Pastor Derek Berry "The Cross Changes Everything"- Sermon 5 (3/29/2026)

"The Cross Changes My Forever" week 5 of the series "The Cross Changes Everything". The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most pivotal moment in human history, transforming our understanding of eternity. Without the resurrection, there would be no gospel, no forgiveness, and no hope beyond this life. Jesus' resurrection serves as the firstfruits, guaranteeing that all believers will also be raised from the dead. Every person exists in one of two positions: in Adam (spiritually dead) or in Christ (made alive). For those in Christ, death becomes a doorway rather than a dead end, and eternal life is secured through relationship with Jesus. The resurrection didn't just change a moment in history - it changed forever itself.

Transcript

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You may be sent. Praise the Lord right there. Good time of singing and worship this morning. We've been looking lately about how the cross has changed everything. The cross changes everything. And we've seen week by week as we journey and get close to Easter, a different topic or a different thought each week. Today, we are going to look at how the cross changes my forever. And we're going to look primarily in 1 Corinthians in chapter number 15. 1 Corinthians, chapter number 15, and we're going to look and see how the cross changes my forever. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our victory is not temporary, it's eternal. And that's what we'll look at today. That's what I want to get across to. This is not a temporary moment, it's eternal, it's forever. And uh you'll find your place there in 1 Corinthians 15, and I'll read some verses here in a moment. But have you ever been in something in life where you knew it was about to happen, but it didn't feel real, or you felt like it was about to take place, and you wanted to ask yourself, is it really happening or is it not? And I'm thinking as I was preparing for my sermon, I was reminded about something that happened a very just a few years ago. And I don't know if you know or remember where you were at on January the 10th, uh, 2022. But on January the 10th, 2022, I I'll tell you where I was. I was watching the national championship. Georgia versus Alabama. Now I I have some Alabama fans in the house and I do love you still. But in that in that game, it took 41 years for Georgia to get that close. And there for a moment it didn't feel real. Georgia fans had waited. We could say close calls, or we could even say heartbreak seasons. We could end every season by we'll get them next year. But something interesting happened on that particular national championship late in the game. Stetson Bennett threw a touchdown, and it felt as if, man, is this really going to happen? Is it real or is it not? He stepped back in the pocket, launched a pass and threw it, and it was uh something to watch. I couldn't sit still on the couch. But something felt different, something shifted in the air. The game obviously wasn't over yet, there was still time on the clock, but it felt like we were gonna win. And then the fourth quarter at the last minute or so, uh, Alabama had the ball. And as Alabama had the ball, they could have scored one touchdown in a two-part conversion, and it would have changed everything. But something interesting took place. As Alabama had the ball, Young stook stood in the pocket, launched the ball down the field, and thankfully Georgia picked it off, ran 79 yards and scored a touchdown. And then the seconds of the game windled away. And what we thought was never gonna happen, or couldn't happen, or was it really gonna happen, everything changed in that moment. When the clock hit zero, there was no more waiting. There was no more, maybe next year. Victory was final, and celebration obviously broke out. You might say, why did the celebration break out? The camera panned and there was confetti everywhere, and the players were crying out of excitement. The fans were sort of teary-eyed, excited about what had happened. Why was celebration breaking out? Because something that had been hoped for for so long was now settled. The game was over. Georgia won after 41 years. And so when you think about moments like that, it took till the final second to take place. Now, I'm reminded about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because the cross was a battle. Now, you and I can look at the cross and I can see the fact that Jesus rose again. But think just for a moment before he actually arose from the grave. Think about the cross. Think about Palm Sunday, that particular day as he entered Jerusalem. Think about the days that that fell after that, that led to what you and I know of as uh Good Friday. The people that were crucified him thought that they won. It looked from the outside looking in that maybe he had lost for just a second. See, the cross was the battle. The cross was where everything took place, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the moment when God said this. God said, It is finished, the victory is final. That's when everything changed after he arose on the third day. And in 1 Corinthians, in chapter number 15, Paul shows us why that matters forever and why that changed forever. Look with me in the text, in verse number 20 of 1 Corinthians 15. Look what the word of God says. Paul says, but now Christ. