I would encourage you to take your Bibles and turn to Mark's gospel chapter 12. If you've not been with us, we go through various books of the Bible verse by verse so that we don't miss out on a single word of what God has revealed to us. And this morning, we find ourselves in Mark 12, verses 18 through 27. And after we look at this text, I'm gonna take you as well, to some passages in First Corinthians 15, from which we have just read, let me read the passage here, Mark 12, beginning in verse 18, "Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him saying, 'Teacher, Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN'S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD, HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER. There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died leaving no children. The second one married her, and died, leaving behind no children, and the third likewise; and so all seven left no children. Last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one's wife will she be? For all seven, had married her.' Jesus said to them, 'Is this not the reason you are mistaken that you do not understand the Scriptures, or the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'?I He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.'"

Here we witness a great example of the power of religious hypocrites in powerful places weaponizing theological error to discredit Jesus in the eyes of an adoring crowd. And they use a false presupposition to humiliate him. And this is very common. I've dealt with it over the years, I'm sure you have as well, where people misinterpret or they misapply some passage of scripture, and then they confront you with the teaching that they believe in order to discredit you. And of course, their motive is not to learn, to better understand the word of God, but to humiliate you. That's what's going on here.

Now, you need to understand a little bit about Sadducees. They were the wealthy religious aristocrats in charge of the temple. They oversaw everything that happened in the temple, the sacrifices and so forth. They made up the high priests and the chief priests and they had the ruling majority, even in the Sanhedrin, and they were often cooperative with Rome. They were also positive toward Hellenism, they did not believe in the resurrection, they did not believe in an afterlife. They did not believe in angels or a spiritual world; did not believe in predestination, the sovereignty of God. Nor did they believe in a coming Messiah. They rejected virtually everything, interestingly enough, that the Pharisees believed. In fact, Luke speaks of this in Acts chapter 23, beginning in verse six, "But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, 'Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!' As he said this, there occurred to dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all."

Now, as you are aware, Jesus now is in the court of the Gentiles, just basically two days before his crucifixion. There's a large crowd that is gathered all around to watch what is going on; there has been a series of attempts to humiliate him. And Jesus, of course, has threatened the power base of the Sadducees because he drove out the money changers, which really upended their lucrative business enterprise in the temple precincts. So, he has humiliated them. Therefore he had to go. A couple of days later, he would be crucified. And so the tactic here is to somehow discredit him in the eyes of the adoring crowds. Especially by presenting to Jesus an impossible dilemma concerning a supposed resurrection. The problem is the theological basis for their question was errant. And they were too ignorant and deceived to understand it.

Now, to make this very practical, this is common, we've seen this down through history where one group will attack their political rival by claiming they reject, frankly, a demonstrably false presupposition. We see that in our culture today, they present this false presupposition concerning for example, critical race theory or transgenderism or the woke insanity. And they confront you with that, and then criticize you for not agreeing with them, or they accuse you of committing some fabricated crime. We saw this very clearly, for example, in the Russian collusion hoax against Donald Trump, or we've seen it like when the parents stood up against the school board, because they were upset with the indoctrination that was going on in the school, and they were called domestic terrorists. And so we're familiar with this type of thing. So this is not something isolated. And so what we have happening here, as we've seen, in our culture is you have one group of people weaponizing whatever resources they have to destroy someone else. And the Sadducees used this nefarious strategy--use the people in powerful positions, to first of all, promote false accusations and then deceive the public, discredit their political rival, then indict them, incarcerate them, and if possible, execute them.

