Restored to God

Read

John 20:11–18 LSB

11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb crying; and so, as she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Opening Prayer

Setting the Stage

Last week, we studied vv.11-18.

We saw the way in which we often live by emotions that are not based on truth.

We saw the gentle, gracious way in which Christ leads us back to truth.

Not to stifle emotions, but to allow them to be driven by truth.

We saw that Mary’s undue sorrow was replaced by infinite joy.

Christ called her by name and she recognized His voice.

This morning I’d like to look more closely at the end of these verses, specifically vv.17-18…

John 20:17–18 LSB

17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

We read Jesus telling Mary to go…

And to testify, to proclaim the good news of our Risen Lord.

And, we see her be obedient to the task.

But, what may be hidden in this event is that…

Jesus Elevates Women

Hence, Christianity elevates women.

Not an elevation in God’s value of women…

But an elevation in the treatment of women to their God ordained place of respect.

This is something that is very dear to my heart.

This is something that should be very dear to the heart of every Christian man…

Let the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has ears to hear…listen…

In the life of Christ, we see that He elevates women counter-culturally to a level:

equal to man in value

equal to man in influence

equal to man in the justice system

equal to man in rights of just treatment

equal to man in the eyes of the Lord

equal to man in inheritance unto God

equal to man in salvation, the grace of life

Jesus is not leveling differences in design, purpose, and gifting.

He’s not doing away with the differences of the sexes.

He’s not doing away with roles within the home and within the Church.

But, what He was doing was absolutely counter-cultural.

This was Jesus elevating women above cultural perceptions and prejudices.

And, showing us the divine perspective of women and their value.

In Jesus’ ministry we see many examples of Him exposing the sinful prejudices of men against women…

And, showing the humanity and value they deserve…equal to men.

This was Jesus entrusting the first personal sighting of His conquering the grave to a witness that the culture would have deemed unreliable.

Yet, He did not think that way at all.

Now allow me to read the response of the disciples in the receiving of Mary’s testimony.

Mark 16:10–11 LSB

10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and crying. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

This showing of Himself, first to a woman is another example of Christ breaking down cultural barriers.

As I’ve already stated, in the culture of Jesus’ day, women were deemed unreliable witnesses.

Their testimony was inadmissible in court.

And, it seems that the disciples received her as such…an unreliable witness.

They changed.

The HS changed them.

They now record these truths unashamedly to the world.

—> And, to that we should say, “Hallelujah.”

Application:

What the true Christian church needs to understand is this…

Culture will always swing the pendulum too far one way or the other in the valuing or devaluing of the sexes.

And, what the church must do is maintain the value that God’s Word puts on each and maintain such…

Even against the ebb and flow of society.

And, I would even say against the ebb and flow of society.

We are to be a beacon in which the pendulum of culture can easily see to navigate back to the truth.

We must confess, and repent, when we allow the culture to move us from the Word to the cultural whims of the day.

There’s a reason why Christianity has been sarcastically labeled by society at times in history as a religion of women.

Noting that women throughout history have flocked to Christianity.

It’s a statement that is supposed to mock Christianity.

But, the reason is that outside of Christianity women are treated horribly.

And, there’s all sorts of history I could report, but this is the gist:

They’re treated as property.

They’re treated as chore bearers.

They’re treated as unable to be educated.

They’re treated as disposable.

They’re enslaved.

They’re mistreated.

In Jesus’ times they weren’t allowed to be witnesses in court.

deemed unreliable to testify.

And, here’s the truth of Christ, and what He modeled:

There is no greater place in the world, where a woman should feel:

loved

respected

needed

appreciated

prized

valued

protected

heard

Than in a Christian home…

And, in the Christian church.

That was the model of Christ.

That is the model for the Church.

And, when the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is functioning as it should…

No wonder women flock to it.

But throughout the history of Christianity, the places in which women are elevated, valued, and granted equality….

All of these places do so because of the influence of Christianity on the culture.

Men, think about this with me…

There is not one single negative statement in the creation record, pre-fall, except this…

It is not good that man is alone.

Men, we are not only God’s provision for our wife…

But, our wife, is God’s provision for us.

The entire NT is so extremely counter cultural in it’s handling of men and women.

Another sermon.

But, listen to me men, we are to treat our wife as joint heirs of the grace of life.

And, we are to love them sacrificially, not selfishly.

Now, let’s move to the message that Jesus gives Mary to proclaim to the disciples…

John 20:17 LSB

17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

In the message we read here that Jesus gives to Mary to proclaim to the disciples, we see Jesus teaching us…

Our Unique Union

In a very special way is God the Father of Jesus.

In a singular way is God the Father of Jesus.

In a singular way because it is the eternal Son of God who takes upon Himself a human nature…

Very God & Very Man

And, this is the uniqueness that is singular.