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. This is Paul's writing to the church at Corinth, the believers. He's trying to encourage them and help them. As you and I are reading and receiving this, we're getting help as well. And I can read as as Paul reminded us, Christ is risen from the dead. And verse 20 still has become the first fruits of the of those who have fallen asleep, those who had died. Verse 21, for since by man came death, but by man also came the resurrection of the dead. Then verse 22, for as in Adam all died, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. He reminded the church at Corinth this truth because maybe they had forgotten it. I think Paul is reminding it to you and I because we are forever changed because of what Jesus did. And that's something to be reminded about each and every day as we live for him. Over the last several weeks, as we've been together looking at this thought, we saw how the cross changed my identity. I identify, I'm a new creature created in Christ. I am new because of him. We saw how the cross changed my past. He forgot my sins as far as the East is from the West, and my past doesn't define me. My future and what he has done for me is what defines me. We saw how the cross changed my struggles. We saw how the cross has changed my future. And today we're going to look at the ultimate truth. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the cross has changed my forever. Forever, forever will be changed. Look with me as we look at three thoughts this morning to sort of get our minds stirred and our hearts encouraged. We're going to look at verse number 12 and we're going to work our way back to where we began and we're going to see this. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no need for the gospel. And I'm going to read several verses here from verse 12 through verse number 19. And what I want to remind you before I do read them is Paul is going to use the word if a lot. He's going to use the word if a lot. He's not using the word if because he doesn't believe that Jesus died and rose again. He's not using the word if because he is sort of worried that maybe it really didn't happen. He's not using the word if because he's not 100% sure that Jesus did. No, he's using the word if to open our minds and our hearts to think about all what Jesus did for us. Because the church at Corinth that was receiving this letter needed to be reminded what Jesus had done when he died on the cross and rose on the third day. Because they were living in a moment of time where they were not fully at it for Christ, doing it all they can for Jesus. And you and I live in a generation where we serve him when we're when it's convenient for us. We're distracted by so many things, and we're pulled this way and that way. And it's good to be reminded what he did for us, and that should be the ultimate encouragement that would propel me to live for him each and every day. So let's read together in verse 12 and see what the scripture shows us that without the resurrection of Jesus there is no gospel. Look how Paul wrote it. Verse 12. Now, here it is, if now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? So he asks this question. That's why I like Paul. He'll ask some questions to make our minds think. He's saying, Man, if we preached Christ, but he hadn't raised from the dead, then what's the point? Verse 13, but if there is no resurrection of dead, then Christ is not risen. He goes on in verse 14, and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. He's saying, if Christ had not raised on the third day, then what are we preaching about? And what are we living for? My faith is nothing without that. He goes on in verse 15 and says, Yes, and we are found false, uh and we are found false witnessing of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead did not rise. Again, Paul's not questioning if that's true. No, he's just creating an opportunity for us to think and reprocess what he is sort of saying. Verse 17, if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, which means vain or empty, and you uh and uh you are still in your sins, is what he's saying. Verse 18, then also those who have fallen, those who have fallen asleep, those that are dead in Christ, those that have died and they've been buried, so who he's talking about, have we're just gonna perish. Verse 19, if if, there's the last if here, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we also, or excuse me, we are of all men the most pitiful, the most miserable, is what he's saying. And so what Paul is creating here is you and I to realize that without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what we worship and celebrate every day, not just one day of year, but every day, without that, there's no gospel. So what Paul is doing here, I believe, is super powerful. Anytime my mind begins to think, I begin to process things a little bit different. It's a very powerful way to get my mind to think. He is building an entire argument based upon uh did Jesus raise from the grave? He's building a narrative, a conversation, a reality for these people to have a conversation about and to process these sort of things because they obviously aren't living for the Lord. He's building an argument, a narrative. If the resurrection is not true, everything else collapses. He's letting them know that if it's not true, if you don't believe that Jesus rose from the grave, then everything else you stand for and believe is going to collapse underneath you because without that, there's nothing. Without the resurrection, there is no gospel. So let's look at that. Let's dig into this a little bit deeper. The resurrection of Jesus Christ validates the cross. So the cross itself looks like a defeat. Just imagine the days that led up to Jesus being nailed to the cross. Now you are you can use your imagination and visualize this moment that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, Palm Sunday, and all the celebration, and then all of a sudden he's in the garden and then taken from the garden. And you know what happened. He was mocked and spit on, he was ridiculed, he was made fun of and mocked in the sense that they made a fake crown and pushed it on his head to it caused blood, to somebody looking at that moment, not knowing what would happen in three days. It looks as if the cross defeated Jesus. You may even say that there was some level of rejection. We know that he came to his own and his own knew him not. You can look and say that was just a dying man who was crucified. You can look at the cross and think, man, there is nothing but defeat that is there. But the resurrection proves something vastly different. The payment was accepted. Sin was defeated, and death was actually conquered because he stood up on the third day and walked out of there. Paul said to the Romans in Romans chapter 1, verse 14, declare to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection was God's stamp of approval that everything was done. Sometimes in life, you and I need stamps of approval. Sometimes I need it from my dad to say everything's gonna be okay. And sometimes my kids need it from their, from me or from Megan to say it's gonna be all right. You know, it's just an affirmation. Listen to me. God's stamp of approval on Jesus Christ was when he, uh on the resurrection was when he stood up on everything's gonna be okay. It approved. Listen, guys, we have nothing to worry about. I am proving I'm putting my stamp on this when he stood up on the third day. Look with me in these as he builds this reality and this argument about everything collapses with an isn't the resurrection. Look at verse 17. My mind kept going to verse 17 in the study of these texts because it says, and if Christ is not risen, the last statement is, you are still in your sins. If Christ is not risen, your faith is vain, your faith is empty. What's he speaking about there? This means that if he had not died, then we would be no salvation. We would be up a creek. I can't make it on my own. I can't be good enough to get to heaven. He's saying without him raising on the third day, there is no salvation, there is no forgiveness. Because you imagine the world that we would live in without forgiveness of our sins. How about no hope? You and I have hope that I know that I'll see him. I have hope that keeps me going each and every day. If I just looked at the world around me, it would be doom and it would be gloom. But I have hope that one day I might the clouds are gonna part and Jesus is gonna call us home. I got hope that one day I'm gonna be in heaven and there'll be no tears or no sorrow. I've got hope that one day I'll not feel pain or not feel uh uh rejected or feel uh disowned or feel unloved or feel anything other than pure joy of worshiping the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Now this world may get us down, but hope in Jesus is what encourages me to continue fighting the fight. Continue walking the walk, continue doing what Christ would have you and I to do. So you gotta think without the resurrection, verse number 17, it says, without Christ raising on the third day, there would be no forgiveness. There would be no hope. We would have no hope. We would all be doom and we would be gloom. Think about this. Because of him raising on the third day, you and I have a living Savior, not a dead teacher. Every religion in this world other than Jesus is a dead teacher. You can go to the grave of Muhammad and just stare at it because there's nothing there. You can go to Buddha, you can go to all the gods that the Hindus look at and any other religion that's out there and say there, the one that that proclaims all this is dead. We have a grave we can go to. There is not one for Christ. Why? Because he didn't need it, he didn't own it, he borrowed it. Three days later, he's I you can have it back. I don't need it no longer, I'm walking out of here. Listen to me, because of everything that took place, you and I have a living savior. What else? Verse number 17 expands a little bit more and says, without the resurrection, you and I would still be in our sins. If Jesus would have stayed in the grave, sin would still have a hold of us. If he would have stayed in the grave, guilt would still define you and I. If he would have stayed in the grave, death would control you and me, but it doesn't any longer. Listen to me, if you think about how my mind can process this and make that spe an encouragement to me and why, and how does this feel real? Sometimes in life, like I started with, there's moments in life that doesn't feel real until the end. I can remember as a younger person, younger man, I'm still young, I know, don't worry. Uh I'm still young, even though I had a birthday. As a young man, I remember buying my first truck. I couldn't wait to go get in that brand new F-150. I just could not wait. And what do I do? I work the deal, I buy the truck at, I think I was like 22 years old, and then maybe 21 years old. And I remember buying this brand new F-150 Lariat. I'm talking four-door. And then I got, why do you need a$40,000 truck? I said, I don't know. I got no wife, I got no kids. I got a truck, okay? I bought it before I got married, had kids. And I remember making