Resurrection of the Body

Resurrection Past/Present/Future  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  47:17
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All of God’s Glory revealed in the Resurrection

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My State of Decay

Existing Ailments
My Body
Looking forward to something new is always exciting. Having the patience to wait is different. Especially if what you are waiting on is something which needs replaced. Holding on tightly to the only thing you have without realizing something better is in store for you can place you in thoughts of despair.
When I was young and thought that I was invincible, I never had these thoughts. However, there are times now where I know the body, I have now, is weak. It is prone to pain throughout the day. I have not always treated it in the way that God has designed for it to be utilized. This may have attributed to some of the issues which I have today. There is a possibility that the genetics I have attribute to some of the ailments I face. What I do know for sure is that this body is in a state of decay.
My World
Another state of decay that I notice, is the one offered within the world. Each year I notice the cycle of birth, life, and then death throughout the seasons. While some cultures celebrate life renewing eternally through this cycle, I believe there is a permanent solution to decay offered within the Bible.
N.T. Wright offers that many ancient cultures recognized the cyclical nature of the seasons as representative of birth, life, death, and life beyond death and attributed their belief systems through stories of their gods.[1]
However, the eternal cycle of rebirth is not something which will occur. This means that while there may be some who believe they are young and they do not have to worry about the eternal state of either their body or the world, at some point in their life, this question must be addressed.
Just as there were entire cultures dedicated to the cycle of nature, we find today festivals devoted to such things. In our own culture, Easter looks more like a fertility festival embracing bunnies, flowers, and the new life evidenced through the reflection of nature budding and blooming again.
God devised the seasons to be representative of much more so that all may turn their eyes upon Him and encourage all to keep from perishing (2 Pet. 3:9).
These cultures may have recognized the symbolism in the planting, growing, and harvesting of seed through their gods who they attributed harvest to, but there is a finite time for the world along with our bodies. Newer technology, the arrival of science to study the world as it is and where it is going also confirms that our world is not going to be going on forever in its current state.
Helge indicates that only within recent history has the concept of the entire Earth’s death been revealed through the laws of heat and entropy as recognized in thermodynamics.[2]
While people may have been thinking there would be continual renewal of the Earth through the life cycles recognized in nature, the Bible depicts a different story. Science actually confirms the notion that the heavens will be dissolved and rolled up (Isaiah 34:4, Rev. 6:14). If the universe gives way to a heat death where all energy becomes equalized over time, then there will not be a safe escape from this planet by any earthly means. We must yield to an outside source, God to alleviate us from this future finite destiny.[3]
[1] N.T. Wright, Resurrection Son of God V3: Christian Origins and the Question of God (Fortress Press, 2003), 81, ProQuest Ebook Central, Accessed April 16, 2021, https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/legacydocview/EBC/3380771?accountid=12085. [2] Helge S. Kragh, Entropic Creation: Religious Contexts of Thermodynamics and Cosmology (Abingdon: Taylor & Francis Group, 2008), 27 Accessed April 16, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/legacydocview/EBC/438773/bookReader?accountid=12085&ppg=34 [3]Ibid.
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Our Finite Living Space

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People’s Concerns for Today
Common themes within our culture abound on making life longer. We yearn for longevity on this planet with our loved ones as long as possible. However, longer life does not necessarily mean quality is achieved.
M.D. Gillick notes there are many people who desire immortality from this world and therefore, scientists are altering genomes within various species in an attempt to discover methods to prevent aging.[1]
Perhaps you have recognized this within yourselves as well.
If we look at our own attempts for improving the chances of living longer, then we will see where we are placing our trust. If you have believed there may be nothing after this existing life and you enjoy what this world has to offer, there people who are working to provide that type of existence. The apostle Paul recognizes this by stating, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Rom. 8:22).
Since people have found that both their bodies and the Earth will decay, they have sought other places for people to live. The current attempts to reach other life sustaining planets is often spouted in the media.
How many times have we seen movies about traveling to distant planets as our planet dies? Or have you witnessed the recent attempts in adventures to Mars as people fear what will happen with our planet?
[1] Gillick, Muriel R., and GILLICK, Muriel R.. The Denial of Aging: Perpetual Youth, Eternal Life, and Other Dangerous Fantasies. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007. Accessed April 16, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.
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How far can one run away from the current problem without realizing the entire universe is subject to the same fate?
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But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?”

