WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:00.959 Wonderful. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.919 Many different ways to praise the Lord and exalt him. 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:08.880 Many different styles of music. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:15.039 If you went other places in the world, you would experience totally different kinds of worship. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:32.240 The richness and the fullness of the Church of Jesus Christ around the world, using our culture, using music, using art, using poetry, using speech to exalt him, to direct our attention to him. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:56.799 If you have been here for the last number of weeks, you will know that we are in the middle of a series talking about a very pertinent and very personal subject: life, death, and life after death. 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:58.159 You will die. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.039 So let's talk about it. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:23.280 We have been exploring this in various ways, and this is the fifth of seven messages that come at the subject of life, death, and life after death from different perspectives, different facets of this incredibly rich, important concept. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:30.560 The only way we know truth about life, death, and life after death is through the scriptures. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:41.439 We know some things about this life outside of the scriptures, but we have no perspective to put this life in except when we see the sweep of life. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:47.040 Life did not begin when you were born, and it does not end when you die. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:51.760 There was life before birth, and there is life after death. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:02:09.520 And we will not understand and rightly think and begin to experience this life as we should, as God intends, as it was meant to be, until we also understand something about the life to come. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:17.199 Last week we looked a little bit on about the subject of the resurrection in kind of a general way. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:30.000 The resurrections, actually, as we examine Scripture, there's a whole series of resurrections, as Paul said, each in their own order. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:34.319 And we tried to understand something of that from throughout Scripture. 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:41.680 This morning, I'd like to focus explicitly on the nature and of the resurrection body. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:47.599 And how we ought to think about that and what that understanding ought to do to us. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:54.719 So we have seen that all men live forever somewhere. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.479 All men live forever somewhere. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.280 We've touched on that various times. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:10.080 The reality is that no man lives forever anywhere without a body. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:11.439 Forever. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:14.159 All shall be raised. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:19.599 Believers, unbelievers, the righteous, the unrighteous, the saints, the sinners. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:23.520 All men everywhere shall be raised. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:29.120 Some to a resurrection of life and some to a resurrection of judgment, but all shall be raised. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.240 No man will live forever anywhere without a body. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:36.719 There is a resurrection body. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:40.400 No man comes onto this earth without a body. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:45.280 We are more than just a body, but we are not less than a body. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:59.360 When God created man, he created man out of the dust of the ground, the material parts of who we are, and he breathed into him the breath of life, and thus became a living being. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:07.120 The totality of who we are is both material, the body, and the immaterial parts. 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:15.360 And we will exist forever somewhere in a body. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:19.120 So we ought to think about that. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:31.040 Now, the scripture says a great deal more about the resurrection body of the believer than it says about the resurrection body of unbelievers. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:33.040 It just says they will be raised. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:36.240 And it's in the context of bodily resurrection. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:42.639 This morning, I'd like us to focus specifically on the resurrection body of believers. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.720 And the scriptures tell us actually quite a bit of information about it. 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:52.160 Information that is meant to change the way we think and the way we live. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:54.240 I want to do two things basically. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:05:01.040 I'd like to explore what we can know about the resurrection body based on Scripture. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.959 Where else do we go? 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:17.759 Where else would we go to find out about the nature of the body that we will have and we will be body and soul together forever in the new heavens and the new earth? 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:22.399 Where else would we turn to knowledge about that besides God's word? 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:45.839 So I'd like us to look at that, and yet at the same time, I would like us to get a hold of something that all the time life, death, and life after death is talked about in Scripture, especially that which is to come, there is a sense of eager anticipation. 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:48.319 The best is yet to come. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:52.319 The best you you have not seen yet, and I haven't either. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:53.600 I've just seen you. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:55.360 Not all that great. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:56.240 And me. 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:58.240 Not all that great. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:02.000 The best of us is yet to come. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:12.399 Now, um, we in our culture and society we we spend a lot of emphasis, put a lot of emphasis on our bodies. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:16.959 Now, to look at some of us, you wouldn't necessarily quite know that. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:31.759 But actually, uh multibillion dollar industries exist to keep us looking relatively good, and you look good today, but you only look relatively good. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.399 And women have a better opportunity to paint the barn than men do. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:46.800 Um but that's a huge industry, just the just appearing cosmetically looking good. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.839 But what about fitness centers and gyms? 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:51.920 What about rehabilitation? 00:06:52.079 --> 00:07:02.959 What about the whole medical community where we try through all kinds of efforts, sometimes seemingly absurd efforts, to forestall the inevitable? 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:03.839 Because you know what? 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:13.120 No matter how much we invest in looking good, feeling fit, and living longer, it's a losing battle, folks. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:14.319 It's a losing. 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:16.240 I don't know if you've noticed it. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:20.480 Just if you've been around a while, just look in the mirror. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.360 It's a losing battle. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.000 I'm not saying it's wrong to take care of ourselves. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:26.720 Far from that. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.959 The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:45.839 I'm not saying it's wrong to seek medical care, and but sometimes we have the feeling that we must do everything possible and impossible to maintain that which cannot be maintained. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:56.399 Our bodies, since the fall, are destined to wear out and fade away. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:03.600 We will wear out and our bodies will give out. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:06.480 That is just the reality. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:09.439 But sorry. 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:23.279 God has a plan, and it's called the resurrection of the body. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:44.159 And God's plan is not that we continue to patch this body forever and ever, but our bodies will be transformed, and we will be who we were meant to be: body, soul, and spirit, for the very first time. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:48.000 And we ought to look forward to that. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:54.399 We ought to look forward to that with eager anticipation. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:58.879 Couple of things I want to mention somewhat briefly. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.679 I know you'll say, Walt, mention something briefly. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:03.039 Are you kidding me? 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.200 There's two important thoughts. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:18.320 The first of which, if we want to know something about the resurrection body, your resurrection body, my resurrection body, we need to look at Jesus' resurrection body. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:28.960 A fundamental understanding of our resurrection body is that the believer's resurrection body will be like Jesus' resurrection body. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:33.279 And there's several places in Scripture where that's talked about. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:43.039 I don't want to turn to these passages now, but make note of them if you're at all interested in the body that you would die for and will die for. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:16.720 When he was here on earth, there were some things. 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:23.759 He became man, truly, fully man, the humiliation of Christ to take on our humanity. 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:28.799 And there was more to Jesus than that. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:43.360 Occasionally the curtain was drawn aside, the Mount of Transfiguration, for example, where some of the majesty that Christ was that hadn't been revealed, we were able to see. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:57.120 And even with Jesus' resurrection body, I don't know, the scripture doesn't make it fundamentally obvious that we will suddenly appear places and walk through doors and closed rooms the way Jesus did. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:58.240 I don't know. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:04.080 But fundamentally, our resurrected body will be like his. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:17.200 He will transform our lowly body, that's the body in this stage of our existence, into the likeness of his glorious body. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:43.679 1 Corinthians 15, 47 says, just as we have borne the likeness of the man from earth, and that's in the middle of a whole context, a whole discussion that Paul had, and he compares Adam with Christ and talks about the first Adam and the second Adam, the man from dust, the man of earth, and the man from heaven. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:12:00.080 Adam was fashioned out of dust, Genesis 2, and God breathed into him the breath of life, and thus Adam and Eve, and we became living creatures. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:12.799 And just as we have borne the likeness of Adam, so also shall we bear the image or likeness of the man from heaven, Christ. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:18.080 And this is in the middle of the context of the revelation of the resurrection. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:29.279 So what he is saying is, in Adam, because we are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, I love that expression, C.S. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.600 Lewis put it so beautifully. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.279 We are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:45.840 We inherit from Adam after the fall, thus, we inherit from Adam a broken physical nature and a broken spiritual nature. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:47.360 There is death. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:48.720 There is spiritual death. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.200 We've seen this in some of the other messages. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.879 Spiritual death, the separation of the creature from his creator. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:57.840 Death always involves a separation. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:03.440 And that is restored in Christ through regeneration. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:08.879 What sin has torn asunder, God puts back together. 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:10.960 That's part of the good news. 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:20.799 But also in terms of physical death, which we inherit, were born dead as we have seen. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:48.240 The separation of body from non-body, soul, spirit, heart, old nature, conscience, inclinations, desires, all of those immaterial things, the separation of the touchable and the non-touchable stuff of you, both of which are important, and yet physical death separates those. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:59.600 And what sin, and it separates it because of sin, what sin has torn asunder in terms of physical death, God will put back together. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:12.639 And just as regeneration is God's solution to spiritual death, so resurrection is God's solution to physical death. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:15.600 We become new creatures. 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:27.840 Now there's a bit of a difference here because when we come to faith in Christ, we begin a process of renewal and growth and transformation. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:32.879 We're not completely baked yet, even as believers. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:40.000 There's a process that we call sanctification, personal transformation into the spiritual image of Christ. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.000 That's a lifelong process. 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.879 Resurrection is instantaneous. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:47.759 Okay? 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:56.720 So the prototype for our resurrection is Jesus and his resurrection. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:04.720 The practical point is that through the resurrection we get the ultimate upgrade. 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:19.600 And just want to think in terms of the horrible, wonderful world of technology, where our computers need to be upgraded and the software needs to be upgraded because there's imperfections that come along. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.799 Windows is an upgrade version 10. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:30.559 I'm not a Mac guy, so I have no idea how many versions of iOS there is, but uh version after version after version. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:40.480 What I want to suggest to you that in terms of your hardware, the ultimate upgrade awaits. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.600 Um I'd like to call it version 3.0. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:48.639 Walt, version 3.0. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:51.600 Chris, version 3.0. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:55.279 It's not there yet, but it's a coming. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:57.919 Version 1.0. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:01.840 Um December 13, 1947. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:07.279 Uh my parents were incredibly proud of this beautiful little baby. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:11.600 Only a parent would have thought that I was beautiful as an infant. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.840 I look back at those pictures and I want to just hide them. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:19.279 But they were pretty proud. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:20.799 It was pretty cool. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.679 That was Walt 1.0. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.200 Not all that great. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.039 Neither physically nor spiritually. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:33.200 Not all that great. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:37.039 Version 2.0. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.000 I will never forget. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:55.360 Sometime in April 1967, Bloomington, Illinois, Illinois Wesleyan University, Thetacai Fraternity House, Campus Crusade for Christ, version 2.0, transformed. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:56.960 Transformed. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:58.480 New birth. 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.279 There was a new Walt at that point. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.679 Anyone who is in Christ is a new creature. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:05.839 The old has passed away, the new has come. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.920 Walt version 2.0. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:10.480 That was a major upgrade. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.000 Believe me. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.480 Jane knows that. 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.440 We had dated for two and a half years at that point. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:24.160 She knew Walt 1.0, and I knew Jane 1.0. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:31.279 But we both got to know version 2.0 within a few weeks of each other. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:33.759 And we were changed. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.200 Fundamentally deeply transformed. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:47.920 That upgrade was good, but you know, I'm still getting renewed day by day. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:56.480 I'm not who I was the day after I came to faith, but I'm not who I will be one day. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:05.759 In this phase of life, there's these changes that go on with us spiritually, of spiritual growth. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:12.160 The changes that go on for us physically are a little discouraging. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:21.519 I can remember a time where I could raise this arm out on this direction and go all the way up like I can on this side. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.119 You know, our bodies fall apart. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:28.480 It just doesn't quite work. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:30.559 We sag. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.759 Our functions start to get impaired. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:39.119 Our kidneys don't work right after a while. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.759 Or our mind begins to wander. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:44.000 Or we can't. 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:49.759 And that's just the nature of life now with our bodies. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:19:00.720 There is a day coming in which I will be Walt 3.0, and I can't wait. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:10.640 Walt as Walt was intended to be, Jane as Jane was intended to be, Chris as Chris was intended to be, and all around. 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:18.000 We will one day be body, soul, and spirit, that which we were. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.400 You have not seen yourself the way you will one day be. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:32.799 If you saw yourself the way you one day will be, you would be astounded, spiritually and physically. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:49.680 And if we really get a handle on what awaits us, we will begin to yearn and long and groan and eagerly anticipate the full revelation of the children of God, according to Paul in Romans chapter 8. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:53.119 We, like all creation, are subjected to futility. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:58.079 The sufferings of the present day are not in anything to be compared to that which is come. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:10.160 We, together with all creation, groan with longings almost too deep to utter, awaiting with eager anticipation the full revelation of the sons of God in Christ Jesus. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:13.039 And he's talking about version 3.0. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:15.359 Not yet seen. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.519 Not yet seen. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:32.720 In version 3.0, and it's obviously just a poor parallel. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:36.640 Version 3.0, you will still be you. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.480 I'm talking about the resurrection body. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.720 You will be you, you will not be a ghost, you will not be an angel. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:46.799 I have no idea where that crazy thought ever came about. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:56.640 And I haven't taken the time to look up the source of all true knowledge, Wikipedia, and find out where that false thought came from. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:05.920 What I do know is that 1 Corinthians 6, verse 3 says, not that we will be angels, but that we will rule over angels. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:08.480 You do not die and become an angel. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.559 When you die, there's no little tinkle in heaven and a new angel appears. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:17.279 Or whatever that fantasy is all about. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:36.000 Luke chapter 24, verse 39, when Jesus was revealing himself to his apostles after the resurrection, before the ascension, he said, Look at me, it's me, it's me. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:39.839 It said literally, it is I myself. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:41.759 He said it with proper grammar, I'm sure. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:43.680 It is I, not it's me. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:46.400 It's I, myself. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:48.319 It's really Jesus. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:49.680 Don't you understand? 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:55.759 Come, put your hands in this in the scars of my hands and my side and my feet. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:56.559 It's me. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:58.240 It's not a ghost. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:22:02.880 And he he he Food and they recognized him. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:11.599 There was continuity between his pre-resurrection physical existence and his resurrected existence. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:16.000 We don't become phantoms or shades. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:20.240 We're not like the dead in the Pirates of the Caribbean. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:26.079 We're not like the Black Riders in the Lord of the Rings. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:30.880 We're not like Marley's Ghost in Dickens' A Christmas Carol. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:39.279 No, we're us, recognizable, continuity, but us like we've never been before. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:42.079 Us version 3.0. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.960 Us, but better by far. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:49.680 Our personal identity and our personal history will continue. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:53.920 It did for Jesus and it shall for us. 00:22:54.720 --> 00:23:03.279 You will be you, but for the very first time, without the broken, twisted, bad parts. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:10.799 Let's just think for a moment of the broken non-physical parts. 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:12.160 We're a mess. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:13.359 We're a mess inside. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:17.039 We're a bundle of conflicted desires and longings. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.759 And even as we come to know Christ, there's still a lot of the old within us. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:32.319 And we're in a process where a lot of that emotionally and spiritually broken stuff goes away by God's grace as we become more and more like Christ. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:34.640 But there's still a lot broken inside. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:36.799 We still don't get along. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.279 I know that's a surprise to you. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.000 We still, well, we're a mess. 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:45.599 We still are a mess. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.559 Not as bad as version 1.0. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:55.759 But my friends, the best emotionally, spiritually is yet to come. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.799 And certainly in terms of our bodies. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:06.480 There will be nothing needing fixing anymore. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:14.559 Nothing that's broken or twisted or malfunctioning in your body. 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:23.839 You have never seen or experienced the human body the way it is intended to be and the way it one day shall be. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:33.519 A real, tangible, physical human body, just as Jesus' resurrection body was a real tangible resurrection body. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:48.960 And we will dwell forever in the new heavens and the new earth, the resurrected and regenerated heavens and earth, in resurrected and renewed physical bodies. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:58.319 And there's a certain parallel between the garden and the way things were originally created and intended to be. 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:02.559 And often we ask ourselves, gee, I wonder what would have happened if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.240 It's a pointless question. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.000 Or maybe it's not. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:15.440 You know, the first two chapters, there's a lot of things in the last two chapters about the new heaven and the new earth that reappear from Genesis. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:18.480 There's the tree of life. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.680 There's a whole bunch of things. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:33.119 And in a sense, we will see humanity as it was intended to see, be seen and be, if it weren't for sin having come into the picture. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:41.039 God is restoring us in our totality, including us physically. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:26:00.079 That which has been impacted by sin, that which has been ravaged by sin, will be restored to what it originally was, and I tend to think what it would have become if sin hadn't entered into the picture. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:05.279 Even greater perhaps than what we read in the first experience. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:13.680 But there will be a physical place called a new heaven and a new earth, and we will have physical bodies, and we will be as we should be. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:24.799 You have never been whole. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:26.559 Never once. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:31.440 In our deepest core, we long to be whole. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.680 We long to not have these internal conflicts. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:41.039 We long for our bodies to function the way they were intended to function. 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:48.559 When we are whole and when we were home, we will live forever in the place that we were intended to be. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:56.559 And we will then realize that this phase of our existence was mere shadowlands. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:59.279 Again, a wonderful C.S. 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:00.400 Lewis expression. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:12.400 We will look back and we will see that the glories and the wonderful experiences of this life, and there are many, there are many for which we praise God. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:21.680 In comparison, they will appear as they truly are, but a mere foretaste, a mere shadow of that which is to come. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:25.599 And we will wonder why we ever thought this was so great. 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:30.000 It is great, much of it is great, much of it stinks too, doesn't it? 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:36.960 But even the greatest things in this life will pale by comparison. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:45.440 We were never intended to live this way forever. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:56.319 It's worth thinking about, perhaps, that all of the disabilities, let's just talk physically, all of the disabilities will be removed. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:05.920 And most of us probably aren't that in tune with what that means because more or less we've got it together. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:10.799 I'm talking about serious life-changing disabilities. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.640 Now, the older we get, the more we begin to taste that, don't we? 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:17.920 Things just don't work anymore quite the way they should. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.920 But let's just think about someone who is severely handicapped. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.000 That's not an evil word, by the way. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:27.039 It may not be politically correct in our society. 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:30.480 Or maybe it's just plain incorrect. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:34.640 What makes us think that we're normal physically? 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:39.519 What makes us think that we're the way we're supposed to be? 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:52.319 The times that I have spent around truly disabled people, I often walk away thinking, you know. 00:28:54.720 --> 00:29:00.240 I'm not so sure that what I am is the way it's really supposed to be. 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:10.000 And some of the disability disabled people that I know, they seem to be in touch with some realities, depending on the nature of the disability. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:18.640 Where I think they they might appreciate even more than I do that which is uh to come. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:25.359 Um a great example of that is uh Johnny Erickson, Johnny Erickson Tada. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:30.160 Uh you probably know her story as a young teenager. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:40.799 She had a diving accident, and uh she had a spinal cord injury, and she has spent the rest of her life as a paraplegic. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:44.880 She must be 50 plus years old at this point. 00:29:45.920 --> 00:30:00.160 And here is something that Johnny Erickson Tata said somewhere in my broken, paralyzed body is the seed of what I shall become. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.759 Just think about that. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:10.720 Somewhere in our brokenness is a seed of what is to come. 00:30:11.119 --> 00:30:18.720 She says, the paralysis makes what I am to become all the more grand. 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:22.640 She can appreciate it all the more. 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:27.359 So I complain about my phoy. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:44.000 Johnny says, the paralysis makes what I am to become all the more grand when you contrast the atrophied, useless legs against the splendorous resurrected legs. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:50.160 I'm convinced that if there are mirrors in heaven and why not, she says, and why not? 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:57.039 Mirrors in heaven would reflect the glories of God in a phenomenal way. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:13.839 Anyway, I am convinced that if there are mirrors in heaven and why not, the image I see, I will see, will be unmistakably Johnny, although a much brighter, better Johnny, so much so that it's not worth comparing. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:25.440 I will bear the likeness of Jesus, the man from heaven, like his, mine will be an actual, literal body perfectly suited for earth and heaven. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:32.720 And Johnny looks forward to that more than you and I do if we're not careful. 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:44.720 And yet I truly believe that part of what the revelation about what is to come is intended to do is to make us hungry for that which awaits us. 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:50.240 So let's look a little bit at the body that you will die for. 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.799 It's the only way you'll get it. 00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:56.000 You will die to get this body. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:58.880 A couple of things. 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:02.720 It will be the same earthly body, but vastly improved. 00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:04.880 We've already touched on this. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:06.079 It's really interesting. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:13.680 In God's dealing with sin, he does not scrap that which has gone wrong. 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:20.880 He regenerates, resurrects, redeems. 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:30.079 In redemption, God does not scrap or cast aside the old, either the old earth or the old bodies. 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:32.400 He doesn't cast it aside. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:38.160 He transforms them into what they were originally intended to be and will become. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:41.279 He doesn't cast the old earth aside. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.000 He regenerates, he resurrects it. 00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:57.200 There's a new heaven and the new earth that replaces all that was broken, and for eternity we will be there, and the same thing with our bodies. 00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:06.319 Notice the terms: your body and all creation will be resurrected, redeemed, restored, renewed. 00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:17.279 That little preface means to go back to what it was, and with redemption it becomes not just what it was, but what it was meant to be. 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:22.720 What Adam and Eve would have been like had they not sinned. 00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:33.440 What we spiritually and physically shall be like is far more, but it's still us. 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:36.960 It's still our body, it's still this world. 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:44.720 God does not give up on you, and God does not give up on his creation. 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:50.960 What sin ravages, God heals and makes even better. 00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:56.000 The best is yet to come. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:03.759 The best you, and that's not just rah-rah, it's going to be a good day tomorrow. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:04.400 No. 00:34:05.599 --> 00:34:13.519 You've never even tasted the best of who you will become by God's grace. 00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:17.199 None of your doing, all of Christ's on the cross. 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:19.519 All we have is Jesus. 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:29.119 He who knew no sin, bore our sin, took our sin on the cross that we might become like him, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:33.440 It's not our doing, it's the free gift that is constantly offered. 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:35.840 If you've not responded to it, you better respond. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:36.960 You're going to miss it. 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:41.760 You're going to miss the best of what God has. 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:51.280 And it comes initially through faith in Jesus Christ, personal commitment and following Christ. 00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:59.280 Some of the characteristics of Jesus' resurrected body. 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:11.840 We can draw some parallels, and let me just read something that will say it more quickly and to the point than if I were to try to blather on about it. 00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:12.239 Okay? 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:22.000 So the bodies we receive in the resurrection will have the same qualities as the glorified resurrection body of Christ. 