the human body and pondered the mystery of death as they sat and shared memories of this marvelous man. They sat there bonded by grief and captivated by the drama. Suddenly, an unbelievable thing happened. Lazarus-like, Ray sat bolt upright in his bed! Fiercely clutching the sides of his bed, Ray gasped with apparent horror into the void at the foot of his bed. This surprising activity was followed by an equally unexpected loosening of his vocal cords - silent for these four days - in a terrifying scream that echoed down the hospital hallways. The two sitting there at that bedside vigil never forgot what Ray screamed into the early morning air: "No! I don't want to go…I don't want to die…I won't go!" Completely exhausted by this emotional and physical outburst, Ray collapsed into the bed, gasped the humid air of the hospital room two or three times, and died.

When you are forced to come face to face with the fact that your life here will not last forever, do you scream out the same protests that Ray did? Or would you like there to be a little more peace, a little more confidence, a little more hope and comfort? A little girl lived near a cemetery, and often had to walk through it after dark. When someone asked her, "Aren't you ever afraid?", she answered, "Oh, no! My home is just on the other side." The best way to get into our topic today I think, is to ask the question; Where are you going? Do you have hope for journey's end? As you pass through the dark shadows of this life, are you afraid? Or do you walk with a confidence that "home" is just on the other side? It all comes down to this, you know; either you know that when you leave this life you will enter into eternal life with the risen Christ, or you have no hope at all for anything beyond this life, and in your soberest moments you must face the fact that life is ultimately futile.

I don't think it is hard for us to see that on our own, without any help from above, our lives would be futile. We are daily reminded of our mortality. We can't hide the fact, even from the youngest children among us who sit in front of a TV, that we all will die someday. Our mortality makes something very clear to us. We are imperfect! We were born in an imperfect family to imperfect parents. We all have the same sinful, imperfect father, a man named Adam. By his sin against God, our whole human race has plunged into a life of failure to be perfect and a life of awaiting death, which is the consequence for that. I don't think that any of you would try telling me that you are perfect. Your conscience tells you that you aren't. The fact that you have all broken God's laws written on your heart means that you have disappointed God and are headed in the same dead-end path your father Adam once did. You're in trouble. You need help.

But I have some good news for you today. Jesus Christ did rise from the dead! He conquered sin and death! And that isn't some isolated occurrence. It isn't just something nice to talk about around Easter time. It is a real thing that has happened with continuing consequences! It is real and absolutely relevant to your life! It has a real impact on your life every day. You see, it wasn't just a neat story that some guy named Jesus came back to life and we are happy for Him. Christ's resurrection has eternal consequences for us! He is the "firstfruits" of those who have fallen asleep in Him. The "firstfruits" are the first part of the crop to be harvested. Once you harvest the firstfruits, it doesn't mean you are done harvesting, it means there is much to follow! Jesus isn't going to be the only One coming back to life! Because of the good firstfruits, there will be a good harvest! You see, God was satisfied with the payment that Jesus made for you and me by dying on the cross. He took away all our sins and imperfection that is part of our life because Adam brought that into the world. So God raised Jesus - and that is proof that sin and death have been defeated! And now, since Jesus is the first fruits of this harvest, we can be positive that we also will be "harvested" to eternal life!

Read verses 20-23. Sin is conquered! Christ is risen! And we also will rise again! Bible scholars tell a story to illustrate how Christ's triumph presently benefits our lives: Imagine a city under siege. The enemy that surrounds the city will not let anyone or anything leave. Supplies are running low, and the citizens are fearful. But in the dark of night, a spy sneaks through enemy lines. He has rushed to the city to tell the people that in another place the main enemy force has been defeated; the leaders have already surrendered. The people do not need to be afraid. It is only a matter of time until the besieging troops receive the news and lay down their weapons.

