1 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,760 Good morning, good to see everybody. 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,680 It's a beautiful, beautiful day to be in the House of the Lord. 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,520 I'm glad we've gathered together this morning. 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:23,840 If you have a Bible, you can turn to 1st Corinthians 15, 5 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:29,680 First Corinthians chapter 15. We'll be in verse 35 today on 6 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,119 down through 49. The title of the message today 7 00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:36,800 is Raised in glory. And Wells, my oldest said that I 8 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,000 need to encourage you not to be cremated. 9 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,720 All right, so that's a little clue into some of the things 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,040 we're talking about this morning, our spiritual bodies 11 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:52,080 that will receive what an encouraging passage throughout 12 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,600 the chapter in First Corinthians 15. 13 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,320 Throughout this chapter, Paul has been dismantling, if you 14 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,960 will, every argument against the resurrection. 15 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,960 There's been a lot of arguments against the resurrection, and 16 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,840 Paul's been dismantling those. Some, some are denying the 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,600 resurrection altogether, this future resurrection of the 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,400 Saints. Others misunderstood what it 19 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,760 meant. And so now Paul turns to this 20 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:26,680 very practical question, what will our resurrection bodies be 21 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:28,960 like? What will our resurrection 22 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,960 bodies be like? And that's what these verses 23 00:01:31,960 --> 00:01:34,440 answer for us today. As we read the passage, though, 24 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,440 I want you to pay attention. Paul uses a lot of contrast. 25 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,200 I'll try to point those out as we go, but pay attention to 26 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,160 those because he he talks about the contrast between what is 27 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:47,840 sown and what is raised, What is sown and what is raised. 28 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,000 It's another contrast he reveals between Adam and Christ. 29 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,840 And then the final, the final contrast we'll see is between 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,560 the natural and the spiritual. So contrast between what is 31 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,120 sown, what is raised between Adam and Christ and between the 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,080 natural and the spiritual. These three contrasts help us to 33 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,200 see that the resurrection is not just about living again. 34 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:15,200 It's not just about living again. 35 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,440 It's about being gloriously transformed. 36 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:24,320 Gloriously transformed. So 1st Corinthians 15, if you 37 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,000 would please stand in honor of the reading of God's Word, if 38 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,800 you're able. Again, we're looking at verses 39 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:37,400 35 through 49 this morning. But someone will ask, how are 40 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,440 the dead raised? With what kind of body do they 41 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:44,520 come? You foolish person, what you sow 42 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,320 does not come to life unless it dies. 43 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,040 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bear 44 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,440 kernel, perhaps of weed or of some other grain. 45 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:59,760 But God gives it a body as he is chosen into each kind of seed, 46 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,800 its own body. For not all flesh is the same, 47 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,320 but there's one kind for humans, another for animals, another for 48 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,960 birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and 49 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,840 earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one-of-a-kind, 50 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,320 and the glory of the earthly is of another. 51 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,160 There's one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, 52 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:29,800 and another glory of the stars. For star differs from for star 53 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:34,240 differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection 54 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,760 of the dead. What is sown is perishable, and 55 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,920 what is raised as imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. 56 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,280 It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. 57 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,560 It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, It is 58 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,040 raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, 59 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,440 there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written. 60 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,360 The first man, Adam, became a living being. 61 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,320 The last Adam became a living life, giving spirits. 62 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,520 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural, and 63 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,440 then the spiritual. The first man was from the 64 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,240 earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. 65 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,839 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. 66 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,960 And as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of 67 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,160 heaven. Just as we have borne the image 68 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,480 of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man 69 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,920 of heaven. This is the word of the Lord. 70 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:35,920 Please be to God. Let's pray. 71 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,400 Heavenly Father, as we open this passage in First Corinthians 15, 72 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:50,160 we have previously looked at just the explicit gospel in the 73 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:54,000 opening of this chapter. Lord, as we examine that, we saw 74 00:04:54,080 --> 00:05:00,440 that you have graciously redeemed, graciously saved your 75 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:06,760 people through the life of death and resurrection of your Son and 76 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:08,520 Father. As we have continued to examine 77 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:15,680 the passage, we have seen, Lord, that we too will be raised to 78 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:20,040 life one day, that as Christ has been raised, so too will we 79 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,480 rise. And that should inform the way 80 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,640 that we live here and now. And now we come to this passage 81 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,760 on what our spiritual bodies will be like. 82 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,000 Paul is just further showing that there is a resurrection 83 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,200 that awaits those who are in Christ. 84 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:38,640 And so, Lord, as we behold this today, would you help us to see 85 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,280 first and foremost more of Your own glory. 86 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,920 Help us to see first and foremost more of how splendid 87 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,760 you are, how gracious you are. Help us to take hold of the 88 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:56,440 promise of a future resurrection where our imperishable body, 89 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,320 imperishable bodies, where our perishable bodies will become 90 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,480 imperishable, where our natural bodies will become spiritual. 