June 22, 2025
Maranatha
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
As I’m writing this sermon, we are in the middle of our VBS this year, and if you know me, you know I love VBS no matter how tired it makes me. I love VBS for many reasons. Most importantly, we get to tell children about Jesus. We also get to provide an environment where children get to experience the love of Jesus (many for the first time). They can forget about the brokenness many are experiencing in their homes even if it’s just for a short period of time. I also love VBS because I get to learn a lot from all the kids who attend. One of the things that I am constantly learning from kids is new slang. This year, I learned words like riz, bussin, and no cap. Now I’m not 100% sure I understand what those words mean quite yet, but it got me thinking about terms that have left our collective vocabulary since I was their age. Rad, tubular, and gnarly were words I used daily in elementary school, and over the last few decades, they have left our everyday speech. I can't remember the last time I used or heard any of those words in a conversation that wasn’t about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So, how about we go back even further than my childhood? Does anyone remember when “Chuckaboo” meant a close friend, or “Fly Rink” is used to describe a bald head, and “Gigglemug” means someone who smiles a lot? Language is changing constantly — sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. This even happens with “Churchy Words” as well. While there are many that fall into that category, there is one in particular that I want to talk about this morning. This is a word that was first used as the church was being established in the first century. It was used as both a greeting and a salutation, much like the Hebrew word Shalom that we recently spoke about. I can even remember hearing it in church a time or two when I was growing up, but that’s been years, and I think it’s a word we need to bring back. That word is “Maranatha!”.
1 Corinthians 16:22 is the first time that we see the word “Maranatha!” used in Scripture. Paul uses this Aramaic word as he closes out his letter to the church in Corinth. In order to understand what it means, we need to understand that it has two meanings. First, it can mean “Our Lord has come”, which is an awesome declaration in itself because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has come. That fact is the focus of the Gospel message in the Bible that proclaims that Jesus came to die for our sins and whoever will confess that Jesus is Lord will be saved (Romans 10:9). While Paul and the first century church used this word to reflect on the hope they have in Jesus, it also was a word of encouragement because it also meant, “The Lord is coming!”. Because of the latter meaning, the word Maranatha was quickly adopted by the first church as a greeting and a salutation to remind them not to be discouraged because the Lord is coming again. This was an especially powerful message as the church began to experience more and more persecution by the Roman government. This proclamation of the second coming of Jesus wasn’t just an encouraging saying. It is a fact that is attested to over 300 times in Scripture. In the New Testament, we see Jesus speak of His return in passages like Matthew 24:36-44. We see the angels proclaim the same truth in Acts 1:11 as they said, “just as He ascended into heaven, someday he will return the same way”. However, Maranatha wasn’t just something to give the church a false hope in hard times. The church KNEW Jesus was going to return. Their certainty was based upon the fact that not only did they have Jesus’ Word, but they had a precedent of these types of prophecies concerning Jesus that were recorded in Scripture. In the Old Testament, the prophets told of the first coming of Jesus over 300 times. When He came, He fulfilled every one of those prophecies. Therefore, when the New Testament speaks of the second coming as often as the Old Testament spoke of His first coming, they did not doubt that Jesus was coming back. When times got tough, they used this term to encourage one another and to remember that Jesus is going to return. When He does, all their struggles will cease. So this morning, I want to look at “Maranatha” and why those who have trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior should take comfort when times get hard. Jesus will return, and when He does, He has promised us so much.
