Have you Heard the Good News? Part 2 "The Life"

What if the resurrection isn’t just a past event to admire but a present life to receive? We open 1 Corinthians 15 and trace the good news from cross to empty tomb, then further—to the startling claim that Jesus shares his risen life with anyone who believes. Not a receipt stapled to your forgiveness, not a theological footnote, but a living union that changes your motives, your energy, and your future.

We explore how the Old Testament hid the promise of rising in plain sight and how it all snaps into focus through Jesus. Then we walk through the eyewitnesses: Peter the denier restored, the Twelve regrouped, 500 at once, James the skeptical brother convinced, and Paul the persecutor transformed. Each story carries a theme of grace and points to a faith that is historically grounded and personally disruptive. If Christ is not raised, preaching is empty and faith is futile. If he is raised—and he is—then death is dethroned, and life and immortality stand open.

From Romans 6 to Ephesians 1, we unpack union with Christ as the core of Christian living: you died with him, and you live with him. That’s why grace produces love rather than apathy, why obedience becomes joyful rather than crushing, and why sin loses its appeal. The same power that raised Jesus helps you forgive, restrain your words, and keep hope alive. Two promises hold you steady: complete forgiveness and a new life that makes holiness possible. Ready to trade trying harder for trusting deeper? Press play, and let resurrection life do what effort never could.

If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the good news.