those payments month after month. And I remember paying a little extra periodically. And I remember, man, after a few years, I'd got it down to about eight grand. And I saw light at the end of the tunnels. Man, I'm getting close to this, paying this thing off. And finally the day came where I drove, you know, paid the last payment, and I felt so good about it. But then a month goes by and you felt weird because you didn't have to make a payment. And I'm thinking, man, this is weird. This is, is it real that I really paid it off or did I not pay it off? Then month number two goes and it still felt a little bit odd, and I started thinking, like, did I really pay it off? I had not received any documents from the bank that says that I'm paid in full. And what do I do after maybe the third month? I say, Dad, uh, you're supposed to get something back, you know, that lets me know, oh yeah, you need to get that back. Because if you don't get it back, and they come back in six months and say, you forgot to pay this or that, then you're owed that. I'm like, oh man. So then after about three months, I started worrying, thinking, oh, did I really pay it off? And, you know, what does dad know, right? I didn't call the bank, you know, what I didn't follow his directions right then. And so after four months, I started thinking, man, this feels weird. I wonder if my car is going to get repossessed. You know, I'm not paying it. They haven't sent me anything that I've owed, I've paid in full. And so you get a little panic when you see the tow trucks out there, okay? It's just one of those things. And you start getting worried. And after about five months, I said, maybe dad was right. Maybe I should call the bank. In six months, I call the bank. Say, bank, I paid off my truck, but I have not received anything from you that states that I paid it off. The lady looked it up. She said, Yes, sir, I do see that it's paid off. We did send the letter out. I said, but I didn't get it, so it doesn't feel real to me. It feels like I still owe something, even though you're telling me I don't owe anything. And what does the lady do? She said, sir, we'll send it right out to you. And within a week or two, I got a letter. Open that letter up, and what does it say? Paid in full. And in that moment, just for a second, it felt real that my truck was actually my truck. The title was there with no lean on it. I got excited. And when the bank had confirmed it, there was no more wondering. There was no more, is it paid or is it not paid? I knew for a fact it was paid in full. It was enough when I got the letter. Listen to me. When I start thinking about Jesus raising on the third day, the resurrection is heaven saying, Jesus paid it all except it. When he stood on the third day, that was heaven saying, it's done, it's finished, it's complete, it's paid in full. There's nothing that you can do to get to heaven except believe in Jesus. There's nothing that you can do to earn it, except him, and that is it. Let me give you this statement, and then I'll continue to read some verses here. If Jesus didn't rise, nothing changes. But because he did, everything changes. You must remember that. Let's look at verse number 22 and look at a second thought that we have today. Second thought is this because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, death is defeated. Notice in verse number 20, we started reading in 12 and we read a lot of ifs. Get to 20, and it says, but now. But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. We know that means those that have died. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in as in uh for as in Adam all died, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. So what Paul is teaching you and I is that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, death is defeated. Notice the shift in Paul's verbs and verb of terminology here. He went speaking about a theory to truth. Verse 12 through 19, if, if, if, if. It was sort of, is it there or is it not there? He's trying to build a reality, an argument to make them think. And then he went from if, if, if to now truth, but now Christ. Everything changed. He's trying to make them and us realize, but now Christ. It went from a theory to truth. There's no more ifs, it's just now. And he mentions in verse number 20, but now Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, those who have died. What does it mean, first fruits? You understand it's springtime. Things are blooming. Vegetables are beginning to grow, apples and and fruit is beginning to be produced on the trees and the vines. What does it mean, first fruits? First, but more to come. You know, you pick something. Something off the apple tree and you expect more apples, right? Pat, the gardener of the church here, you know, pick some tomatoes and we expect some more. We don't just want one. One tomato sandwich makes me want more tomato sandwiches, right? Yes. So what does it mean the first fruit? First of more to come. First fruits here means there's a guaranteed of some more things to follow. Well, what does that mean to you and I? That means that the resurrection of Jesus wasn't an isolated event. It's the beginning of a harvest. It was the beginning of something fresh and a beginning of something new. And you start thinking about some Old Testament terminology and some prophecy, and then you also take into the New Testament and understand what he means by the first fruits. Listen to this. As the Lamb of God, Jesus died on Passover. And as the sheaves of the first fruit, he rose from the