Sunday Oct 31 1 Cor 15 Series

All right, good morning, good morning, and welcome to the All Things Fulfilled broadcast. I am William Bell, and this morning we are going to be talking about the Exodus motif as it relates to the marriage covenant that was entered into at the time of the Exodus, and we're showing the relationship between that marriage covenant and 1 Corinthians 15. As we study about 1 Corinthians 15, it is impossible if we're going to look at the entirety of the text in its context to separate the covenant of marriage that was entered into at the Exodus from the resurrection, and so that's very, very important. We're going to be talking about that in a moment, but as I said, we're looking at the book of Romans, because it has very clear parallels to 1 Corinthians 15. The basic theme that we have been focusing on, as far as the resurrection is concerned, is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. However, when the text says that He died for our sins, that's giving us the implied meaning of Jesus' death, and as we have examined many other passages in the past, we have seen that He was raised for our justification. So, everything that we should be focused on as it relates to resurrection, in terms of what occurred, was the fact that it was focused on Jesus dying for our sins and being raised for our justification. And that concept of justification is pictured in many different words or facets in the New Testament, whether we want to call it salvation, resurrection, life from the dead, righteousness, etc. All of those terms are appropriate. Even the marriage is another way of looking at that, and so that's what we're going to be focusing on today. Now, we looked at the old man being put away, and we talked about that from the perspective of it relating to those things that pertain to Moses' covenant. It was the state of Adam, or the Adamic state. It referred to the bondage under which Israel had fallen, and which became the strength of sin, as we've pointed out from Romans 5, 20 and 21, and also right here in 1 Corinthians 15 as well. And we showed how the new man represented Christ, but that there was a future perspective of the old man dying, as he says in Romans, because he said that the body of sin might be destroyed, and or done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. So that was language that was primarily looking toward the future, but it did not deny a beginning in the past, and so that process had begun, but it was going to be consummated at the resurrection. And that's why he says that in verses 4 and 5, that we should walk in newness of life. So their walk in the newness of life was a forward-looking statement. It was talking about what was going to be consummated, and that consummation is what we're going to talk about a little bit this morning. In addition, he says we shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. So I pointed out the fact from the scriptures that they were to reckon themselves to be indeed dead under sin, which was an accounting term, or is an accounting term, and that the process was not yet complete. They were sort of living in advance of what was taking place. And I'm saying that goal toward which they were moving is what 1 Corinthians 15 is all about. That's the future of 1 Corinthians 15, and that future is expressed. Yes, Beatrice, I know that I couldn't be here last week because I failed to turn on my mic, but we did eventually get it recorded. The Facebook recording was fine, and then Alan took care of the YouTube recording, so it's in both places and it has audio, and it should be okay today. I made sure that I did not make that mistake again. But nevertheless, as I was saying, this future that we have in 1 Corinthians 15 on the resurrection is what is implied in these verses in Romans chapter 6, 3, excuse me, verse 5 and 6. So we should walk in newness of life, and we shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Those are future tense verbs, and one is a subjunctive, which is also the case of the future subjunctive move, and therefore there was that future. And what I'm going to suggest to you this morning from the scriptures is that that future is the marriage, and thus the connection between the Passover, the Exodus, the new covenant is a marriage relationship. And since they are all connected to the Passover and to the Exodus, it demonstrates that 1 Corinthians 15 is also marriage language, and not just 1 Corinthians 15, but any text that is focused on resurrection from an eschatological point of view is focused on the marriage, and that marriage covenant was entered into as a result of the eschatological Exodus. Remember from Luke 9 and 31, we pointed out the fact that when Moses and Elijah spoke with Christ, they talked with him about his decease that he would accomplish at Jerusalem. The word decease in that text is the word Exodus. So Jesus was about to begin the Exodus as the second Moses. He is compared to Moses in Hebrews chapter 3 in a contrast between Moses and Christ. Moses a servant in all his house, Christ a servant over all his house. Whose house are we if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end? So you can even see the already but not yet in that text. There was a beginning, and then there was a holding fast all the way to the end. And I'm saying that end is the same time frame of the newness of life. It is the same time frame of the resurrection. And that is what is being focused on. Now let's see if we are able to tie together the concept of the Exodus, which would include the Passover theme with Jesus dying, as Passover, and therefore the initiation of the Exodus, which is what you have in Exodus chapter 12. Let's see if we can tie that together with the marriage covenant as it relates to death. Now when we turn to Romans chapter 7, which grows right out of the conversation of Romans chapter 6, obviously so, right? And