The Resurrection Body 130505

Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is what Easter is all about. Earlier in this chapter the Apostle tells us, "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you're still in your sins." Then he notes that someone will ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?" Paul calls that person "foolish". Then Paul uses the same metaphor as Jesus. Jesus' words were, "...unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Jesus, of course, was talking about his own death. Paul expands on the idea showing that the seed is much different from the plant that grows from it. And then he moves on with the comparison in verses 42-49.

1 Corinthians 15:42-49, So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

As the metaphore unfolds Paul shows us that he is talking about the resurrection body as being different from the earthly body. He does so by comparing Adam to the resurrected Jesus.

Let me hasten to say that the term "spiritual" does not mean immaterial. Jesus was not a spirit in his resurrection body but he was flesh and bones raised to perfection. Now, let's see how this comparison plays out and what it has to do with us today.

The first man — Adam. Was, at the time of his creation,…

In the image of God. We sometimes forget what Adam was like before he sinned. Listen while I read from the creation account. Genesis 1:26-27, Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (And verse 31a) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Adam, the federal head of the human race, was created in the image of God. He was given dominion over all creation. Male and female were both resident in the original Adam. In order for there to be a female person something had to be taken from the side of the man, Adam. At the end of each day's creation God said that it was good. At the end of the day when man was created God said that it was very good! Sinless and perfect in every way, Adam and Eve lived in the world as rulers over all creation.

When sin came into the world mankind, who was above all the creation, was…

Fallen. Listen while I read from, Genesis 3:17-24, And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

It's hard to imagine the emotions brought on by the fall of man. Adam and Eve rebelled against God and broke the one rule they were given and immediately they suffered the consequences. They awoke one morning the Lords of creation. Established by God over everything else that was created. At some point during the day they listened to Satan speaking. They doubted God! They believed that God would withhold a good thing from them! They believed a lie spoken by the master liar — Satan himself! And when they did they were immediately experiencing emotions they had never felt before. Suddenly they were ashamed of their bodies! When they heard the voice of the Lord God of the afternoon of that day they do not rush to meet him, instead, they tried to hide themselves from the creator of the universe! They covered their body with leaves and cowered in the shrubbery. They now found themselves to be…

Inherently sinful. Paul describes the immediate consequence of their sin in Romans 5:12-14, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Notice that Paul does not say that sin came into the world through one woman! Yet it was Eve who was deceived and drawn into temptation. It was Eve that discovered that the fruit was good for food, a delight to the eyes and desirable because it would make one wise. It was Eve who ate the fruit and gave it to her husband. Eve was deceived! Adam volunteered! It was Adam who had been given instructions by God concerning the tree and its fruit. Therefore, it was Adam who sinned. When he took the fruit and ate sin came into the world and death through sin. Inherited guilt came to the human race! And when that happened death came to all who descended from Adam and Eve. Man, created in the image of God, was now fallen from the loftiest heights imaginable to the depth of degradation and sin and inherently sinful. In an instant the grace of God was removed from mankind and immediately the innocent creation began to suffer. In order to cover man's guilt and shame innocent animals died to give their skin as clothing for the guilty pair.

Just as we inherit body shape, hair color, skin color and so many other things we also inherit Sin! A debt we could not pay was now imposed on the entire human race. We needed a Redeemer! The first man, Adam, brought sin and death into the world and we needed…

The second man — Jesus. The Offspring of the woman was…

Promised. Listen while I read Genesis 3:15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

From the beginning of creation God had a plan to meet the needs of sinful man. That plan included hostility between Satan and the woman, Eve. And here, at the beginning, God promised an offspring from the woman who would bruise the head of Satan. What the human race needed was a new family, a new federal head — Jesus Christ the son of God.

That promise was fulfilled. One of the best descriptions of the coming of the son of God is found in Galatians 4:4-6, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

God sent forth his son. Not as a conqueror on a white horse leading an army of angels to destroy his enemies. He sent a baby, born in a stable, born of a woman, born under the law in order to provide redemption. Sent forth his son! The concept is hard to imagine! The creator of the universe entered into a Virgin's womb, was born in a stable, raised in the house of a carpenter in a minor village of an obscure Roman province. He remained in obscurity except for a brief incident at the age of twelve. He worked with his hands as a carpenter until he was 30 years old. And all things he was…

Pleasing to the Father. Let's read the words of Scripture found in Matthew 3:13-17, Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The apostle John adds an interesting note to this event. When John the Baptizer saw Jesus coming toward him he immediately knew, perhaps for the first time, who Jesus really was. And he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." He saw that Jesus, his cousin, was not just a boy he grew up with. This Jesus was the sacrifice required for Adam's sin inherited by all of us and for the sins we all commit and cannot pay for ourselves. John saw that Jesus was the answer to the question of sin's guilt.

