The Resurrection

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Okay, so today for our next topic, I want to start by asking a question based on what we're doing. When I say the word resurrection, what do you picture? Jesus. Okay. Did you have a different answer? No. Anyone else have a different picture? [00:00:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Easter. [00:00:35] Speaker A: Easter. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Okay. [00:00:36] Speaker A: Kind of like the imagery of Easter. Okay. Anyone else? Hey, that's. Okay, that's. Oh, you have something different. That's like a lot of, like when you bury your friend in sand and you like, pull them out. If you didn't hear. He said, when you bury your friend in sand and then pull them out. Well, I know why it looks like they're coming out of a grave. Yeah. I would say I'm pretty pleased that most of us thought about Jesus or Easter. We associated it with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus christ. Maybe, you know, you might be somewhat likely, if you think a little longer, to think about Lazarus, who also was raised. I'm glad we weren't thinking too much about zombies or like the title of your handout suggests, the Sixth Sense, Seeing Dead People. This is, you know, maybe what you could think of, because as a resurrection refers to the dead rising, but the resurrection really only resembles what Jesus did. So as we talk about the resurrection, this is a future resurrection. We don't want to have these other images floating our minds. We want to think of how Christ resurrected. Sounds like we are on the right path. But before we discuss that, let's review. What is theology? Jeremiah. That's right. The study of God. How to be more like him. And what doctrine are we studying, Kellen? [00:02:19] Speaker B: The doctrine of last things. [00:02:21] Speaker A: Doctrine of last things. Otherwise known as eschatology. And what lessons have we covered so far? They are three. You don't have to name all three if you remember any. Yahweh. Yeah. Death in the intermediate state. So we're thinking of last things. Well, the last thing in your life is going to be death. So that's one way to remember it. [00:02:53] Speaker B: Death. [00:02:54] Speaker A: And then the intermediate state. What happens to people after they die but before Christ returns? Okay. [00:03:02] Speaker B: The pre. [00:03:03] Speaker A: Millennial or amillennial stuff, we could just say the millennium. That's right. Last week we talked about the millennium and we talked about four, five or no, four different ways to think about it. That's right. What came before that in our lessons? I know obviously people with different views will think about this other lesson happening at different times. The return of Christ. That's right. So we talked about death, intermediate state. Well, the intermediate state will end when the Christ returns. We talked about the glory of Christ return. Then we talked about the millennium, how different faithful Christians understand that doctrine. And now we're at the resurrection. You know, while we discussed the debated nature and timing of the millennium, there's a large agreement about when Christ returns, or that when Christ returns, the resurrection happens. At least for some. There'd be a first and a second, but at least a resurrection happens. So that's what we're talking about. So the first point affirmation we want to make is that the resurrection is the completion of salvation. The resurrection is the completion of salvation. To kind of see this, we're going to go to a few passages, but let's start by going to Romans 8, Romans 8, 29, 30. And would somebody read Romans 8, 29, 30? Anyone want to read? And when you read, you can read it nice and heartily, since we're pretty spread out. [00:05:05] Speaker B: 8, 29, 30. [00:05:07] Speaker A: Yep. [00:05:09] Speaker B: For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. [00:05:27] Speaker A: Okay, thank you. Now, you might remember a lot of these terms, or maybe they're just vaguely familiar. When we discussed the doctrine of salvation, we talked about predestining, calling, justifying. I'm trying to recall. I think we maybe mentioned this last word, glorified or glorification. What do you think glorified refers to? Any guess? It's talking about sinners that have been saved, have been predestined, called justified, and also glorified. Well, I think what we're seeing here is kind of this completion of salvation, this glorification that is as good as accomplished, but is actually completed at the end, this glorification of believers with the Lord. Now, theologians have compiled this kind of chain of salvation. The order sometimes is debated, but I put a common one as a graphic on your handout so you can see it. There's an election. There's a call of the gospel. There is regeneration. Okay, so election. In some way, God is choosing. There's a call on your heart to repent and believe. There's regeneration, that is the new creation of your heart receiving a new heart. This. Then there is justification. Does anyone remember what that means? Anybody? Justification. It's been a while. I probably ask