he was just talking about in verse 21 of Romans 6, what fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. Well, that was going to be the end of those who continue to follow in the endemic state, in that unredeemed state, who refuse to come along into the new covenant Exodus, or the eschatological Exodus, I should say, which was the fulfillment of the old covenant. But nevertheless, he says, but now you have been set free. How were they set free? They were set free through dying with Christ. And that concept is expressed in Romans 6. It is expressed in Romans 5. It's expressed here at the latter part of this chapter. It's all about the dying with Christ and joining with Him in the process of that Exodus. But now you have been set free from sin, Romans 6, 16 through 18, and having become slaves of God. So there's that contrast that we mentioned last week. You have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. So you can see the contrast between the two ends. If you remain under that old covenant, the end is death because it was death entered through Adam, was exacerbated under Moses. But he says, if you're in Christ and have become a slave of God, the end of that was everlasting life. That's resurrection. That's Romans chapter 6, verses 5 and 6, the newness of life. That's what he's talking about. No one will have a problem focusing on Romans 6 and verse 23, or 22 and 23 particularly, when it says that the end is everlasting life. They'll all say, yeah, that's eschatological. That's the end goal. That's what they were looking forward to. And so that's focused on the time of the end. Thus, the wages of sin is death. That's what you get as an outcome. But the gift of God is eternal life. And that's not the first time Paul has spoken about the gift. He talked about the gift in Romans chapter 5, I believe around verse 17 or so. But nevertheless, he says, well, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So this conversation is continuing. And as I've said before, we do not regard these chapter divisions, because all they do is confuse people most of the time, if they're not familiar with reading the Bible without them. And they break the train of thought, the consistency of context, and that hinders our ability to understand the scripture. So this is a continual narrative, a continual conversation. And Paul says, or do you not know brethren? For I speak to those who know the law. Hasn't he been talking about the law? Hasn't he been talking about the dominion of the law? Because he said in Romans 6 and 14, for sin shall not have what? Dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. So this is a continuation of the thought that Paul has already been discussing. And so he says, do you not know brethren? For I speak to those who know the law, that the law has what? Dominion over a man as long as he lives. All right. Well, if it has dominion over a man, as long as he lives, what happens if he dies? You see, that's the idea. That's the concept. And that's what Passover was all about. It was about the death of the Paschal lamb. Jesus steps into that position. And then through baptism, they enter into the death of Christ, into that Passover death of Christ. That was the initiation of the Exodus, which was leading them to a goal. And that goal was their deliverance or redemption out of the bondage of Egypt into the premise land, into the land of Canaan, at which time, as we demonstrated in Joshua 5, 9, God rolled away the reproach of Egypt. It took 40 years for that to occur. But that's also when they saw the presence of the angel of God, when Joshua was told, take your shoes off your feet for the place where on you stand is holy ground. So it also was a type of entering into the presence of God, of seeing God, if you please. And that's an eschatological theme being typified in Joshua chapter 5. So back to the text. Now he illustrates the point, and he's going to illustrate the point with the concept of marriage. For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Now the Jews were very familiar with the end of a covenant taking place through death. All right. So death is very, very important in the context. If the woman's husband was living, then she was still under the law of that husband. But if the husband died, she was free from the law of her husband, even though she has married another man. And that is the point that Paul is making. So perhaps you're saying, well, how in the world does this have anything to do with 1 Corinthians 15? Well, if 1 Corinthians 15 is the time of the end, and it is right, Paul said, then comes the end. And if the end has to do with eternal life, and if the end has to do with marriage, then 1 Corinthians 15 has to be about marriage. Well, let's see if there was anything related to marriage in the old covenant. We'll come back to this in a moment, but I just want to tie this in. If we go to Jeremiah 31, we're going to read a few of those passages in the chapter and see what the text has to say about the Exodus and marriage. So in Jeremiah 31, and by the way, if you really want to see it, Jeremiah 31 speaks of the sowing of Israel. And that's also a part of 1 Corinthians 15. In the same context, relating to the same time, he talks about the marriage covenant. And then another element of Jeremiah 31 is the new city, all of which are eschatological themes. But let's notice in verse 31, the Bible says, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant, which they broke. Now watch this next statement, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. So God says he was a husband to them, which indicates that in some way and in some manner, they had entered into a marriage relationship with him. Now, that marriage relationship is expressed very clearly in Ezekiel chapter 16. And that's what makes this so important, because we have another element brought in, which is a major part of 1 Corinthians 