Now, it's also very important for me to pause for a moment and help you remember that this is not taking Jesus by surprise. This is not taking God by surprise. In fact, as we look at Scripture, we see that God has ordained to allow this very thing to happen to his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, while evil men put Jesus on the cross. This was all part of God's plan. Because Scripture makes it clear, for example, in Revelation 13 and verse eight, that the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world. And Peter said in his sermon in Acts two, verse 23, that, "This man," referring to Jesus, "delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God." I mean, this is absolutely astounding when you think about it, the Son of God died to purchase the salvation of those whom God had chosen, according to his uninfluenced, eternal plan. And this is all part of that plan. We read of this, for example, in Ephesians, chapter one beginning in verse three, it says that, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world." He goes on to say, "In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ who himself, according to the kind intention of his will." And Paul made this clear as well in Second Timothy one in verse nine, where it says that he, "saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus, from all eternity." Literally, in the original language "before time began."

Of course, all of this is part of the gospel that Jesus taught, and it was infuriating to many of the people in his day. Frankly, as it is today. In fact, whenever you bring up in many circles the doctrine of election and predestination, you see people getting upset because they simply find that to be abhorrent. It's interesting, in John six, Jesus clearly articulated those great truths--the doctrines of sovereign grace in salvation, often disparagingly labeled as "Calvinism." In fact, it was so offensive, as we read in verse 65, of John six, when Jesus said, "'No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him for the Father.' As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew, and we're not walking him with him anymore." And of course, these doctrines are highly offensive to people that do not understand the gospel. So they invent their own version of how it all is supposed to work, and makes man, not God, sovereign over salvation, making God's will subject to man's will, and so forth.

Now, some important background here regarding the resurrection. The Pharisees and the Jewish people rightly believed in both a national as well as a personal bodily resurrection. And by the way, what I'm about to say is absolutely true. And this should exhilarate each one of us to know that we have a resurrection waiting for us. They believed a national resurrection was consistent with the promises of God and the Abrahamic Covenant and the Davidic covenant, which would include the coming of the Messiah. You will recall Ezekial's vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, beginning of verse 11. Then Ezekiel said, "God said to me, 'Son of Man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is perished. We are completely cut off. 'Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will open up your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened up your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people."'" This, by the way, will also include spiritual regeneration. He goes on to say, "'I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life and I will place you on your own land.'" The prophet Isaiah said, likewise, in Isaiah 26, verse 19, "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the doom of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits."

So there's reason to believe, as they did, in a national resurrection, but they also believed in a bodily resurrection. For example, in Exodus three and verse six, the text that the Lord uses, we read, "'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.'" Present tense. Not I "was," but I "am." And the clear implication is that these men are clearly dead, but they are still alive in the Spirit. And God is still their God. Job speaks of a resurrection as well, and Job 19:25 and following, "As for me," he says, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh; I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see in not another." David spoke of this as well in Psalm 16, beginning in verse nine, "Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely, for You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 49, verse 15, "God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. In Psalm 73, beginning in verse 24, "With Your counsel, You will guide me and afterward receive me to glory." Psalm 139, verse eight, "If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there." Isaiah 25 and verse eight, "He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from their all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken." Let me give you one more, in Daniel 12 and verse two, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt."