Getting back to Matthew, we see that John hesitated because he knew that he needed Jesus' baptism. John baptized with the baptism of repentance but only Jesus could cover man's sin. Jesus ordered him to go ahead, not because Jesus needed to repent, but in order to fulfill all righteousness. In other words, to do what was right in the plan of God.

And when they did this heaven opened, the Spirit of God descended onto the scene, and a voice — the voice of God — said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased"! What was it God said after the creation of Adam? He saw everything that he had created, completed by the creation of man, and he said that it was very good.

Now, the Lamb of God is introduced to the world to walk the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea, oh yes, and Samaria as well. He lived among them a perfect life with no sin of his own. He taught them what only God could teach. He confirmed his teaching with multiple miracles. And finally, he came back to Jerusalem to be taken into custody, to be beaten and crucified. Then on the third day he rose from the dead proving that he had power over sin and death. He received his resurrection body in a tomb just outside Jerusalem on the first Easter morning. Now, God could provide…

Redemption in Christ.

Transferred citizenship. We were born sons and daughters of Adam and Eve and as such received our inheritance from them. We were born dead in trespasses and sins. But when Jesus came… Listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossians. Colossians 1:13-14, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

You see we were born in the kingdom of darkness. Now, because of the work of Christ on the cross in the grave and through the power of the resurrection we can be delivered from the domain of darkness. God transfers those of us who come to him through faith into the kingdom of his beloved Son!

Now we have a new family. I remember how clearly Miss Bertha Smith illustrated the concept. She put up a flannel board. Oh, I know, the younger ones can't even imagine what that means. Just imagine that she put up a large touchscreen tablet and this will all make sense to you.

On the flannel board she put many cutouts of the Chinese character for "man". They were all black because they were born dead in trespasses and sins. Then, she placed a cross up on the board along with an image of a tomb and she explained that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of man. Then she said that when a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ they are taken to the cross and placed there with Jesus. From there the little image of the man was taken to the tomb and then brought out covered in white. In so doing she demonstrated the…

Transformed image. Listen while I read 2 Corinthians 3:18, And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Do you ever wonder why all these things happen to you? I used to have a large button with the letters PBPWMGIFWMY on it. Occasionally someone would ask, "What on earth does that mean?" And I would tell them that those letters mean Please Be Patient With Me God Isn't Finished With Me Yet. Thank God he has better plans for us than we currently are enjoying. In 2nd Corinthians 3:18 we are told to look on the glorified Jesus because we are being transformed into the same image. Amazing! We are being transformed into the image of Jesus! That being true God certainly isn't finished with me yet! Yes, God himself is transforming us from one degree of glory to another. One day we will be glorified with him and…

Transported with him. What will my resurrection body be like? How did Paul describe it to the Philippians? Listen while I read Philippians 3:20-21, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 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.

Remember last week's sermon? We are already, in God's eyes, raised up with Jesus and seated with him in heavenly places. We have been naturalized as citizens of heaven. The power of God raised Jesus from the dead with a new body, a resurrected body, a glorious body and that same power will transform our lowly body to be like his.

John said the same thing, perhaps a little simpler,

1 John 3:2, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Now we are God's children and when he appears we shall be like him. What happens in the meantime? Do we wait for the resurrection? I certainly don't have all the answers but I do know something of what the Scriptures teach by illustration. When Saul asked the witch of Endor to call up the spirit of Samuel and it really happened, much to her amazement. Saul recognized Samuel when he appeared. When Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mount of Transfiguration they recognized Moses and Elijah.

When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man, in hell, looked into paradise (how horrible that must be! To be in hell and see paradise) he recognized Lazarus, the beggar that had lain at his gate, along with Abraham. In every case these people looked as they had before they died.

I do not believe we turn into ghosts, or spirits, at death. And we certainly do not become angels! The Scriptures teach that to be away from the body is to be present with the Lord. There is no sleeping in the grave nor is there a spirit world we will live in. Jesus turned to the believing thief on the cross and told him, "…today you will be with me in paradise." In Revelation we are told that paradise is a physical place where we will be able to eat fruit from the tree of life. But that's another sermon.

John tells us, "what we will be has not yet appeared." However, we have a lot of evidence that Jesus had a physical body with "flesh and bones", and he could eat and drink, break bread, prepare breakfast, and be touched. Jesus rose from the tomb in the same physical body that had died. He repeatedly appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days in that same physical body. He ascended into heaven in that same physical body and promises to return again in the same manner. Jesus clearly shows us that his resurrection body was a physical body. Remember, at salvation, we are raised up with him and seated with him in heavenly places. Paul told the Philippians that he will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. I don't know about you but I daily grow more eager to be transformed. Put your faith in him who died for you that you might have life eternally.

All scripture quotes are from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.