Transcript

Why Resurrection Matters Beyond A Receipt

Hidden In Plain Sight: OT Hints

Life And Immortality Brought To Light

Eyewitnesses And Evidence For Rising

Peter, The Twelve, And 500 Restored

James, Paul, And Grace To The Humble

Works, Passion, And True Service

Preach Christ, Not Self

If No Resurrection, Nothing Matters

Firstfruits And Our Shared Union

United With Christ: Romans 6

Adam, Christ, And Transferable Life

SPEAKER_00 0:27

All right, today's sermon is called Have You Heard the Good News? Part two, the life. First, for I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Alright, so in this chapter, Paul says, I'm gonna teach you the gospel. And he says, the gospel is awesome if you receive it and if you stand in it. And that's what we learned last week. The gospel in chapter in verse one, he said, It's amazing, it's useful for any human being if you receive it and if you stand in it. And then we talked about the death of Jesus. And so as I was growing up, I don't know about you, but I thought the death of Jesus was pretty easy to understand. Because I did all kinds of bad stuff growing up, and my dad was always like, I'm gonna kill you. And so when Jesus came and said, I'll take your death for you, I'll be your substitute. I was like, woo-hoo! I understood substitutionary atonement, is what that's called. That I needed a substitute to take my place because I deserved death. And that's it, that's it, all people have fallen short of God's glory. And the the consequences of being a sinner, being born in sin, is that death is the natural consequence. So we all have this situation that we need someone to die for us, and so Jesus does that for us. But resurrection, everyone told me as I was growing up, well, you it's the death and resurrection of Jesus. It's like part one and part two. It's like you gotta understand both of them. And they even told me resurrection is more important than the death of Jesus. And I was like, why? And I couldn't get a good answer for many years. I actually did not get a good answer. The closest I came, you know, was was when people said, it's like the receipt that your sins were paid for, or it's like the proof that God accepted Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, God let him rise from the dead because he was so pure and so wonderful that that death couldn't hold him down. And so he's like Gandalf coming back as Gandalf the white. Lord of the Wings nerd joke. Where my nerds at Okay, so I didn't understand about it until God opened my eyes to what the what the gospel really teaches. Okay. See that whole receipt example or receipt understanding of of the resurrection, it all seems very transactional to me. Like, okay, I die for your sins, I rise from the dead, receipt, here you go. Like it just said it didn't seem relational or what I really needed. And so I I already believed my sins were paid for by his death. So I really didn't understand what the whole point of this resurrection, this him coming back from the dead, uh, until I read this. And I'm gonna read you a quote. It's from a pastor named Andrew Murray. He was in South Africa in the 1800s. That's when all the best theologians lived. It was the 1800s. So Andrew Murray said this. In Christ's death, we see him in utter impotence, allowing and counting upon God to work all and give him life. What does that mean? It means Jesus completely surrendered to God's will. He couldn't, he didn't want to save himself, he couldn't save himself. He, and then God wrought a wonderful transition, meaning God uh raised him from the dead. And in us, we see the same, he says. It is only as we give ourselves unto that death also, as we entirely cease from self and its works, as we lie as in a grave, waiting for God to work all, that the God of resurrection life can work in us all his good pleasure. That quote unlocked something for me. And the thing was the resurrection is not just about Jesus paying for our sins or even beating death, it's about Jesus actually transferring his living, holy, pure, supernatural resurrection life into my dirty, rotten carcass. He does that. The resurrection is about Jesus transferring his risen life into my deadness and bringing me to life with him. And that changed everything as far as how I understand. It's a new source for living. That's what the resurrection is, that's what's so important. Like it's not Easter. Why are we talking about resurrection? Well, we're gonna be talking about it for a few weeks here. It's not just a historical fact, although it's the most verifiable event in all of ancient history, which we can we will get into that. But what's amazing about it, it's it's an actual exchange of life. My old life for his life, my brokenness for his freedom, my addiction for his satisfied spirit. Everything that I have that's wrong and broken and messed up, Jesus says, give it to me and I will replace it with my wholeness, righteousness, holiness, all that stuff. So the resurrection makes his life transferable to us in a very real way. You could remember it like this the share you have with him in his death is the same share you have with him in his new life. So if you believe Jesus died for you, you also get just as much of his resurrection. We are one with him on the cross. You died with him on the cross, and so you are also one with him in his new life. These are the if you can believe this, it will absolutely transform your real life. So look what he says in verse 3. I delivered to you that which I also first received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and then rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Okay, so what scriptures is he talking about? Well, in the Old Testament, God hid a bunch of scriptures that talked about the resurrection of Jesus. Now, he did not just have verses that said, My son, when he comes, is going to rise from the dead. He doesn't do that. He hid them in plain sight. And a lot of people ask and they wonder why would God do that? Why didn't God just make it super plain? Well, because Satan was also reading these scriptures and the and the enemy was reading these scriptures. So the enemy probably wouldn't have inspired people to murder Jesus on the cross if he knew that that's how his ultimate destruction would happen. So God had to hide it so that when we look back on it, we can realize that Jesus was gonna rise from the cross. It was foretold, it was predicted, uh, he was he it was his plan all along. So the first verse that we can see that in is Hosea 6, 2. And it says, After two days, he will revive us, and on the third day, he will rise us up that we may live in his sight. So if you were just reading that before Jesus, you'd be like, okay, it's probably a prophecy of some weird thing, resurrect, I don't know. But after Jesus, you plug it in, you lay the resurrection, and what really happened over that, and you can see that God was giving us confirmation of what was going to happen with Jesus. Here's another one in Psalm 16, 10. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, that's a word for death, the Hebrew word for death, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption, which is what happens when your body dies. Both of those, if you just read them at face value, you wouldn't be like, well, it means this. But after you understand what really happened, you can see that God's hand was in writing each of these, and they were these verses that are being talked about right now in 1 Corinthians. So remember this. When you read the Old Testament, you don't have the full story. So God wrote the Old Testament for us in a way that you need to have Jesus and the Gospels in order to understand everything that was being written back in the Old Testament. So always remember that. Everything is made clear when you lay the story of Jesus and the gospel that we learn about Jesus, his death and his resurrection, lay that over top of what's being taught in the Old Testament, and you can understand it much more clearly. In 2 Timothy, it says it like this, chapter 1, verse 10. But now has been revealed the truth, the gospel has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. So Jesus explains everything about God's heart, plan, and mission that was started in the Old Testament. He finishes it all and he brings it all to light through his gospel. The word gospel again means good news, his good news. And part of that good news is immortality, right? He says it right here. Immortality means, you know, you get forgiveness and eternal life. That is definitely included in the gospel. But then he says, He brought, he abolished death and he brought life. Okay, we can understand how he abolished death. So when he died on the cross, we don't ever have to die like that. We never have to experience death. When you die, when you die, it's just falling asleep, and you're just waking up with a new life. But we also get his resurrection life now today, and that's what we're talking about today. And he says here, he brought life. That is our new shared life with God that Jesus transferred from God into you, he transferred his own life into you, and we call that our union with Christ. So we are unified with Jesus and then he has destroyed death, abolished death. So we never have to fear death again, because we never really have to die, because he already died our death for us. What was wrong about that? Why did people die? People died because of sin. If we had never sinned, we wouldn't have ever had to experience death, but because Adam sinned, everything in the universe dies. So we also had to die, but because Jesus dies our death for us, when we physically die, we do not spiritually die, we continue living. There is no real death, spiritual death, for us. We will just wake up to a new life reality at the end. All right, then it says, when he rose from the dead in verse 5, it says, and he was seen by Cephas, which is Peter's name, so Peter, and then by the twelve. So now Paul is going to start telling us about the resurrection, and he's going to give us some concrete proofs and evidences that we have to so you can know that Jesus did rise from the dead. First, we have Cephas, which is another name for Peter. Why is it important that he's mentioned first? Because Peter had just denied Jesus. He had just messed up so terribly. He wasn't a hero, he was a zero. And what does Jesus do? He comes back, he rises from the dead, and he's like, How do you like them apples, Peter? I'm gonna call you Cephas because nobody even knows that name. No, just kidding. He did not do that. Jesus says, you know who I love the most? The guy who just screwed up. The guy who just screwed up the worst. Maybe not as bad as Judas, but close. He went straight to Peter. And he loved him and he forgave him and he restored him. And now Peter is a picture of redemption and restoration for all of us losers who have walked away from Jesus when we should have stood strong. I know I have denied Jesus with my actions, with my words, with my behavior, more times than I could ever count. Ever. And you know what Jesus has never done to me? He has never said a word about it. Every time my Jesus has met with me, he has looked me in the eye, and he has said, I love you. Metaphorically, right? He said, I love you. I have forgiven you. It's not who you are. That's not who you are. Let me tell you who you are. You are my son. I live inside you, and I'm not angry with you. I'm not upset with you. That's our God. People are like, why do you go to church? Why do you spend all this time studying God's word and connecting with Jesus? Jesus just blah blah blah blah blah. And they say all kinds of horrible things about him. But I know what Jesus has told me. And he has given me his life when I deserved nothing but condemnation. Anyone, can anyone say amen to that? And that's been your story also? Amen. I love it. Jesus isn't coming to bury us. You see, you were already buried with him. He's coming to give you the new life, the resurrection. That's what we're talking about here today. He's coming to pick you up, dust you off, set you back on the path of life, that you can walk with him. And then it says that that he he was seen by the twelve after he rose from the dead. So you might think Peter was the only one who denied Jesus and ran away in fear, but he wasn't, because all 12 of them, it says, ran away with their tail between their legs. None of them stood with him. They all ran away. And Jesus went to each one of them, them. Why is he doing this? Because his life is shareable. It's transferable with every one of his messed up kids. Every single one of us. No matter how you're messed up, each of the disciples messed up in a different way. And Jesus had grace for every single one of them. He has life to answer every single one of their death mistakes. Grace is sufficient, is what we learn. Alright, verse 6. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to this present day, but some have fallen asleep. Wow. Did you guys know this verse was in the Bible? People are like, ah, Jesus didn't rise from the dead. No one even saw him. Dude, the flipping Bible just said over 500 people saw him at one time. They were having some rager party, and Jesus showed up. I don't know what was going on. We don't know what happened. That's what I want to think was happening. Jesus showed up and 500 people saw him. And Paul is like, go ask one of them. He said, they're all there. All that anyone would need to do to disprove the Bible and say, all these accounts you can't have confidence in them, you can't trust him, is for one of those eyewitnesses to say, no, I was there and he did not show up. Just one of the 500 people, just one would discredit the entire group of witnesses. But guess what? Every single one of them agreed that Jesus rose from the dead. And Paul's like, go talk to them. They'll tell you. They saw him, he was alive. It's true. Jesus wasn't hiding in the forest. He was meeting with people, he was eating with them, he was hanging out with them, just like you would expect him to do if he really did rise from the dead. Okay, and through the years, there's been many attempts to disprove the resurrection. Some said that he didn't die at all, but he just swooned. This is called the swoon theory, and meaning that he just passed out on the cross. And when they stabbed him and his heart bled all out, he was just fainted. And he just magically got better inside a tomb. And then he woke up and he pushed the 2,000-pound rock away by himself after he just lost all his blood. So it's a really stupid theory, but people believe it. Because you have to believe stupid stuff to not believe in Jesus, to be honest. You have to. You have to deny what is evidence and what is real for something that's fake in a fairy tale. I get passionate about this. Okay. So there's the swoon theory. Others said, yeah, he really died, but his body was just stolen by his creepy disciples. The ones that all just ran away in fear. They were so brave that they came and attacked a Roman garrison of guys and killed them all, or knocked them all out, and then moved the stone and stole his body, and then told everyone he rose from the dead. And then everyone's like, Did he really rise from the dead? Because we're gonna kill you. And they were like, Yeah, he really rose from the dead, and then they killed every single one of them. But these disciples never recanted, they never said, Oh yeah, sorry, don't kill me. We were just joking. What good does it do for them to lie about him rising from the dead? It does nothing except put a target on their back. It was illegal to believe in Jesus. It was against Rome and their own countrymen, the Jews hated them for it. So literally, it was of no good benefit for them. Oh, well, they got the power. No, they didn't. There was no power in being a Christian. You were only killed. So the only way that they would believe this and stand up to death and all be killed is if it was actually true, because you will stand for what is true. And they do did stand for what is true. The other only other option that anyone has ever come up with is maybe they all were tripping on acid. They all hallucinated it all at the same time, all 12 of the disciples, and they're like, okay, but 500 people were all eating mushrooms at the same time, and they all saw the same thing. You can't get two people to hallucinate the same thing, but they're saying a mass hallucination. Again, this is absolutely ridiculous if you think about what is logical. Okay. That's why it takes more faith to be an atheist than it does to believe in the biblical account that is actually true and has evidence. It takes more faith to be an atheist. And if you want a good book, there's a great book out there called I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. Highly recommend it. Makes a great stocking stuffer. All right, verse 7. After that, he was seen by James. Okay, James. He was Jesus' brother, who the entire time Jesus was alive, James was like, you're an idiot. You're my brother. You're not God. James didn't believe in Jesus as the Messiah until after, but he appeared to James, which is very important. And then bought, and then by all the apostles, it says, So Jesus spent 40 days training his special chosen little army of guys to take over the world with this gospel of grace that he was bringing. Okay, so he was teaching him all about it. That's what he spent 40 days training him. All right, verse 8. It says, Then last of all, he was seen by me, this is Paul talking, as one born out of due time. So Paul was also an apostle, but remember during Jesus' life, Paul was a Pharisee. And he was literally for the time immediately after Jesus, Paul was going around killing Christians. But Jesus is like, Paul, I've chosen you, I love you, I'm gonna help you understand the gospel, and then you're gonna go be an apostle. So he says, I, you know, was the worst of all the apostles. Um and it it's there's no limit to who Jesus will save. Uh Jesus says, I know that you hated me with passion, but I still love you. It doesn't make me mad that you hated me. It doesn't make me mad that you believed in weird stuff. Moving forward, you're gonna have me. I'm gonna take over your life, and you're gonna have the truth, and you're gonna, it's gonna be okay. You're gonna follow me. Well, how did Paul get saved? Remember, Stephen was getting stoned, he was being stoned, but different different things. And he prayed. Do you just get it? Just kidding. That's a good