Moreover, I might add that in the Old Testament apocryphal writings and the Talmud, which was the primary source of Jewish law and theology, also conveyed the same resurrection promises. And they were familiar with all of this--the Pharisees, the Jewish people. So they believed in a national, as well as a personal, resurrection. I might also add that the Pharisees had some wacko ideas about the resurrection that they derived from other Jewish sources, not from Scripture. And whenever you deviate from the Word of God, you come up with wacko things right? MacArthur speaks of this. He says, quote, "For example, the consensus among the Pharisees was that people would be raised with the same infirmities, defects, characteristics, and relationships they had when they died." That's not very comforting, is it? He went on to add, "Many also believe that all Jews would be raised in Israel, some even arguing that there were tunnels all over the earth, through which the bodies of Jews buried elsewhere, would roll to Israel," end quote. Well, obviously, none of that is true.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Of course, the Sadducees rejected all of these things, including the Old Testament texts that I read, because they believed only in the Pentateuch. Which they erroneously believed made no mention of a bodily resurrection from the dead. They did not understand the implication of Exodus three, and verse six, as we will see. So for them, Sheol, the opposed abode of the departed dead, was the final resting place for people that die. All that lived on was one's legacy or one's reputation, or one's posterity. So they believe that you just need to live life to the fullest. No afterlife, no punishment, no reward. Just live it up. And this was the same attitude of the unrepentant inhabitants of Jerusalem many years earlier, when they scoffed at the prophet's warnings concerning God's judgment upon them. And Isaiah reproached the people for participating in wild parties when they should have been mourning in repentance. They're trying to anesthetize the reality that God's judgment is upon them, and that it is coming. They did not want to listen to that. So we read in Isaiah 22, beginning in verse 12, "'In that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.'" So this attitude is nothing new. And I would submit to you, sadly, that it's probably the attitude that some of you have. Certainly this is consistent with most people's attitude. Most people scoff at the idea, for example of an eternal hell of eternal punishment. And most people will say, Well, if there is a God, whoever he or she might be, I think that my good has outweighed my bad. So I'm quite certain he'll grade on the curve and I'll make the cut. That's how people think. Paul dealt with this in Corinth, First Corinthians 15 as we read earlier, beginning of verse 32. He said, "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE." That's what the people were saying. And he's quoting this passage out of Isaiah. He went on to say, "Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.' Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame."

Now with this background, let's look more closely at the text for a few minutes. I want to do so under two headings that I hope will be helpful for you. Number one, we're going to see the insoluble dilemma and number two, the infallible solution. Again, now let's visualize the situation. Jesus has horribly offended the Pharisees, the Herodians that came against him and now the Sadducees. He's just making sure that everybody is really upset with him in leadership. People are standing around in the court of the Gentiles and then here comes the Sadducees. And with their garb it’s real obvious who they were. And the Sadducees don't walk, they kind of glide. So they glide up to Jesus and they confront him. And here we see first, the insoluble dilemma, verse 18, "Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) came to Jesus, and began questioning Him saying, 'Teacher'"--notice the flattery there, "'Teacher, Moses wrote for us that IF A MAN'S BROTHER DIES and leaves behind a wife AND LEAVES NO CHILD, HIS BROTHER SHOULD MARRY THE WIFE AND RAISE UP CHILDREN TO HIS BROTHER.'" Now let's pause for a moment. It's important that you understand the background here, where this came from, out of Deuteronomy 25, verses five and six concerning what's called a "Levirate marriage." "Levirate" comes from the Latin "levir" which means husband's brother. Here's the background with that, and why God put this in the law. Because the perpetuation of a man's name, as a member of the covenant people, was so important, along with the property inheritance in the family; it was important that that name should be passed on. And so we read God's word in Deuteronomy 25, beginning in verse five, "When brothers live together," in other words, most of the time, they would all live on one estate, okay? "'When brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband's brother shall go into her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her." So in other words, a brother dies, leaves his wife, no child, the other brother, who would have to be one that is single--and as we read another passage, he couldn't divorce his wife and do this, nor could he marry his deceased brother's wife, and have her live with him and his existing wife--but he would then go into her and take her as his bride. And then it says, "It shall be that the firstborn whom she bear shall also assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blank blotted out from Israel." This is not without precedent, you may recall in in Genesis 38, the story of Tamar. Remember, she was a widow, and she acted wickedly. She played the role of the harlot, she tempted Judah, when his son Onan failed to fulfill his duty, and was impregnated by him and so forth. I might also add that if there was no unmarried brother available, to marry, the widow, another close relative, would be required to fulfill the levarite responsibility. This was the case of Boaz, as you will recall, who married his relative Elimelech's widowed daughter-in-law, her name was Ruth. So that's the background here.