this one the most. That's why I'm pointing it out. Okay. Yeah. It's being justified before God. What does that mean, being Made, right? Yeah. Being made or declared righteous before God. Upon this there is adoption. The sinner becomes a child of God. Then from that point on, the new believer is sanctified through the rest of his or her life, being made more holy. And then finally there's glorification, the completion of it all, dwelling in perfect eternity with the Lord. Now, a lot of these from our eyes are simultaneous, so that might confuse you a little bit. This is more of a logical argument, a logical progression. But a lot of this is simultaneous. But glorification comes at the end. The point is that this is the completion. That's what we're talking about today. Glorification comes the time of the resurrection, when Christ returns. Even the Old Testament proclaims of the resurrection of the dead. So first go to job 1926, Job in 1926, job is right before the Psalms. Job 1926 says, and after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. What we see here is, I believe Job here, yes, is responding and saying, though my skin has thus been destroyed, though I die, though it decays in the grave, in my flesh I shall see the Lord. So he sees more than just spiritually being with God after he dies, he sees being in the flesh with the Lord in heaven. Even Job, this is a very early book, possibly one of the earliest books in the Bible. And yet Job, he understands and believes in the resurrection. So that's job 1926. If we go to Isaiah 26:19, not to be confused, just flip the numbers, go to Isaiah 26:19, we see more evidence. Isaiah 26:19 says, Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy, for your dew is dew of light. And the earth will give birth to the dead. So here again, this one is even more apparent. He says, the dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. There are many other places in the Old Testament, maybe less explicit. That's why I didn't choose them. That show us that these Old Testament saints believed in the resurrection. This is not a new doctrine. It's clarified by Christ's resurrection. But this is not new in salvation history. This is what Isaiah, Job, Abraham and others believed. So application number one. We should understand that salvation is sure, but not complete. We should understand that salvation is sure, but not complete. Therefore. So here's the therefore, be humble and diligent in good works. Be humble and diligent in good works. This idea that salvation is sure, it's certain, but it's not completed. Helps Us understand verses that tell us to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. The reason this can be said is because it is not complete yet. We can still say, just to be clear, you can hear me. We can still say, I am saved because God has promised that those whom he predestined, he also called justified and will glorify them as well. That whole process, from Romans 8, is guaranteed from the beginning to the end, glorification. So you can be certain, but that doesn't mean it's already complete, right? We have not been glorified. We are. If you are in Christ, you are still being sanctified, being made holy. There is still work being done in you through Christ. The reason this is important is because understanding this helps us to be humble. It's less of a, yeah, I'm good. I got the ticket. We are still being worked on, and this can then help us to be diligent in the good works that God has prepared for you to do. So we need to understand this Error number one, then. So there's an error to avoid. Also on your page. We must not act as if our duties are over and that God will just forgive us because we've already prayed a prayer and trusted in Him. Our duties and responsibilities continue because we love the Lord. It is not complete. The world is full of sin. It is full of dying people that don't know the Lord. There is still work to be done. Christ has not returned, but because he is patient, he is giving more and more opportunity for people to be sanctified, for people to be saved. And so we need to remember this main point. Number two. The resurrection is the Christian's great hope. The resurrection is the Christian's great hope. To see this, let's go to Acts, chapter 26. Acts 26. Acts is after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Before Romans 26 is towards the end. Acts, chapter 26. We're going to look at verses 22 and 23. And here Paul is speaking. He says, for this or to this day, I have had the help that comes from God. And so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. Now what is the significance here? This phrase comes from verse 23. What is the significance that Christ is said to be the first to rise from the dead? Any guesses? Why is it important that Christ was the first to rise from the dead. It means he's not the only to rise from the dead. It means there will be more. He was the first. And this doesn't mean other people will be rising in the same way under their own power. But he is creating a pattern. It is foreshadowing something to come. It's foreshadowing the resurrection of the believers. There is hope that others too will rise. And this is not just a message to other Jews. It is a message to our people, Jews, and to the Gentiles. It is a message to all peoples that Christ was first and thus all in him will also rise as he did. This then can point us to 1 Thessalonians 4:13, which I'll read, or you can flip there too, if you'd like. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, AKA dead, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. What Paul is saying is that Christians have hope even when people die. This hope is that they will rise as Christ did. They will be resurrected. This is the great hope of the Christians. Who has no hope. The people who have no hope have no hope in the resurrection. Paul goes on later in this passage to explain how the resurrection of the dead will occur. We'll read through that in a minute. But first I want to cover the second error to avoid error number two. We must not reject the resurrection on the grounds that it is mythical or impossible. Now, you might think that's the most obvious thing for a guy who works at a church to say, and it might be, but nonetheless, modern scholars, theologians, they read the Bible the way that people such as Thomas Jefferson read the Bible. He is said to have removed miracles and the supernatural elements from the Gospels. And they essentially do the same thing. Maybe not physically. Many scholars, I mean, if you ever find yourself reading scholarly works, I'm not saying you need to, but if you do, you'll find that they'll interpret the Bible by just assuming that any miracle obviously didn't happen. Okay? So obviously this couldn't have happened. So let's try to explain it in another way, or let's try to find moral significance there. Obviously, God didn't create the world out of nothing. Obviously, he didn't make his friend Lazarus rise from the dead. And so we try to find some moral thing around it. We cannot do this. We can't. If God said this in His Word, and if Jesus confirmed that this is His Word, and he did. And if this Word teaches that Jesus also raised from the dead, then we must believe it all. If a man who walked out of his own grave confirmed everything in the Word, we are fools if we don't believe it. So logically we would be foolish to disbelieve the Bible. So we must read it at face value, see what it says and believe it. We can't just come to the Bible assuming nothing like this could happen, because this is the Christian's great hope. Point number three, then the resurrection is related to Christ's resurrection. We've kind of touched on this a little bit. We can look again at 1 Thessalonians 4. So if you didn't flip there, now would be a good time. We're going to look at 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, 18. So continuing at verse 14, Paul says, for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 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 or die. 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. The dead in Christ will rise first. 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, therefore encourage one another with these words. So this text tells us how the resurrection will all go down. Kind of just gives us point by point, very concise, what's going to happen? But first, what is the significance of Jesus resurrection in relation to his final resurrection? Well, if we are ultimately saved by being united to Christ, which I have said in the past, I think this union with Christ is the heart of salvation. But if we're ultimately saved by being united to him, then we are also united to him in his resurrection. He died, so believers die to their sin nature. He was raised, and so believers will also be raised. We have complete union with Him. That's what we see in baptism. We see a death and a resurrection coming up from out of the water. That also probably would have been an acceptable answer when you think of resurrection, someone coming out of the baptismal waters. Now, according to this passage, what happens to believers who have died? They rise again. They'll be raised, given new glorified bodies. Otherwise it's not a resurrection. And most of their old Bodies have disappeared over time, and so we know they'll be given these new bodies. What will happen to believers who are alive at the time? Anyone? Anybody? What does it say will happen to those who are left? Those who are alive? Huh? Well, not quite sure what you mean, but they will come together, right? They're going to be called up with Christ. And all the other believers have been risen. And look here, I'll read a passage from 2nd Corinthians 5. This is 2nd Corinthians 5, 2 4, if you want to write it down. Paul writes, for in this tent, when he's talking about a tent, he's talking about his current body, a temporary home for your soul. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So more than this, even those who are alive are given new, heavenly, glorified bodies. Glorified bodies are for everyone. So even the living will be given glorified life and flesh. So error number three to avoid is we must not think that we'll remain bodiless after the return of Christ and the resurrection. You know, I hope you see that this, this is a true belief, a true doctrine. Paul refers to being bodiless as being naked in Second Corinthians 5, 3. He says, that is not the ideal. Now, we talked about in the intermediate state. That's where people are. They have not been resurrected. They're spirits only with the Lord. But that is not the end goal. The end goal is to be clothed with heavenly flesh. That's how God created us to be. He didn't create us to just be spirits. He gave us bodies. He gave Adam and Eve bodies for a reason, so that we can reflect him appropriately. So application two. Then believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus christ. It's simple. Believe in it. There are people professing to be Christians that do not believe in the literal and physical resurrection of Jesus. They and others might, in your life, want to convince you to disbelieve. It is clear to me that the only logical response to the Bible is to believe every word. And if you deny the resurrection, you cannot be a Christian. This is a contradiction. It is not possible. Paul says that we are fools that the resurrection didn't happen. We are wasting our time. We are to be pitied, he says. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:14, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. So believe in the resurrection. The fourth and final point then is the resurrection gives us new bodies. Again, we just started to touch on that, but let's think about it a little bit more. The resurrection gives us new bodies, gives believers new bodies. So last week again we spoke about the millennium. The differing views understand the resurrection slightly differently. So everyone believes that believers dead and alive will be resurrected and glorified at the return of Christ. I think, you know, that's largely agreed upon. Those that were called amillennial and post millennial believe that the wicked are resurrected too, at the same time to receive judgment. So everybody is raised and is judged when Christ returns. The two versions of premillennialism believe the wicked are not resurrected until after that millennium, that 1,000 years. But nonetheless, believers are resurrected. And at some point non believers are resurrected and judged. And that's what we can agree on. The timing of that second part might be debated, but let's focus now on the encouraging news that in Christ all will receive. All who are in Christ will receive perfected and glorified bodies. I don't want to overlook this point. I think sometimes it's kind of a footnote when we talk about the doctrine of last things. But this is so important. It's needed. A lot more people struggle thinking about their bodies than we even acknowledge. Your current body is destined to die and to rot into dust. That's how it's built. Your new body would never corrupt, age, deteriorate, or die. Your current body is mingled with sin. Your new body would be sinless. Your current body can get sick. It can get laryngitis. Your new body would never get sick. Body image issues, diseases, cancer and more will all be gone. No more. There will be no more struggling with weight gain or lack of weight gain. No more struggling with acne, no terminal illnesses. You'll be completely happy and satisfied with your body. So application 3 Praise the Lord that all perfections of the body through sin will be no more wiped away, gone forever. And you can have hope in those things. Even disabled people can have hope in a completely able body. That is a wonderful, wonderful thing. And while we can think of that and long for that, I want to make another no, this is not an excuse to loathe or hate your current body so that now would be error number four. We cannot hate our current bodies. Psalm 139:14 reminds us even as we can hope in the resurrection if we have faith in Christ. Psalm 139:14 says, I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Even with the imperfections. We are called to love our bodies by glorifying God with them. He has made you. He knitted you together in your mother's womb. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. So praise God for what he gave you, and praise him also for for what you can have if you put your faith in Christ. The hope of the resurrection is reserved for born again believers in the Lord Jesus. So believe in Him. Turn from your sin and he promises it will all be wiped away. Every single defect, every single disease, everything bad. And you will be saved and you will be glorified with Him. Something that we don't deserve glorification. With Christ's resurrection from the dead, we deserve that grave. We deserve that death and war. But he is happy to resurrect those who love Him. Are there any questions? Okay, as always, you can always ask me afterward. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the gift of the resurrection. Lord, we pray that all in here would see that day as beacon of hope. That you would convict the hearts of those who have not turned from their sins. That they would trust in you, they would be saved and they would be destined for glory. Lord, help us to be your chosen instruments to bring more people to the church, to bring more people to faith in your Son. And we pray this in his name. Amen.