1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,840 Minutes before he died, a guy called Seamus Heaney. 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,000 You might have heard of him. He was an Irish prophet, a 3 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,840 prophet, poet even and playwright. 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,840 He sent a text to his wife and it was 2 words, 2 words in 5 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:20,520 Latin, gnarly T merry, which translates into English as Do 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:25,200 not be afraid. I don't know if you've heard of 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,840 a guy called Brian Johnson. I've heard of him. 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,200 I've heard him talked about quite a lot on podcasts. 9 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:33,880 Maybe that'll tell you the sort of podcasts I listen to. 10 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:36,080 And I've also read about him in the paper. 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,560 But he wakes up at 4:30 every morning and he has had all of 12 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,520 his meals mostly made of broccoli, made-up of broccoli, 13 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,640 mushrooms and wild garlic by 11:00 AM. 14 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,520 And over the course of his day, this 46 year old venture 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,320 capitalist and entrepreneur takes over 100 pills. 16 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,800 He follows the strict exercise regime, sticking to an 17 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,280 exhaustive list of do's and don'ts. 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,480 He has high intensity electric machines attached to his body to 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:12,880 strengthen his muscles, and he often bathes his body in high 20 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,160 volume old LED light, whatever that is. 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,760 Everything he does is measured and tracked. 22 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:23,040 He's also been known to have blood transfusions from his 17 23 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,240 year old son. He goes to bed at 8:30 every 24 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,840 evening. Johnson's life is designed not 25 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,760 this Johnson, but Brian Johnson's life is designed like 26 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,040 an algorithm. A $2,000,000 algorithm. 27 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,200 Why you might ask? Because at the very least, he is 28 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:48,320 trying to reverse his age. This 46 year old man has the 29 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,880 heart of a 37 year old, but he aims for more. 30 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,920 His deepest desire is to defy death. 31 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,400 He wants to escape mortality. He wants to live forever. 32 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,920 Although when I read the description of his life, I 33 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,440 thought that's not really living in my opinion. 34 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,120 Although sometimes I do wish I would go to bed at 8:30 every 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,280 night. But apart from that, I don't 36 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,680 know that that his life is a life that sounds much like 37 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,280 living. Last week I started our new 38 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,080 teaching series put together with the help of a guy called 39 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,720 Andy Masters who leads Lagan Valley Vineyard in Northern 40 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,120 Ireland. And it's called Living in the 41 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,160 Shadows. And throughout the six Sundays 42 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,280 that we're here, remember we're not here next week. 43 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,000 Otherwise you have to run a marathon during the six Sundays 44 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,960 of Lent that we are meeting. We are looking at Jesus's 45 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,120 teaching. We're looking at the hope that 46 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,200 we have as Jesus followers in the face of physical death. 47 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:55,040 We believe that it is wise and necessary for us to open up this 48 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:59,720 conversation because the reality is, is that to live is human, 49 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:05,040 but to be human is also to die. Physical death is inevitable. 50 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:11,640 Life is precious but precarious. And at some point all of us in 51 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:15,920 all of in our lives will be overcome by loss and experience 52 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:19,960 great grief. I talked a lot, a lot last week 53 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,360 about the Psalms and the imagination of the Psalms. 54 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,760 Is the psalmist rather me? It says that we will all 55 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,080 experience times when we walk through the valley of the shadow 56 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,280 of death. Yet even then, especially then, 57 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,680 we can find ourselves living under another shadow, the shadow 58 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:46,640 of the Almighty, where we are protected, comforted, unafraid, 59 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,760 where we can Nestle in the shadow of the Father's 60 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:55,120 everlasting arms. Today I want to talk about hope. 61 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,320 I want to invite us to consider our futures. 62 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,440 As physical death is inevitable. The next question is, well, what 63 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,040 happens next? And as I said last week, death 64 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:14,080 in our society is quite a taboo until it comes crashing into our 65 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:18,320 lives in an unstoppable way. We keep our heads down and we 66 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:22,640 avoid it at all costs. And in many respects, modern 67 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,040 medicine has made that easier. And hear me say this, I love 68 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:27,880 modern medicine. It's amazing. 69 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,240 But the more cures we find for things, the more we can push 70 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,760 death further down the road. And as a culture, we don't talk 71 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,520 about it until a member of Parliament enters a private bill 72 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:45,200 to for assist on assisted dying. And then some people talk about 73 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,760 it, but other of us, others don't. 74 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,120 And even in the church we don't really talk about it other than 75 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:59,840 Jesus's death and resurrection. But how do I relate all of that? 76 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,640 Jesus's death and resurrection, the fact that he rose again, he 77 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,840 defeated death, and that God is God. 78 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:10,640 How do I relate that to the fact that my sister died, a close 79 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,680 friend at university died, my dad died fairly suddenly, a 80 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,200 friend's daughter was killed in a car crash? 81 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,080 How do I relate what I know and to what I've experienced? 82 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,400 And so our desire over the next few weeks, as we run up to 83 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,040 Easter is to lift our heads. It's to look to the future to 84 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:35,160 see what the Bible truly has to say about the hope that is set 85 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,200 before us, the hope that has captivated us and not just 86 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,120 settle for what our culture says. 87 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,640 My prayer is that we will come to see hope, the hope of eternal 88 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:51,880 life, to be both our compass and our destination. 