91 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,200 Father, Lord, help us to see these things clearly this 92 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:12,400 morning, that we might live with a renewed hope, we might live 93 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:17,480 with a strong foundation, or that we would truly understand 94 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,280 that we should not fear those who can hurt the flesh, but we 95 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:26,000 should only fear the one who can condemn our spirits. 96 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,480 And so, Lord, may we have a reverence for you as we study 97 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,720 this passage this morning. May our hearts grow deeper in 98 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,920 love with You, more fond of you. May the desires, our affections 99 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,600 grow to be more and more Christ like through the sermon. 100 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:44,880 It's in the name of Christ I pray. 101 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:46,480 Amen. Amen. 102 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:59,790 You may be seated. Have you ever stood at the 103 00:06:59,790 --> 00:07:06,510 graveside of a loved one and felt the sting of weakness? 104 00:07:11,390 --> 00:07:14,670 You feel the finality of death in that moment. 105 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,720 Paul knew that feeling well, but he also knew something stronger. 106 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,560 And so he writes these words in First Corinthians 15. 107 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:33,440 Paul knew that the same God who raised Jesus will also raise all 108 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,720 who are his. And so here Paul invites us to 109 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:42,760 look beyond the frailty of our earthly bodies to to the 110 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:48,360 splendor of our future ones. He takes us from the dust of 111 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:55,800 Adam to the glory of Christ. If you're taking notes, you can 112 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,200 write this down. Because Christ has risen, we 113 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,640 will be raised in glory, transformed and conformed to his 114 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,960 image. Because Christ has risen, we who 115 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:12,000 are in Christ will be raised in glory, transformed and conformed 116 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,680 to his image. And Paul in this passage shows 117 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:22,000 us 3 truths about future our future resurrection bodies. 118 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,080 The first thing he reveals to us is that our resurrection will 119 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,160 demonstrate God's transforming power. 120 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,000 Secondly, we'll see that our resurrection will exchange 121 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,120 weakness for glory. And thirdly, we'll see that our 122 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:38,320 resurrection will complete our likeness to Christ. 123 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:40,480 That will complete our likeness to Christ. 124 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:43,679 So again, the main point, because Christ has risen, we who 125 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:48,000 are in Christ will be raised in glory, transformed and conformed 126 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,880 to his own image. Let's examine point number one. 127 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:56,240 Our our resurrection will demonstrate God's transforming 128 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,040 power. Again, we see this in verses 35 129 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:04,560 through 41. But someone will ask, how are 130 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:07,680 the dead raised? So Paul's anticipating this 131 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:11,240 argument that's coming, right? He's he's been arguing for this. 132 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:12,680 He's been revealing these truths. 133 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:15,480 He's anticipating this argument. How are the dead raised? 134 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:17,920 With what kind of body do they come? 135 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:26,640 And Paul answers very kindly, you foolish person, What you sow 136 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,000 does not come to life unless it dies. 137 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,600 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bear 138 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,600 kernel, perhaps of weed or some other grain. 139 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:41,640 But God gives it a body as he is chosen into each kind of seed, 140 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,240 its own body. For not all flesh is the same. 141 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,080 There is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for 142 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,040 birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and 143 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,520 earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one-of-a-kind, 144 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,760 and the glory of the earthly is of another. 145 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,360 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, 146 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,840 and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in 147 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:12,080 glory. So Paul begins by responding to 148 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,480 these questions. How are the dead rays? 149 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,440 What kind of body do they come? Now Paul understands these 150 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,000 aren't honest inquiries, all right? 151 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,360 These are the tractors. These are people who are holding 152 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:30,360 out false truths, teaching them. They're really mocking 153 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,400 questions. And so Paul answers the fool 154 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,640 according to his folly and says bluntly, you foolish person, 155 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:43,720 right to answer, Paul uses this illustration from nature. 156 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:48,800 He says a seed must die before it can live again. 157 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,360 A seed must die before it can live again. 158 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:57,520 So what you sow is not the full grown plant, Paul, say what? 159 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,720 What you're sowing into the ground with your body is not the 160 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,280 full grown plant. It's a bare kernel. 161 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,920 God gives each seed its own body, right? 162 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,520 So the same principle applies to the resurrection. 163 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:15,200 The body that dies and is buried is not the same body that will 164 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,320 be raised. It will be transformed by God's 165 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,920 creative power. Paul broadens that illustration 166 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,080 in 39 through 41 where he shows that there's a diversity of 167 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,440 bodies in creation. There's humans and animals and 168 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,160 birds and fish. There's heavenly bodies like the 169 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,160 sun and the moon, but they all differ in glory. 170 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:41,240 And so to the resurrected body will be a different kind or 171 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,600 different in kind from our present one. 172 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,160 This is the oak tree is different from the acorn. 173 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,120 Resurrection is not resuscitation. 174 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,480 Think sometimes we maybe I do have thought of the resurrection 175 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:02,800 is like a resuscitation, but God's not merely patching up 176 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,120 your old body. He's transforming your body 177 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,720 entirely. And so the constituency remains. 178 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,520 You are still you, right? It's not that you become a 179 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,920 different person, right? We don't believe in a 180 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:17,920 reincarnation or anything like that. 181 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,480 You are still you, but the quality of your body is 182 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,480 gloriously different. It's a gloriously different 183 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,560 body. You may think of a Caterpillar 184 00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:32,640 and a butterfly, right? The creature that crawls into 185 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,600 the cocoon is not the same that flies out. 186 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:40,040 Death in this illustration is the cocoon. 