This sermon emphasizes the concept of change and transformation, focusing on the contrast between the first man, Adam, and Jesus Christ as the second man who brings life and immortality. It delves into the necessity of the change from corruptible to incorruptible, mortal to immortal, highlighting the ultimate victory over death through Jesus Christ's sacrifice and resurrection.

There is a war going on, a spiritual war. A war between truth and deception. Only one thing cuts through all the lies and opinions of man. It is the truth of an ancient book, the Bible. It is God's word, God's sword. It is only right, it is only logical. Think about this for a second. Creation itself was cursed. Creation itself was damned. Creation can't save itself. Creation can't save creation. The only one that can save creation is the Creator. Please join us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Here is a text for you today. A text that is typically preached by ministers on Resurrection Sunday. And for good reason. The whole theme, the whole subject in 1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection. The resurrection is what this whole chapter is about. The whole concept that we are all going to experience death. Well, most of us, almost all of us are going to experience death. There is, of course, a statement here in verse 51. Everybody is familiar with verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. That is the verse for the nursery. Behold, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Changed. Changed. Changed. That is a familiar word, isn't it? Changed we need. Changed is kind of the theme for the year in America. Changed. The other day, my boy Ben, who is experiencing relative success with potty training, he is doing pretty good, but he is human. The other day we went to go get a load of firewood. I said, come on, Ben, let's go. You want to ride in the truck? He is like, yeah. Lumber? I go, no, firewood. Firewood. Strappy man. We drive out to get this load of firewood. It is a weekly event. I got him buckled in his seat. He is in his seat. Everything is cool. The truck is warm, idling. I am going to go out and load the truck. I load the truck. I came back in, and it was very, very, very apparent to me. He had experienced failure. He was, after all, bound. It was not like he could go anywhere or tell me anything. I look in the center console like a good dad. I got a couple of extra pull-ups, but nothing to clean them up with. Snow. A memorable experience, I am sure, for my boy Ben. He was not digging it, as you can imagine. I get him right in there under the heater, as quick as I could. He is looking at me like, what? He does not have the vocabulary, but he is wanting to go, what is wrong with you? What was that? We shall not all sleep, and we shall all be changed. There is a change that we all need to experience. 1 Corinthians 15 says, there is this mystery that not all of us are going to die. Right in the middle of this whole subject of the resurrection, the fact that we will most likely die and we will live again, in the middle of that is that statement that we shall not all sleep, the sleep of death, but we will all be changed. What is the change that is going to take place? The resurrection. Oh, there is this change. So the theme of 1 Corinthians 15 is this change. Change that is going to take place. Change that needs to take place. Man, there is so much in me and so much in you guys that has just got to change. Would not you agree? There is a lot wrong with us. You can probably give me a list of the things you are aware of, about me, that you need to change. We can write those lists up for each other. That is an exercise in futility. Tell you a few things wrong with you. We already know there is stuff wrong with us. We all have things wrong with us, but we are changing right now. It is just so slow. Is not it? It is such a slow change. To some extent it does depend upon us a little bit. We have got to cooperate with the Lord. The work that He is doing in us. There is all that indication biblically that what is happening in us does in fact require our cooperation to some degree. Change. We will all be changed. It is guaranteed. We are being changed now, but ultimately all that lacks in the changing is going to happen in an instant. The resurrection. There is something I have got to point out to you for this text I have chosen today. It is for the very purpose of the approaching holiday, Christmas. Again, I say 1 Corinthians 15 is typically preached on Easter, Resurrection Sunday. But there are things about Christmas here that I have got to point out to you. There is a contrast made, 1 Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 45. A contrast made between two men. There is a sense in which Adam being the first man and Jesus Christ. There is a sense in which they have got some things in common. Because those two men more than any other by their choices and by their deeds exercised greater influence on all of humanity and all of human history than any other two men. So they are mentioned here. Verse 45. In a way to contrast them, though they have got a lot in common, in that those two men, Adam the first man and Jesus Christ, who is called here the last man. He is called or probably better translated the second man. There is the first guy and there is the second guy. The first one who by his sin, he affected all of us. He made us all sinners. Brought the sentence of sin upon us all. And the second one, very different. Beginning in verse 45 it is written, And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam, a quickening spirit. Here is the first thing to consider. The first man, Adam. Now the Hebrew for Adam is not Adam. I don't know why we translate names. I don't know why it has always been a mystery to me. God in Hebrew called him Ish. Ish means man. We have a translation of that, Adam. I don't get it, don't have to, but anyway. Adam, he was Ish. Ish. First man was Ish. In fact it was him who said she shall be called Buman. In Hebrew, Ishah. She was taken out of man. So the first man, whose name was man, was made. That is what verse 45 says. He was made. He was created. The first man, in quoting as he does, Genesis 2-7. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Man became a living soul. He became a living soul. He was made. He is not the maker. He was made. But look at the rest of this. If you've got the King James Version, as I do here, you'll look with me at the last statement. It says the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. He was made. It's really not there. That's why they've changed the font. It's in italics. Your translator, your Bible publisher, in being honest, wants you to know that that's not a word for word translation. But they try to make it make more sense and flow a little bit better in English. They threw in words and they put them in italics so that you know that that really wasn't there. So literally it is the last Adam, or the last man, a quickening spirit. Not was made, but rather a quickening spirit. The contrast is being made here. That the first man was made, the second man was not made. He is a life-giving spirit. The first man was made a living soul. The last man is a life-giving spirit. Contrast here between Adam and Christ. You get this. The first one was made, he was created. He was made a living soul. But the second, the last man, he's a life-giving spirit. That is to say, he's the maker. Life-giving spirit, a quickening spirit. Guys, it's only right, it's only logical. Think about this for a second. The creation itself was cursed. Creation itself was damned. And creation can't save itself. Creation can't save creation. The only one that can save creation is the creator. Jesus Christ was not a man created. He is the creator. Do you understand that? He's the creator. The creator stepped into time, space, and matter, became human. He's the maker. He's a life-giving spirit. He was not made a living soul. He's the one who makes life. But the contrast continues. In verse 46 it says, Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural. And afterward, that which is spiritual. And this contrasting statement in verse 47. The first man is of the earth. Earthy. He began here. Again, Genesis 2-7. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Genesis 2-7. He's of the earth. This is where he began. He originated here. He's made of earth. He is earthy. He's of earth. The first man. But the last half of that sentence in verse 47 says, The second man is the Lord from heaven. The second man. He's not of earth. He's the Lord from heaven. The Lord from heaven. He's from heaven. He is the only one who preexisted his conception. All of us here have a beginning. He has no beginning. Even before he was conceived, he was. He's the Lord from heaven. All of us are from earth. We're earthy. Like the first man. But not him. He is the Lord from heaven. You see, this has got nothing to do with Christmas. You guys do see my point here, right? He's the Lord from heaven. The one who was born in Bethlehem. The one who was laid in a manger. Existed. Long before. He's from eternity past. He's the Lord from heaven. He has no beginning. He's God the Son. But the contrast is that the first man. Check this out. There's a sense here as you read this. There's a sense in which what God made man to be was so forfeited, so lost in the fall, in sin, that there wasn't another one that God would actually call a man until Christ. That's how messed up manhood is. That's how marred that you could refer to Adam as the first man and you could refer to Christ, as the scripture does here, as the second man. First man, second man. Verse 48 says, As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Get this, guys. All of us bore the image of the earth man, Adam. Just as we did, we will, all of us, bear the image of the heavenly man. That's the change we're talking about here, okay? We all know we've got to change. We all know, every one of us know, that we must change. And change for us means we've got to become like Him. And we all are very aware of how we're so not like Him. I know I am. Sometimes more than other times I'm aware. I have these moments where I think, wow, man, I'm pretty godly. I'm pretty, I'm so, I mean, I've grown. And as soon as I catch myself thinking, wow, that's pretty gross. That's pride. That's not Christ-like at all. So I go, I'm not like Him. I'm so not. I see change happening to me. You do too, right? It's happening in you. You've experienced a degree of that. It's like me. But it ain't enough. And we're not done. We will bear, that's future tense, we will, we shall bear the image of the heavenly. We don't as much right now as we will. See, that's what the whole theme of this chapter is, the resurrection and the completion, the change. Oh, you know what? Obama was right. Change we need. Oh, we need change. I think he's got something else in mind. Verse 49 says, again, as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now, here's where you've got to follow me on this. Because there's something you've got to see out of this passage. Verse 50, he goes, now I say, now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. So what good would it do you to go to heaven if you're still mortal? What good would that do you? It'd do you good for a little while, be a visit, and then you die and leave. You know, I couldn't even enjoy heaven as much right now because I'm still corruptible. Let's talk about this concept, unpleasant as it may be. We are, all of us, corruptible. We are so corruptible, if we don't bathe, we stink. We are so corruptible. You know what corruptible means? I mean, literally, rottable. Any of you who've ever had the experience, whether you were in a third world country, and there is no modern convenience, no plumbing, no nearby body of water, especially if you've been in a desert or semi-desert, where the water is scarce, you've gotten the chance to experience what it's like to really become conscious of how corruptible you are, how stinky you can get. Or if you've been really sick, really sick, and on a bed, and dependent, perhaps, on people to clean you to a degree, you become very, very conscious of how corruptible you are, how rottable. If you've ever had a wound, and you've experienced the fight to keep it from being infected, and we get all these weird, different kinds of infections in our bodies, you become very conscious at times like that. If you've ever... I had a wound as a kid, in my early teens. It was the result of a back head of a hatchet that I was driving a nail with, and I hit my middle finger, right on the tip. You guys have experienced what that is like, to have that throb, your pulse in your fingertip, and then the whole nail turns black. And the pain, it just kept throbbing, throbbing, throbbing. Now, being a surgeon, some other medical amateur told me, you've got to drill that nail, relieve that pressure, that's what you've got to do. Don't ever listen to people. And I went to all the trouble of drilling it, and it was not an easy task. It bled. Oh, man. It didn't feel any better as a result. Then it got infected, under the nail. This is