Celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. 2015

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Celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. 2015

1CO 15:12-14;  Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Because if there is no resurrection of  the dead,  not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, and your faith also is vain.

Resurrection is one of the great cornerstones of the Christian faith or Christian theology. And, 1Co 15 is one the greatest chapters in the Bible on the theme of Resurrection. However, believe or not, it all began in the oldest book in the Bible and more than likely the first one ever written even before Moses wrote the first five books in the Bible, - called the Pentateuch, which is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy,  or the first five books in the Bible.

It all began when one day, a man named Job asked a very important question:

In JOB 14:1, Job is continuing his dissertation to his three friends who had been judging him because he had been going through a tremendous amount of personal suffering  and they said that God was judging him for his sins...and, in reality there could be nothing further from the truth.

JOB 14:1, “Man, who is born of woman, Is short‑lived and full of turmoil.”

Now says this because it’s true! All of us have one thing in common, a woman gave birth to us, PSA 51:5; 58:3.

Everyone of us has a mother. So Job writes “Man, who is born of woman. We are all born physically alive and spiritually dead, therefore, we are born totally depraved with an old sin nature. So it is inevitable that our few days on earth will be “short-lived” and full of trouble.

Why?

Well, first of all each one of us have an O.S.N., which is the  dark side of all of us. And this means that we cause a lot of the trouble in our lives, ourselves. The other problem is the fact that every other person in the world that we have contact with also has an Old Sin Nature. Sometimes we may be the victim and sometimes we may be the villain. And then sometimes it’s a mixture of both which makes it very difficult to sort it all out at times! However, it all spells out one very simple word for each one of us...”trouble.” And if we are not making trouble, we are receiving trouble.

PSA 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”

PSA 58:3, The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.

So Job continues his rebuke to his friends who have been mistakenly judging him and saying he has been under discipline by God....., he makes this profound statement in JOB 14:1, “Man, who is born of woman, is short‑lived and full of turmoil.

Going on in JOB 14:2, “Like a flower he comes forth [we all begin with potential, you know, “My what a beautiful baby!”]and then as the passage says we or man withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. In other words, someday we are all going to die, with the exception of the rapture generation.

And do you know when you die, life will still go on. It will only be a short time before you are not even missed.

Billions and billions of people have died, and who remembers them? Some, of course, are in the history books but very few are actually recorded properly and remembered. Mankind is basically, as this passage says “a shadow”!

Do you know that you are just a shadow and I am just a shadow? Who is going to remember us after we’re gone? Maybe some from our generation and even the next generation, but what about the third generation?

And all of your ambitions, and all of your strivings to be recognized, and to be liked, and to be well thought of,

and to be complimented, and to be patted on the head and be told how wonderful you are, all of this will mean absolutely nothing! You’re a shadow, and I’m a shadow.

As the apostle said in 1CO 15:13-14, If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
So why do so many believers strive for all of this recognition from their peers? What are they trying to prove?

Why are they trying to prove something and make themselves look like they are really something? We are all going to die! What’s the big deal? And that’s what Job is saying! Shadows are here today, gone tomorrow!

As Solomon said in ECC 2:16, For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool [in death, they are all the same], inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!

In ECC 8:10, So then, I have seen the wicked buried, [also] those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.

So the bottom line is that what we should be concerned about is what God thinks because He is the only who really counts and the only one who will remember you forever and ever. In JOB 14:3, remember Job is really speaking to his friends when he says,“You also open your eyes on him and bring him into judgment with yourself.”

Job is saying Do you occupy your time with others and haul them into your judgmental courts? Have you guys picked out a victim, someone you wanted to put down? And he is saying, All of us get into some type of trouble so why gossip and malign people when they do also get into trouble? And then he says in JOB 14:4, “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! Who can bring what is pure out of the impure? No one can!

Remember in GEN 5:3, When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years,  he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image.

Everyone of us has been born in the image of Adam with an OSN. Therefore JOB 14:4, “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! Look at how Bildad put it in JOB 25:4 “How then can a man be just with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of woman?

JOB 25:5-6, “If even the moon has no brightness And the stars are not pure in His sight, How much less man, that maggot, And the son of man, that worm!”

Who is judging who in other words? Or, Which one of us have the right to judge others?

Job is saying who are you? Don’t you have an OSN too? Have you ever sinned? Have you ever failed?

In JOB 14:5, “Since man’s days are determined, The number of his months is with God, And his limits God has set so that he cannot pass. Notice God gives us months to live not years, He breaks our life down into days, weeks and months. David said inPSA 31:15, My times are in Thy hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

PSA 68:20, God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belongs the issues of death.

However,  as we are also going to see, even the issues concerning resurrection  or who will be resurrected also belongs to the Lord. For remember there are two categories of resurrections according to DAN 12:2;  JOH 5:28-29,  a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto death.

JOH 5:28-29,  “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

DAN 12:2, “And 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.”

