Jesus' Promised Resurrection Life
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I feel like I don’t belong here...
I feel like I don’t belong here...
“I feel like I don’t belong here.” That was the statement I resonated with the most this week during a conversation I had with a few other Christians. We were discussing the weariness of living in today’s world.
“It was not always this confusing or frustrating,” one of them said. The gist of the conversation was, “Forty fifty years ago we had our differences, living out different chapters, but always reading from the same book. Today there is such disunity and confusion. We’ve lost our moral bearings to the point where cannot discern a boy from a girl. What was once appalling is now appealing. What has always been wrong is now glorified as right. This is not my country. This is not my home. I don’t feel like I belong here anymore.”
For many people in our country that sentiment resonates deep in their hearts. I would contend , those who love Jesus, that sentiment resonates all the more in our hearts the moment we are saved. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven. God has put a new longing in your heart for His presence in His kingdom. These new desires are definitely at odds with the world’s desires. Because of those new desires, you see the world differently and it creates a tension that illuminates our eyes to the reality that we are sojourners in this world.
Sojourning can be tough. We are trying to find our way home in a hostile world that is broken and influenced by Satan. To add fuel to the fire is the mystery of God’s kingdom. This world is all we’ve ever known. We long for a home we have never laid our head or walked its streets. In some ways it feels distant. The heavy burden of the tension we live on a daily basis can lead your heart to despair, even depression. You may feel like giving up at times. You may want to stop doing the ministry God has called you to do; maybe even stop joyfully advancing His kingdom by making much of Jesus.
Brother, sister, I want you to know you, through Christ resurrection, you are promised new life, resurrection life, in a new resurrected world. I believe one of the reasons God revealed the mystery of the resurrection was to give you and I something to look forward to, a promise to cling to when we do not feel like we belong here. Your are right yo do not belong here. You are being fit for heaven. Jesus’ resurrection ensures you will be resurrected with a new resurrected body for a new resurrected earth. This morning, I want you to
Strengthen your hope to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by believing Jesus’s promise to you of a new eternal resurrected body for his new resurrected earth.
Strengthen your hope to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by believing Jesus’s promise to you of a new eternal resurrected body for his new resurrected earth.
I want to show you this morning through the lens of several scriptures that Jesus ensures your eternal physical resurrection and how his promise gives you strength and hope to hold fast in the faith as you joyfully advance his kingdom by making much of Jesus. Let’s begin with Jesus’s promise of resurrection in John 11:15-26.
Jesus’ resurrection ensures your eternal resurrection (John 11:25-26).
Jesus’ resurrection ensures your eternal resurrection (John 11:25-26).
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Lazarus has died. He’s been dead four days. Mary and Martha, his sisters called Jesus to come and heal Lazarus, but Jesus waited two extra days knowing Lazarus was going to die. He did this because he loved Lazarus and was going to use Lazarus to show the world the power of God over death-resurrection.
Of course, Mary and Martha do not understand why Jesus delayed so long. Why would he allow such hardship to come to their lives? Death is scary and painful. Death offers no nope to anyone. There is no life in death. So, when you are threatened with it, whether it be your own life or the life of someone you love, you loose hope if death prevails. And death dose prevail. There is no escape. So, J. C. Ryle winsomely advises you to think on it. He says,
“Death, and judgment, and eternity are not fancies, but stern realities. Make time to think about them. Stand still, and look them in the face. You will be obliged one day to make time to die, whether you are prepared or not.” J. C. Ryle
“Death, and judgment, and eternity are not fancies, but stern realities. Make time to think about them. Stand still, and look them in the face. You will be obliged one day to make time to die, whether you are prepared or not.” J. C. Ryle
Lazarus was forced to look death in the face and he succumbed to its power, just as all of us will one day do. Mary and Martha had to look at death in the face as well, and they were afflicted by its sting and were looking to Jesus for hope. Jesus’ hope came to them, but not in the way the expected.
Jesus comes to them and says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me though he die, shall live. And everyone who believes in me shall live and never die. Jesus brought the hope of eternal resurrection and was about to prove the kind of resurrection we get to look forward to.
Jesus uses the word anastasis for resurrection. Dr. Stephen Wellum discusses the the Greek noun anastasis in his study of John.