As we mentioned, people are concerned that if someone mentions resurrection, what exactly does that mean? Last week we spoke about how we accept the spiritual confirmation of the resurrection and what that gains us. We are able to clothe ourselves with Christ and live our lives acknowledging this means much more than awaiting what is to come. But that does not prevent the question from being answered as Paul provides a glimpse here of what he means by using the ideas of harvest to explain his message

You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;

If we take a seed and keep it out of the ground, it will not grow. It is meant to be placed into an environment where it dies and then this will ensure the nourishment is provided for the seed to reach its full potential.
Paul’s insistence here with his admonishment is for us as well to look at the examples that God provides for us in nature to look towards Him for the answers instead of only nature. Naturalism itself is not the end as it is mentioned there will be an end to this nature as we know it.

and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

Farmers who know what crops they are growing know what the seeds will turn out to be once they are planted. If it were not for the seed packets with the pictures on the outside I would not know what was to be grown when they were planted. In the same manner, we are only capable of seeing the seeds which have not been planted in the likeness of our flesh. The only fruit which has been raised which we have evidence of is Christ.

But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

Our perspective is only from the fallen state. Therefore, we only have an idea from what is revealed to us by God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

Paul goes from man through the rest of creation to note that all creation is involved in the resurrection. The first fruit, Christ, confirms that death has been overcome. Restoration of all the world is possible now. However, there is a restoration spiritually we are able to see now even though we are still witnessing the effects of the fall.

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;

Paul sums up his message here with the fact that what was once perishable is no longer perishable if it is raised with Christ. This is the hope that we have as believers in Christ. While we await the new heaven and new earth to arrive (Isaiah 65:17-25; Rev. 21:1-9; 2 Pet 3:10-18)

it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

Bodies who once were susceptible to decay are now raised in the power of God. This is the evidence of the resurrection Christ gave for us.

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.

The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.

Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

What was once held to the laws of sin and death are now freed from that bondage into eternal life with Christ. However, since there will be a new heaven and new earth to arrive where we will live eternally with Christ, heaven has so much more than an escape from here. It is more of a return to the ideal relationship with purpose God intended from the beginning.
Understanding what is going to happen with the world, our present bodies, and the universe is important in understanding how accurate the Bible is in depicting the necessity of belief in Christ. When the Bible is read for understanding God, a person can redirect their perspective to see the world from a biblical lens. While we learn many different things from many outside sources, the Bible helps us clarify and redirect our focus upon the most important things.
Look back throughout your life and investigate where you have been taught about continual cycles of life. Listen for people who are longing for more life now. Don’t be afraid to offer them the advice that Paul offers the Corinthians. That eternal life with Jesus Christ is available now and we have a heavenly body which is awaiting us once we are sown in the ground just as a seed
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Why Wait? Show the world the character of Christ today!

Why professing hope in the eternal life with Christ brings joy through suffering.
We are all in this together
Sharing Hope Builds Faith
We will share eternal life together
Some of us Christians have never accepted the future truth of what is in store for us. We desire to have our present ailments removed without recognizing that this body, this earth, and this age will pass.
We should engage with others with hopeful joy over what is to come.
Recently, I have witnessed many of my own family members fall ill with various life threatening situations. We all know of people who are now suffering with diseases.
We do not give up hope that God still performs miracles of healing. Towards the end, though, we all must leave here and be united with Christ.
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If we think about this now, then we will realize how true Paul’s words, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
When the world asks what heaven looks like, we must be able to provide them an answer in how we live. When we know how Christ restores all to Him, then we work to live our lives to understand better what a restored world looks like.
Don’t tell people what the future heaven looks like. Live your life like you have already embraced it
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