There is a uniqueness that is shared, and I’ll speak to that in moment.

However, in Jesus being the eternal Son of God and taking upon Himself a human nature…

No one else can claim this unique relationship with God.

—> The God-Man

—> The only begotten Son

And so, what Jesus is saying here is this…

Jesus is saying…

Yahweh is my Father

Yahweh is my God

And through union with me, we share in that relationship.

What Jesus is teaching us here is that because of our union with Him by faith upon Him…

We are brought into that special relationship with God.

So, we are now, through union with Christ…

Reunited with God through the redemption and reconciliation we have with God in Jesus Christ.

Made citizens in the Kingdom of God.

But, also in that relationship we are adopted in to the family of God through our union with Christ…

And we are brought into familial relations with God because of Christ unique Sonship.

There is no other way into a true, redeeming, eternal relationship with God except through union with Christ…by faith.

But, let’s think, how can Christ represent so many?

How can Jesus tell Mary to go tell His brothers (plural) but also includes her and all believers.

Why plural?

Why not a one for one?

How can Christ represent a multitude of people out from among every nation, tribe, and tongue?

Well, the Bible clearly and explicitly teaches us about Representation, or Federal Headship.

The adoption into the family of God…

The relationship we, as Christians, enjoy as the redeemed people of God is based on the Federal Headship of Christ as the Federal Head of the New Covenant.

And, this brings me back to the unique way in which Jesus is the Son of God in a shared way…

And, that shared way is the first Adam.

It is not shared in the way in which the eternal Son of God took upon Himself a human nature.

It is only a shared way in one way…

The first Adam was did not come into existence through the normal means of procreation.

Also, Jesus did not come into existence through the normal means of procreation.

When we look at Genesis 2, which is God giving us a detailed description of Day 6 of creation, we read…

Genesis 2:7 LSB

7 Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being.

Luke, in his gospel’s genealogy of Christ, ends with this statement…

Luke 3:38 LSB

38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

This doesn’t place Adam on the same level as Jesus…

Jesus is God’s Son in an entirely different sense…

Eternally begotten of the Father and sharing the divine nature.

Rather, Adam’s designation as God’s son emphasizes his status as God’s direct creation and his original position within God’s design.

Now, if you were here last week, when I was speaking to the ascension of Christ…

Which lays hold of the glory God gives man for the human nature of Christ…

And, in our union with Christ we lay hold of that glory.

But, recall that I also pointed out that we lost that glory…

We fell short of that glory in Adam.

Listen to what Paul says in…

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 LSB

21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

In Adam, we all die.

That is Federal Headship.

What is true of the Federal Head is true of those whom the Federal Head represents.

In Adam, physical death comes upon all mankind.

And, spiritual death comes upon all mankind.

Our fellowship with God was lost.

But, the good news is that what we lost in Adam we gain through union with Jesus Christ.

So, God being our God…

Meaning our God in right relationship restored.

And, God being our Father…

Meaning the familial relationship restored.

Is regained in Christ.

So, we see this beautiful plan of God for the redemption of the human race promised and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The Seed of Genesis 3

Is what all of Scripture is about.

Is what all of History is about.

Is what all of Scripture is pointing to.

It’s the SEED that crushes Satan and declares victory for His people, Jew & Gentile alike.

From the very beginning the Word of God is about the SEED.

The SEED redeeming a people out from among the Nations…

To redeem them from the curse of sin…

And, confer the promised glory of God…

Which is His promise of eternal life that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden…

Represented in the Tree of Life in the pre-fall Garden of Eden…

And, once again in Revelation as we see a picture of what was gained by Christ…

A new Jerusalem, and even greater…

A new heaven and earth.

The boundaries expanded.

Luke’s genealogy takes us all the way back to a Gentile named Adam.

And, Matthew’s takes us all the way back to Abraham, who was also a Gentile.

The salvation of Christ, the SEED, has always been about the redemption of the human race…

And, all of creation re-birthed into a new creation.

And, regeneration, the new birth is a first fruit of the promised new creation in Christ…

That has begin in the people of the Lord internally…

That is working itself out externally…

And, Christ is leading us to the ultimate culmination of a new creation…

At the consummation.

Application:

God is Christ’s God…

And because of our union with Christ...

We share in that relationship.

God is Christ’s Father...

And because of our union with Christ...

We share in that relationship.

There’s no relationship that can give you what our relationship with God gives.

There’s no love that fill us to overflowing outside of the love we have from God, in Christ Jesus.

So, here’s the good news…

You do not need to find fulfillment in any other relationship outside of your relationship with Christ.

So, stop striving to find in other people and other things…

What can only be found in God…

And, that you have in Jesus Christ.

Closing Prayer