The Greek word anastasis is derived from the verb anistēmi, meaning literally to stand up and then by extension “to rise up.” Both words could be used metaphorically. The word anastasis was common in the ancient Greek world; but it rarely referred to the resurrection of the dead, which is the dominant meaning of its occurrences in the NT.
The word is used to describe both Jesus’ physical resurrection and the physical resurrection of believers.
Paul uses anastasis in
concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
he also uses it in
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
In both cases, Jesus is physically raised from the dead with a new glorified body that is fit for heaven. It will have eternal life.
Of believers, the word describes a physical resurrection.
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
In the
The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
The dead will rise with physical bodies and come to life and they will have eternal life with a physical body. Where does resurrection life come from? It comes from Jesus.
Jesus says to us in the Gospel of John
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
In Christ is life. Jesus says later,
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Because Jesus is the life and he has life in himself, he is able to give his life to everyone who trusts in him. That life is both abundant life now (John 10:10) and eternal life in the future (John 3:16). He is able to keep his promise!
When Jesus says to Mary and Martha that he is the resurrection and the life, he is telling them that he will physically raise his disciples, those who love him, from the dead and give them eternal life. So he raise Lazarus from the dead to validate he has the power to physically raise the dead and give them eternal life. You cannot find resurrection life in anyone else but Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can ensure that you will be raised from the dead with a physical body that will enjoy resurrected life in a new resurrected earth.
What will your new resurrected body be like? (1 Corinthians 15:49; 1 John 3:2; Philippians 3:20-21).
What will your new resurrected body be like? (1 Corinthians 15:49; 1 John 3:2; Philippians 3:20-21).
Your resurrected body will be conformed to the image of Jesus. Paul says
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
John says
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
Paul further describes the resurrected body in
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
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.
A transformation is going to take place. Paul describes it as a metamorphosis. We know metamorphosis from studying butterflies. In some ways, resurrection is speaking of the same thing. You will transform into something far more glorious and beautiful than what you are now. However, you will not turn into something completely different, like a caterpillar to a butterfly. You will not become an angel. You are made in the image of God and you will remain in his image. You will still have a human body that walks upright and uses opposable thumbs. You will be divinely different, but very much the same.
John says your body will be like Jesus’s body. Paul says your body will be like his glorious body. What was Christ’s resurrected body like?
Literal Physical Body
Literal Physical Body
When you die in Christ, you are not going to remain some disembodied spirit. You will receive a physical resurrected body that will never decay.
It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
Your resurrected body is both physical and eternal. That is what Paul means when he says put on imperishable and immortality. Death and decay do not exist in heaven.
Jesus says to his disciples after his resurrection,
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
and he proved that he was flesh and bones when he said
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
He ate fish and broke bread with his disciples. He stood on the shoreline of the sea. Thomas touched his hands and his side. He was embraced physically and he spoke to them his instructions. In every respect he was embodied.
A Body With New Divine Capacities
A Body With New Divine Capacities
Jesus was able to do miraculous things with his resurrected body. He just showed one day in the middle of their room.
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
Notice, John makes sure to tell us that the doors were shut and locked. Jesus, with his resurrected body, came through the wall of the room. His body could materialize and de-materialize. There were also times he would appear and disappear on roads.
Powerful body
Powerful body
Paul says,
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
Your new resurrected body will be permanent and indestructible, imperishable. Nothing will be able to take any form of life away from you. It is both fully spiritual and flesh. You will have flesh and bones and DNA, but it will be empowered with the life of Christ, without sin, and with brokenness.
Your resurrected body will be fit for a new resurrected earth!
Your resurrected body will be fit for a new resurrected earth!
Your resurrected body is important to your eternity. God is going to restore all of heaven and earth. We will live in paradise, a resurrected earth. What you experience in this world, mountains, tress, animals, seas, everything is a foretaste of what is to come. I get this from thinking through Hebrews 8:4-5
Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.
They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.
They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”
In chapter 8, the author of Hebrews is continuing his discussion of Jesus as the Great High Priest, and as John Barry notes, he is connecting this role [of the high priest] to the heavenly tabernacle (vv. 2, 5) and the new covenant (vv. 6–7, 13). Jesus’ new covenant is better than the old one, enacted on better promises (v. 6).
The earthly tabernacle in Moses’ day represented the heavenly one. In verse 8, the the author of Hebrews says the earthly tabernacle is a sketch of the true tabernacle.
