Imago Dei Series
Message for the Hillsdale Free Methodist Church
May 17th, 2026
Message Text: 1 Corinthians 15:20-22
“Humanity and Death”
Service Orientation: God created us to live. Everything about us fights death. But, only when one is “in Christ” can he have the hope of having a life that is truly life beyond the grave.
The Word for the Day: Death
Memory Verses: Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—{15} and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. — Hebrews 2:14-15
There is no heaven or afterlife . . . that is a fairy story for a people afraid of the dark. (Stephen Hawking as quoted by John Stonestreet; “Stephen Hawking and the Limits of Our Knowledge” Breakpoint commentary, March 16, 2018)
Man is the only animal that contemplates death, and also the only animal that shows any sign of the doubt of its finality. — William Ernest Hocking
No one knows but that death is the greatest of all good to men; yet men fear it, as if they well knew that it is the greatest of evils. Is not this the more reprehensible ignorance, to think that one knows what one does not know? —Socrates
What must we know about humanity and death?:
I- Sin cursed life and caused humanity to die. Death is the absence of life. (Gen 3; Rom 5:12, 21; 6:23; 1 Cor 15:22)
As Adam was the door through which sin entered, so sin was the door through which death entered. This is an allusion to Gn 2:17 and 3:19, where death (both physical and spiritual) is said to have been the penalty for disobedience (cf. 1:32; 6:23). (John Stott, Romans, God’s Good News for the World, 150)
Not only the man’s possessions but even the skill and intelligence by which he acquired them are nullified by death. Hence the fact that he was a great businessman means very little. (Duane A. Garrett, The New American Commentary, Vol. 14, 295)
God tests man and shows him his fallibility. Under the sun, we are no different from the beasts. There is a greater difference between God and you than between you and the dust mites living on your skin. God tests us so that we recognize our great need and quickly repent. Death unveils the true human condition. (Tommy Nelson, A Life Well Lived, 62)
Death is the absence of life. Death is not something in itself, it is simply the absence of something. (Ray C. Stedman, How to Live What You Believe, 29)
II- The innate dignity of mankind demands both life and death with dignity. (Gn 1:26-27; 5:1; 9:6; Dt 21:22-23; Job 7:17; Ps 8:4; 144:3; 1 Cor 11:7; Heb 2:6; Jam 3:9)
Let those who seek death with dignity beware, lest they lose life with dignity in the process. (C. Everett Koop, M.D., Surgeon General USPHS as quoted by Joni Eareckson Tada; When Is It Right To Die?, 12)
Death with dignity is a phrase that tries to say one thing but means another. After all, death is the final indignity of losing all that one commands in life. Death remains, in the words from the Bible, the last enemy. (Joni Eareckson Tada; When Is It Right To Die?, 59)
The Moral question for us is not whether the suffering and the dying are persons but whether we are the kind of persons who will care for them without doubting their worth. (A. J. Dyck “The Value of Life: Two Contending Policies,” Harvard Magazine, Jan 1970, 30-36 as quoted by Ronald Reagan; Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation, 60) (red bold emphasis Pastor Keith)
Ethicists may argue about the dignity of physically and mentally degenerate seniors. But it is worth observing that even after people die we ordinarily treat their dead bodies with dignity. Even in death, there seems to remain some significant vestige of personal dignity in the mere corpse of the person that once was. That is, I suggest, because of the real continuity of personhood existent from start to finish across single lives, trailing off to completion even in the dead bodies of the deceased. (Christian Smith, What is a Person?, 469-70)
It’s called strengthening the character of a helping society. When people observe perseverance, endurance, and courage, their moral fiber is reinforced. Conversely, your choice to bow out of life can and does weaken the moral resolve of that same society. . . . If you believe your decision is private and independent, your choice to speed up the dying process is like playing a delicate game of Pick Up Sticks. You carefully lift a stick hoping not to disturb the intricate web. But just when you think you’ve succeeded, your independent action ends up jiggling the fragile balance. . . . Your self-determination to die has strings attached if it adversely affects the rights of others. That’s why more than half the states in our country have laws against aiding a person in suicide. Think it through: If everybody ended their lives as a solution to problems, the very fabric of our society would ultimately unravel, and with it all the other individual rights you enjoy. (Joni Eareckson Tada; When Is It Right To Die?, 71-72)
III- “In Christ” death is mere sleep leading to the pathway to freedom. (Jn 11:12-14; 1 Cor 11:30; 15:6, 18, 20, 51, 56-57; Eph 5:14; 1 Thess 4:13-15; 5:10)
Death is the supreme festival on the path (way) to freedom. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Death is the godly man’s wish, the wicked man’s fear. (Samuel Bolton; -The True Bounds of Christian Freedom, 46)
- Stanley Jones declared, “Death is the anesthetic God uses while His children pass from one life to another.” (John C. Maxwell, The Preacher’s Commentary, Dt, 184)
Jesus was glad at Lazarus’ death because Lazarus was a believer and he understood what the death of a believer was. It was not to be feared. It was a homecoming. (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, Vol. 3, 839)
Sleep is harmless. So also is death for the believer. David knew this. (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, Vol. 3, 839)
Sleep is temporary. That is, we sleep to rise again. In the same way, death is temporary. We die, but we do so in order to rise to a world prepared for us by our heavenly Father. (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, Vol. 3, 840)
In sleep there is nothing to fear, but, much to be thankful for. It is a friend and not a foe. So, for the Christian, is it with death. Said David, “Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.” Such ought to be the triumphant language of every child of God. The “sting” has gone from death (1 Cor 15:56, 57), and has no more power to hurt one of Christ’s redeemed, than a hornet has after its sting has been extracted. (Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, 582)
“Spare not death, do thy worst. You will only make me better than before.” — George Hebert
Worship Point: Worship the God of the Universe Who so loved man that He paid a horrible price to redeem mankind so death would not be permanent. ( Ps 23:4; 116:15; Rom 4:25; 5:17; 1 Cor 15:15-17, 20-22; Phil 1:20-24; Heb 2:14-15; )
Once we have grasped our situation in God’s full world, the startling disregard Jesus and the NT writers had for “physical death” suddenly makes sense. Paul bluntly states, as we have just seen, that Jesus abolished death–simply did away with it. Nothing like what is usually understood as death will happen to those who have entered his life. (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 84)
That death is “precious in the sight of Jehovah” (Ps 116:15); “a being carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Lk 16:22); “a going to Paradise” (Lk 23:43); “a going to the house with many mansions” (Jn 14:2); “a (blessed) departure” (Phil 1:23; 2 Tm 4:6), in order “to be with Christ” (Phil 1:23), “to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8); “a gain” (Phil 1:21); “very far better” (Phil 1:23); and, as here, “a falling asleep” in the Lord. (William Hendriksen, NT Commentary: John 7-21, 143)
We know from other biblical texts that God extends human life beyond the grave (see 1 Cor 15:50-57, 1 Thes 4:13-17, Rv 20:11-21:8). But these verses in Ecclesiastes point out that, from empirical observation alone, death places man and beast on equal footing. As far as we can observe by watching people and animals die, we have no advantage over beasts; our destiny and theirs is the same–death, nothing more. (Charles R. Swindoll, Living on the Ragged Edge, 35)
Gospel Application: Jesus’ willingness to take upon Himself humanity and live a perfect life and die for us; destroyed death. Furthermore, by our being “In Christ” we can live forever as if we had never sinned and have the curse of sin (death) removed from us. (Jn 10:10; Rom 5:17; 6:23; 1 Cor 15:20-22; Gal 3:13; Phil 1:20-24; Heb 2:14-15)
We are now ‘in Christ’, but formerly we were ‘in Adam’. The apostle had emphasized our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 10 in order to show the certainty and finality of our salvation, and he is still concerned about that. The certainty of our salvation depends ultimately upon our being in Christ, upon our status and standing in the sight of God. So the Apostle, in order to make this quite clear, deals with it in detail, showing how believers and all mankind were formerly in Adam but now as the result of their justification by faith, believers are ‘in Christ’. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, An Exposition of Chapter 5, 176)
The unbeliever has reason to fear all three deaths. Spiritual death prevents his earthly happiness; physical death will bring an end to opportunity for salvation; and eternal death will bring everlasting punishment. But no kind of death should be feared by believers. They are saved permanently by Christ from spiritual and eternal death, and their physical death (or rapture) will usher them into His divine presence. For believers Christ has removed the fear of death (Heb 2:14,1 5). (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 1-8, 295)