dead three days later, on the first day of the week. Now we'll stop there for a second. He died three days later, on the first day of the week, he arose. That's why you and I worship on Sundays, because Sundays is the Lord's day, the first day of the week, the day that he arose. And so when you start thinking about what does he mean by the first fruits, I get that he rose on the first day of the week, the Lord's day, and that's why we come to church on Sundays. But what does this first fruit mean? And there's some I can bring up some Old Testament uh text in Leviticus, but I won't maybe on another day. But what I love and I found is that in the Old Testament, you read this in the book of Leviticus, when the priest would wave the sheaves of the first fruit before the Lord, it was a sign that the entire harvest to come was going to be yours, the Lord's. So they would wave it to the Lord, and they say, everything that's now gonna be produced from here on out, this is yours, Lord, everything is gonna be for you. You own it all. So what does that mean for you and I in the New Testament? See, when when Jesus was raised from the dead, it was God's assurance to us, to you and I, that we shall also be one day raised as a part of the full harvest, the future harvest of him. That's why when he follows up in verse number 20, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, those who have died, the believers, listen to me, death is only sleep. What does that mean? The body is put in the grave, but the second I died, I am in the presence of God. Okay? That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, to uh be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The second that somebody that knows the Lord dies, their soul is in the presence of God. Yes, their body is buried, but yet one day we know, according to Scripture and Thessalonians and others, when the Bible talks about the rapture, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Meaning the ones that were born and died, that they knew the Lord's their savior and were buried, the second the rapture happens, the graves will open and they will exit. Now, I think that's gonna be an interesting day. I hope that I get to go by way of the rapture, but I'd like to see some graves opening up and people exit and heading to heaven. Now, I don't know if it's gonna happen where I would actually be able to process it, but I would like to think that I could. But the point of this is that in verse number 20, he talks about the first fruits and shows you and I there's more to come. The future harvest, the second one, Jesus calls everybody home, and all the bodies that were buried are gonna raise. Everybody that died, that knew Christ, whether they were buried or they're gonna be raised up. And don't worry about this and don't read into what this is not saying. We know that Paul, believed to be absent from the bodies and be present with the Lord, he said that in Corinthians. I can even take you to Philippians chapter number one and show you that Paul talked about man. He thought it'd be better for him to die to be with the Lord than to stay down here. You can read that in verse 21, 24, something like that in Philippians 1. So we knew what he meant when he said this. The resurrection, the body is awakened and God is glorified. What does that mean for you and I? See, death has lost its authority. Is death still real? Yeah. We feel it. I do funerals periodically. I cry with others and let some cry on me. There's people that I know and love have passed away, so I know that death is real. We know that death is real. So what does he mean by that? Just because death is real, he's saying because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the death is no longer final. Meaning it's just the beginning. Yes, death is real, but it's no longer the end. It's just the beginning because of everything that Jesus did on the cross and him raising up on the third day. That's why uh the in in Hebrews chapter number two it says that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death. Listen, death used to feel like a prison, but now it's a doorway. A doorway? What does that mean? Sometimes death can make us nervous. I get asked questions all the time, what's death gonna be like? And be honest with you, I don't know. I say, I've never died, I'm not 100% sure. They say, Preacher, am I gonna feel it? I don't know. Listen, God's grace is sufficient, it's real. His mercy is renewed every day. I don't know what it's gonna be like, but I know it's a doorway to forever for me because of my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. See, the resurrection removes the fear that death has over us. I mean, this is where it gets personal to me because most people don't like to think about it. Now, for me, every year you have another birthday, you think about, man, how much longer do I have? And I know that the older you get, the more you might process or think about it, not worry, but just think about it. But there's still, you got to be real with yourself. We might still, we don't fear it, but we might ask the questions, what happens afterwards? What if I'm not ready? That's a good question. That's why we should be ready, because we never know when that might be. What about my loved ones, right? The resurrection answers those questions that you and I may have, and it sort of helps me not fear that any longer. It actually is a motivator for me to live all I have for him while I'm breathing and able to do so. I don't want to live with any regrets. I want to live for the Lord