2022-04-17 How the Resurrection Informs Future Life

HOW THE RESURRECTION INFORMS FUTURE LIFE (I Cor 15:20-23) Date: ____________________ Read I Cor 15:20-23 - In Gen 8:4 we are told in the account of Noah: "And in the 7th month (Nissan), on the 17th day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." Why such precision? Well, centuries later, Jesus was crucified on 15 Nissan, and resurrected the 3rd day - on the 17th day of the 7th month. You can't miss the symbolism. The landing of the ark meant the dawn of a new day in world history. But it prefigured a much greater new day and new world that was inaugurated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Did you know that 2 weeks before Jesus' resurrection, there was another resurrection? Laz. It was real; it was bodily and it was incredible. But it was not permanent; not self-initiated, and had nothing to do with us. Jesus' resurrection was totally different; it was the linchpin of human history. Laz was merely a man. Jesus was the God-man, and that makes all the difference. Paul says Jesus' resurrection was the "first fruits" of all believers. First fruit - the first of much more to come, right? Jesus death and resurrection pioneered the amazing victory over sin and death that we all long for but can never achieve on our own. His resurrection, then, provides not only the basis of but also the pattern for all who believe in Him. That has massive implications. Last week we saw how Jesus' resurrection informs our life now. Today we'll see how it defines our future! His resurrection reveals profound truths about our own future, so hang on as we go on an incredible journey. I. Reuniting of Body and Spirit in a Perfect New Person Jesus did not swoon, feint or otherwise just pass out. He died, was declared dead by Roman experts and buried. But what of His spirit -- immaterial part of His human nature? Some contend He went to hell to suffer the wrath of the Father against our sin. And in truth, He did suffer our penalty in all its horror - but that happened on the cross during the 3 hours of absolute and utter darkness starting at noon. Jesus predicted this as they arrested Him: Lu 22:52b: "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness." That 3 hours of pitch black was the culmination of all the blackness of sin and death and Satan being laid on the innocent LJC as He bore our sin in His own body - and bore the Father's fierce and consuming wrath against sin, during which Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?" The Devil thought he'd won. He thought wrong. The next words of Jesus are filled with hope and victory. The price having been paid. Jesus said, John 19:30b: "'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." What was finished? The price of our redemption which had for an infinite time led to Has abandonment by the Father. Having suffered that unspeakable penalty, He gave up His spirit. But to what? And to where? Luke answers: Lu 23:46b: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." The price having been paid; Jesus commends His spirit to the Father in heaven. That's why he earlier told the thief who came to faith on his cross: Lu 23:43: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." And so he was. There's Jesus - body in the grave, spirit with the Father in heaven. But 3 days later, the tomb is empty, and He is making appearances to various disciples and followers. Body and spirit are reunited and while that body can do things a normal body can't, there are dramatic similarities. He can be seen, heard and touched. He invites interaction. He eats and drinks with His followers. It is a remarkable and unprecedented display of victory over death. So, as a first fruit for us, what does this teach us about own future? In what way does it provide a pattern for what we, too, will experience? And the answer is that we, too, will experience a separation of body and spirit when death comes. But we, too, will also experience a reuniting of body and spirit - but this time in a perfection modeled by His. So how exactly does this work? When we die, the body loses animation - is physically unresponsive, and subject to decay. But the spirit of a believers goes immediately to God's presence. Paul desires this. II Cor 5:8: "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." Paul was later decapitated. But his spirit was immediately with Christ. Later, in jail in Rome, he was torn between a desire to go on living and a desire to "die which is gain." Phil 1: 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." According to II Cor 12, he'd had a preview of what it's like to be with Christ. He'd already seen heaven, and he was ready to go. So, a believer enters what theologians call an intermediate state - a spiritual existence, but without a body - somewhat like the angels. But that's not the end. Body and spirit will be reunited. When? When Jesus comes to earth again. So, I Thess 4: 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." So, incredibly, the spirit of a deceased believer will be with Christ to meet a resurrected body in mid-air, creating once again a fully integrate person - body and soul. But what a body! Paul calls it a spiritual body in I Cor 15. And Phil 3: 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Jesus has both the power and intent to change our resurrected body into a glorious body just like His. He's the first fruits; and what He is, we will be. This future for believers is free to us, but costly to Jesus. We're all born under this principle: "The wages of sin is death". Our body tells us on a daily basis, that's where we're headed. But by His sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin that allows the Father to forgive all who will believe. The death sentence is removed. Physical death becomes simply the means of shedding the old sinned-infected body which will then be replaced by a new and perfect body patterned after that of our Savior. There is one exception to the