really gross. And I'm still having to go to school. I'm in middle school. This is gross. You can smell it. I had to keep it in my pocket. My finger was rotting. I really had no great appreciation for how dangerous that could be, anything like that. I became very conscious, and watched this infection spread, and it was horrible. And, you know, it was ugly, too, and I'd have to kind of wrap. I remember being in school, and somebody would go, what is that? I don't know. Don't know. Find someone else to be. It's pretty gross, huh? I'm sorry, but I just want to remind you just how mortal, how rottable, corruptible we are. Ultimately, I had to go and rip the whole thing off. I will never forget how bad that hurt. It had to come off. I had to use needle-nose pliers and just tear the thing all the way off. And then really be able to clean the wound. Oh, the agony. I've learned. I've had many black fingernails and toenails since, and I've just appreciated them being black. Leave them alone. No self-surgery. We rot. We die, and we rot. And sometimes we rot before we die. We can't. We are so corruptible. You know what? We're kind of used to it, sadly. And we don't have any appreciation for how really gross it is. We are rottable, corruptible and mortal. But we're told here that we're going to change. This corruption is going to put on incorruption. This mortal will put on immortality. Isn't that a wonderful thought, isn't it? That is change now. We are going to experience change that we could never have made happen by ourselves. We're going to experience change. Our Maker, our Creator is going to change us from this nasty state of existence that we are in. But here's a thought for you. Maybe you hadn't considered it. Let me read on, and I'm going to give you this thought. This is the focus of today. Again, verse 51, we've already quoted. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye. At the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Must. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my brethren, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abiding in the work of the Lord. Forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. This change has to happen. This corruptible has got to put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. Here's the thought. Now, I'll leave you with this. I won't preach on and on. That change that we're looking forward to. That change that we long for. You guys all remember what it was like to be a little kid. And you're looking forward to it. Growing up. Change. I want to get taller and bigger. I want to become a man. I want to become a woman. You remember those days? Thinking, yeah, I want to change. And there's a growing up thing that we're going to experience way past where we are. We are not done growing up. In fact, you haven't even seen the real us. You haven't seen the real you. I'm not going to have gray whiskers in heaven then. The gray whiskers I got right now are a pretty good indication I'm dying. It's all evidence of mortality. I'm losing blood vessels in my face. In my head. And therefore, hair no longer has color. Flexibility in my skin. I could be a great rodeo clown. It's going. Because you know why? I'm dying. You haven't seen the real me yet. You haven't seen the real you. We're all of us going to reach a state that we can't even imagine. We're going to be like him. We're going to be completely glorified. Immortal. Incorruptible. As much as you and I have looked forward to something like that, you've got to stop right now and recognize this one fact. It's only possible. Because the change that we long for already happened and was already experienced by him in reverse. Get this. Chew on this. That he who was immortal had to put on mortality. He who was incorruptible had to put on corruption. In order for this to be possible for you and me. Just think about that. The change that you and I long for, thrilling as it is, was for him a change that he could only have dreaded to an extent. He had to. And he went willingly. He went obediently, I should say. He came to the earth obediently. We are going to be changed. We long for it. But it's only because he was changed that he emptied himself, divested himself. He became corruptible, mortal, so he could die. Corruptible. He had to wash himself just like us. Or he stopped. Corruptible. He was mortal enough that he could die. Remember what the psalmist said, prophetically. David prophesied. In fact, it was quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost. That prophecy. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell and shield in the grave. Neither wilt thou allow thy Holy One to see corruption. That prophecy. You're not going to let me rot. It was a prophecy that he would rise from the dead. You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. You see, he was corruptible. He was mortal. He came here to die. He made himself mortal so he could die. He was raised from the dead and changed. He put immortality down and he again took on immortality. He shed that corruptible human trait. And became incorruptible. Glorified. As he is now. Having ascended to the very right hand of God the Father. And one thing I want you to understand. One thing that's so a big deal to me. Is that we get this. That he did the change in reverse. Now can you just try to imagine. How humiliating. How gross. How nasty that experience had to be. That he emptied himself. That he who was. The highest place. Came and took the lowest place. So he could ascend again to the highest place. And as it is written. And now he is given a name that is above all names. Above all names. Whether they're in heaven or earth or under the earth. That his name every single knee will bow. And every tongue will confess that he's Lord. To the glory of God the Father. Why? Because he humbled himself. He's now exalted. The change that we long for. He did it in reverse. To come down and get us. He dove into the cesspool of humanity. Became human. Lived on the cross. Ate with us. You have been watching God's Word. In the ministry of Calvary Chapel Central Maine. If you're in the Central Maine area. Please drop by to see us at 154 River Road in Orington. We meet Sundays at 8.30 and 10.30 a.m. And again at 6 p.m. Or Wednesdays at 6 p.m. If you're in the Southern Maine area. We meet at the Greater Portland Christian School. 1338 Broadway in South Portland. Saturdays at 7 p.m. You can also check us out on the web at www.ccbangor.org There you will find audio and video teachings by Pastor Ken available for download. As well as many other ministry resources.