each and every day. And I do what he asked me to do in him alone. And I was sort of thinking, how do I process? How do I articulate this to you? And I and I I can't help but go to John 11 and look when Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus. Now that's a great text. I love John 11. And we know the story. If you've been in Scripture before, you know that, man, they sent for Jesus and they were a little upset that Jesus didn't show up on time. You know, anybody ever been late for something that made somebody mad? Oh yeah, right? They're mad. Jesus, we sent for you. What are you waiting on? You're too many days late. Lazarus stinks, he's been dead so long. And Jesus approaches in his timetable, not ours, and arrives and he's there at the tomb. And the thing that I love that Jesus, he did not try to avoid the death, he confronted it. He didn't try to act like it wasn't there, he didn't try to act like it did not exist. He confronted it. And you can go back in John 11 and read it. He said, Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. He had proven that he is the resurrection and the life, the second that he arose from the grave. And that moment, I believe, wasn't just about Lazarus. Now you and I can read it and think, man, how cool that was that Lazarus died and then rose and got and lifted up because what did Jesus say to him? Lazarus, get up. And what did he do? He got up. So you and I can focus in and say, that's all about Lazarus. But it wasn't. What was it about? It was about what Jesus would do for all who trust him. Meaning, the second I trusted him, my forever changed because of the resurrection. Yes, I may die here, but one day Jesus is going to part the clouds, and all that have died are going to arise first. That's what my Bible tells me. I know a lot of people in Scripture say it otherwise. But you get to Scripture, it says, man, the dead in Christ will rise first. Listen, death's the doorway, death's the beginning. Because of the resurrection, death is defeated. Because Jesus lives, death is no longer the end. It's the beginning. And it takes a level of faith and understanding and trust to sort of get that. A lot of us think, and even I was guilty of this younger in my life, man, Lord, I've got to get married, I've got to have the kids, I've got to do this, I've got to accomplish that. Then you can take me home. And the more I grow in Christ, I realize it's not about that. Death is not the end, it's the beginning. Let's look at the last verse together before we are finished this morning. In verse number 22. Verse number 22 lets us know because of the resurrection, our forever is secured. Verse 22 is uh interesting because look what it says. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Now, all I circle in my Bible because it opened my eyes to realize it's all is an all, it means everything, okay? And so in the text, he brings up Adam, okay? And why would he bring up Adam in this text? For as in Adam all died, because Adam is where the first sin was. See, before Adam's sin, there was perfect in this world. There was no sin, there was no nothing. But because of the choice that they made to not listen to the Lord and eat where they wasn't supposed to, that was the first sin. And because of that, everybody has inherited the sin nature. I got it from my dad, he got it from his, and so on, all the way back to Adam. So in the text, when he says in verse 22, for as in Adam all died, because all did die. Now you think about how interesting it is because I was born, but when I was born, I was spiritually dead. I know that because the Ephesians says the second you get saved, he quickened, he made you alive. You were spiritually made alive. Verse number 22, for as in Adam all died, meaning that we were all dead, spiritually dead, but even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Because the second I got saved, he made me alive. The second you got saved, he made you alive. Now, if you're here tomorrow this morning and you don't know the Lord as your Savior, then obviously you're still spiritually dead, but there's still hope because you're still breathing. I can't save you, but he can. And the Holy Spirit can draw you unto him, and you can walk from where you are right to him. It's just a just one step of faith. It's all it takes. Listen to me. It shows us in verse 22, all uh for as in at as in Adam all died, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. This is where eternity becomes personal to me. Your forever depends on your position. Now I know in the world that we live in, it's all about position, trying to work our way up the ladder in this job or that job, get this position or this promotion. And so think about that in our text here. And what position could I possibly be in? If you remember the verse that I read, I read it two or three times, but let me read this part one more time just so it resonates. The last part of verse number 22, it says, even so in Christ all. In Christ is where I'm looking at. The Bible shows you and I in Christ. He shows us our position. He doesn't say that we are near Christ, which I like being close to him. It doesn't say that we're uh uh near church, it doesn't say that we are in close proximity with him. It says that we are in him. And why is that important? It doesn't say near him, it doesn't say familiar with him, it doesn't say around him, it says in him. Why does it matter if I'm in him or not? Because that determines everything for my forever. Because if I'm in Jesus, who can take me out of him? That's why the scripture