15, because it deals with the clothing of the covenant in relationship to the marriage. So when you read in 1 Corinthians 15, about the putting on of a body, about the clothing or being clothed, which is 2 Corinthians 5, which ties directly back into the language of 1 Corinthians 15. You're talking about marriage motifs, you're dealing with marriage covenant concepts. Let's see if that is the case. In Ezekiel the 16th chapter, the text says, again, the word of the Lord and starting at verse 1, came to me saying, some man caused Jerusalem to know her abominations and say, thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem, your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan, your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born, your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you. You were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No, I pitied you to do any of these things for you to have compassion on you, but you were thrown out into the open field when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born. And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your blood or your own blood, I said to you in your blood live. Yes, I said to you in your blood live. Now God wasn't looking at Israel saying live physically, but they were in bondage. They were in a state of sin, if you please. That's what their bondage represented. And so he says, I made you thrive like a plant in the field and you grew, matured, became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. That's a concept straight out of Genesis when Adam and Eve were naked as a result of sin. Same idea, same connection. So you can see the correlations between being in Adam and being in Moses. They had fallen into sin as a result, they were naked and bare. Those terms are found in resurrection concepts. You can see the word naked right there in second Corinthians five. Doesn't mean you don't have on physical clothes. It does not even mean you don't have a physical body. It has to do with covenantal clothing. We're putting on something that's more valuable than human flesh. And this is what the apostle is drawing from in first Corinthians 15 and in second Corinthians 15. Good morning to you, Terry and Israel, Eric, Stephen, Beatrice, Gail, and Timothy. All right. So, well, we haven't heard from you either, Timothy, in a long time. All right. So he says in verse eight, when I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed, your time was the time of love. So I spread my wing over you and covered your nakedness. And yes, I swore an oath to you and what entered into a covenant with you and you became mine. There's the marriage. It's what we call the betrothal. And says the Lord God, then I washed you in water. Yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood and I anointed you with oil. I did what? I clothed you in embroidered cloth. What clothing is that? That is tabernacle clothing. Go back and look at Exodus 25. When God tells Moses to, you know, speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make an offering and build a sanctuary where I may dwell among them. And you will see in the concept of the marriage in the New Testament that it is all about putting on clothing. This is covenantal clothing. Well, that covenantal clothing is in the book of Romans. It's in Romans 13. It is in 2nd Corinthians 5. It is in 1st Corinthians 15. It is in the book of Revelation. It is in Ephesians chapter 5. It is in 1st Peter and 2nd Peter. It's woven throughout the New Testament, but it's that covenantal clothing. And so he says, I called you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin. Those were all the components and materials of the tabernacle, a dwelling place of God. I called you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, with bracelets on your wrist and a chain on your neck. And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head because Israel became God's queen. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver. And your clothing was a fine linen. Does fine linen ring a bell? In Revelation chapter 19, when he says that marriage has come, the bride has made herself ready. She had been clothed with fine linen, which is the what? The righteousness of the saints. That's what the clothing is. It's righteousness. That's what 1 Corinthians 15 is about, because he says Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, but he was raised for our justification and justification is in essence, the same concept as righteousness. And that is predominantly a part of the resurrection body of 1 Corinthians 15. That's the clothing that is put on and we'll develop that as we move forward. And so he says, you were adorned with gold and silver and your clothing was a fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry, a fine flour, honey and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty. And your fame went out among the nations because of the beauty for it was perfect through my splendor, which I bestowed on you says the Lord God. But notice in verse 15, he says, but you trusted in your own beauty. Think about that as trusting in the law, played the harlot with, as we move forward and see what's going on, but they did it with the nations. And now in the last days in the eschatological Exodus, you have those in the new covenant doing it with old covenant Israel with the old man. It's the same concept just being replayed in the time of the end in, on the real stage, everything else was tight, but now we're into the anti-type and it's, it's what is real. And so he says, they played the harlot from that perspective. But the concept that I wanted to draw forward from that was the marriage that took place at the time of the Exodus. And that is precisely what is being discussed in Romans chapter seven. Another text that I'd like to introduce here in relationship to the, to the marriage. And of course