In chapter 9, the author says
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
This seems to imply that there are things on earth that have been patterned exactly after what is in heaven. In some ways, (not entirely) what you see and experience on earth is a derivative of what you will see and experience in heaven.
Listen to how Randy Alcorn, in his book, “Heaven,” describes the continuity of the earth now and what the new earth will be like in the resurrection.
“This world—including its natural wonders—gives us foretastes and glimpses of the next world. These people—including ourselves—give us foretastes and glimpses of the new people to come. This life—including its culture—gives us foretastes and glimpses of the next life.
If we take literally the earthly depictions of life on the New Earth, it allows us to make a direct connection with our current lives. When I’m eating with people here, enjoying food and friendship, it’s a bridge to when I’ll be eating there, enjoying food and friendship. This isn’t making a leap into the dark of a shadowy afterlife; it’s just taking a few natural steps in the light Scripture gives us.
Every joy on earth—including the joy of reunion—is an inkling, a whisper of greater joy. The Grand Canyon, the Alps, the Amazon rain forests, the Serengeti Plain—these are rough sketches of the New Earth. One day we may say, as a character in one of my novels said,
“The best parts of the old world were sneak previews of this one. Like little foretastes, like licking the spoon from Mama’s beef stew an hour before supper.”’ Randy Alcorn
“The best parts of the old world were sneak previews of this one. Like little foretastes, like licking the spoon from Mama’s beef stew an hour before supper.”’ Randy Alcorn
Every joy you experience in your body right now is a small glimpse into what you will get to experience in the New Heavens and Earth with your new resurrected body. We will experience the fullness of life as we know it without the effects of sin. Jesus provides this for you through his resurrection. This is why Easter is so glorious to us. We long for this day, yearn for it. Looking forward to our new resurrected bodies is what fuels our hope while we live in days that are evil now!
Jesus’ promise of resurrection helps you to joyfully advance His kingdom now (1 Corinthians 15:57-58; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10).
Jesus’ promise of resurrection helps you to joyfully advance His kingdom now (1 Corinthians 15:57-58; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10).
After his longest discourse on the resurrection of Christ and believers, Paul says,
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The therefore, in verse 58, means, in light of all I have said on the resurrection, you must be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Knowing Jesus is coming back to resurrect his people and restore the earth, we must always be working for His kingdom. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul explains that while we are in in this earthly tent, we must be of good courage, longing for our resurrected bodies, and making our aim to please God with our lives. We do this because we know
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The resurrection motivates you to keep advancing God’s kingdom in a manner that pleases him; walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel (holiness and godliness), fulfilling the Great Commission (Evangelism), Loving one another (John 13:35), and seeking first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33-34).
Jesus’ promise of resurrection strengthens your hope in suffering and death (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).
Jesus’ promise of resurrection strengthens your hope in suffering and death (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14).
Resurrection hope through suffering ( Romans 8:16-17; 1 Peter 4:12-13).
Resurrection hope through suffering ( Romans 8:16-17; 1 Peter 4:12-13).
Luke makes it clear to all New Testament believers that we must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations (Acts 14:22). We must keep the faith. Looking forward to the final resurrection bolsters our faith through suffering. Paul says something to this effect to the Roman church.
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
God’s spirit bears wittiness with our spirit that we are God’s children, and therefore heirs to God’s kingdom with Jesus. This is true only if we suffer with Jesus, that is, we hold fast to the faith when persecution comes. Paul says to suffer with Jesus so that you will be glorified with him, that is raised up in the resurrection. The “so that” is a result clause. Suffer with Jesus, persevere in the faith through trials and tribulations, so that you prove you are truly a child of God. If you suffer with him you will be glorified with him. So what keeps you holding on when you loose your family for Jesus? The promise of the resurrection.
Peter says to us,
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Peter roots your joy in the hope of the resurrection. Peter says rejoice in the suffering and fiery trials that come to you. This is normal for anyone who loves Jesus. Rejoice because you know one day his glory will be revealed, that his he is coming back and you will be physically resurrected to eternal life in a new resurrected earth.