The fall of Adam was the beginning of the age of death; the resurrection of Christ was the beginning of the resurrection of the dead (cf. 1:5), the beginning of the new resurrection-aeon, the age of life. “In Adam,” we all stand under the sovereign dominion of death; and “in Christ” under the sovereign dominion of life. (Anders Nygren, Commentary on Romans, 218)
Death could not exist in the presence of Jesus. There is no indication anywhere in Scripture that Jesus ever met a dead person and failed to raise him. On one occasion, when he was passing the little village of Nain, in Galilee, he met a funeral procession coming out of the city. A man had died, the only son of a widow. Jesus went to the bier, touched the dead man, and restored him to life. On another occasion, Jesus raised the daughter of a certain ruler of the synagogue, named Jairus. Here it is Lazarus who is raised. Jesus never met a funeral that he did not stop. (James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John, Vol. 3, 841)
Spiritual Challenge: Live by faith in the reality of your legal standing as one “in Christ” and thus have the power to rejoice in your sufferings, and trials because you will one day receive the goal of your faith, the salvation of your soul.” (Rom 8:23-25; 14:8; 2 Corinthians 4:8-5:10 ; 1 Pt 1:3-9)
Live until you die. —Sharon Frank
The man who fears death more than dishonor, more than failure to perform duty, is a poor citizen; and the nation that regards war as the worst of all evils and the avoidance of war as the highest good is a wretched and contemptible nation, and it is well that it should vanish from the face of the earth. (Theodore Roosevelt, Fear God and Take Your Own Part, 199)
The Christian Way — The Christian says, “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others do the same. (C. S. Lewis; Mere Christianity, 120)
Death is, of course, the “last enemy” (1 Cor 15:26), but it is not on that account always to be resisted (Gn 49:33; Mt 27:50; Acts 21:13; 25:11; Rom 14:7f.; Phil 1:21). God’s people can accept death because they look forward to the certainty of immediate fellowship with God and the future resurrection of the body. They are not suicidal, but when it is evident that their life is at an end, they do not desperately, against all natural probability, seek its prolongation. (John M. Frame, Medical Ethics, 63)
So What?: The promises of God for those “in Christ” make all the difference in the world. Not only with what we can look forward to after death; but, also in regard to the great courage, strength, hope and motivation we can have in this life BEFORE death. (Rom 8:23-25; 14:8; 2 Cor 4:8-5:10; Phil 1:20-21; 3:10; 2 Tim 1:10; Heb 2:14-15; 1 Pt 1:3-9)
If Jesus Christ can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Cor 15:19). Death is man’s last enemy (1 Cor 15:26), but Jesus Christ has defeated this horrible enemy totally and permanently. (Warren W. Wiersby, Be Alive, 169)
Death, in all its forms, is absence of life. That is what boredom is, that is what distress is, that is what fear is, that is what anxiety is. These are forms of death because they are the absence of the life of the Lord Jesus.
It is from this death that Christ sets us free. The fear of this death is the devil’s ship, the writer says, by which he keeps us in slavery and bondage all our life. Non-Christians, of course, have no escape from this, but even Christians, because they do not understand the kind of freedom that Christ brings, frequently experience death: defeat, waste, limitation, despair. (Ray C. Stedman, How to Live What You Believe, 29)
The thing that terrifies people more than anything else is death. It is a horrible fear, the king of terrors. But when we receive Jesus Christ, death holds no more fear. We have been released from bondage to the fear of death, and, instead, actually look forward to it. We say with Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21) and “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55). Death no longer holds any fear, for it simply releases us into the presence of our Lord. Why? Because we have placed our hands into the hands of the Conqueror of death, and He will lead us into one side of the grave and out the other. He never could have done it if He had not become for a little while lower than the angels. (John MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur NT Commentary: Hebrews, 70)
The knowledge of one’s own death is the essential fact that distinguishes us from animals. —Soren Kierkegaard
Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 118-19)
We must learn to live in the expectation of death. We must learn that we are finite. We must fulfill our vocation. Death reminds us that there is a cut-off point. Without this sense of termination, we’d become lazy and aimless. Death provides urgency. (Michael Bauman, Roundtable: conversations with European Theologians, 147