187 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,920 Resurrection is the emergence into glory. 188 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:49,080 So when you look in the mirror, brothers and sisters, and you 189 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:56,960 see signs of aging, right? You see signs of weakness, you 190 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,440 see signs of pain. I want you to remember, Paul 191 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,120 wants you to remember. God wants you to remember that 192 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:09,960 this body is a seed. What God will raise will far 193 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:14,600 exceed what you see right now, the far exceed what you see 194 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,120 today. The grave may be the garden bed, 195 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,720 so to speak, but God is the gardener. 196 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,760 He's going to raise it in a new way. 197 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,160 Now, before we move on, I thought this would be a good 198 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:31,320 time to address a question that sometimes arises when we talk 199 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:36,280 about the resurrection. All right, if our bodies are 200 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:41,080 sown in the ground, what happens to our souls in the meantime? 201 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,840 It's a question that we were forced to answer with our 202 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,080 children a lot sooner than we thought we would be. 203 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,320 Right, if our bodies are sewn on the ground, what happens to our 204 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,920 souls in the meantime? Well, some have taught this view 205 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,240 called soul sleep, which claims that believers remain 206 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,080 unconscious until the resurrection. 207 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:08,760 But Scripture consistently teaches otherwise, and the Bible 208 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,160 uses the word sleep for believers. 209 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,600 It describes the body's condition, not the soul's 210 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:17,280 condition. Right. 211 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,800 The body rests in the grave, it awaits the resurrection to come, 212 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,680 but the soul is immediately conscious and present with the 213 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,320 Lord. Paul says in Second Corinthians 214 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,960 58, We would be, We would rather be away from the body and at 215 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,600 home with the Lord, right? There's an implication there 216 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,680 that being away from the body is to be present with the Lord and 217 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,840 Philippians 123 Paul also writes, my desire is to depart 218 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,400 and be with Christ, for that is far better. 219 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:52,000 So Paul understood that if he were to die, as he's writing 220 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,920 this letter to the Philippians, if he were to die, that he would 221 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:59,040 depart the body and be present with Christ and that that is far 222 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,480 better. Jesus even told the thief on the 223 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,920 cross who confessed his belief that he was the Son of God. 224 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,680 Jesus turned to the man and said, today you will be with me 225 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,800 in paradise. All this means is that what all 226 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,720 this means is that the moment a believer dies, your soul is not 227 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,640 asleep. It's alive and in the presence 228 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,800 of Christ. It awaits the day when it will 229 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,800 be reunited with a glorified body. 230 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,480 Yes, that you are present with Christ. 231 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,520 So the body is sown in weakness. It may be sown in weakness, but 232 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:37,760 the soul is safe with the Savior. 233 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,040 All right, So here's a simple way you can think about it. 234 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,480 At death the body sleeps. It ceases physical function, all 235 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:48,320 right. It's buried into the ground. 236 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,640 You came from dust, and so to dust you shall return. 237 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,160 But the soul enters the presence of Christ at death. 238 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,520 And then there's this intermediate state, if you will, 239 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,440 between when the time the time when a believer passes and the 240 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,920 time where Christ will descend from the heavens. 241 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,440 In that intermediate state, the believer enjoys a conscious 242 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,840 fellowship with Christ in heaven, awaiting bodily 243 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:20,800 resurrection. One of the most clearest places 244 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,720 we see this is Hebrews 12/23, where the writer of Hebrews is 245 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,280 explaining what happens when we come to worship, all right. 246 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,600 And he talks about there you haven't come to that which may 247 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,800 be touched, but you've come to Mount Zion, right? 248 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,520 And and he says there that in in a spiritual sense, when we come 249 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,160 together to worship, we gather with the assembly of the first 250 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,240 born, he writes, who are enrolled in heaven and to God, 251 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:53,080 the judge of all and to the spirits of the righteous made 252 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:54,960 perfect. All right. 253 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:03,840 So in worship God spiritually, you're enraptured spiritually in 254 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,800 worship in such a way that you are in fellowship. 255 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,800 You've come to the assembly of the first born here enrolled in 256 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,160 heaven to God, the judge of all and to the spirits of the 257 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:20,560 righteous made perfect. In Revelation 69 we read here, 258 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,800 when he opened the 5th seal, John writes, I saw under the 259 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,360 altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God 260 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,760 and for the witness they had borne. 261 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:39,200 So John sees in his revelation the souls of the martyrs, those 262 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,120 who had been slain for the Word of God. 263 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:44,640 So that's the intermediate state. 264 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:46,640 Thirdly, you can think about Resurrection Day. 265 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,600 So you have you can think about it at death, you can think about 266 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:51,720 it in an intermediate state, you can think about it at the 267 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,480 resurrection day where Christ reunites the glorified body with 268 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:58,920 the perfected soul. OK, we're going to get to that 269 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,080 in a moment as we look at 42 through 44 in this passage. 270 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,760 But another passage that reveals this for us is First 271 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:09,560 Thessalonians 414 through 18. So if you'll allow me to to read 272 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,080 this passage. For since we believe that Jesus 273 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,520 died and rose again, Even so through Jesus God will bring 274 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,320 with him those who have fallen asleep. 275 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:24,120 For this we declare to you by word from the Lord, that we who 276 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,720 are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not 277 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:29,880 precede those who have fallen asleep. 