Look Again for Hope

This life is not the end.

Since Jesus died and broke loose from the grave.

There is life beyond the grave!

If corpses can’t be raised than Christ wasn’t raised and we know He was indeed dead.

Christ has been raised up!

Death initially came by a man.

Everyone dies in Adam.

Everyone comes alive in Christ.

He laid them low one and all

He walked all over them. Psalm

God’s rule is absolutely comprehensive.

If there’s no chance of resurrection, why do we keep doing things that point to the resurrection power.

Christ guaranteed it

Resurrection - there is no hope.

Don’t fool yourselves about anti resurrection talk.

Ignorance of God is something we cannot afford in these days.

Show me how the resurrection works?

There is no diagram that shows how the resurraction works.

There is a parallel experience of the resurrection in gardening

You plant a dead seed in the ground.

Soon there is a flourishing plant.

There is no visual likeness between seed and plant.

You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed.

What we plant in the soil and what we grow out of it don’t look anything alike.

The dead body that we burry in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.

You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning.

Just as there are different kinds of seeds there are different kinds of bodies.

Humans, animals, birds, fish each unprescidented in its own form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies, sun, moon, stars. All these varieties of beauties and goodness and we are only looking at pre-resurrection seeds.

Who could imagine what the resurrection plants will be like?

This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best.

But perhaps it will help in approaching the resurrection body, but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised we’re raised for good!

Alive forever!

The corpse that’s planted is no beauty but when its raised its glorious. It is put in the ground weak and comes up powerful.

The seed sown is natural. The seed grown is supernatural.

Same seed, same body but what a difference when it goes down in the ground in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!

We follow this sequence in scripture.

The first Adam rececived life, the last Adam is a life giving spirit. Physical life comes first, then spiritual.

A firm based shaped from the earth, a final completion comes out of heaven.

The first man was made out of earth and people sense then are earthly. The second man was made out of heaven and people now can be heavenly.

In the same way that we have worked from our earthly origins. LLet’s embrace our heavenly ends.

Our natural earthly lives don’t in themselves lead us by their very nature into the kingdom of God. Their very nature is to die. So how could they naturally end up in the life kingdom?

Let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I will probably never understand. We are not all going to die, but we are all going to be changed.

You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes it’s over.

On signal from that trumpet from heaven the dead will be up and out of their graves beyond the reach of death, never to die again at the same moment and in the same way we all will be changed.

In the resurrection scheme of things this has to happen. Everything perishable taken of the shelves and replaced by the imperishable. This mortal replaced by the immortal.

Then the saying will come true “Death swallowed by triumphant life”.

Who got the last word, oh death.

O Death, who is afraid of you now.

It was sin that made death so frightening and law code guilt that gave sin it’s leverage, it’s destructive power but now in a single victorious stroke of life, all free. Sin, guilt, death all gone! The gift of our master Jesus Christ.

With all this going on for us.

Friends, Stand your ground and don’t hold back! Throw yourselves into the work of the master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort.

Paul, the apostle, faced death several times. Yet he lived with the hope of the resurrection and eternal life with His savior.

Paul shows this in scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:1–21 M:BCL

For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not hand-made—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less. That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming. But neither exile nor homecoming is the main thing. Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions. Sooner or later we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions, either good or bad. That keeps us vigilant, you can be sure. It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care. We’re not saying this to make ourselves look good to you. We just thought it would make you feel good, proud even, that we’re on your side and not just nice to your face as so many people are. If I acted crazy, I did it for God; if I acted overly serious, I did it for you. Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

To the church in Ephesus, Paul wrote:

Ephesians 1:3–19 M:BCL

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

John knew who he was in Christ and that his future was sure.

1 John 3:1–3 M:BCL

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to. But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

Paul adds

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 M:BCL

May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.

What a glorious vision seen and recorded by John:

Revelation 21:1–27 M:BCL

I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.” Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!” One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: “Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.” He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God. The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them. The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: twelve thousand stadia, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: 144 cubits. The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl. The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.

Now that’s seeing life from God’s perspective.

2 Kings 6:8–17 M:BCL

One time when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, after consulting with his officers, he said, “At such and such a place I want an ambush set.” The Holy Man sent a message to the king of Israel: “Watch out when you’re passing this place, because Aram has set an ambush there.” So the king of Israel sent word concerning the place of which the Holy Man had warned him. This kind of thing happened all the time. The king of Aram was furious over all this. He called his officers together and said, “Tell me, who is leaking information to the king of Israel? Who is the spy in our ranks?” But one of his men said, “No, my master, dear king. It’s not any of us. It’s Elisha the prophet in Israel. He tells the king of Israel everything you say, even what you whisper in your bedroom.” The king said, “Go and find out where he is. I’ll send someone and capture him.” The report came back, “He’s in Dothan.” Then he dispatched horses and chariots, an impressive fighting force. They came by night and surrounded the city. Early in the morning a servant of the Holy Man got up and went out. Surprise! Horses and chariots surrounding the city! The young man exclaimed, “Oh, master! What shall we do?” He said, “Don’t worry about it—there are more on our side than on their side.” Then Elisha prayed, “O God, open his eyes and let him see.” The eyes of the young man were opened and he saw. A wonder! The whole mountainside full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha!

May the same be true for you.

May your eyes be opened.

May you look again.

Looking up ahead and beyond.

And see Jesus and Hope.