Maranatha! We will be transformed. - 1 Corinthians 15:50-55
What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Paul ends his letter to the church in Corinth with Maranatha because he has been speaking about Jesus' return throughout the letter. Chapter 15 is where he speaks in detail about the return of Christ and why it should be an encouragement to the church. He starts this portion of his letter with some news that should not be a surprise to anyone. He tells us that our bodies will not last forever. Our bodies are corrupted physically by sin. Whether it is our sins or the sins of others, we all bear the scars in some way of the sin that defines and corrupts this world. This was part of the curse of sin that God proclaimed upon Adam and Eve when they first sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:19). With this broken and fragile body and because those who have made Jesus the Lord of their lives have a promise of eternal life in heaven with Jesus (John 3:16), something has to give. That’s when Paul reveals a truth about God that the church in Corinth had not heard before — we are getting new bodies. He frames this truth in the context of the second coming of Christ. When the trumpet blows and Jesus returns, the bodies of all believers will be changed forever. Those who have died before Christ’s return will be raised with new, transformed bodies. Those who are still alive at the time of His return will be changed in an instant. We will all be given new perfect bodies that will be ready for our eternal life in heaven with Jesus. What will this be like? We aren’t told 100% what it will be like, but we are told just enough to get us excited about this transformation that we will experience at the Second Coming of Christ. Revelation 21 tells us that “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.” It’s at the Second Coming that the world's greatest enemy is defeated once and for all. Death is done, and it’s because of this hope that everyone who has been born again can all proclaim what Paul proclaims here, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Maranatha! We will all be transformed!
Maranatha! Justice will be done. - 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 56, Paul reminds the church that sin results in death and it’s the law that tells us that we are sinners. This is something that Paul speaks of extensively in the book of Romans, where he said in chapter 3 and verses 19, 20, & 23 that the law can’t save anyone, but can only show us our guilt before God and that we all are sinners. In Romans 6:23, we are told that the wages of sin that we all commit is death. Therefore, if justice is done, then we will get exactly what we deserve. We get a death sentence. However, when Jesus came, all who could call upon His name as Savior, justice was done immediately in their case. When we are saved by His grace through faith, we are justified immediately before God because Jesus took our punishment and justice was done on our behalf. He bore the punishment for our sins. We will not face our death sentence, but instead we inherit eternal life, all because Jesus has paid the price. This is what Peter said in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” But what about those who don’t trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior? What about those who persecute the followers of Jesus? Justice will ultimately be done when Jesus returns. Revelation 19 tells us about this time. Revelation 19:11-16 - “Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.” The first time Jesus came, He came to seek and to save those who are lost. The second time Jesus comes, it is to judge the world. We are told a little more about this time in Revelation 20:11-15 - “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.” This is a sobering thought. The justice of God is something to be praised, and it is coming because God is not slow to His justice. He does want everyone to come to Him through Jesus Christ and be saved from these events. However, there is a day His patience is going to run out, and Jesus will return. We can take some solace in the fact that all the wrong ever done to us will be dealt with in one of two places: either those who have done us harm will turn to Jesus and Jesus will have paid the price, or justice will be done for our case in eternity. Either way — Maranatha! Justice will be done.
Maranatha! Our work is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
I want to be extremely honest for a second. There are times in life and even in full-time ministry when, in a season of hurt, exhaustion, or struggle, you take a step back and wonder if all of this is worth it. You ask yourself — is all this time, this effort, this energy worth it? This can happen at any time in your walk with Jesus, when you see God using your efforts to save people, or when you don’t see any fruit at all for a season. Satan knows your struggles and will use your tiredness and vulnerability to try to tell you that it’s not worth it — you need to just quit. Paul knows this because it has happened to him. He wanted to encourage the church that no matter what you do for the Lord, it is NEVER in vain. There is something we need to make sure of when we work. We need to make sure it is for the Lord and not for any other reason. Colossians 3:23-24 tells us that we should “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” We spoke of idols in our lives that can take the place of God. Paul is using that same idea here as he calls those worldly things (both good and bad) masters. We cannot afford to work for them (although the benefits of your work might bless them as well). When we work, we do it as an act of worship. No matter how big the job is, no matter how small the job is, or no matter how we feel after the job is done, when we do it in obedience, we do it for the Lord, and it is always worth it. God uses even our smallest attempts to serve Him and can make huge things happen. Maranatha! Our work is not in vain.
So to those who are discouraged today — Maranatha! To those who are worried today — Maranatha! To those who are filled with anxiety over the problems they are facing — Maranatha! Our Lord has overcome, and He is coming again!