278 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,520 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry 279 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,720 of command, with the voice of an Archangel, and with the sound of 280 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,520 a of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise 281 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,360 first, then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up 282 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:47,520 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 283 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,000 And so we will always be with the Lord. 284 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,240 And then listen to verse 18 of that passage. 285 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,720 Therefore, encourage one another with these words. 286 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:01,560 Encourage one another with these words. 287 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:07,240 So when Paul describes the body as being sown and later raised, 288 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:10,720 he's not saying that your soul is asleep in the ground. 289 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,120 She's describing the state of your body. 290 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:17,160 He's describing God's power to transform what is perishable 291 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:22,120 into that which is imperishable. The believer's body rests. 292 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,480 And that's the question Paul's really dealing with in First 293 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,000 Corinthians 15, right, is what happens to our bodies in the 294 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,200 resurrection. But the believer himself is 295 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,240 already alive in Christ. He's awaiting the day when the 296 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,560 seed of this body burst forth in glory. 297 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,080 Amen. Second thing, the second truth 298 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,320 we see about our resurrection is that our resurrection will 299 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:52,080 exchange weakness for glory. Like a 42 through 44. 300 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,080 So it is. So is it with the resurrection 301 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,360 of the dead. What is sown is perishable, and 302 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:01,200 what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor. 303 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,720 It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. 304 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,080 It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. 305 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,600 It has raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, 306 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:18,520 there is also a spiritual body. So Paul literally in the passage 307 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:24,080 is now turning from illustration to direct description, right? 308 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:29,920 He's he's building the arguments and in doing so, he outlines 4 309 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,160 glorious contrast between the body that dies and the body that 310 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,120 will be raised. The first contrast we see is 311 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:42,280 that perishable becomes imperishable in verse 42, right? 312 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,080 Our present bodies are subject to decay. 313 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,120 They're subject to disease, they're subject to death. 314 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:58,760 All right, We spend much of our lives chasing the wellspring of 315 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:04,480 youth, doing whatever we can to try to slow down this aging, 316 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,440 decaying, disease ridden, death ridden process. 317 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,280 But have you known anyone to finally slow it down? 318 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,200 No. Not even the wealthiest people 319 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,480 in the world can buy that which is imperishable. 320 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,720 Not even the wealthiest people in the world can buy that which 321 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:33,640 is eternal, right? It all ends the same way, 322 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:40,960 returning to dust. And yet Paul shows that the 323 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:46,040 resurrection body will be free from every trace of corruption. 324 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,480 It'll be free from that. There will be no corruption, 325 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:51,680 right? There'll be no sickness. 326 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,200 There'll be no aging, no decline, no sin, right? 327 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,600 It will share, it will share in as a Co heir with Christ, it 328 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:05,120 will share in the imperishable life of the risen Lord. 329 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:11,360 It'll be like him. The second contrast Paul shows 330 00:22:11,360 --> 00:22:14,680 us is that we go from dishonor to glory. 331 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,960 Sown in dishonor, raised in glory. 332 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:27,960 You see, death exposes the shame of sin, death exposes the shame 333 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,520 of sin, right? If you think back to the Garden 334 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,040 of Eden in the fall of man, in the day that you eat of the 335 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,080 fruit of the knowledge of tree, the fruit of the knowledge of 336 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:41,560 the tree of good and evil. Sorry, way said that backwards. 337 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,080 If you eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, of good and 338 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:56,800 evil, then you will surely die. Sin brought death. 339 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:07,720 Death was not a part of the plan for man in the Garden of Eden, 340 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,640 meaning that it was man's rebellion against God. 341 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:22,040 Man's desire to be like God became unlike God altogether, 342 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,560 became sinful, and brought death on humanity. 343 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,080 It wasn't just physical death, so that is sure. 344 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,600 And physical death is sure because of sin, but it also 345 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,920 brought spiritual death. You're born with the sin of 346 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,080 Adam. You've inherited it from your 347 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:45,240 first Father. You will surely die because you 348 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,600 are surely spiritually dead already. 349 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,640 So burial is humbling, or at least it ought to be. 350 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,480 It's a humble admission that we are not God. 351 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,000 It's a humble admission that we are finite rather than infinite. 352 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,960 It's it's a humble admission that God is perfect and 353 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:17,000 righteous and just and we are sinful. 354 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,240 What was once vibrant, the life of a person, what was once 355 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:30,160 vibrant becomes lifeless in death. 356 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:38,200 Paul is showing here that what is sown in dishonor will be 357 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:44,440 raised in glory. In the resurrection, all of that 358 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:49,880 dishonor will be reversed. Amen. 359 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:56,680 The believer who once bore the marks of sin and mortality will 360 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:02,440 shine, will shine in eternity with the splendor of 361 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,760 righteousness. We see in the book of Daniel in 362 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:10,840 chapter 12 verse 3, it says those who are wise shall shine 363 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,640 like the brightness of the sky above. 364 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,000 The third contrast that Paul reveals here in verse 43 is 365 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,320 weakness to power. He's showing that human life is 366 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,720 fragile. He's revealing that strength 367 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:34,480 fades and on our best days we're still weak and those best days 368 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:42,040 pass so quickly. You can read in James about life 369 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,280 being a vapor. You can read in Ecclesiastes 370 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:49,160 about life being a vapor. You can see in Psalm 90, Moses's 371 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:56,400 Psalm, Moses's prayer, that life is a vapor that passes quickly. 