89 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,320 You know for Brian Johnson, this guy that wants to push the 90 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,440 boundaries of life extension, you know he thinks he said in an 91 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,120 article a few years ago that we are a few baby steps away from 92 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,800 the most extraordinary event in the entire Galaxy. 93 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,640 Really. For those of us that follow 94 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:18,240 Jesus, I totally disagree. Because for us, the most 95 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,800 extraordinary event in the entire Galaxy happened on the 96 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,960 first day of the week, in the early hours of the morning, as 97 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,160 several women carrying spices travelled to the tomb of their 98 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,320 friend, only to find that this tomb was rolled away. 99 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,400 And they found two men beaming with light, asking the question, 100 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,760 why do you seek the living amongst the dead? 101 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,160 He's not here, he's risen. The resurrection of Jesus 102 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:50,200 changed everything. Our hope is not found in age 103 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:55,360 reversal or life extension, but it is found in eternal life with 104 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,480 Christ. It says in Romans 6. 105 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:03,760 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will 106 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,320 certainly be united with him in a resurrection like His. 107 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:14,800 Notice the word certainly in there, because of the 108 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:20,000 resurrection, we become a new kind of people, a new kind of 109 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:25,400 people who've been facing our own physical death, can own for 110 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:31,720 ourselves and can offer to those around us Words of love and hope 111 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:40,120 can answer the heart. Cry with Nollie T Mary, do not 112 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:45,320 be afraid. So, as with last week, I gave a 113 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,680 couple of caveats. My caveats stick. 114 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:50,960 Firstly, I'm only going to scratch the surface this 115 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:52,560 morning. There's so much that I could 116 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,400 say, and at some point we want to leave here and go home for 117 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,920 lunch, I would imagine. But if you have questions, if 118 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,520 you want to read some more, I've got a long list of books I could 119 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,080 recommend. So do come and speak to me. 120 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,680 And as I said last week, these six teachings that we're going 121 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,080 to be looking at, they're like jigsaw pieces that fit together. 122 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,680 So I might not say, or you want me to say this morning I might 123 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,120 leave you and you feel a bit raw or you're hanging. 124 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,440 But hopefully by the time we get to Easter, it will fit together 125 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,840 and it will make more sense. And while today I'm talking 126 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,200 about hope and the joy that lives before us as followers of 127 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:35,400 Jesus, I don't for one second want to downplay the pain and 128 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,480 the the present grief that many of us are in. 129 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,919 And in a few weeks time we're going to be looking at how we 130 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:48,240 handle our sorrow and what Jesus says and how he invites us to 131 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,720 lament and be honest with our grief. 132 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,800 So please don't feel like you're being dismissed or you need to 133 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,560 push it down or put a smile on your face. 134 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,800 It's a tension we live in between hope and honesty. 135 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:09,720 And if we want to become mature followers of Jesus, we need to 136 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,520 grasp that tension and live in it. 137 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,680 The Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave said this. 138 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:19,720 And I think it sums up this tension perfectly. 139 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,160 Hope is optimism with a broken heart. 140 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,440 So I'm going to talk about hope today, and I am an eternal 141 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:35,600 optimist. But even as I do, like I say, we 142 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,000 don't need to suppress our sorrow. 143 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:43,920 This isn't just theology. This is as real as it gets. 144 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,080 So even if you're sitting here today and you're feeling like 145 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,440 your heart is breaking, be open to the possibility, even the 146 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,320 slightest possibility that you might be surprised by hope. 147 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,400 And I'm going to talk about some passages in the New Testament 148 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:08,840 this morning. And they very much talk in 149 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,840 metaphor and imagery. So you'll you'll just stick with 150 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,520 me. Hopefully we'll land in a good 151 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:20,440 place in a few moments time. Now, I don't know about you, but 152 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,720 when I go somewhere new, maybe I'm going to a new city, going 153 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:28,960 on holiday, going to an Airbnb, I love looking at the photos of 154 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,760 where I'm going to go. I want to know what the rooms 155 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,360 are going to be like, what the kitchens like, maybe what the 156 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,800 gardens like, what it's going to be like outside, maybe the 157 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,480 surrounding area. And in our family, there's a few 158 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,960 of us that feel a little bit anxious about new places. 159 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,600 So they're really, really important to be able to 160 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,120 visualize where you're going to be. 161 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,000 And I don't think I'm alone in saying that because I've seen a 162 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,040 few smiles on your faces as I've said it. 163 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,880 But as we look to the future, however, that's not what we get. 164 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:04,040 You can't download like an app on Future Paradise photos of 165 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,040 what it's going to look like. It doesn't work like that. 166 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,520 The future, however, we don't know. 167 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,680 Although the Bible does give us a bit of a preview, it doesn't 168 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,560 offer the photos that we might like, but it does offer us 169 00:11:18,560 --> 00:11:23,160 signposts, signposts that point us to the direction of the 170 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:28,360 future, even if those future times are mysterious. 171 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,440 The Bible writers, they're not overly interested in prediction. 172 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,280 They're more interested in our perception. 173 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,600 They want to give us a clear sense of where we're headed. 174 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,000 And as Paul would say in One Corinthians 13, we see things 175 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,120 imperfectly. But that's OK. 176 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:49,960 You know, when we were standing from where we're standing, our 177 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,960 present vantage point, we do see things imperfectly, like 178 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,640 puzzling reflections in a mirror, Paul says. 179 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,000 But we will see everything with perfect clarity one day. 180 00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:05,760 All that we see now is partial and incomplete. 181 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,040 Then we will see things completely, just as God sees 182 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,680 things completely from his current vantage point, from his 183 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:18,080 current place. And yet, while the future is 184 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:24,240 full of mystery, not everything is unknown, not everything is 185 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,040 grey. And I think that Scripture gives 186 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,200 us handholds to cling to. And there is enough here, there 187 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,120 is enough in our Bibles for us to be fully assured that our 188 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:40,760 future is marked by two things, Firstly, the promise of God, and 189 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,960 secondly, the presence of God. So I'm just going to pray. 190 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,800 Holy Spirit, would you increase your presence here? 191 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:55,440 Now? We thank you that you are with 192 00:12:55,440 --> 00:13:03,150 us. Lord, would you speak? 193 00:13:03,390 --> 00:13:05,910 Would you stir deep hope in our hearts? 194 00:13:09,070 --> 00:13:11,830 Lord, would you tip away at our fear of death? 195 00:13:17,110 --> 00:13:21,030 Would you instill hope and peace this morning? 196 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:30,920 Would you speak Father Amen. One day we will give up our 197 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,120 final breath, and then what happens? 198 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,360 I want to take you to Luke 23. If you've got a Bible, you might 199 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,000 want to turn to it. I'm going to dip in and out of 200 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,800 some passages this morning. And as Pip said, we've got some 201 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,320 Bibles on the table. We'd love to give them to you. 202 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:46,720 Give you 1 if you haven't got one. 203 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:48,560 Luke 23. It's towards the back of the 204 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:54,000 Bible. Jesus is hanging on the cross to 205 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:58,640 his left and to his right he has got 2 criminals who are also 206 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,440 being crucified. One of those criminals joined in 207 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:07,040 with the crowd mocking Jesus. The other 1 turned to him and 208 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:12,520 said, Jesus Remember Me whenever you come into your Kingdom. 209 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,400 And Jesus responded, Truly I tell you, today you will be be 210 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:23,800 with me in paradise. Not tomorrow, not in some 211 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:29,440 indeterminate future time, but today you will be with me in 212 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,640 paradise. At that moment of physical 213 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,440 death. Those who are in Christ can be 214 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:40,120 assured that they will be with Jesus immediately. 215 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,480 In the blink of an eye, those of us who are in Him find ourselves 216 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,560 in His perfect rest and His loving presence. 217 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:53,200 Now I appreciate for those of us who are in a season of grief, 218 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:55,760 you know that's a comforting thought. 219 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,640 But we'd much rather that the people we've lost were here with 220 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,560 us. But there is still comfort to be 221 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:10,880 found that when we die, we are instantaneously we find 222 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,880 ourselves in the everlasting, secure arms of Jesus. 223 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,760 Today you will be with me in paradise, Jesus says. 224 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,720 Now, if you've grown up in church, kind of that's where the 225 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,960 story ends, at least in my experience. 226 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,400 When we die, we go to be with Jesus. 227 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,080 End of conversation. That was a quick talk. 228 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,800 Libby, you're all very grateful. I'm sorry, I've got more to say. 229 00:15:47,650 --> 00:15:51,570 Do you notice what Jesus says? Today you will be with me in 230 00:15:51,570 --> 00:15:55,160 paradise. So often when we hear that 231 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:00,520 phrase, we hear heaven. But Jesus doesn't use that word. 232 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,520 He uses the word paradise. Paradise is the space where God 233 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:09,560 is enthroned in glory. It's the sole space where the 234 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,960 Saints that are at rest are in his loving presence, where we 235 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:18,840 hear cries of holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was 236 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,800 and is and is to come, as John tells us about and from his 237 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:30,160 revelation in from his vision in revelation, as soon as we hear 238 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,000 or mishear the word heaven, we imagine that this place of 239 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,360 paradise is the end point. That's the destination. 240 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,440 And I don't think that that lines up with what the New 241 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,360 Testament says, because the writers of the New Testament so 242 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,160 rarely talk about going to heaven when we die. 243 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,640 They talk a lot about resurrection. 244 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,080 In the words of Tom Wright, he says heaven is important, but 245 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:04,839 it's not the end of the world. It's not the end of our story. 246 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:08,240 Now, I might be throwing some of you off here a bit, particularly 247 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,640 if you've grown up in the church, because I for so long 248 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,920 was like, you die. You go to be with Jesus in 249 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,920 heaven, end of full stop. Now, don't get me wrong, I think 250 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,200 heaven's going to be, I think paradise is going to be amazing 251 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:22,720 for however long we're going to be there. 252 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,240 But that's not the end of the story. 253 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,359 If you're in your Bibles, you might want to turn a bit further 254 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:32,040 towards the back to John 14. Jesus is comforting his 255 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,960 disciples. He's been talking about his 256 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,400 death, and he says, do not let your hearts be troubled. 257 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:40,400 You believe in God, also believe in me. 258 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:42,640 My father's house has many rooms. 259 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,560 If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to 260 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:49,880 prepare a place for you? You may well have read this 261 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,280 passage before. Jesus promises that he's going 262 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,600 to prepare a place for us, a room for us. 263 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,920 You know, when my dad was given his diagnosis and was dying, we 264 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,040 had a conversation about this passage. 265 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,640 He said, Libby, tell me what you think it's going to be like. 266 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,760 And we had this. I said to her, are you going to 267 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,160 get a double room dad so that when mum dies, she can come and 268 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:09,880 join you. He was like, I'm going to enjoy 269 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,320 the non snoring while she's not around. 270 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:14,560 And he said, what do you think it's going to be like? 271 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,000 I was like, I think it's going to be like glamping because it's 272 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,440 temporary and I love camping. And it turns out that my dad 273 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,160 enjoys camping less, even though we did a lot growing up. 274 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,320 So he didn't want he didn't want glamping. 275 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,200 But when we hear Jesus talk about him going ahead to prepare 276 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:38,560 a room for us, it's much more like an Airbnb or a hotel room. 277 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,840 It's a temporary place or a glamping tent. 278 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,880 I'll add that in. He's preparing a place for us, 279 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,960 not a place for us to stay in for all eternity. 280 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,840 The the word room or dwelling place depending on your 281 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,200 translation. The original language is the is 282 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:02,800 the word Monet or however you say it, which means temporary 283 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:05,480 dwelling place. You know you don't live in an 284 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,680 Airbnb, do you? You go there for a few nights, 285 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,600 for rest, for for fun. You might be on holiday, 286 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,680 visiting friends or visiting places. 287 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,440 You don't settle there. It's a time of rest and 288 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:22,600 relaxation before you go home For Jesus and his apostles, as 289 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:27,040 it is for us, we die and as we do, we go to be with Him in 290 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,520 paradise. We are welcomed in a place that 291 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:35,160 we will not stay forever, but we are welcomed into paradise, a 292 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:41,200 place of temporary tranquility, where we rest, where we worship, 293 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,840 where we join in with all of the Saints. 294 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:51,120 It's a peaceful place where we are with Him, a place where we 295 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:55,880 find ourselves waiting, waiting for a new day, the day of 296 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:59,760 ultimate resurrection. I don't know how we've gotten 297 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:04,160 into this place, but somehow in the church we've been sold this 298 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:10,440 flattened, narrow story of God. And we're told that by working 299 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,280 out our salvation, it comes down to one thing. 300 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,920 Just set yourselves up so you can go to heaven when you die. 301 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,120 When in fact to the God story, when we look at it from 302 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,960 beginning to end, when we look at it from the Garden of Eden 303 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:29,880 right through to Revelation, we find in in Genesis one in the 304 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,960 Garden of Eden, the Father walking in the call of the day 305 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,640 with Adam and Eve. And from that moment on, the 306 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,480 whole of the God story talks about God's coming to earth. 307 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,880 The glory of God comes from the heavenlies to dwell in the 308 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,040 Tabernacle. The presence of God comes from 309 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,400 the heavenlies to fill the temple. 310 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:55,920 Jesus leaves the glory of the heavenlies to take on our frame 311 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,720 a physical human body to be filled with the power and the 312 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:05,120 presence of the Spirit here on earth to Pentecost that's 313 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:09,400 recorded in Acts. The Spirit falls, fills his 314 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:13,480 church, and the people go out into the into the world. 315 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:18,200 Throughout the story of God from beginning to end, we see that 316 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:24,360 the central movement of God is not us going to heaven, but it 317 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,440 is God coming here to dwell with us. 318 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,080 Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth 319 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,640 as it is in heaven. Jesus taught us to pray and to 320 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:40,920 live so much of that in the final chapters of our story we 321 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,800 read about in Revelation 21, Revelation 21, one to three says 322 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:50,360 this when I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the 1st heaven 323 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:54,080 and the first earth had passed away and there isn't I and there 324 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,480 was no longer a sea. I saw a holy city, the New 325 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,920 Jerusalem, coming down from out from out of heaven from God, 326 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,160 prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. 327 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,800 And I hear a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's 328 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,040 dwelling place is now with the people, and he will dwell with 329 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,080 them. They will be his people, and God 330 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,320 himself will be with them and be their God. 331 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:26,680 The joy of paradise is that we will be with Him instantly, held 332 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,120 firmly in the conscience and loving presence of God. 333 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,720 And yet that isn't the end of the story. 334 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:40,720 There is life after death. Jesus offers a such a broader, 335 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:45,320 fuller story. It's the story of a life, 336 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:50,440 afterlife after death, the whole of creation, even our own 337 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,400 bodies. We are groaning for a day, that 338 00:22:54,400 --> 00:23:00,120 day of ultimate resurrection. There is a day coming when 339 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:03,400 heaven, God's presence, will root itself here. 340 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,920 A day when we shall be returned back here. 341 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,960 A day where for all time God will dwell here. 342 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,160 A day when creation is going to be remade. 343 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,440 A day when all that is evil will be destroyed. 344 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:19,840 All that is evil will be dealt with. 345 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:27,840 This is the day. This is a day when this world 346 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,800 will be set right. A day when Eden will be 347 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,560 restored. A day when broken and dislocated 348 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:38,640 parts of the universe, of people, of things, of animals, 349 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,960 of atoms, will get properly fixed and fitted together in 350 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,440 vibrant harmony. A day when all the sad things 351 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,440 are going to come untrue. A day when all will be well. 352 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,360 We will see creation as it was meant to be. 353 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:03,320 Our story, the God story, begins in a garden and it ends in a 354 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:08,960 Garden City, a day of new creation. 355 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:15,120 The ultimate hope for us, for Christians, is that for all time 356 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:19,280 we will live and move and have our being here on earth in a 357 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:21,800 place where all things have been made new. 358 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,920 New creation isn't a copy or a substitute or a replacement of 359 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:31,160 this place, but it is returned back to the way things were 360 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:35,720 always meant to be. Tim Keller said this. 361 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:40,240 Christianity promises not only a spirit only future, like the 362 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,200 future in paradise, the soul space, but a renewed heavens and 363 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:50,200 earth, a perfected material world from which all suffering 364 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:55,320 and tears, disease, evil and death has been eliminated. 365 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,440 Our future is not an immaterial one. 366 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,760 We're not going to float around in the Kingdom of God like 367 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,640 ghosts. We're going to walk, we're going 368 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,800 to eat, we're going to hug and be hugged. 369 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,560 We're going to love. We're going to sing. 370 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,960 We will do all of this in degrees of glory and excellence 371 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:25,760 and satisfaction, beauty and power that I think will blow our 372 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:29,240 minds. We are going to get to eat and 373 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:35,000 drink with Jesus, the Son of Man, and that is when finally 374 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:41,120 death will be defeated. It's not a mere consolation in 375 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,080 heaven for the material life that we've lost. 376 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,520 It is a restoration of the whole of life. 377 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,680 And this is our hope. We sang it this morning. 378 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,320 There is resurrection power flowing through our veins. 379 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,200 It's getting the love and the body and the mind and the being 380 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:05,360 that we have always longed for. And while we can't even begin to 381 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:08,960 fathom what it will look like, feel like to live in a world 382 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:13,600 that has been made new, where we get to dwell and eat and drink 383 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,480 with the resurrection in the life of this, I am absolutely 384 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:23,880 convinced that we will look over the new creation and our hearts 385 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:28,520 cry, will be. This is very, very good. 386 00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:35,560 So what I'm saying is that if immediately after physical death 387 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:41,240 we enter this paradise, this soul space, one day we won't 388 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,880 stay there forever. One day, on the day of 389 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,160 redemption, the day of Jesus's return, the day of God's Kingdom 390 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:52,960 coming in full and completeness, we will join God in making his 391 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,880 home here in a perfected physical world where heaven and 392 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:04,160 earth are forever. 1 The writers of the New Testament want us to 393 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:09,240 see what is true, that what is true of the entire cosmos, what 394 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:13,560 is true of everything in creation is also true of us as 395 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:18,120 individuals, because we will live in a perfected physical 396 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:22,560 body, a body that has been transformed by resurrection. 397 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,880 OK, so let's illustrate that. If you've got your Bible, turn 398 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:32,440 to 1 Corinthians 15 when Paul was writing this this one 399 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,160 chapter. If you do anything this week, 400 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:38,280 I'd encourage you to read this chapter 1 Corinthians 15. 401 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,480 I'm going to pick out a few verses from it. 402 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:46,400 It was written by Paul a in a letter to the church in Corinth. 403 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,640 Paul was, if you don't know who he was, he was an all round 404 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,680 general legend wrote a lot of the New Testament and in one 405 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:59,960 Corinthians 1520, Paul says this God has been raised, sorry, but 406 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:04,240 Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits 407 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:09,400 of those who have fallen asleep. Paul is saying here that Jesus 408 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,600 is not only raised from the dead, but he's also the first 409 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,560 human to be fully resurrected. And to describe that he uses 410 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,320 this term firstfruits. So it's a farming term, a 411 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:24,440 harvest term, the arrival of crops, your firstfruits you 412 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,320 would offer to God as an offering. 413 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,920 But the first fruits implies that it's not over. 414 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,400 Once you've got your first fruits, they are the first 415 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,400 fruits. The first fruits are a signal, a 416 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:43,040 sign that there is more to come. And so on the day of his 417 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,560 resurrection, we find Jesus inhabiting this new, renewed 418 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,360 body. It's not a brand new body. 419 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:55,680 It's also not the same body as before, but it is the material 420 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,720 of Jesus original body that has been transformed. 421 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,560 I know this is all going a bit. Whoo are you tracking? 422 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:03,720 I'll try and explain that a little bit. 423 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:06,960 Hours after Jesus had been raised from the dead, he was 424 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:11,000 walking alongside 2 of his disciples, 2 people that he had 425 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,280 spent three years journeying with, and they didn't recognize 426 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,760 him. As they walked to Emmaus, these 427 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,200 two disciples, they invited this apparent stranger into the place 428 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:26,080 that they were, say, staying. And so Jesus enters in, still 429 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,720 unrecognised. He sits down. 430 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:33,320 He goes to break some bread, and as he breaks it, that's when the 431 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:35,480 disciples suddenly recognise him. 432 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,480 Jesus was the first to inhabit a resurrected body. 433 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:45,560 There is something different about it. 434 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:49,160 There's something new, something unrecognizable about him. 435 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,440 And yet at exactly the same time, they knew for sure that it 436 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:58,440 was him. Later on, there's a a beautiful 437 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:01,720 interaction between Jesus and one of his disciples who's been 438 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,600 deconstructing his faith, a guy called Thomas. 439 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,640 And we find that Jesus, even though he was in this new kind 440 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:13,920 of physical body, he still bears the the wounds, the scars of his 441 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:18,640 crucifixion. There is something of what had 442 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:23,480 passed that lasts. There was something that was 443 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,240 that had lasted through into the resurrection. 444 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:31,720 The truth is that Jesus, the human Jesus, even though he 445 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:36,880 entered paradise, he dwelt and he came back in his resurrected 446 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:41,960 physical body, He still bare bears the scars, bore the scars 447 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:47,760 of the resurrection. And you know we see this when 448 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,200 Jesus went up to heaven in the ascension, and this is recorded 449 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,280 in Acts 1 when he rises to the heavenlies, the angels say to 450 00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:00,000 the disciples, this same Jesus who has been taken from you in 451 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,800 heaven will come back in the same way as you saw him go into 452 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,400 heaven. What does this mean for us? 453 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:15,040 To quote 1 John 3/2, he says, Dear friends, now we are 454 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:21,440 children of God and what will hasn't, sorry, what will be has 455 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:26,480 not yet been made known, but we know that when Christ's Christ 456 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:31,560 appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, 457 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:39,960 will be like him. I will one day bear the image of 458 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:43,120 Jesus completely in the new creation. 459 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,280 You and I will look at each other and yes, we'll see each 460 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,360 other, but we will also fully see Jesus. 461 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,520 Mind twist. Get your head round that. 462 00:31:55,600 --> 00:32:01,520 I think it's awesome. This is what our lives are set 463 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,120 upon. This is why conversations that 464 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,920 we have about discipleship and spiritual formation are really, 465 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:12,240 really important because that is where we're headed. 466 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,080 You know, we're headed to a place where all the things that 467 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,800 we've learnt about ourselves and about Jesus and how to do life 468 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,040 will be really significant. We're learning now what it will 469 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,400 be like to live in the reality of eternity. 470 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:33,160 We get to become more like Jesus as we open ourselves up to what 471 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,720 the Holy Spirit wants to do in and through us. 472 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,640 Being transformed to be like Him is what it's about. 473 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,320 And that doesn't stop at our death. 474 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,760 It carries on into the new creation. 475 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,600 Jesus is the firstfruits. He's like the prototype. 476 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:54,520 Just as He was raised, so too we will follow Him and we will be 477 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:57,520 raised like Him. We will take on the same kind of 478 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,440 body that we see Jesus inhabiting following His 479 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:03,840 resurrection. Paul goes on in One Corinthians 480 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:07,600 15 to give to give us a few more clues of what this is going to 481 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:11,040 be like. Verse 37 he speaks of a seed 482 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:15,200 being planted in the ground, and in verse 42 he says this. 483 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,640 So it will be with the resurrection. 484 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:19,800 So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. 485 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,840 The body is sown like a seed into the ground. 486 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,600 It is perishable, but it is raised imperishable. 487 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,640 It is sown in dishonour, but it is raised in glory. 488 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:34,200 It's sown in weakness, but it is raised in power. 489 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,560 It is sown. It is sown a natural body. 490 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:43,400 It is raised a spiritual body. Paul is really trying to get us 491 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,600 to understand that our resurrected bodies, they find 492 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,760 their source material within our actual bodies, our physicality 493 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:55,040 here and now. Just as a seed is planted in the 494 00:33:55,040 --> 00:34:00,000 ground and a flower springs up, there is something that happens 495 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,640 underground that we don't see. It's the transformation into a 496 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:09,600 flower. Resurrection is something 497 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:14,120 similar. There is something of the old 498 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,760 that lives on, but there is something new that emerges. 499 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,880 The best word to describe that is transformation. 500 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:28,560 Within our perfected physical and spiritual bodies, we will at 501 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:33,520 the same time resemble ourselves and yet be completely new. 502 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,120 This new body will be more solid, more whole, more real, 503 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,159 more substantial than our present ones. 504 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:47,199 So much so that we can say that right now we are a mere shadow, 505 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,600 not of our former selves, but of our future self. 506 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,800 These bodies, these new bodies, will bear no sickness and no 507 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,120 illness. There'll be no depression in 508 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:02,800 these bodies, no crippling anxiety, no chronic pain. 509 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:05,800 There will be no Alzheimer's. There will be no more cancer, 510 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:11,920 only wholeness and perfection. It will be the coming together 511 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:15,440 of the image of Jesus and our truest selves. 512 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:24,440 And I know that this is mysterious, but it's worth 513 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:28,880 trying to get our heads around a bit further on. 514 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:34,560 In One Corinthians 15, verses 453 to 55 says this For our 515 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,560 dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die. 516 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,680 Our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal 517 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,040 bodies. Then when our dying bodies have 518 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,160 been transformed into bodies that will never die, this 519 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:52,000 scripture will be fulfilled. Death is swallowed up in 520 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,120 victory. O death, where is your victory? 521 00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:02,000 O death, where is your sting? When our perishable dying bodies 522 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:06,680 have been clothed with imperishable transformed bodies 523 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:10,200 that will never die? The perishable isn't thrown 524 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:13,480 away, it's just clothed in something new. 525 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:21,640 The the the mortal with immortality, and then death will 526 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,960 be swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? 527 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:30,080 Oh death, where is your sting? It all begins with Jesus own 528 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:36,160 resurrection. We are going to be raised like 529 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:41,640 him and with him. Paul says later on to the church 530 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:45,360 in Colossae. He says in Colossians 3/4 For 531 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,520 you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 532 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:53,600 When Christ who is in your life appears, then you will also 533 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:58,360 appear in glory. That is what we're in this for, 534 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:06,120 nothing less. This is the New Testaments 535 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:12,120 version of resurrection. There's layers upon layers. 536 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,680 There's richness, there's death, there's comprehension. 537 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,600 And way more compelling. This vision is way more 538 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:23,480 compelling compared to the flattened, narrow perspective of 539 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,080 life after death that is so often portrayed by Christians. 540 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:33,200 I've come to see resurrection that I've come to see that 541 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:38,080 resurrection is so robust that it is possible to carry the 542 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:40,800 weight of your whole life and death upon it. 543 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:43,240 It's hope that will carry us through. 544 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:50,520 Yes, hope of rest and temporary dwelling in paradise, but then 545 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:55,680 making our home with God on earth and seeing a new heaven 546 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,360 and a new earth created. So I've talked about, I've 547 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,720 talked about paradise, I've talked about new creation, I've 548 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:07,960 talked about resurrection body. When I talked about paradise, I 549 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:11,480 talked about the interaction that Jesus had on the cross with 550 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,520 the criminal. And he said today you will be 551 00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:17,080 with me in paradise. When I talked about new 552 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:21,800 creation, I talked about Revelation 21, God's dwelling 553 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:25,080 place, being among the people, He will dwell with them. 554 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:31,080 They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be 555 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,720 their God. And then just briefly, the 556 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,960 resurrection body in Colossians 3. 557 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:38,560 When Christ appears, who is our life? 558 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,320 Then you will appear with him in glory. 559 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:49,200 The word that links these three things together is the word with 560 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:55,000 We will be with Jesus said, You will be with me. 561 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:02,560 God will dwell with them. We will be with Him in glory at 562 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:06,720 every stage of the God story, every stage of our life, from 563 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:10,120 this present moment to the day of ultimate resurrection. 564 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,160 At every stage, the One who promises that He will never 565 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:18,520 leave us nor forsake us says that He is with us, present with 566 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:23,680 us every step of the way. Which leads me back to Romans 567 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,440 838. Like it did last week, I am 568 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:29,840 convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. 569 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:34,040 Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our 570 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,640 fears for today or our worries about tomorrow. 571 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:40,120 Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 572 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,240 No power in the sky above or in the earth below. 573 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:47,360 Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us 574 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:50,680 from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our 575 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:55,880 Lord. Every step of our story is 576 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,360 marked with the witness of Jesus. 577 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:04,040 Our fear of death is gone because of the witness of Jesus. 578 00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:09,520 Everything that lies ahead, he has gone there first. 579 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,960 Jesus will never lead us into something that he has not faced 580 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,160 himself. Death, resurrection, paradise, 581 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,720 new body. Jesus has faced it all. 582 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:23,000 He's not sat on the sidelines waiting for it to happen. 583 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,440 He has been in the thick of the action. 584 00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:31,280 Jesus never wants any of his children, any of us, to face 585 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,000 anything alone. He goes 1st and He has faced it 586 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,200 all. He will lead us through death 587 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:43,400 into resurrection, gently whispering to us, I've been here 588 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:50,920 before, I know the way ahead. Do not be afraid, despite the 589 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:57,120 mystery, despite our desire for certainty, waiting to know 590 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,520 exactly how, wanting to know exactly how it will feel, 591 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:06,560 exactly what it will be like. Because we can't. 592 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:11,480 We can trust Jesus. We can trust Him. 593 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:14,280 He is the resurrection and the life. 594 00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:18,880 We can place our hope in the truth that He is leading us. 595 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:23,400 We need not dread death or be filled with trepidation. 596 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,880 God is good and can be trusted forever and ever and ever. 597 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:30,920 He will be our guide to the very end. 598 00:41:36,980 --> 00:41:39,500 We want to. We crave certainty, don't we? 599 00:41:39,500 --> 00:41:41,660 We want to know what's going to happen, how it's going to play 600 00:41:41,660 --> 00:41:43,620 out. We want to know what the future 601 00:41:43,620 --> 00:41:46,380 will be like. And yet, Jesus doesn't invite us 602 00:41:46,380 --> 00:41:48,500 into a life marked with certainty. 603 00:41:49,260 --> 00:41:52,340 He invites us into a life that is marked by trust. 604 00:41:53,140 --> 00:41:55,500 And they are two very different, different things. 605 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,280 If only we could have an instruction manual that gave us 606 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:03,440 one step at a time how to live and what it's going to look like 607 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:05,280 and what we're going to encounter and how it's going to 608 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,960 be step by step. We don't have that, but we have 609 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:14,760 a person to walk with, to take each step with that has been 610 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:16,520 there before, that has been ahead of us. 611 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,400 And he invites us into something deeper, something that will 612 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,320 transform our lives. And for that we need to trust 613 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:32,040 him, because we can trust him, because we can lay the weight of 614 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:36,960 our life and our death upon him. We can find hope and we can 615 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:45,800 become eternal optimists. The hope is the promise of 616 00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,320 Jesus's presence throughout the future. 617 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,520 That's the gospel. That's the good news of Jesus. 618 00:42:53,240 --> 00:42:55,600 That's why we need to have these conversations. 619 00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:02,560 Death is not all that there is. Death is the gateway into 620 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:08,280 resurrection life. And for those of us who follow 621 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:11,400 Jesus, he invites us to see that death isn't something to run 622 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,440 away from. In fact, it is more like a 623 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:18,640 homecoming. When he was facing his own 624 00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:21,440 physical death, the famous pastor in from Chicago, DL 625 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:23,920 Moody, said this. Pretty soon you're going to read 626 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:26,400 in the Chicago papers that Dwight Moody is dead. 627 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,800 Don't you believe it. I will be more alive than I am 628 00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:34,520 right now. To enter God's future means that 629 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,880 we need to become more human, more ourselves, more real, more 630 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:42,680 alive, more at home than we than we ever could be here and now. 631 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:47,320 Death is not the end of things. It's only the mere beginning. 632 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:54,000 Death isn't setting off into uncharted, choppy waters. 633 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:59,680 It's entering into a peaceful harbour where the Father is 634 00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:04,160 running towards us, wanting to embrace us and welcome us into 635 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:09,520 the homecoming feast. Or in the words of Jewel, then 636 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:14,120 the Unicorn from Narnia. When he arrives into the real 637 00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:17,280 Narnia, he says this is my real country. 638 00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:20,320 I belong here. This is the land that I have 639 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:25,120 been looking for. Resurrection is our real country 640 00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:29,120 home at last, and Jesus is leading us all the way there. 641 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:37,800 Upper head is home and because of the renewed earth, the 642 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:39,880 resurrected bodies that resemble Jesus. 643 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:43,880 The words from Paul in Thessalonians 1/4 are so true. 644 00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:49,320 We will be with the Lord forever, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer 645 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:53,720 said, he said, our men closing a short worship service in the 646 00:44:53,720 --> 00:44:56,200 cells of Flossenburg concentration camp. 647 00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,480 Two men in civilian clothes. They clothes, they barged 648 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:02,560 through the door and shouted, prisoner Bonhoeffer, get ready 649 00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:06,240 to come with us. The small crowd in the room knew 650 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:08,560 what those words meant. His death. 651 00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:12,320 So Bonhoeffer in front of these worshippers, in front of his 652 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:17,240 executioners, defiantly and full of hope, full of resurrection 653 00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:21,240 hope, preached his last sermon, a sermon of 10 words. 654 00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:25,160 This is the end for me, the beginning of life. 655 00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:38,080 Why don't you stand? I've talked for a long time. 656 00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:42,640 Apologies, but let's just see what the Lord says. 657 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:44,920 If you've got children in Vineyard Kids, the team would 658 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:46,960 love to see you sooner rather than later. 659 00:45:47,240 --> 00:45:50,360 So do feel free to go and then come back and we can pray. 660 00:45:52,760 --> 00:46:02,870 Holy Spirit, would you come, Lord, where I've talked many 661 00:46:02,870 --> 00:46:04,550 words? Would your words stick, 662 00:46:15,890 --> 00:46:18,610 Lord? Where many of us, our hearts are 663 00:46:18,610 --> 00:46:22,850 broken, we're walking with grief and the weight that that 664 00:46:22,850 --> 00:46:26,490 carries. And we ask that you would come 665 00:46:28,650 --> 00:46:35,600 and you would surround us, and you would give us eternal 666 00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:40,760 optimism. But thank you for the vision of 667 00:46:40,760 --> 00:47:03,560 resurrection. Lord, I ask that you would come 668 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:13,600 and break the power of fear that any of us hold, the fear of 669 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:17,560 death. But now, maybe after this 670 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:19,600 morning, the fear of resurrection and what that looks 671 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:24,360 like and the uncertainty, Lord, would you come? 672 00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:57,640 The peace and the presence of God is resting on a number of 673 00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,720 you, and I want to encourage you to stay in that space. 674 00:48:07,420 --> 00:48:10,020 If you would appreciate somebody praying for you this morning, we 675 00:48:10,020 --> 00:48:17,820 would love to stand with you. We would love to pray for you. 676 00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:31,400 So if that's you, why don't you either grab someone that you 677 00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,480 came with or come to the front? People in small groups are 678 00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,520 available to pray. If you're just feeling a bit raw 679 00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:46,240 or a bit confused, then the Spirit of God wants to just meet 680 00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:54,640 with you. Heavenly Father, thank you for 681 00:48:54,640 --> 00:49:06,680 your presence. Thank you for your peace and 682 00:49:06,680 --> 00:49:15,470 your promise. Thank you, Jesus, that you say 683 00:49:15,470 --> 00:49:20,270 you'll never leave us nor forsake us, and that you went 684 00:49:20,270 --> 00:49:30,940 first. Jesus, thank you that you are 685 00:49:30,940 --> 00:49:31,780 with us.