From Grave to Glory: The Hope of Resurrection

So the resurrection is not mere resuscitation. It is transformation to a new glorified kind of life. There's a great contrast and a great change. The perishable becomes imperishable. The dishonorable body that sometimes this body let's just face it, admit it. Sometimes this body just does things wrong against God's plan and God's purposes and we sin. So this body that does dishonorable things will be raised to glory. This body that is weak will be raised in power. This body that is natural will be raised to be spiritual. [01:19:34] (45 seconds)  #ResurrectionTransformed

if there is no future resurrection, the most logical worldview is short term pleasure. Just live for today. Just live for yourself. Do whatever you wanna do. There's no reason there's no reason to do good works because there's nothing in the future. There's nothing objective outside of us that's good if Christ isn't raised from the dead. Are you beginning to see Paul's point here of how critical the resurrection is to our faith and how important this is for us? The entirety of the Christian faith rests on the reality of the resurrection. It's what gives life meaning. It's what gives us power, and it's what gives us sight to live for the good of God and for the good of others. [01:13:01] (54 seconds)  #ResurrectionGivesPurpose

What goes into the grave of believers, our bodies, is not what comes out. For just as we bore the image of Adam, we shall also bear the very image of Jesus. Listen what the Bible says about this. What are we gonna be changed into? Our future is not decay. It is to be raised and transformed to be like Jesus. First Corinthians fifteen forty nine, it'll be changed into the image of Jesus. But then John writes something about this as well. First John three two, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. Romans eight twenty nine says, we are being conformed to the image of his son. Philippians three twenty and following, but our citizenship is in heaven. For from it, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. When we are raised, we will be holy as Jesus is holy. Now we do not become Jesus. We do not become God. There's one God, but we will be raised and we will be like him. [01:20:19] (88 seconds)  #BearChristImage

Hear this. The resurrection is not a return to what we were. It is a transformation in what we were always intended to be, fit to live in the presence of Jesus. So now what do we do with this? Well, Paul answers that question for us. What's the response to Christ rising and that we are going to rise? Here's what he says. Look at 58. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. It should so impact us that he rose from the dead and and he's promised us that we will rise with them. [01:24:26] (52 seconds)  #SteadfastInResurrection

There is not a single one of us in the room this morning, regardless of your denominational background, regardless of what your parents believed, what your spouse believes, not one of us stands spiritually neutral before God. We are either in Adam or we are in Christ. There's only two options. And if we're in Adam, then we're separated from God. But if we're in Christ, we are united in God. So just as Christ's resurrection happens, when at the end of the days, last times, at the end of time, we will be raised as well to dwell forever with him. [01:04:20] (42 seconds)  #InAdamOrInChrist

Moody said, earth is receding. Heaven is opening. God is calling me. Imagine that moment, not trying to cling to life here, not panicking knowing that the end has come, not bargaining with God for more time. He wasn't talking like a man who was losing his life, but he was talking like a man who was about to arrive somewhere else. And then came his most famous words, someday you will read in the papers that DL Moody is dead. Don't believe a word of it. At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am right now. Moody understood something about first Corinthians chapter 15 that many only say but don't really feel. Death is not the end of life. It is the door doorway to the fullness of life. The resurrection of Jesus did not just secure us a future event. It redefined the very moment today and the very moment of our death. [01:27:18] (69 seconds)