372 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:01,080 But the body. But the body that will be raised 373 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,680 will be marked by power and not weakness. 374 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:09,200 It'll be raised in power, meaning it'll be vigorous, it'll 375 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,680 be whole. It's complete, right? 376 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:19,640 And it's capable, finally capable of glorifying God 377 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,840 forever. Isn't this one of the most 378 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:27,200 frustrating things about your weak flesh today is that you do 379 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:32,440 not have the capability to glorify God always and forever? 380 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,960 Do you find yourself, as I do, wrestling with your flesh, 381 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,520 wrestling with evil desires of rebellion, wrestling with evil 382 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,840 desires of of of lust, wrestling with evil desires of greed, 383 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:52,040 wrestling with evil desires of pride? 384 00:26:55,280 --> 00:27:00,920 And yet, because of the great grace of God, what is sown in 385 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,160 weakness will be raised in power. 386 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,080 Ephesians 119 through 20 tells us that the power that raised 387 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:16,880 Jesus from the dead will pulse through every fiber of our 388 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,240 being. And then the 4th contrast that 389 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,000 Paul shows us is between the natural and the spiritual in 390 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:31,800 verse 44. And when he talks about the 391 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,360 spiritual, he doesn't mean the immaterial. 392 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:44,280 Sometimes we reveal that we've been discipled by ghost stories 393 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:49,640 rather than the Scriptures when we think about the afterlife and 394 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:54,320 we think that our bodies are, that our spiritual dwelling will 395 00:27:54,320 --> 00:28:01,360 now be some immaterial, purposeless existence. 396 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,840 But what Paul means when he says that the natural becomes 397 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:15,320 spiritual, he means that it becomes totally, utterly 398 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,520 spiritually empowered or spirit empowered. 399 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,760 It's powered by the spirit of God. 400 00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,120 The word natural here is the Greek word psychocus. 401 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:36,800 Sorry, Psychicus. And it refers to the life that's 402 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:42,920 animated by the soul, meaning it's subject to sin, it's 403 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:44,720 subject to the weakness of flesh. 404 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,880 That's the natural existence. But the spiritual existence, 405 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,080 well, that's a different word. It's pneumaticos. 406 00:28:55,560 --> 00:29:00,800 And that spiritual body will be fully animated, fully directed, 407 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,480 and fully sustained by the Holy Spirit himself. 408 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:12,200 It is still physical, but perfected. 409 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,600 It's free from the conflict between flesh and the Spirit 410 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,960 that now wars within us. And praise God for that 411 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:27,840 liberating freedom. The resurrection body represents 412 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:31,120 both continuity and transformation. 413 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:32,800 That's what Paul is showing us here. 414 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,920 The same body that dies is raised, but raised in an 415 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:42,320 entirely new mode of existence. It's glorified. 416 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:50,560 You see, God is not discarding what He's created. 417 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,520 You were created in the image of God, male and female, in the 418 00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,240 likeness of Him. He's not going to discard that 419 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,800 in eternity. No, no, no, no. 420 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,600 He's going to glorify it. He's going to raise it in power. 421 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,520 He's going to raise it in glory. He's going to raise it 422 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:15,720 spiritually. He's redeeming it and glorifying 423 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:20,040 it. Romans 823 calls this the 424 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:26,280 redemption of our bodies. Just as creation itself there in 425 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,360 Romans 8 groans for renewal, so too do our mortal bodies grown 426 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:35,400 for this final act of redemption, where we'll receive 427 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,200 the redemption of our bodies in the new heaven and the new 428 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,640 earth. Christ returns. 429 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:47,080 Philippians 321 declares that Christ will transform our lowly 430 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,040 body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables 431 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:54,600 him to subject all things to himself. 432 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,480 Praise God. So you see, it's not merely 433 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,920 restoration. You're not just being restored. 434 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:06,560 No, it's glorification. You're being made new. 435 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:13,200 The fall has stripped humanity of honor and strength, and in 436 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:18,280 the resurrection God restores both in an overflowing measure. 437 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:23,720 What was once humiliated by sin will be exalted by God's grace. 438 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:34,160 And so this transformation, this transformation of our bodies is 439 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,600 the spirits climactic work in the believer. 440 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:43,920 All right. The spirit who now indwells us 441 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:49,760 as a guarantee of what's to come, will one day finish his 442 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,720 work. He'll breathe eternal life into 443 00:31:52,720 --> 00:32:00,160 these mortal frames of ours. And so the same creative power 444 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:09,040 that formed the world by his hands and raise Jesus from the 445 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:17,840 dead will also raise you. Romans 811 says if the spirit of 446 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:22,000 him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who 447 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:26,800 raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your 448 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,040 mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 449 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,800 So believer's grave, brothers and sisters, you visit the loved 450 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,240 1A loved believer who's gone on to be with the Lord, you visit 451 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,200 that grave. I want you to know. 452 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,480 Or if one day your children visit yours, I want them to 453 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:52,680 know, right, that it's not a monument of loss. 454 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,800 It's not a monument of loss at all. 455 00:32:56,800 --> 00:32:59,880 It's a seed bed for glory, right? 456 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:05,280 The Funeral Home may prepare the body for burial, but God is 457 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,400 preparing the body for transformation. 458 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:14,520 The coffin might be a field and the body might be a seed, but 459 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,400 the promise is that God will bring forth something glorious 460 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:27,880 in His own time. Do you understand how this hope 461 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:33,320 and the promise of God should change the way you face 462 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:40,200 suffering today? It should change the way you 463 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:44,440 face aging. It should change the way you 464 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:57,730 face trials and tribulations. Your outer self is wasting away, 465 00:34:00,210 --> 00:34:03,570 but the truth of Scripture is that your inner self is being 466 00:34:03,570 --> 00:34:10,679 renewed day by day. Every sickness, every 467 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:16,360 limitation, every Gray hair on your head, every death whispers. 