gives me hope, man, that nobody can take me out of Christ. I can't lose my salvation because I'm in him. Who's gonna take me out of him? Nobody's got that power. So what's your position as a follower of Jesus Christ? Verse number 22 shows me my forever is secure because yes, Adam messed up, and yes, because he messed up, I had to suffer the consequences, but because Jesus died on that cross and rose on the third day, I have access to this, and if I accept him as my Lord and my Savior, my position in the resurrection of Jesus is in him, and if I'm in him, nothing can take me out of him. My forever is secure. Eternal life is not just a link, it's a relationship. Now you think about in our world that we live in, everything is sort of constrained to time. We have to be here at a certain time or be there at a certain time. We have to eat lunch at a certain time so that we can eat dinner at this time and go to bed at that time. I've got to be here and so forth. Everything is about time, and we are sort of subject to time, but not with the Lord. But you think about why it's just only natural for me to process time like this when I'm thinking about eternal. Listen, there is no beginning or end. Eternal is always. And so instead of us looking and focusing the second that I'm gone here, I can be with him for eternity looking to me. I don't want to look at it like it's a length of time. I want to look at it like it's a relationship. Because Jesus said in John 17, this is eternal life that they may know you. See, heaven is my, it's not about me living forever, it's about me being with Jesus forever. That's the difference. I mean it's cool thinking, man, that if I know him as my savior and I'll die here on earth, I live forever in heaven. That's great, but that's not what it's about. It's about that I get to be with Jesus, my Savior, forever and ever. I can worship him, I can praise him, I can glorify him. That's what it's about. Don't look at it as a way of how long? No, it's forever, but look at it in the fact that I'll be with him. That's why my forever is secure. The resurrection of Jesus guarantees eternal victory. In our text, we read verse 22 several times, but I want to just quickly go down to the next verse, uh, verse 57. It's the same page on my Bible. But notice what he says, same, same, same chapter, but verse 57. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. See, victory is not temporary, victory is eternal, victory is settled. It is absolutely forever. You began, I was watching, um, one of my friends had shared this thing on on Facebook or something, and it was about a uh one of those memories that you were uh of a day so many years ago, and it was when they adopted their child. And it reminded me when a child is adopted, the status is permanently changed. There's no more visiting or being or belonging. No, this is forever and ever and ever. This and that's what salvation does to us. It changes my status forever. It's not that I'm just being forgiven, it's that I am now forever. It's forever. There's no going back, there's no change. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, your forever is not uncertain, it is secure. It is forever. And I don't have to worry about that at all. I was thinking I had some this gentleman that I know was talking to me about his wife who had passed away and him visiting the grave periodically. And he says, Preacher, I I go every week and I take the same, you know, sort of routine. I take flowers, I take, you know, um, I stand there in silence and remember I still grieve and I think about the good times. And he asked me, he's like, What do you think about me doing that? I said, Man, I think it's great, man. I'd probably do it too. And he said, It's just it's as close as I can be on earth to her. And I said, Yep. And he starts telling me about some good memories that they had. And he said, Preacher, I know where she's at. I know she's in heaven, but I still go. And I said, I understand that. It's totally good. But but I started thinking, and I mean him were sharing with each other, and he it was sort of the, I was talking to him, he was talking to me. And I said, Man, but for as a believer, we know where she's at. He said, Yes, I know she's with our Savior. And I said, So think about the grave is not the end of the story. Yes, you go there because that's a place where you go to remember her and have conversation in your mind and grief. But that is not the end of the story because we know that she's in the presence of Jesus. The grave is not where the story ends, it's actually where everything changes. Because one day the grave is not gonna hold her. One day the grave isn't gonna hold you, is what I was telling to him. And I was thinking to myself, one day the grave isn't gonna hold me. Because Jesus walked out of his grave, everyone who is in Christ will also walk out of theirs. You think about that and let that process in your mind. The resurrection of Jesus didn't just change a moment in history, it changed forever. Not just one moment, it changed forever. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, your eternity is secure, your past is forgiven, your struggles are defeated, your struggles are defeated, and your future is certain. Your forever is settled. And this week I want to challenge you to do something. I want you to live like eternity's real. This week, live like eternity's real. Don't build your life on what fades away. Build your life on what lasts forever. And ask yourself this Am I ready for forever? Only you can answer that. Are you ready?