So the Sadducees come up with this insoluble dilemma. It goes on, or they go on to say, verse 21, "'There were seven brothers; and the first a took wife, and died leaving no children. The second one married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; and so all seven left no children. Last of all, the woman died also. In the resurrection, when they rise again, which one's wife will she be? For all seven had married her.'" In logic, this is called "reductio ad absurdum"-- reduction to absurdity. And it's a device that basically is an attempt to prove the fallacy of a presupposition by showing that its logical consequences are utterly absurd and/or contradictory. That's what's going on here.

By the way, I always have to smile at this to think of the arrogance of ungodly people. To think that somehow, they can fool their Creator; that they can trick him. Truly, this is a fool's errand. Now Jesus knows their wicked motivation. He knows what they're thinking. And in response, he's going to demonstrate two errors. Number one, he's going to demonstrate that they were ignorant of both the content and the correct interpretation of the scriptures, which they were supposed to be the experts that knew more than anybody else. But secondly, he is going to prove that they know nothing about the power of God in their lives. By the way, there's an important lesson to be learned here. Both faults, characterize most people, even many evangelicals. I mean, think of the heretical teachings that are out there today, by people who simply do not understand the scriptures, therefore they do not understand the power of God. They're unsaved; the Spirit of God does not dwell within them. And as a result, you get the social gospel, you get the prosperity gospel, you get the continual compromise with the LGBTQ abominations, and on and on it goes, I think of all the professing Christians whose character and conduct cannot be distinguished from most rank pagans. Think of Titus one and verse 16, "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good thing." That's what's going on here with the Sadducees.

So first, we have the insoluble dilemma. Now we have secondly, the infallible solution. Notice how Jesus responds to them by asking a question. Verse 24, "Jesus said to them, 'Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?'" You know, I have to smile at this. Folks, this is how you deal with theological error. You deal with it forthrightly, and authoritatively based upon the word of God. And again, he's going to expose two fundamental issues. Number one, you are ignorant of both the content and the correct interpretation of the Scriptures, and you know nothing of the power of God in your life. Talk about humiliating. I think of how Paul dealt with this with the false teachers in his day, as we should even in our day. He describes it in Second Timothy three false teachers, phony Christians, he says, "But realize this, that in the last days," referring to the time between Christ's first and second coming, "difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God." By the way, now, he's describing people that are in the church. And he goes on to say, "holding to a form of godliness"-- they claim to be followers of Christ, and they have all the outward trappings of Christianity. But then, he says, "although they have denied its power;" that is the power of the indwelling Spirit, to save and to transform to sanctify. And he says, "avoid such men as these." The term "avoid" literally means to shun, to stay away from them, have no part with them.

By the way, the list that he just gave is also consistent with Paul's list in 2 Timothy 3:6, and he describes how they conduct themselves, "For among them," he says, "are those who enter into households and captivate weak women." Literally childish women, of which he must have been aware of some that were susceptible to this in his day by the false teachers. They're "weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses." In other words, they're ruled by their emotions. They're ruled by their lusts, not the truth of the Word of God; "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Of course, this is a huge problem in the church today as it was then, as it was in the first century. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were also a part of this in apostate Judaism, and many today are like that they fill pulpits, they will even fill stadiums, they will teach in seminaries and they often use the same tactics misinterpret, misapply scripture and try to discredit those who differ with them.

Dave Harrell

Now, I want you to notice Jesus' response here. And this is one, frankly, that we can all use. He says, "'Is this not the reason you were mistaken. “Let me pause, "mistaken" is from "planao," in the original language. It means to wander, to go astray, or to be misled from a proper belief or a course of action. In fact, we get our English word planet from this term. He's basically saying you guys are way off base, alright? Forthright, right to the point. It's like, Hey, you're mistaken, way off base here. He says, "'You do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God." By the way one leads to another. If you don't understand the Scriptures, if you don't understand the gospel, you will never be saved. And if you're not saved, the Spirit of God will not dwell within you. You will have nothing to restrain your flesh, and you will operate in the flesh and one day you will perish in your sins. So he confronts them. And he does so by disproving their error from Scripture. Not from just his opinion, but from Scripture. Now, don't you know a hush must have come over the crowd at this point. It's like, I can't believe Jesus said that to the Sadducees. And can't you imagine the look on the faces of the Sadducees? I imagine, you know, steams coming out their ears, you know the veins in your neck or bulging, and they're biting their teeth and they're wanting to get to this guy.

So now Jesus responds to the insoluble dilemma with an infallible solution. And he says in verse 25, "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven." I might add also Luke's account of this in Luke 20:34, Luke, for the word "they,"... for when "they", Luke uses a Hebraism, "sons of this age." "For when the sons of this age rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they're like the angels in heaven.'" Clear, concise, authoritative. Also, it's fascinating is it not, I mean, there's no marriage in heaven. No need for procreation in heaven, no need for the appropriate ways to enjoy sexual activity, none of that will be there. No need for a living illustration of Christ's covenantal love for his bridal church, because we're there. No marriage in heaven is probably a great relief for some, some are probably saying, "Oh, thank you, Lord." For others like me, I think Oh, Lord, as wonderful as it is with my dear wife, I'm sure it's gonna have to be a whole lot better for me to enjoy heaven, right? A lot of us are that way. And rightfully so. But that's because we can't imagine the bliss of sinless glory, being in perfect relationship with God, with the angels, with perfected saints and all of that. And also, isn't it interesting, he says, "like the angels in heaven." I mean, this is a not-so-subtle refutation of their rejection of the afterlife, right? I mean, they didn't even believe in angels, the existence of angels.

And then Jesus supports his statement with Scripture. And he does so in vintage rabbinic practice. He says in verse 26, "But regarding the fact that the dead rise again." Again, now he's refuting their notion that the dead don't rise, even though that's the illustration that you're giving, because the dead do rise. It's also interesting, I might add that the word "rise," in the original language is in the passive voice, which is very significant. It indicates that resurrection is not something automatic, but it is the result of the active power of God; a reality that they cannot fathom, because he's already said in verse 24, "You do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God."

So he says, "But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses." Now let's stop. In the Pentateuch, the only section of Scripture that you believe, have you not read this? He says, "in the passage about the burning bush." I mean, everybody knows that one right? "How God spoke to him saying, I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.'" You see, this is at the very heart of the Pentateuch--that Yahweh is the living God who has made a covenant with his people; a commitment through Abraham, even through Moses. One that will last through time and eternity. Again, he says, "I am." It didn't say I was. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So how could dead men consider Yahweh to be their God and worship Him worship him as such if they were not still alive spiritually, if there was no afterlife, if there was no resurrection. It's like, end of discussion. In fact, Luke 20 gives this account beginning of verse 39, "Some of the scribes answered and said, 'Teacher, You have spoken well.'" I mean, they gotta save face in front of the crowd right? "'Teacher, You have you have spoken well.’” And then it goes on to say, "For they did not have courage to question Him any longer about anything." You know, I get that.

Now, I want to take you to First Corinthians 15 for a few minutes. Because this is so important, more truths on the resurrection. We're going to look at verses 20 through 28. Just kind of in a brief way, let me give you the context, as we read earlier in our scripture reading. Verses 12 through 19 is where the apostle delineated seven absurd theological consequences that would occur if believers were not raised from the dead, like Christ. If we do not believe in a bodily resurrection, then Christ would not have been risen, the preaching of the gospel would be meaningless, faith in Christ would be worthless, all who witnessed the resurrection and all who preach it would be liars, all men would die in their sins, all former believers would have eternally perished, and finally Christians would be the most pitiable people on earth. In other words, the Christian life would be a charade; t would be a sick, ridiculous joke. But in verse 20, he says, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep," referring to the righteous dead whose spirits have gone on to be with the Lord, but whose body awaits the composition, in the resurrection, they are asleep--"koimao" in the original language. It's often used to describe believers who have died. First Thessalonians 4:14 speaks of those who have "fallen asleep in Jesus." And then later on in verse 16, they're identified as the "dead in Christ." Second Corinthians five in verse eight, "I say, and prefer rather to be absent for the body, and to be at home with the Lord." And you will recall, as well, that Christ comforted the thief on the cross, Luke 23, verse 43, when he said, "'Truly I say to you, today, you shall be with me in paradise.'" So this is a fascinating statement here, that Christ is the first fruits of those who are asleep in him. Now, this does not mean that Jesus was the first person to be resurrected from the dead. The scriptures give us other examples of that. But what it's referring to is, that unlike Jesus, all those people died again. Only Christ himself was the one that was raised never to die again.