468 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:26,560 Not forever, not forever. So, believer, I want you to lift 469 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,960 your eyes from the mirror of Decay. 470 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,440 You look into this mirror each day and you see decay. 471 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,520 I want you to lift your eyes from the mirror of decay and 472 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,360 lift it to the promise of transformation. 473 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:48,639 The body that you inhabits now is perishable, but its future is 474 00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:52,520 imperishable. It's powerful, it's glorious, 475 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:56,239 It's kept in heaven for you, where it's undefiled forever. 476 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,240 And all of that because of the Risen Christ. 477 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:09,520 Your weakness is temporary, but glory is coming. 478 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:16,560 Glory is coming. The third thing that the third 479 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:18,800 truth that Paul shows about our resurrection. 480 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:24,160 Our resurrection will complete our likeness to Christ. 481 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:28,000 Look at these final verses 45 through 49. 482 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,520 Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living 483 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,840 being. The last Adam became a life 484 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:43,120 giving spirits. But it is not the spiritual that 485 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:47,000 is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. 486 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,720 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. 487 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:57,360 The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also 488 00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,200 are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so 489 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,880 also are those who are of heaven. 490 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,040 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall 491 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:12,040 also bear the image of the man of heaven. 492 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,840 You see, Paul now roots the transformation, that future 493 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,840 transformation that awaits. He roots it in redemptive 494 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:26,520 history. He's rooting it in the 495 00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:30,600 redemptive story, the story of redemption, if you will. 496 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:35,920 He's rooting it in the story where Christ, the Man of heaven, 497 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,840 will give himself, as he's shown us earlier in this, in this 498 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:44,880 chapter, will give his life. He'll be buried. 499 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,320 He'll rise again. And so through that comes the 500 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:52,920 redemption of all who will believe and confess that he is 501 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,960 the Christ, that he's the Messiah promised long ago. 502 00:37:03,350 --> 00:37:08,750 And so Paul draws the contrast now between two representative 503 00:37:08,750 --> 00:37:19,190 men, Adam and Christ. Each one stands as a head of 504 00:37:19,190 --> 00:37:24,430 humanity. Adam is called the first man. 505 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:29,600 He was made a living being. Verse 45 is quoting Genesis 27 506 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:32,480 where it says the first man, Adam, became a living being. 507 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:38,200 In that passage, God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath 508 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:43,640 of life, but that life was merely natural, it was earthly 509 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:47,360 and fragile. Christ however, as the second 510 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:52,400 head, as the last to Adam, is a life giving spirits. 511 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,440 Then Paul adds the last Adam became a life giving spirit, 512 00:37:56,440 --> 00:38:01,120 meaning Christ the risen Lord does not merely receive life, he 513 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,240 gives life. The first man received life and 514 00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:06,960 could not give it, he gave death. 515 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:13,520 The second man gives life. So the first Adam transmits 516 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:19,320 death to his descendants. The last Adam imparts eternal 517 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:24,120 life to his people, all who will call on the name of the Lord for 518 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,240 salvation. And so in verse 46, Paul 519 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:30,960 explains the divine order. It is not the spiritual that is 520 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,800 first, but the natural and then the spiritual. 521 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:39,000 So God's design always moves from creation to new creation. 522 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:46,400 We are born of the dust, and then by grace we're born of the 523 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:51,640 Spirit. All right, verse 47 and 524 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:56,000 intensifies this contrast where Paul writes the first man was 525 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,880 from the earth, a man of dust, the second man is from heaven. 526 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:06,880 You see the contrast? One is from an earthly glory, 527 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,000 the other is from heavenly glory. 528 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:17,200 So Adam was shaped from the soil, but Christ came from 529 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:21,720 glory. Adam returned to the ground in 530 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:26,120 death. Christ conquered death and 531 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:30,760 returned to His Father. And then verses 48 through 49 532 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,760 summarize all of this. It shows us that those who 533 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:39,200 belong to Adam share His nature. And if you're an unbeliever in 534 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:44,160 here, I need you to hear this. They share his nature and his 535 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:49,840 fate. What's his nature? 536 00:39:50,400 --> 00:40:01,960 It's frail, sinful. He's mortal, he's going to die. 537 00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:11,840 But those who belong to Christ share his nature and his 538 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:15,360 destiny. Just righteousness. 539 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:27,280 Life. And glory, immortality, Paul 540 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,000 writes. Just as we have borne the image 541 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:33,040 of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man 542 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:37,360 of heaven. So here Paul gives us one of the 543 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,400 most profound statements of Christian hope. 544 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,800 The goal of salvation is not merely forgiveness. 545 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:46,760 I'm not saying it doesn't include it's not merely 546 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,400 forgiveness of sins. The goal of salvation is 547 00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:54,800 conformity to Christ. Image that we would be made like 548 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,480 him. Romans 829 says for those whom 549 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,960 he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of 550 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:09,720 his Son. That process of being conformed 551 00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:13,520 to the image of his Son, that process began the moment you 552 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:17,400 were born again. Your spirit was made alive in 553 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,920 Christ, but it will be completed. 554 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:22,520 It will not be completed before this. 555 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:26,040 It will be completed when your body is raised in glory. 556 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,760 Adam's image means that we inherit. 557 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:35,160 We inherit sin, we inherit weakness, we inherit death. 