Our Future Depends on His Resurrection

Because He Lives: Our Future is Assured

John 14:19 “Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.

( Jesus is prophesying His appearance after His resurrection)

While the world is focused on egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, and pastel baskets today, they’re overlooking the deeper meaning behind the most profound moment in human history

God didn’t orchestrate the death and resurrection of His Son so we could celebrate with traditions borrowed from pagan spring festivals.

The risen Savior deserves more than a commercialized holiday

He deserves our understanding of what He truly fulfilled.

Please hear me out.

Jesus rose on the Feast of Firstfruits

It is a holy day established in the Torah that pointed to this exact moment for thousands of years.

Let me take you back to the Torah to understand what this feast meant.

LEVITICUS 23:10-11

New Living Translation Chapter 23

Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. 11 On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the LORD so it may be accepted on your behalf.

The Feast of Fruits was celebrated during the barley harvest.

The first crops of the season.

The priest would take the first portion of the harvest and wave it before the Lord as an offering. (Called the wave offering)

Symbolizing gratitude and trust that more harvest was coming.

The firstfruits represented the promise of the full harvest to come.

If the firstfruits were good, the entire harvest would be abundant

1. What does this mean? It means that the initial, best portion of a crop (or income) given to God sanctifies and guarantees that the remainder will be blessed and plentiful

2. This principle signifies trusting God’s provision and honoring Him first, rather than with leftovers

Now here’s the what’s shocking: Christ was crucified on Passover, remained in the tomb on the Sabbath, and rose on the third day - Which was the Feast of Firstfruits

The timing wasn’t coincidence. It was fulfillment.

1 Corinthians 15:20

New Living Translation Chapter 15

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died

The Messiah rising from the dead wasn’t about Him!

Paul uses this metaphor to present Christ’s resurrection as an example of the greatness of the future resurrection of believers

It was about guaranteeing that everyone who belongs to Him will also rise.

Just like the firstfruits of the harvest guaranteed the full harvest was coming, Jesus’s resurrection guarantees our resurrection.

He is the Firstfruits - We are the harvest to come.

1 Corinthians 15:22-23

New Living Translation Chapter 15

22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection:

His resurrection wasn’t the end:

1. It was the beginning

2. He rose first

3. and we will follow

Here’s why the resurrection is so crucial to everything we’ve talked about over the past several weeks:

1. Why We need a Savior

2. It was the blood that made the difference

Without the resurrection, the cross would be meaningless.

If Jesus (our Savior) stayed dead, His sacrifice would be just another tragedy.

But, because He rose, everything he accomplished on the cross is validated and sealed forever.

Romans 4:25

New Living Translation Chapter 4

25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

He was arrested, tried and executed for your sins!

His death paid for our sins...Hallelujah!

But His resurrection proved that the payment was accepted!

The resurrection is God’s receipt - “Paid in Full.”

Think about it: If Christ stayed in the grave:

1. How would we know His sacrifice was sufficient?

2. How would we know death was defeated?

3. How would we know we have hope beyond this life?

BUT BECAUSE HE ROSE:

1. We know His sacrifice was accepted by the Father

2. We know death has been conquered

3. We know sin’s power is broken

4. We know we have eternal life waiting

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

New Living Translation Chapter 15

55 O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The victory through out Lord Jesus Christ. Not just victory over sin through His death

But victory over death itself through His resurrection

And here’s the promise for every believer:

Because Christ rose as the Firstfruits, we have the guarantee that we will rise too.

1 Thessalonians 4:14

New Living Translation Chapter 4

14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

Death is not the end for those who are in Christ - It’s just sleep before the resurrection morning.

Your physical body may die, but it will rise again just as our messiah’s body rose.

That’s the power of being connected to the Firstfruits.

1 Corinthians 15:35,44

New Living Translation Chapter 15

35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”

New Living Translation Chapter 15

44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies

Our bodies won’t be as a ghost or a spirit without form

But a real, resurrected, glorified body just like Jesus had when He rose.

When Christ appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, He wasn’t a phantom or vision.

He had a physical body:

1. That could be touched

2. That could eat

3. That bore that scars of the crucifixion

Luke 24:39 “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

He Look at my feet, look at my hands...touch me and see for yourself

He’s appealing to His crucifixion wounds as evidence of His humanity in resurrected form

Jesus makes a statement that’s so important when He says a spirit hath not flesh and bones....

Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost because they don’t have bodies ...yet you see that I do!

That’s the kind of resurrection body we will receive - REAL, PHYSICAL, ETERNAL, INCORRUPTIBLE.

The sinner...those who don’t know Christ will be resurrected with an:

IMPERISHABLE (cannot die), PHYSICAL BODY DESIGNED FOR ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, RATHER THAN ONE SUITED FOR HEAVEN

This kind of body is described in 1 Corinthians 15:35-54 as being raised in “dishonor” and “weakness”

Marked by “shame and everlasting contempt”

This body is suited for the second death in the lake of fire

Your challenge this week: Live with the resurrection hope.

Ask yourself:

Do I truly believe that Christ rose from the dead, and that I will rise too?

Am I living like someone who has victory over death, or am I still afraid of it?

Does my hope extend beyond this life to the resurrection promise?

Because here’s the truth: Christ didn’t just die for you - He also rose for you.

And because He rose as the Firstfruits, you have the guarantee that death is not your end.

The grave could not hold Him. And it won’t hold you either.

The Firstfruits has risen......and the full harvest is coming!!

SIDENOTE: Every spring when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits, they were pointing forward to Christ’s resurrection without even knowing it.

He fulfilled the feast by rising as the Firstfruits, guaranteeing that everyone who belongs to Him will follow in His resurrection.

That’s not just hope.....that’s CERTAINTY!

When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. This sacred act is not merely a ritual but a heartfelt acknowledgement of Christ’s body broke for our sake. It serves as a reminder of His enduring love and grace poured out for us as we gather around the table, we should reflect on the depth of His sacrifice and recognize the unity we share as the body of Christ. Each element we consume is symbolic, guiding us to appreciate the significance of His love and sacrifice. Our connection with Him is deepened when we participate in this holy meal, allowing it to inspire gratitude and change in our everyday lives.

1 Corinthians 11:23-34

New Living Translation Chapter 11

23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.

27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.

31 But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. 32 Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

33 So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other. 34 If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive.