Rise and Shine! - Part B

Jesus rose from the dead. That doesn't mean once a year we get to talk about resurrection.

It means that resurrection was just the first fruits where the rest of the harvest Easter time is not just a one time event.

It's an ongoing activity that will culminate in our physical resurrection. So theologian Erik Sauer put it this way. The present age is Easter time. It begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer and it ends with the resurrection of Jesus.

Resurrection is central to the Christian faith. And today on Connect with Skip Hightech, Skip dives into the significance of Jesus resurrection and how it paves the way for your own good first. Skip wants to invite you to connect with him on social media.

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Now we're in First Corinthians, chapter fifteen. As we dove into our study with Skip Hightech.

The resurrection of Christ isn't just a past event. An isolated event. No.

It started a chain reaction of events that includes our resurrection. That's his point, as was the Redeemer. Christ. So we'll be the redeemed at his coming Christians. You noticed that little word twice mentioned first fruits. You think, what on earth is he talking about? What kind of language is that? Jesus is the first fruits. It's a Jewish metaphor. Every year they had a feast, a feast of first fruits when it was harvest time. And the first fruits was a sample of the produce that they would grow. They would bring a little sample called the offering of First Fruits. The first installment. And they would bring it as an offering before the Lord. Before they would harvest all of their crops. Now, here's the point. And it's very, very important. And to be exciting, if you bring a first fruit offering, it means by necessity, there will follow the harvest. If you have the first fruits, it means the harvest is about to come. So when Jesus rose from the dead, that was the first fruits. It must mean that the harvest, the resurrection of all of God's children must follow. It's already been presently activated at the resurrection of Christ. Now listen to this. Here's Paul speaking and Acts 26 and he says, I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen, that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead as the light to the Jews and the Gentiles alike. There's that same thought. He's the first. And here again, first, fruits indicating the harvest is about to come. Now, some of you might be thinking, well, wait a minute. What do you mean? The first Jesus wasn't the first guy to get up from the dead. Right. There were people in the Old Testament. The rose from the dead. Right. And the New Testament before Jesus. Right. First came 17. Elijo raises from the dead a widow's son. Second, Cahn's chapter for Eli Chaar raises from the dead a shoen. Amite son turned to the New Testament. Lazarus gets raised from the dead Jairus. His daughter gets raised from the dead. The son of the widow. It name gets raised from the dead, all pre resurrection of Christ. So what does Paul mean when he says Jesus rose first and now he's the first fruit is what he means. Very simple. Although they were raised from the dead first, their resurrection is completely different than his resurrection because they rose only to die again. It didn't get raised and glorified permanent bodies. They rose from the dead, lived a while and had to do it all over again. So they were the exception to the rule that's appointed and every man to die once and after this, the judgment, they died twice. That was the exception to the general rule. Jesus was different. He rose in a glorified body, not just another of the same human body. It was his body, but glorified. And it was permanent. It would be forever. Thus, he is the first fruits of that resurrection. And here's the point. When Jesus got out of the tomb on that Easter morning, when he conquered death by resurrection, it wasn't only to prove that he was the Messiah, that he was God in human flesh, that he was unique, et cetera, et cetera. Though he did all that. But he was the first fruits. Says Paul, so his resurrection. Listen carefully, requires our resurrection. If he rose from the dead bodily, we also will rise from the dead body. I got a note this week. It's a great note. It was so good. I wanted to read it to you because it's a good question. Dear Pastor Skip, why does God want to resurrect our body if we will have a new body anyway at the Rapture, those who are dead in Christ, the decomposing bodies, the ashes, etc. and they says in parenthesis, you hopefully get the idea. I do. I can picture the decompositions quite well. He says God will resurrect that. Pull back together from the four winds, so to speak. And then he says, why? What's up with that? What is up with that? Why such an emphasis on the resurrection? Here's why. It completes our salvation. It completes our is our redemption. Let me explain. I'm not saying that we can add anything to it. We can't. It's finished. It's a done deal. Jesus accomplished our salvation on the cross. But you should know and you'll see in a moment that salvation has a past, present and future aspect. We have been saved. Past tense from the penalty of sin forever. You'll never stand in judgment on Christ, Christ alone. We call that justification salvation. That's one. Number two, we are being saved moment by moment from the power of sin. That sanctification, salvation. It's an ongoing process. But one day in the future, we will be saved from the very presence of sin altogether. That's glorification salvation. Thus, the resurrection from the dead is a necessity because of original sin. Man fell. And God said in the day that you eat there of you will surely die. And so, because God made us body and soul, he must restore both to bring us back to the original fact. Resurrection of the body is so certain that when Paul writes about it, he writes about it as if it's a done deal, as if glorification is already done. Listen to what he says. Romans eight. Verse 30. And those he predestined. He also called. And those he called. He also justified. And those he justified. He also glorified. One necessitates the other. And the first will follow up with glorification. It's so certain that he writes about it as if it's already a done deal. Because in the mind of God, it is a done deal. It will happen. So Jesus rose from the dead. That doesn't mean once a year we get to talk about resurrection. It means that resurrection was just the first fruits where the rest of the harvest Easter time is not just a one time event. It's an ongoing activity that will culminate in our physical resurrection. So theologian Erik Sauer put it this way. The present age is Easter time. It begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer. And it ends with the resurrection of the redeemed. So as the Redeemer. So the redeemed as Christ. So the Christian hey, look at verse twenty three, because this is the really good part. It culminates with change. And I want that, especially the older I get. I want change. Verse twenty three. But each one in his own order. Christ the first fruits after a word. Those who are Christ at his coming. OK. Let's, let's pick ahead a little bit. Go to verse forty nine. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, that's Adam as explained previously. We shall also bear the image of the heavenly man that is Jesus Christ. We're gonna look like Jesus Christ. Our bodies will be like him. Philippians three 21. We mentioned that a couple of weeks ago. Paul said he will transform our lowly bodies, that they may be like his own glorious body. First, John, Chapter three. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is. Now this answers the question. And here's the question. What will our bodies be like when they rise from the dead? Answer. They will be like Jesus body when it rose from the dead. Well, what was Jesus body like when he rose from the dead? Glad you asked. So here's here's the answers. Number one, first, our resurrection bodies will be our earthly bodies. Glorified won't be a different one. Won't be a new one. It'll be this one. When Jesus rose from the dead, did he get raised from the dead in a wholly different body than the one he had? No, it was the same body, right. The tomb was empty. So unlike his body was still there decomposing. And he's running around as a phantom. His body that was buried was the body that came out of the grave. They didn't see a phantom or a hallucination or a ghost. Who was him? That's a very important point. There's a one to one correspondence with the body of Jesus that died and was buried. And the one that was raised from the dead. It was him. It was that body glorified, Jesus predicted it. John, chapter two. He said, destroy this temple. And in three days, I will raise it up. John gives an editorial comment. This he spoke referring to his own body, his physical body. And I bring that up. It's very important because some Christians assume that God will create a new permanent body X in Hilo out of nothing and give it to them upon death. Now, if that were so, then there's no need for the doctrine of the resurrection. And you can read First Corinthians 15 out of your Bibles, because that's the whole premise. Our bodies will be resurrected from the dead. That's how Jesus described resurrection once again. Listen to his words all who are in the graves. Now, that's descriptive. That means dead people who get put down in a casket and lowered into the earth. All those who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out. Nothing could be more graphic. It's their bodies resurrected. So it's better to refer to that future state not as your new body, but as your glorified body, because it's going to be your body glorified. So back to the question. Why does God want to resurrect our body if we have a new one? The answer is you won't have a new one. You'll have this one renewed, made, new, resurrected, glorified. And that is full redemption. Romans eight, verse 22. We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons. The redemption of our bodies. That's when redemption is complete upon resurrection. So number one, our resurrection bodies will be our bodies glorified. That was Jesus. Same body, but glorified. Number two, our resurrection bodies will have advanced properties, shall we say. Advanced properties. You know what I mean by that? Jesus had advanced properties, right? He had other world capabilities. I mean, it was his body. But it sure acted different after the resurrection than before. Right. For instance, in John, chapter 20, verse 19. He could pass through solid walls. Won't that be fun? Disciples were in the upper room made out of stone. Everything in Jerusalem was. Doors were shut and locked for fear of the Jews. And Jesus entered the room. He didn't. You guys let me in. Jesus. Behold, I stand at the door knock. He didn't have to do that. He just came in through the walls. Second, he could suddenly appear in one place and quickly go to another place from out of nowhere. He was on the road to a mass with the disciples. They laughed. He partied and then suddenly showed up in a room where the disciples were gathered. And it says on that occasion, when they saw Jesus, they were terrified. And they supposed they had seen a spirit ghost. And it says this Jesus said to them, handle me. Now listen to this. Handle me. Here's his resurrection body for a spirit does not have flesh and bones like you see that I have here. Here's Jesus body. Glorified, resurrected flesh and bones, physical, real, but with other world capabilities. Third, it seems that perhaps he was able to change his form because three different occasions in the New Testament. Those who knew him intimately didn't recognize him at first, and then they did recognize him when he revealed himself to them. Some suppose that's because of the marks left by the crucifixion. Others suppose, as I do, that it's Jesus. But in a glorified form, there is a resemblance. But they didn't at first recognize him and forth as a copart Jesus body after the resurrection could move vertically as well as horizontally. Right. He did what ascended into have an ax. Chapter one, verse nine. He's hanging out with the disciples. All of a sudden it's like his body going upward up into the clouds. And the disciples were going like, that is so utterly cool. I want to do that. And they will one day. That's what the angel said. Don't gaze up into heaven. That same Jesus who left will come back just like he left. Same manner, physical down, touching on the Mount of Olives. Now that becomes important as later on. I'm going to describe for you your ultimate destination, which is New Jerusalem. And when I tell you how it's constructed, this idea of moving vertically has a lot of fun possibilities to it. So what would your body be like in the resurrection? Like Jesus body? Real physical with other world capabilities. Now, Paul will describe more precisely what that is like in the verses that follow in First Corinthians 15. We'll save that for next week and answer questions next week. Like, well, now wait a minute. What if your body is handicapped now or you lose a limb now? And what about that cremation idea and several subjects like that I hope will get cleared up. Let's finish up today with a versus twenty fourth or twenty twenty eight. Here's now the third aspect to resurrection. It will be appropriated. This is future now because look what he says. Verse twenty four. Then comes the end. Then comes in when Jesus comes back. Resurrects the body verse twenty three. Then comes the end when he delivers the Kingdom of God to the Father. When he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power, he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, for he has put all things under his feet, quoting Psalm eight. When he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. That is the father. Now, when all things are made subject to him, then the son himself will also be subject to him, the father who put all things under him that God may be all in all. So here now is the culmination of everything. When Jesus turns over the restored world to the father, the very reason that he was sent is to recover it because of the fall and the curse that came from Adam sinned because of the judgment of the tribulation period trashed by a judgment. It will be renewed by Christ so we can think ahead. We don't have to turn to it. Revelation Chapter five is a picture of Jesus the Lamb taking the scroll, the title deed of the Earth from the father to take it back from Satan, these Sirpa to recover the Earth and present it back to the father. And how will he do that? Well, the Bible tells us exactly in the Book of Revelation there'll be a thousand year millennial peace on earth where there will be no rebellion tolerated. Jesus will rule with an iron rod, but at the end of that period, there will be a rebellion, a brief rebellion, the last insurrection that will be stopped. Completely stopped. And then after that thousand year reign, it even gets weirder than that. If you think it's weird so far, hang on, because there'll be a second resurrection, this time for unbelieving dead people. They'll be raised up. They'll stand before the white throne, great white throne judgment, and they'll be given the capability and the physical form to withstand eternal punishment forever and ever. That'll be their resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who goes through the first resurrection. The scripture says the second death has no power over him. We who are raised incorruptible without the presence of sin, unable to fall, unable to sin without the old nature. There is no second death. But their resurrection takes place a thousand years later. Now, after all that's done, that comes the next phase, the eternal state. This earth is obliterated and so is heaven, because God makes a new heaven and a new earth with its new city capital, New Jerusalem. I know we have New Mexico, but this is going to be even newer and better than that. It's gonna be the eternal state. Here's a point. We need resurrected body for two reasons. Number one, because of original sin. To reverse that. We already talked about that. Number two for the future, the future renewed resurrected millennial earth demands renewed resurrected physical bodies. The eternal state requires eternal bodies. So to complete our redemption and to fit us for the future demands resurrection. Here's the point, the whole passage resurrection has been around a long time, it's been anticipated a long time. And when Jesus rose again from the dead, according to the scripture, he set in motion an inexorable chain reaction that will include your physical resurrection, your body raised, made, glorified. The first fruits were the harvest. Now, let's suppose let's suppose that everything that I've said this week in the last few weeks is all hooey. It's bunk. It's metaphysical nonsense. As an unbeliever would listen to this and go, please. Well, let's just suppose that's true. If there is no hereafter, this is all there is. If there is no hereafter, then nothing matters. You can do anything you want. All right. Anything you want. Nothing matters. But if there is a hereafter, then nothing else matters. Follow, there is a hereafter of all of this happens to be true. Nothing else matters. And now we understand that though death is no respecter of persons. Everybody will die and the sailor comes back first. Resurrection is a respecter of persons because there's different resurrections, the evil and the just. There's a man who went to his doctor for a checkup and he called his doctor three days later. And the doctor obviously had forgotten. Sounded like. And so the doctor said, you know, I'm so sorry, but I have. Well, I've got bad news and worse news. You don't expect to hear that maybe I've got good news and bad news, but the doctor said I got bad news and worse news.