558 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:39,720 That's Romans 512. Christ's image means that we 559 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:43,560 will inherit righteousness. We will inherit power and life. 560 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:48,880 That's Romans 517 through 19. So the resurrection is the final 561 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,920 triumph of grace over the fall. Amen. 562 00:41:56,200 --> 00:42:03,240 The moment when the dust of Adam is clothed with the glory of 563 00:42:03,240 --> 00:42:07,960 Christ Jesus. Philippians 320 through 21 says 564 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:13,160 our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await A Savior, the 565 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:17,320 Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be 566 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:24,480 like His glorious body. Apostle John and 1st John 32 567 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:29,720 adds this we when we see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall 568 00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:35,120 see Him as He is. So the resurrected body will not 569 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,400 only resemble Christ in splendor, brothers and sisters, 570 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:43,040 it will perfectly resemble or reflect His righteousness. 571 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:48,240 That image which was lost in Eden will be fully restored in 572 00:42:48,240 --> 00:42:53,640 the Kingdom of God. This is what it means when we 573 00:42:53,640 --> 00:43:00,840 talk about union with Christ. And what we're seeing here is 574 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,040 union with Christ brought to its consummation. 575 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:09,120 We were united with him in his death. 576 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:13,520 We were raised with him in newness of life, and one day we 577 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:20,280 will share fully in his glory. Think about Jesus after his 578 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:23,840 resurrection. He appeared to his disciples. 579 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:33,880 He was recognizable yet radiant. He was physical yet glorified. 580 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:39,200 He ate fish. He spoke, He walked among them. 581 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:44,840 His body was fully real and yet no longer bound by the same 582 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:49,560 limitations. Our resurrection bodies will 583 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:55,280 share that glory, reflecting His power and His perfection. 584 00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:04,920 So believer, your identity is not tied to Adam's dust, but to 585 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:09,960 Christ's glory. The world defines identity by 586 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:21,040 what we were, frail, fallen, fading, but God defines us but 587 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:30,440 what we will be in Christ, holy, whole and heavenly. 588 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:38,480 So I urge you to live now in light of that coming likeness. 589 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:43,800 If you bear the image of the man of heaven, then reflect his 590 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:49,520 character today. Live as one who bears the image 591 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:56,720 of the man of heaven today. Let your speech and your purity 592 00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:01,720 and your humility and your hope points to the one whose image 593 00:45:01,720 --> 00:45:08,680 you will soon mirror perfectly. And when you face the decay of 594 00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:18,160 this body, do not despair. Do not despair. 595 00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:27,600 Your aging, your weakness, the joints that give you fits when 596 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:35,240 the storm's rolling in, your allergies, all those things, 597 00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:42,000 even your suffering. These are not signs of defeat, 598 00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:48,960 brothers and sisters. They are birth pains of coming 599 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:53,600 glory. The Spirit who even now conforms 600 00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:58,200 you to Christ inwardly will one day raise you to share His 601 00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:04,280 likeness completely. You've borne the image of the 602 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:07,920 man of dust, and so you shall bear the image of the man of 603 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:11,840 heaven. This is not wishful thinking. 604 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,680 Paul doesn't spend all these verses trying to encourage the 605 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:21,160 Corinthians to have wishful thinking. 606 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:27,760 He doesn't belabor the point so that you and I can read it and 607 00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:31,560 think, man, I hope that's what it's like one day. 608 00:46:35,160 --> 00:46:39,720 Oh, he writes as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. 609 00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:43,960 He writes with a pen that's inspired by the Spirit of God to 610 00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:49,200 utter truth for your weary heart, for your weary body. 611 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:54,320 He writes to encourage you to strengthen your faith, to deepen 612 00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:59,000 your hope, to put still in your spine. 613 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:05,600 It's not wishful thinking, but Paul writes, is the certain 614 00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:09,200 promise of God secured by the risen Christ. 615 00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:16,840 It's yours in Jesus. So the resurrection is not some 616 00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:20,920 distant doctrine. I hope you've come to see that 617 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,080 in the last couple of weeks, that the resurrection is not 618 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:26,040 this distant doctrine. It's not something that we just 619 00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:29,080 look forward to know. It changes the way or it ought 620 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:34,360 to change the way we Live Today. It ought to inform the decisions 621 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:38,000 we make. It ought to inform the strength 622 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:42,840 of our spirit. It ought to inform our courage. 623 00:47:44,200 --> 00:47:48,480 It ought to inform our resolve, It ought to inform our 624 00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:51,840 self-control. It ought to inform everything 625 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:56,160 about our life with Christ, because it's the heartbeat of 626 00:47:56,160 --> 00:47:58,840 Christian hope, not some distant doctrine. 627 00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:03,000 Every ache in your body, every funeral you attend, every 628 00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:07,560 reminder of human frailty. Frailty testifies that this 629 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:10,000 world is not yet as it should be. 630 00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:15,520 Brothers and sisters, I feel your pain. 631 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:20,880 I know that this world is not yet as it should be, and yet 632 00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:24,600 it's these doctrines that make us press on. 633 00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:31,680 It's these doctrines that wake us up in the morning that 634 00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:35,840 invigorate our souls and our hearts to love the Lord our God 635 00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:38,640 with all our strength and all our soul and all our heart and 636 00:48:38,640 --> 00:48:43,880 all our mind, and to go and love our neighbor well. 637 00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:48,040 It's these doctrines that give us hope. 638 00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:54,880 But it's a doctrine that should give us, that should make us 639 00:48:54,880 --> 00:48:58,800 want to take that hope to a dying, decaying world. 640 00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:04,400 There is an answer. There is hope. 641 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:12,360 It might not be immediate relief, but it's final relief. 642 00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:16,600 It brings peace where there's no peace. 643 00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:18,280 It brings joy where there's no joy. 644 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:24,840 It's Paul reminds us what a sown of weakness will be raised in 645 00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:28,040 power, what a sown and dishonor will be raised in glory. 646 00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:32,120 You see, the gospel did not end with a cross and a tomb. 647 00:49:34,880 --> 00:49:39,800 The gospel ends with glory. Christ raised 1st and you raised 648 00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:45,720 thereafter. It's a glory that begins in 649 00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:50,320 Christ and will one day feel the universe. 