perfection of heaven. One body there will be marred. In His new body, Jesus still bore the prints of the nails in his hands and feet and the scar in his side - a permanent reminder of the price of our redemption. His body - forever scarred, so ours need not be. The blessings of Easter are not without price - but He paid it, giving us a priceless gift. II. Reuniting of Fellow Believers in a Perfect New Community The 2nd way Jesus' resurrection informs our future is in the relationship it provides us with fellow believers. He was unseen by unbelievers, but for believers, He modeled a perfect new community of love. People often ask, Will we know each other in heaven? Answer - Yes, we will. In Luke 9, on the Mt of Transfiguration - a kingdom preview given to Peter, Jas and John -- they knew Moses and Elijah, even tho they'd never met them. In fact, they'd been physically dead for centuries. But there they are together in a model of perfect unity that will one day extend into eternity. There us wonderful comfort in this. Gary Habermas, an expert on the resurrection of Jesus, lost his wife Debbie to cancer at age 43. It was a severe blow to Gary. But he later said, through the experience, the resurrection became more than an academic pursuit. It became a life-saving reality for him. He thought of the immortal new body Jesus had and imagined God asking him, "Gary, did I raise my own Son?" In his mind, Gary would answer, "Of course you did, Lord? But why did Debbie have to die?" In response, it seemed the Lord said, "Gary, did I not raise my own Son from the dead?" Gary says over time he realized a twofold message. First, death of the mortal body it necessary to get to an immortal body. Second, if God raised His own Son, He would raise Debbie as well, and Gary, too, when the time came. They could share eternity in glorious together - the reunion of precious relationships - patterned by Jesus' earthly relationships after His resurrection. That also means perfect communion with some we may not like so well down here. But won't it be great to see broken relationships healed?! Communion there will be total, complete, and enthusiastically received. So why not let God work that peace in our hearts right now. It's part of our heritage as a believer -- a most wonderful part. We have amazing reunions to anticipate there. III. Reuniting of All Things in a Perfect New World Eph 1:9-10 gives us insight into God's ultimate purpose for history: "making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." Why is there a need to unite? Bc all has been alienation and disintegration since the first sin in the Garden of Eden. The word "unite" (ἀνακεφαλαιόω) means to bring together under one head. Prior to Adam's sin, there was one will in the world - God's. Harmony prevailed. But Adam pitted his will against God's and with each new person of the human race, the number of wills expanded. No wonder the world is filled with chaos, conflict and disintegration. But the purpose of redemption is to restore one perfect, harmonious, life-producing will - God's will. On the cross, Jesus suffered in our place the ultimate alienation - total separation from and abandonment by God - the ultimate disintegration. He took it so we would never have to. Then came resurrection, the reuniting of the relationship between Father and Son, paving the way for all believers to participate in the reuniting of all things under one perfect will God intends for His people. This is the message of the Bible. In Gen 1-3, we have the creation of a perfect environment for mankind destroyed when Adam pitted his will against God and lost. Alienation -- man against God, husband against wife, man against nature, man against himself all became the order of the day. Chaos ensued resulting in decay, degeneration, disintegration and death. In the middle books of the Bible, the gospels present the solution to all the chaos in the person of Christ. By His resurrection He becomes the first fruits of all who will put their faith in Him. And the result? Found in Rev 20-22 where all the mess caused by human rebellion is at last rectified. The devil is condemned and destroyed along with all who refuse the gift of eternal life in Christ. A new heaven and new earth are introduced where God dwells with His people and where, Rev 21:4: "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, foe the former things have passed away." That process of reunification all began with Jesus' resurrection. That guarantees our perfect future under the perfect will of God. All bc of Jesus' death and resurrection. What a glorious plan; and what a great Savior. Conc - I want to conclude with this which I've used before. Greek philosophy taught that history is an endless cycle where every so often the universe winds down, burns up and is purified to start all over again. They called the process palengenesia = "again generated." Of course, it was only myth - not reality. Jesus gave the term a whole new meaning. Matt 19:28a: "Truly, I say to you, in the new world when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne." New world = palengenesia. This is radical. Jesus is saying, palingensia is not a process; it's a person! and once done - it is permanent. All decrepitude, decay, disintegration, alienation and brokenness will be purged. All will be healed, never to be broken again. All might-have-beens will be. All injustices made right. Sin banished; Jesus ruling. It's all true! Just after the climax of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings, Sam Gamgee discovers that his friend Gandalf is not dead (as he thought) but alive. He cries, "I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself! Is everything sad going to come untrue?" Is everything sad going to come untrue? Yes! The death of Christ came untrue on the third day. And He became the first fruits of what will soon be a whole new world of perfection for all who trust in His name. And it's all true! Glory to God. Let's pray. DONE 7