Similarly, we may seem now to be surrounded by the forces of evil - disease, injustice, oppression, death. But the enemy has actually been defeated by Jesus on the cross. Things are not the way they seem to be. It is only a matter of time until it becomes clear to all that the battle is really over. It is One Down, Two to Go! 1. Sin is Conquered! Christ is risen! Now the enemies of the Gospel will have to succumb, and death itself will have to be destroyed. And even though it seems like we are still being besieged, The victorious King is coming to take care of the remaining business! One down, two to go…

Wilson Mizner, a writer, was also a talented boxer. One night Mizner and a fellow boxer friend of his, Billy Smith, visited a San Francisco bar, where Mizner started a fight with some sailors. At the end of the fight, only one sailor was left standing. Although Mizner rained punches at him, he stayed standing upright. Suddenly, Smith noticed what was happening. "Leave him alone, Wilson!" he shouted, "I knocked him out five minutes ago." It turned out that a punch from Smith had indeed knocked the sailor out cold, but had also wedged him vertically between two pieces of furniture.

Here's an accurate picture of our already-defeated but still standing enemy - Satan! We still see him as a threat, don't we? He still gets the best of us from time to time. He still tries to drag us down to share his defeat with him. He tempts us with all the pleasures of the world. He leads us on with lies that all we have is in the here and now. He makes us doubt God. He makes us question God's love for us. He makes us throw aside Jesus as something that isn't really relevant. But friends, Satan has been defeated! The reason Jesus came was to destroy him. And he did just that with the empty tomb. But God has allowed him to be propped up here for a time. And the end is coming, when we will finally be free of all our enemies who threaten us: the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. When our King returns, He will haul these enemies away for the final time! And He will bring us as his trophies and lay us before his Father's throne. 2. The enemies of the Gospel will have to be subjected to Christ the King! Read verses 24-25.

Vernon Grounds tells of an incident that happened while he was in seminary. Since the school had no gymnasium, he and his friends played basketball in a nearby public school. Nearby, an elderly janitor waited patiently until the seminarians finished playing. He sat there reading his Bible. One day a seminarian asked him what he was reading. The man answered, "The book of Revelation." Surprised, the student asked if he understood it. "Oh, yes," the man assured him. 'I understand it." "What does it mean?" Quietly the janitor answered, "It means that Jesus is gonna win." Grounds concludes, "That's the best commentary I have ever heard on that book. Jesus is going to win! That is what we can be sure of about our King!

An evangelist once asked all who wanted to go to heaven to raise their hands. Everyone in the audience did so, except one elderly man sitting near the front of the auditorium. The preacher pointed his finger at him and said, "Sir, do you mean to tell us that you don't want to go to heaven?" "Sure I want to go, but the way you put the question, I figured you were getting up a busload for tonight!"

That man was a Christian. No doubt he knew he was going to heaven because of what Jesus has done for him. But when it came right down to it, he wasn't ready for his death, his transition into the next life, right then. If I was getting a busload ready to go right now, would you be ready? Don't feel bad if the thought of dying still chills you. It should. It is an unnatural enemy of human life. It is still a daunting reality that we face, an enemy that hunts us down. It will be the last enemy to be defeated. Oh, it's been defeated by Jesus' resurrection already! But that victory will be finally realized for us on the last day when Christ the King returns to claim final victory over the final enemy! On that day, Jesus will return as King to gather his kingdom and turn it over to his heavenly Father - as the triumphant conclusion to the mission He was sent on 2000 years ago. 3.Death itself will be the last enemy to be abolished. We find our greatest hope in the subjection of all things, including death itself, to our Savior King! The only thing that won't be subjected to Him is his Heavenly Father. Friends, it is alright to fear the physical act of dying. But don't fear death. Your King has given you victory over it! Read vs. 26-28.

An old aged Christian was on his deathbed, worrying about his ability to die honorably and to hold on to his Christian faith. He expressed his fears and worries to his pastor, who replied: "Dear friend, if you were about to cross a deep canyon, and there were a bridge over it, would you stand there looking in at yourself, wondering if you trusted enough in bridges to be able to cross? Or would you not rather go and examine the beams and timbers of the bridge and the quality of its construction, and determine whether the bridge were trustworthy that way, and then pass over it in confidence? Our faith is in Christ! Spend your time focusing on Him and his sufficiency, rather than on yourself!"

Friends, let me encourage you to put your faith in Christ, your King! You have good reason to - He has won your victory! It's One down, two to go! Sin is conquered. The enemies of the Gospel will fall in time. And death itself will be destroyed. That's a guarantee! Amen.

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