you have passages in the book of Isaiah. We'll try to get to those, but I know we're quickly running out of time and just don't have enough time to cover all of those, all of those concepts, but here's what I want to introduce at this point, as we are discussing the marriage theme. Let's see, that is from Hosea. And in Hosea chapter two, we have a reference to the marriage theme as well. And so we want to get a couple of those passages in for you. And Hosea has been a very, very important theme as we talk about the resurrection. So let's see if we can get those in for you rather quickly here. In the second chapter of Hosea, beginning at verse 16, notice he says that it shall be in that day, says the Lord that you will call me my husband and no longer call me my master. You see the difference between having a master and a husband and no comments from the ladies. And so he says the master represents that slave relationship. The husband is that state of freedom they enter into and a state of love. And so he says, no longer call me my master for I will take from her mouth the names of the balls and they shall be remembered by their name no more. In that day, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air and with the creeping things of the ground, bow and sword of battle. I will shatter from the earth to make them lie down safely. That's that concept of Isaiah 11, the wolf lying down with the lamb where the Gentiles are coming in and they are living in peace as opposed to being at enmity and even the northern tribes as well. But he says, I will betroth you forever or to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me what in righteousness. So the marriage relationship is one of righteousness. It is not putting on a physical body. It's about putting on righteousness. And so he says, yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice in loving kindness and mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness and you shall know the Lord. Well, I didn't read it in Jeremiah, but in Jeremiah, as he talks on about the covenant, he says, they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them. And that knowing the Lord is all about that covenant relationship with him that takes place at the time of the end. And so he says, it will come to pass in that day that I will answer, says the Lord. Now look at how he ties in the marriage relationship with the feast days. And by the way, and I almost forgot it. There was one feast day that was called the wedding feast. And that was the feast of trumpets, the feast of trumpets. Another name for it was the wedding feast. Well, do we have a trumpet in first Corinthians 15, same trumpet of Matthew 24 in verse 31, same trumpet of first Thessalonians chapter four, the same trumpet mentioned in that is the wedding trumpet, if you please. So you can see how that consistent thread runs through this concept and so, and ties in the marriage with the feast days. Now, what did we say about the feast days? Because the feast days demonstrated that they were a part of that Exodus motif and the Exodus motif was only 40 years. Then we can only have 40 years for the wedding feast because it's the same feast. It is the same concept as the feast days, which are related to the Exodus. It's saying that my time is up and I haven't by any means finished this concept of what I'm discussing with you this morning. So we're going to have a part two to this, to this message and we'll talk about it more on next week, but hopefully I've whet your appetite and raised your consciousness and awareness just a bit about the correlation between the marriage and the Exodus motif found in first Corinthians 15. It's found in first Thessalonians four. Anytime we're talking about resurrection, we should be talking about marriage, but there's something very, very key when we talk about the marriage in relationship to the time and the events that had to take place in order for the marriage to occur, but it occurs within that 40 year timeframe. And that is why you cannot be looking at first Corinthians 15 and its fulfillment as something out in the future, as something related to physical bodies. It is totally a miss of what the context is all about. And rather than try to rush that in, in the next 30 seconds, I'm going to go ahead and conclude the message for this morning. And we'll pick up on that because there's a lot to be unpacked as far as that is concerned. I'm going to do it as briefly as I can in the next message, but it's going to take more time than just the last few minutes that I could try to force into this message. So we're going to say that's the end of our message for now. Let me encourage you to visit our website at allthingsfulfilled.com. Also our YouTube channel at All Things Fulfilled. Tune into the TV broadcast on the NOW Network, 6.30 to 7.30 every Saturday. That's Central Time, 7.30 to 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Download our mobile app from the Google Play Store at the present time. And I have just updated my book on Will Planet Earth Be Destroyed? It has a full discussion of 2 Peter 3. It's on Amazon now, both in the Kindle as well as the book form. I haven't even ordered the books because I just uploaded it on yesterday, but it is ready. So if you want to go there and pick that up, and it even touches on some of the marriage themes a little bit. But if you haven't gotten the updated version, I encourage you to get that. And I believe that will be helpful for you. With that, I'm going to say to you good morning. Appreciate everybody being here. Be sure and share the video with others. Let's see. Stephen has placed some very good scriptures in the text that both relate to resurrection and the Exodus motif and 1 Corinthians 15, if you really understand them and look at them. So please take heed to those. And with that, we're going to say to you, good morning, and you have a pleasant day.