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:26.320 For we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:29.760 Now he explains this. 00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:35.039 Christ's resurrection body was the same body as before, not a whole new one. 00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:36.000 We've touched on that. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:39.199 When he arose, the tomb was empty. 00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:44.000 His body was changed. 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:45.679 The tomb was empty. 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:47.440 The body was resurrected. 00:35:47.519 --> 00:35:49.599 The same body, but a glorified one. 00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:53.760 The wounds from his crucifixion were still visible. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:36:02.159 We have a wounded body of a man who is alive in heaven. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:06.719 Jesus with his scars reigns in heaven. 00:36:06.960 --> 00:36:08.960 The scars are still there. 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:10.400 There's continuity. 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:18.559 And instead of that being a reminder of pain, it is a reflection of God's grace and God's goodness. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:24.639 When we see the scars in Jesus' hand, we will worship. 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:40.159 Dances were much more appropriate in those days, in my opinion, than what they may be now. 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:44.719 But anyway, I left and I wasn't drunk and I wasn't high. 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:46.800 I was just a stupid teenager. 00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:49.599 And I put my hand through the door. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:37:00.000 And to this day, although it's fading now, there is a gash, a scar, that keeps reminding me of that stupid 16-year-old kid. 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:13.119 The reminders of our scars, physical, spiritual, emotional, in heaven will not remind us of how stupid and how sinful we were. 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:19.599 They will remind us of how great and how glorious and how full of mercy our God is. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:30.559 And they never once questioned his humanity. 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:33.760 He ate real earthly food with his friends. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.159 Yet his body was a little bit different. 00:37:36.320 --> 00:37:37.599 It could pass through walls. 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:39.679 Our bodies will be like that. 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:48.800 There'll be real, physical, genuine bodies, the very same bodies we have, and yet fixed, fixed, fixed. 00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:53.840 Apparently we will eat in heaven. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:56.159 Jesus ate in the resurrection. 00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:58.480 That's an interesting thought. 00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:01.440 Eating with no guilt. 00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:04.719 Wouldn't that be wonderful? 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:12.880 Eating not just to survive, but to enjoy the goodness of God and the provision of God. 00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:16.400 I believe we're going to eat in heaven. 00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:18.159 Jesus ate in the resurrection. 00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:19.440 Why wouldn't we? 00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:28.000 We don't think that way because we don't think in a tangible physical reality which heaven will be. 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:35.199 So wounds, food, we will eat in heaven. 00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:36.719 Food is not sin. 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:45.840 Now, maybe the genetic modifications are not what is helpful, but the food will all be healthy in heaven. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:49.119 The Folsoms will be out of work. 00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:53.360 Not because your food isn't healthy. 00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:54.960 Oh my goodness, I'm in trouble now. 00:38:56.800 --> 00:38:58.400 Moving right along. 00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:06.159 Some of the upgrades we will see, we will be, our bodies will be imperishable. 00:39:06.239 --> 00:39:08.480 That means they will be indestructible. 00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:20.400 They will not wear out, they will not grow old, they will have no defects, they will no longer be subject to the law of entropy, second law of thermodynamics. 00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:21.760 Everything goes to pot. 00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:27.599 There'll be no more going to pot in heaven. 00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:32.639 There'll be no more decay, no more just falling apart. 00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:38.159 Things now wear down and they wear out. 00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:39.280 They won't. 00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:41.199 That's a result of sin. 00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:43.440 Powerful. 00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:46.960 None of the weaknesses that we presently experience. 00:39:48.079 --> 00:39:50.320 At the end of a hard day of work, we're tired. 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:52.320 That's not wrong, by the way. 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.599 It's not wrong to be tired after a hard day of work. 00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.239 It's not a great joy, necessarily. 00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:04.480 But there will be no more weaknesses in our body, and we won't collapse in death. 00:40:04.559 --> 00:40:07.679 We'll run and not grow weary, soar on wings like eagles. 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:09.039 We'll walk and not faint. 00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:23.920 There'll be no disease, no infirmities, no blemishes, no defects, no shortness of breath, no accidents, no dialysis, no braces, no vitamin supplements, no need of a pharmacy, no contact lenses, no health clubs, no rehab centers. 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:30.079