650 00:49:51,720 --> 00:49:54,880 The same hands that shaped Adam from the dust will one day raise 651 00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,920 your body from the grave, radiant and imperishable, suited 652 00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:00,960 for eternity in the presence of God. 653 00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:04,840 But until that day, brothers and sisters, until that day we live 654 00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:09,200 as citizens of heaven. We reflect now what we will be 655 00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:14,440 fully on that day. Our future glory shapes us to 656 00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:18,720 present obedience because we will bear the image of heaven, 657 00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:22,160 of the man of heaven. We must pursue holiness. 658 00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:25,360 We must pursue Christ's likeness here and now. 659 00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:28,840 Our sanctification is the beginning of of our 660 00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:34,760 glorification. It is God's resurrection work 661 00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:41,720 already taking root in US. So again, when you walk through 662 00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:46,240 suffering, when you walk through sorrow and sickness, lift your 663 00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:50,840 eyes to the risen Christ, when you stand beside the grave of a 664 00:50:50,840 --> 00:50:57,120 loved one who died in Christ, remember this is not the end, 665 00:50:58,080 --> 00:51:01,160 it's the planning of a seed that will rise and splendor. 666 00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:05,760 And when you feel your own weakness, remember, your destiny 667 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:07,520 is not decay. No, no, no, no. 668 00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:11,880 Your destiny is transformation. Your destiny is not humiliation. 669 00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:16,120 Your destiny is honor. Your destiny is not dust. 670 00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:21,680 Your destiny is glory. Christ's resurrection is not 671 00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:26,280 merely our example, it's our guarantee. 672 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:32,600 Because he lives, we shall live also. 673 00:51:33,640 --> 00:51:37,640 Because he reigns in glory, we shall reign with Him. 674 00:51:38,240 --> 00:51:42,480 Because he bears the image of heaven, we shall bear it also. 675 00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:50,680 Therefore, live now as those who will be raised in glory later. 676 00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:53,280 Let hope strengthen your endurance. 677 00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:55,280 Let holiness shape your character. 678 00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:59,280 Let worship fill your days until faith becomes sight and 679 00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:07,960 mortality puts on immortality. Because Christ is risen, those 680 00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:13,600 who are in him will be raised in glory, transformed and conformed 681 00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:18,000 to his image. Let's pray. 682 00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:24,800 Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you for this doctrine 683 00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:31,560 of the resurrection. We thank you that because Christ 684 00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:37,520 was raised and resides now in glory, so too will we be raised 685 00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:43,360 and reside in glory with him and Father. 686 00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:48,880 It's my prayer for these people from my own hearts, that that 687 00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:52,000 hope and the resurrection, that hope and the promise of the 688 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:54,880 resurrection would strengthen our endurance. 689 00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:05,160 That because of this truth, we would let holiness shape our 690 00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,840 character. Because of this truth, we would 691 00:53:07,840 --> 00:53:12,800 let worship fill our days until our faith becomes sights and our 692 00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:19,560 mortality puts on immortality. God. 693 00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:23,560 We see clearly in this word that because Christ has risen, we too 694 00:53:23,560 --> 00:53:28,760 will be raised in glory, will be transformed and conformed to his 695 00:53:28,760 --> 00:53:36,320 image. And as we read it, we understand 696 00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:44,360 that we don't deserve it. We understand that our hearts 697 00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:47,800 are rebellious. They're sinful to the core. 698 00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:52,840 We're always waging war against the flesh. 699 00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:59,520 And if we're not in Christ, raised by the Spirit, then we're 700 00:53:59,520 --> 00:54:01,680 not even waging a war against the flesh. 701 00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:15,520 We're just following its orders. And so, Lord, I ask that you 702 00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:21,400 would save anyone here who does not yet know Christ as their 703 00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:29,840 Lord, that you would help them to see their own frailty, their 704 00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:32,360 mortality, their sinfulness, their rebellion. 705 00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:36,760 Help them to see it clearly, that they might flee to the 706 00:54:36,760 --> 00:54:45,840 cross of Christ to find their hope of redemption, but they 707 00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:49,200 would call on the name of the Lord today and receive your 708 00:54:49,200 --> 00:54:54,880 salvation from their sins. And Father, would you help us 709 00:54:54,880 --> 00:55:02,600 who do know Christ to keep our eyes fixed on him as we read in 710 00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:08,920 2nd Corinthians 3 and four? Help us to behold the image of 711 00:55:08,920 --> 00:55:12,880 the Son of God, to fix our gaze on Him, that we might be 712 00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:22,320 transformed day by day, and that we carry these truths and jars 713 00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:29,120 of clay. May we know God as we have been 714 00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:34,440 known by Him. May we rest in the 715 00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:37,280 reconciliation that Christ awards to us. 716 00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:45,840 May we walk in it. Lord, may we be transformed from 717 00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:50,360 1° of glory to the next until finally, forever, we are 718 00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:59,330 glorified in heaven with Christ. Heavenly Father, we thank you 719 00:55:59,330 --> 00:56:04,890 for your Amazing Grace, for the mercy and the love that you have 720 00:56:04,890 --> 00:56:10,610 shown us, for the life that you have given us. 721 00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:18,200 May we fix our gaze on it as we live out our days. 722 00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:22,600 It's in the name of Christ, I pray, Amen. 723 00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:25,600 I'm going to give you a moment there in your seat to pray and 724 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:36,320 seek the Lord. If there's a truth here that 725 00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:41,040 you've not believed before or not seen in this way, thank the 726 00:56:41,040 --> 00:56:45,680 Lord for revealing it to you. Ask Him to bury it deep in your 727 00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:54,940 heart that it might bear fruits. If you don't know Christ as Lord 728 00:56:57,100 --> 00:57:00,420 and today is the day of salvation, the Lord is calling 729 00:57:00,420 --> 00:57:04,860 you to Himself. Do not keep turning away from 730 00:57:04,860 --> 00:57:14,200 Him, but turn to Him today in faith, trusting that Jesus 731 00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:19,000 Christ is the Son of God who gave Himself for you, that you 732 00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:24,920 might be a Co heir with him. Give your life to me. 733 00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:29,240 Make him your Lord today. Repent of your sins. 734 00:57:30,040 --> 00:58:11,200 Follow Him. Heavenly Father, we exalt you 735 00:58:12,400 --> 00:58:18,960 above all. We exalt your Son above all. 736 00:58:19,920 --> 00:58:26,320 We exalt your spirit above all. We thank you for your grace, 737 00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:31,120 Your mercy, your love toward us. We ask that you help us to walk 738 00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:39,600 with Christ each day, to set our minds on future glory. 739 00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:45,760 As we face temptation, as we face suffering, as we face the 740 00:58:45,760 --> 00:58:53,320 decaying of our bodies. May our eyes be fixed on Christ. 741 00:59:01,460 --> 00:59:05,620 And we Father, we love you. We thank you for Christ and his 742 00:59:05,620 --> 00:59:07,740 salvation. We thank you for your Spirit 743 00:59:08,060 --> 00:59:14,800 granting us life in Him. In the name of Christ we pray, 744 00:59:15,120 --> 00:59:15,600 and then.