joke, right? Anyway, Stephen's dying, he's praying for Paul as Paul is leading the group of the people who were killing him. And and Paul hears Stephen pray for him. He loved Paul. Stephen said, God forgive Paul. I'm not angry with you, Paul. He loved Paul, and uh, and God saved Paul. God used that testimony in Paul's life to bring him to know him. All right, verse 9. Paul says this, understanding that story about him, he says this, for I am the least of all the apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and the grace was not toward me, was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. So Paul has uh an attitude we call humility, and that humility, why is that important? Because grace always goes with humility. It says in the Bible, God gives grace to the humble but opposes the proud. Exactly. That's the way this new covenant of grace works. God says, you can be the biggest sinner in the world, but if you choose humility, if you choose to say, God, I I need you, and I and I'm gonna humble myself before you, you will get grace. So what is humility? Humility is a heart that says, I'm not gonna trust in myself and my own abilities, because I distrust my flesh. I need God, and so instead I'm gonna replace that with faith, which is trust in Jesus instead of myself. So that's what humility is. And then Paul says, I labored more. I had a great conversation right before church uh with someone who said, What does James mean when when he says uh we have we have to have faith and we have to have works? What is that talking about? Look, Paul's gonna tell us right here. He says, I labored more. God doesn't just forgive you so you can live a life of sin. He forgives you and then he transforms you so that he can live through you and he can get kingdom work done through your life. Your life has been bought and paid for by God. But it's not so that you can be his slave, it's so you can be his son. If you um anyone in here ever take over your father's business? Why is that funny? Was your dad like a drug dealer or something? Like, family business. All right. If you take over your father's business, it's your name on the line. So generally, that's why fathers like to hand down the family business to their son, because they know it's not just gonna be a job to them, it's going to be their identity because their name is on the sign outside the business. And that's what doing kingdom work is like for you and for me. Because we're not serving God because we have to or because it's the right thing to do. We do it because we're called by his name. Because his kingdom is our kingdom, his business is our business, his business is saving people and loving people. Guess what you're supposed to do? Love people, get them connected to the Savior. Paul says, I labored more than all y'all. Look, I learned a Texas word. And this is what resurrection life looks like in us. When resurrection life is flowing, what does it look like? You're serving God with the fruit of love. You're being a fruity Christian. Grace isn't the freedom to just sin more, to do your own thing. It's the power to live a life that matters and honors God. Did your life matter today? It can. Living by faith, Lazpaul, laboring for God's God's kingdom, it making a difference in the world. God, grace makes us not comfortable in sin. Grace makes us hate sin because I feel like I was just sinning. I just wasted a half an hour of my life that I could have made a difference in this world. I could have made a difference for eternity, like Isaac was saying. I could have made a difference, but instead I was worried about myself and my own thing, my own kingdom. Grace makes us hate sin because grace helps us understand we died to sin. We are alive to God through Jesus. Just like we died, Jesus died to sin and he lives for God's will. We have the exact same experience. We call it resurrection life, bro. That's what it's called. Your life is his life, he's living through you here on this world. Yeah, but he says this um, yet not I, but grace. So it's never your efforts that are laboring serving God. It's never trying hard that serves God. And it's never because we're just doing the right thing. I gotta go to church because it's the right thing to do. That's not serving God either. It has to be grace working in our lives. If you if you have a passion for God and for his heart, that's your clue that you're doing it the right way. I have a passion for knowing God, I have a passion for serving God, that's a clue that you you're doing it by the heart. If going to church and serving God is a job, that's a clue, you're doing it the old way, the old covenant, which is the law, which is not the gospel, and it's not the life of Christ, and it's not what the Bible wants you to do. If you don't want to come to church, don't go to church. But if you're passionate about God, if God has ransomed your heart and touched your heart with his love, then go to church and rejoice and give him thanks and praise and learn his word. That's how freedom works. You are free. God says you are completely free, and I love you, and I'll wait for passion to grab a hold of your heart until I require He doesn't require anything of us, but He wants us to get that passionate heart that He's given us. Verse 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you Believed. Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some say, some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? So here he mentions Christ being preached. Jesus is what we preach, Jesus is what we teach. Jesus is what we talk about. If you go to a church and they don't talk about Jesus, don't go back to that church. Okay? If you go to a church and they're constantly talking about other things, specifically what you should do, maybe think about going to another church. Okay? The church is supposed to preach about one thing Jesus, his death, his resurrection. We call that the gospel. Does that matter for just people who are heathens, who need to get saved, who need to get forgiven? It matters to them. They need to hear that, but it matters just as much to us. Because we know about the death of Jesus, us who have a relationship with him, but we are constantly learning more about the risen life of Jesus living through us. That's how we live our lives every day. And that's what we have to grow in is this resurrection life. Resurrection life is how we're supposed to be living. It's not I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. So resurrection life is a life of faith. We get that. That's why we preach the way that we do. Talking about Jesus, pointing everything to Jesus and all the good churches around the country, they point to Jesus, right? That's how it works. We don't have to focus on us. We're free from having to focus on us. You don't have to worry about your abilities or lack of abilities or your good deeds or your lack of good deeds. The more you focus on those things, the harder it will be to actually serve God. The whole point of the gospel is to lift your eyes off of yourself and onto the Savior. He is life. His words are life. So we study his words, we get our eyes onto him, and then we discover: hey, this is what I've been missing the whole time. And all the time I wasted trying to live my own life, I wasn't discovering it, I wasn't finding it. Jesus said, if I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself. I'll draw all men. So if I want to be appealing to all men, no matter what condition or state they're in, I'm gonna lift up what Jesus has done, what he's accomplished, his death and his resurrection. All right, this is really the only strategy for ministry, obviously. The real problem with the Corinthian church is that they're like, yeah, we think the resurrection happened, but we don't think it has anything to do with us. They didn't understand how it had to do with them. So they were like, I don't really think there is a resurrection for you and for me. Well, that's that's a really weird thing to believe. But what what it speaks of is that they didn't think that the life of Jesus was transferable to them. And guess what their lives looked like? Their lives looked like a mess because they were trying to be Christians in their own strength. And what were they doing? They were messing up at every turn. They were having sex with whoever they wanted, they were doing this, they were doing that, they were, they were in just, it was a mess. They were completely focused on themselves because they were trying to live the Christian life. You know, Jesus never asks you to try to live the Christian life. He says, Your job is to die with me and then let me live through you. There's no trying. It's like Yoda. Do or do not. There is no try. That was a terrible Yoda today. Okay, at some point we all struggle with the same thing the Corinthian church was, which is I'm gonna just try harder to do good. I'm just gonna put my best in. And that is not the way of grace. That's not the way of the gospel. Instead of doing that, trusting in self, instead of trusting in ourselves, I'm gonna try harder, we have a different way, which is Jesus, I can't do anything more, humility. So, Jesus, would you come and live in me and live through me? That is faith. Humility and faith. That's how the gospel truly works. All right, verse 13. But if there is no resurrection from the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. Yes, we are found to be false witnesses of God, because we have testified that God has raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up. In fact, the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. If Christ is not risen, then your faith is futile. You are still in your sins, then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. All right, so if we follow Paul's logic here, it looks like this. If there's no principle of resurrection, then Jesus didn't rise from the dead. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then death has power over him, death has defeated him. If death has power over Jesus, Jesus is not God. If Jesus is not God, he cannot offer his life as a sacrifice for my sins. If he didn't offer a sacrifice for my sins, then all my sins are not completely paid for before God. If my sins are not completely paid for before God, then I'm still in my sins and I'm going to hell. Therefore, if Jesus is not risen from the dead, he is unable to save any person, and we should all go drink ourselves to death because nothing matters. The resurrection is that important. It matters that much. If you have to live your life alone without the resurrection of Jesus, that's alone, then he can't live his resurrection life through you. He wants to live with you through you. That's what resurrection is. It's not alone. You don't have to live your life alone. He hasn't told you. All right, verse 20. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. First fruits, that makes us think of sacrifices that honor God. Okay, the life of Jesus is the thing that honors God. What did God say when he judged Jesus' life? And Jesus was like, Here I am, God, and God ripped open heaven for everyone to hear, and he said, That's my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That's what God said. So Jesus' life does impress God. You know whose life doesn't? All of us. My efforts don't impress God. But when I allow Jesus to live through me, which he promises to do, then my life does honor God in every way. You are able to live a life for God. You're able to keep the commands of God, you're able to be happy in this life. You know how? Stop trying and start allowing Jesus to live through you. You can do what he calls you to do through that oneness with him, through that life that we share with him. In Romans 6, it gives us a uh more clear understanding of this in verse 5 of Romans 6. For if we have been united together, see those words united, in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection. What happened to him happened to you. What happened to him happened to you. Okay. Knowing this that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him, for the death he died, he died to sin once and for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise you also reckon yourselves. So if all this is true, what happened to him happened to you. What happened to him happened to you. Likewise you also reckon, that means count it all up, add up all this evidence. It's a math term. That means count it all up. Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, like Jesus, but alive to in Christ Jesus our Lord, alive to God. Isn't that amazing? That's how what all of resurrection is about is that we live for God, to God, through God. What happened to Jesus happened to you. We live a life that serves God through the resurrection power that He shares with you, that He transfers into you. And how do you get it? Only by faith. You simply have to ask. Jesus, live my life for me. Jesus, here's my life. Live through me. And he's the first fruit. So we know this that this works because he's living a life that honors God. Where is he seated? He's seated at the right hand of God, doing God's will, making sure all God's stuff happens. He's doing that. And then he's doing it through us on this earth. He said it was better that he goes away and sits at God's hand so that he could live through each one of us, scattered throughout this earth. He said that's a better way. We're like, oh, I wish Jesus wouldn't have left because Jesus was so good at being Jesus. Yes, he was really good at it. And guess what? He's super good at being Jesus in you also. All it takes is humility and faith. That is what is asked of us. Verse 21 for since by man came death, by man also came resurrection from the dead. For in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, but each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward those are Christ who are Christ at his coming. So this is a really important truth that kind of helps us to understand how this all works. Adam, the first man, right? He sinned, so everyone who he gave birth to, that, or he didn't give birth, that Eve gave birth to, that his descendants, they all inherited that sin disease, that spirit. Every human did that. But now Jesus also became a man. He's called the second Adam so that he could save all humans. So Adam, our hero, our first human, he killed all people. Way to go. But he did better than we would have done, to be honest. He didn't have no dysfunctional family. His dad was literally God. You know. But he did better than we would have done. But he still screwed up, still sinned. Jesus had to become a man so that he could also save men. And he saves us by transferring his holy resurrection life, his pure life, into us by faith. You have this resurrection life if you believe the gospel. Guess what? You don't have to do anything else. You don't have to dance a special dance, you don't have to memorize a thing, you don't have to stand up and do a thing. There is nothing you have to do except believe. And this life is already yours. It's much more about surrender than it is about doing stuff. Colossians 2 says, We were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead, and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven all your trespasses. So again, we share his life his death by faith, but we also share his life by faith, his new life. It's a powerful life. You know how much power it takes to raise something from the dead? Scientists have been trying to produce life, and they're like trying to estimate how much power, and they're trying to use electricity on like mold, and it never produces life, it just kills stuff. But they're like, we need more power. We don't have the powder, Captain. Oh my Star Trek nerds are in the house. Okay, I'm starting to feel you out. So we're not so much Star Wars nerds in here, we're Star Trek nerds. I'm getting it. Okay. She's like, yes. He's like, live long and prosper, man. All right. It is a power. How much power does it take to bring something that was dead to life? Well, it's an infinite amount of power. And I want you guys to get this. If God is able to make you alive when you were dead spiritually, will he answer your prayer for blah, blah, blah, blah? Yes, he will. He wants to answer your prayers. We just doubt in his character and in his heart. And that's why we study the word so we can learn the resume of his faithfulness. The last verse we're going to look at today is this: Ephesians 1:18. Paul prays for his church, just like I pray for you guys, that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the riches of the glory of the inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who go to church every week. Is that not what it says? I don't have it in front of me. Who do all the right things? It doesn't say that either. Who tithe 10%. That's not what it says. What's it say? Believe that's all we have to do? To see his incredible, life-changing, exceeding greatness of his power towards us according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in heavenly places. The exact same power that raised Christ from the dead will help you shut your mouth when you want to be an idiot. I guess we should end there. Sometimes we say things we don't want to say that are not the life of Christ. Sometimes we text things that we don't we shouldn't have texted, and sometimes we do things. But it doesn't change the fact that God loves you, He's not against you. And He right now, today, offers two things to you. I've died for you. And I'm inviting you to share in my death with me. All you have to do is believe. And he will stand by you no matter what, and he will take you on up into heaven. You will be forgiven. That's the first promise he makes. Second promise he makes, life. Because you're dying to sin, sinning will never make you happy again. Let me say that again. Once you become a believer, two things happen. Number one, you're forgiven. Number two, you're forever changed, and you will never be happy living in sin ever again. Why doesn't getting plastered work anymore? Now that I'm a Christian. Well, it might physically work, but your heart will never be happy in that kind of lifestyle. Or any sinful lifestyle, including pride, including anything. We cannot think that we can be children of God, which we are, and walk in sin at the same time. We don't say this to put rules on you. We say this as identity. This is who you are. God has made you pure and holy and righteous. And we should just sing to him. I should stop talking. Amen.