Resurrection hope through death (1 Thessalonians 4:12-13)
Resurrection hope through death (1 Thessalonians 4:12-13)
Paul encourages the Thessalonian church with the hope of the resurrection.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
We live in a broken world where death consumes us and our loved ones. We are surrounded by it and fearful it will come sooner than later. It was no different for the Thessalonian church. Some of their dear brothers and sisters in the Lord died. That is what Paul means when he says the word “sleep.” They are grieving, and maybe tempted to grieve without hope.
Those without an understanding of the resurrection are hopeless. For the atheist, they are convinced that their loved ones simply perish and become dust, never to be seen again. Death is simply the end of life as you know it. Paul says this is simply not true.
Paul says there is life after death for those who died in Christ, you will see them again at the resurrection. There is your hope. Death is not the end, but a new beginning for eternity.
There is coming a day when jesus returns to redeem his people and restore the earth. Those who have died before this will come with him. Both those who have died and those who are alive on earth at that time, will immediately be transformed into their new resurrected body fit for the new heavens and earth. At that time you will experience the joy of reuniting with friends and family you labored with in Christ.
What is cool about this is there are those who are in heaven right now, in the intermediate state-they have heavenly bodies but not resurrected bodies, who are waiting to come back with Jesus so that they can have their new resurrected bodies. They are just as eager as you are right now.
What a day of rejoicing that will be, when we get to see our husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, and children excited about their new bodies that will never suffer from dementia, or cancer, or high blood sugar. They will hug you with real arms around your real body. You will feel their breathe on the back of your neck. You will hear their laughter and they will feel your excitement. It will be amazing and full of abundant life. Resurrection is meant to be a means of hope for you when death invades your life.
Again, Randy Alcorn encourages us,
“We on this dying Earth can relax and rejoice for our loved ones who are in the presence of Christ. As the apostle Paul tells us, though we naturally grieve at losing loved ones, we are not “to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Our parting is not the end of our relationship, only an interruption. We have not “lost” them, because we know where they are. They are experiencing the joy of Christ’s presence in a place so wonderful that Christ called it Paradise. And one day, we’re told, in a magnificent reunion, they and we “will be with the Lord forever.”’ Randy Alcorn
“We on this dying Earth can relax and rejoice for our loved ones who are in the presence of Christ. As the apostle Paul tells us, though we naturally grieve at losing loved ones, we are not “to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Our parting is not the end of our relationship, only an interruption. We have not “lost” them, because we know where they are. They are experiencing the joy of Christ’s presence in a place so wonderful that Christ called it Paradise. And one day, we’re told, in a magnificent reunion, they and we “will be with the Lord forever.”’ Randy Alcorn
Jesus’ resurrection ensures your physical eternal resurrection. He is currently preparing a place for you and your new resurrected body will be fit to live with him forever. What you see on earth, what you experience on earth is a foretaste of what you will see and experience in the new heavens and earth. Jesus promises you this resurrection and secured it with his own resurrection. He empowers it with his own life that is given freely all who come to him by faith. It is as good as done. Your can build your hope on his promise. You can use his promise as strength to keep the faith. But keep in mind, resurrection life is only for those who have repented and put their trust in Jesus.
Heed the Warning
Heed the Warning
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Just as there is a judgement of the righteous, those who are in Christ, there is a resurrection of the wicked, those who reject Jesus. The resurrection of the wicked is just as physical and conscious as the righteous. Those who reject Jesus will have flesh and bones, their minds and hearts fully intact. When God judges those who reject Christ to hell, they will be filly aware of where they are and why they are there. Just as those in Christ experience every aspect of joy and life in heaven, so every one in hell will experience every aspect of sorrow and hopelessness. The flames of hell will be relentless.
God has given you such a great mercy today. He has graciously shown you to hope and power of the resurrection that if offered freely through his Son, Jesus Christ. What you deserve for your sinful treason against God is a resurrection of eternal hell. But Jesus stands here today, alive, risen from the grave, to offer you a way of salvation from God’s wrath. You must repent of your sin. Confess it to the Father and ask for forgiveness. He is ready and willing to forgive you. Then you must accept Christ free gift. Confess him as your Lord and Savior. Trust in his work on the cross. By faith ask him to come into your heart to be King. Confess him as Lord and that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. His righteousness will be given to you and your sins will be cleansed and forgotten as far as the east is from the west. You will be guaranteed eternal life and will be resurrected in Christ, fit for his kingdom…a place you will belong forever.