Now fascinating this idea of "first fruits." In Leviticus 23 and verse 10, we read how God commanded his covenant people to do something very important before they harvested their barley crops. They were required to bring a representative sample of the harvest to the priests as an offering to the Lord. This was called the first fruits. And this symbolized the consecration of the whole harvest to God, and it was a pledge of the harvest to come. So Christ's resurrection is the first truths. In other words, it is the first installment of a harvest that already exists. And what is that? It's the harvest of the elect. And He speaks of those who have falling asleep. They're going to be considered the full harvest. So this is exciting. Think about this. Paul is saying that Christ's resurrection didn't occur somehow in isolation as if it had no impact on the rest of the harvest. No, no, no, no, he was the first fruit of the rest of the harvest that already existed. You don't bring a first fruit if nothing else exists, right? And that existing crop was, and is, the elect of God that existed in eternity past. You know, I think of this when I think of our departed loved ones, I can still see my mom and dad that sat right over there that are now with the Lord. We all have loved ones that are with the Lord. Isn't it comforting to know that they are asleep in Christ Jesus. Their spirits are alive yeah, their bodies are dead. And although their soul is in heaven, their body, which is in the case of my parents, bodies were fatigued and a bit diseased and disabled. Remember how mom used to say, I just feel like I'm all used up. I'm beginning to feel more and more that way, aren't you? Their bodies are in the grave. Or for some people, their bodies are scattered all over the earth. But one day, the DNA that was a part of that decomposed body will recompose by the power of God and they will wake up in unimaginable power and glory and be united with their glorified soul. Death is the great symbol of sowing in Scripture. First Corinthians 15:42, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised in imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." Beloved, the implications of the resurrection of Christ exceed the importance and the power and the potential of all other events in the universe. It can only be rivaled by the actual creation of the universe. You see, when the resurrection body of Christ Jesus existed, as it exists, I should say even now. Within it contains the supernatural source of eternal life, the power of God's universal kingdom, it's unimaginable and a mystery beyond our capacity to understand. He dwells within His redeemed. As I say, He has redeemed us that he might inhabit us, and we exist in him. Colossians three and verse three, our life is "hidden with Christ in God." Paul says, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead," Romans 8:11, "dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." You see, dormant within the resurrection body of Christ, was the seed of resurrection glory for all whom the Father had given him. And the magnificent truth of the gospel is that if you are united to Christ and saving faith, you are like, if you will, a nuclear warhead that is ready to explode in unimaginable power and glory, by the power of God in whom you are united. And what a precious and profound comfort that should be to each one of us. That's why Paul says in Second Corinthians four beginning in verse 16, "Therefore, we do not lose hope, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." Therefore, we can rejoice with the writer of Hebrews in chapter 11 and verse one, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." You see, in Christ, we have been given a new kind of existence. His body was made perfect, no longer subject to weakness, to disease to death, but able to live eternally. He put on immortality. And like his, our resurrection body, will also be raised imperishable in glory, in power, a spiritual body as we read in First Corinthians 15.