And here's the bad news. You have 24 hours to live.

24 hours to live, doc, that's not enough time to even get my affairs in order. What could possibly be worse than that? And the doctor said I was supposed to tell you yesterday, but I forgot.

That would be worse.

I would be worse. It's appointed four men to die once and after this comes the judgment.

Resurrection is a respecter of persons and how you live and how you choose today to live, to determine how you die when you are resurrected and where you spend time and that resurrected state.

That's the eternal truth of the gospel. The same message.

That wraps up Skip Hydrox message from the series From the Edge of Eternity. Right now we want to share but an exciting resource that takes you on an interesting journey and gives you insight into Middle East affairs.

Here's Skip with Joel Rosenberg to talk about this month's offer. Joel's book, The Jerusalem Assassin.

When Joel Rosenberg releases a new book, I can't wait to read it. He never disappoints. Recently, I was able to talk with Joel about this book from his home in Jerusalem.

It's about an American president who's about to roll out his Middle East peace plan. Joel Rosenberg's novels are dramatic stories ripped from the reality of today's headlines. Wow. A Saudi Israeli peace plan. That would be huge. That would be historic. Let's do it. Let's do a summit in Jerusalem. That's the setup of the Jerusalem assassin. What's amazing about that is this is a plausible scenario.

The Jerusalem Assassin by Joel Rosenberg is our special offer this month. Your hard cover copy of The Jerusalem Assassin is our thank you gift. When you get thirty five dollars or more today to help expand this vital teaching outreach with Skip Heintz, it. So call now to get your copy eight hundred nine to two eighteen eighty eight or give online securely connect with Skip dot com slash offer.

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