So we will be given a body like Christ, one that is fit for heaven, no longer subject to sickness or disease, or the shame of sin. No longer easily seduced by the temptations of the world that our flesh so naturally wants to gratify. So the power contained in the resurrection body of Jesus was infinitely powerful. For it houses in it, the omnipotent power of Creator God, and one day we will behold His glory. And you know, when we do, he will look like us as a human being. From his glorified body will emanate the effulgence of the celestial majesty. The resplendent glory of the light of his shekinah will blaze forth like the brilliance of the sun. And again, to think, Christ is the first fruits. In other words, he is a precise sample of the coming harvest, which means our resurrection bodies will be like his in many ways, minus the incommunicable attributes of God that are his alone, Beloved, may I make it real practical to you the next time you see the corpse of a believing loved one, look beyond that decaying body, and see the glory of that glorified saint. Focus on the transformation from the corruptible--that is the passing away--and the incorruptible that will take its place.

And next Paul goes on to explain the profound implications of Christ's resurrection on all who are united to him in faith. He says, "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ, all will be made alive." There's two men, there's two acts, there's two consequences. Adam was the head of the old creation, Christ is the head of the new creation. He is the first born from the dead. In other words, Colossians 1:18, He is, in other words, the preeminent one, the one of highest rank, the firstborn, the "prototokos" was the ranking son who received the right of the inheritance from the Father. And Christ possesses the right of all of the inheritance over his creation. He existed before the creation, and he is exalted in rank over it, because he is the pre-existent, self-existent, uncreated Creator of the universe.

Two men, to acts, two consequences. Romans five, verse 19, "For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." In other words, when Adam sinned, he represented all humanity, therefore, his sin was reckoned to all his descendants. But the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, radically reverses all that the first Adam initiated. And today we await, not only our personal resurrection, but the world to come. And notice what he says in verse 22, "in Christ, all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming." So Paul goes on to describe the rest of the harvest of which Christ was the first fruits, and he says, "each in his own order." "Order"-- "tagma", a military term, used to describe the arrangement of troops, there's order here. And here we see, once again, that God is both orderly, he is purposeful in all that he does. And here we learn that the resurrection harvest comes in, in three stages at Christ's coming, "Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming." The first stage will be those who have come to saving faith from Pentecost to the rapture, and they will be joined by living saints at the rapture. First, Thessalonians four verse 16, When the Lord himself it says, "descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words."

The second stage of those who will be raised from the dead refers to those who come to faith during the Tribulation, as well as the Old Testament saints, they will be raised to reign with Christ during the millennium. You read about this in Revelation 20 and verse four. Daniel spoke of this in Daniel 12 two, "Many of those who are asleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgraced and everlasting contempt."

And the third stage are those who died during the Millennial Kingdom, they will probably be instantly transformed at death into their eternal bodies, and so forth. The only people left to be raised will be the ungodly, that occurs at the end of the millennial kingdom, at the Great White Throne Judgment of God, Revelation 20, which will be followed by an eternal hell. Acts 24:15, "There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." And John says in John five and verse 29, that there will be a "resurrection of life" and a "resurrection of judgment." So let's rejoice in certain promise of our resurrection. Paul speaks of this in Romans eight, verse 23, "We ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved." Aren't you thankful that even though now we groan, and sometimes we groan loudly, we do so in hope of what God has in store for us.

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word. May we not only understand them, but may we apply them. May they govern our thoughts, our behavior. May they animate our hearts not only to further study of your word, but Lord, to worship, so that we may enjoy the absolute fullness of all that we have in Christ. And Father, for those that really do not know you as Savior, maybe they are religious, maybe they've even made a profession of faith, but they really have no love for Christ. They have no burden for the lost, no hunger for the Word, no hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Lord, they're still ruled by their flesh. Oh, Lord, won't you by the power of your spirit, bring conviction to their heart, that today they would repent and cry out for you to save them through faith in Christ and by his grace. We pray all have these things in the precious name of Jesus, our Savior in our Lord. Amen.