For the believer, resurrection is a time of blessing, whereas for the unbeliever, it is a time of disgrace and everlasting contempt. That’s why Solomon could also say in ECC 7:1b, the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. Or in ECC 8:8a, No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; So in JOB 14:6, Job addresses his friends once again and wants them to hear what he is saying to God, when he says...“Let your eyes be turned away from him, and take your hand from him, so that he may have pleasure at the end of his day, like a servant working for payment.”

Job is saying in effect to God - “Leave me alone.” Remember, Job is little bit frustrated to say the least.

For God had said to Satan concerning “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”

Or really all that he has is in your power Satan to do what you want to him, except you cannot kill him”

He has lost everything he had, his wealth, his children, his health, his friends, everything except his witchy, complaining, and bitter wife. Satan had kept her alive since she is more valuable to Satan alive than she is dead.

She is the only one what we have on record who said to Job in JOB 2:9, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

So, in JOB 14:6, Job says to God, “Turn away from him [that is man, in this case, even Job] that he may rest, until he fulfills his day like a hired man. In other words, don’t bother other people, they are accountable to the Lord and the Lord has determined how long they are going to live, so let them alone. Don’t judge, malign, interfere and don’t make their life miserable! They’ll make their own lives miserable so they don’t need you to add to it. And that’s honor and virtue on the part of Job and it also the reason that we read in the last chapter of the book in JOB 42:10, And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.

Double blessing because of all the cursing and undeserved suffering that Job endured. And not only did he receive twice as much then what he had before but we also read in JobB 42:17, And Job died, an old man and full of days. That’s an honor and virtue that very few individuals in life understand. Job understood it because he was a mature believer.

Now, he begins to illustrate the principle of the resurrection of man back in JOB 14:7-9, “For there is hope for a tree, if it’s cut down, it will sprout again, And its new shoots will not fail. Though its roots grow old in the ground,  And its stump dies in the dry soil, Yet at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant.

In other words, as verse 7 says, “It looks like it’s all over for the tree but then it smells water and starts to sprout.” And of course water represents the word of God in EPH 5:26. Some of you may be hopeless or in a hopeless situation,  get a little bit of water or the Word of God, Bible doctrine and you will sprout. Now, notice the analogy that Job gives between nature and the resurrection of man.

JOB 14:7, “For there is hope for a tree,  if it’s cut down, it will sprout again, And its new shoots will not fail.”

The analogy here is that there is hope for man’s body, if it’s cut down or dies that it will sprout or spring up again and it’s new shoots, or new parts of the body, like, the hands, the feet, the arms, the legs, the knees, etc.,  come to life at the resurrection for the believer.

Solomon said the ECC 3:20, All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
ECC 12:7, then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

JOB 14:8, “Though its roots grow old in the ground, And its stump dies in the dry soil,”

This also refers that very popular statement in GEN 3:19 speaking of the human body only, “From the ground you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” Or, “Unto dust thou art, unto dust thou shall return!”

Then in JOB 14:9, Yet at the scent or the of water (the aroma of the word of God)  it [the resurrection body] will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant. But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he?” How terrible it is to live in this life without the word of God or Bible doctrine, without hope of the resurrection.

JOB 14:11-13, “As water evaporates from the sea and a river becomes parched and dried up, So man lies down and does not rise until the heavens be no more, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. Oh that You would hide me in the grave and conceal me until Your anger returns to You, that You would set a limit for me and remember me!”

Job is saying some negative things because of his frustrations with his life. He is saying, in effect, in JOB 14:11-12,  that As waters evaporate from the lake, and the river drains and dries up. So man lies down and does not rise [that is Job’s frustration speaking]. Till the heavens are no more,  men will not awake nor be raised [physically] out of their sleep.

Again Job is speaking from his frustrations, but as we will see in a moment,  everything begins to change,  including his human viewpoint!

In JOB 14:13, “Oh that You would hide me in the grave and conceal me until Your anger returns to You,  that You would set a limit for me and remember me!

He says “Hide me in the grave or in Sheol (the unseen state),  and conceal me until Your wrath is past, and that You would set a definite time and then remember me earnestly [or imprint me, as it were, on your heart]!

Or literally, God, please help! Therefore, in JOB 14:14-16, and here’s Job’s question, “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait, Until my change or my renewal comes. You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands. For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin.”

Please notice that Job says to God, “You do not observe my sin” People may observe your sin and keep a close watch on you, but God doesn’t!

Why?

Because God has done something about your sins, He has removed your sins as PSA 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

in ISA 43:25, the Lord said, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

JOB 14:17 “My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You wrap up my iniquity.
Please notice that the sin question has been settled in the mind of Job. He knows that he’s innocent and he also knows the principle behind PSA 103:10, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” If God’s people really believed this, you would begin to see victory over their areas of weakness and true liberty and freedom in their lives. For Job was convinced on this one fact if you would look at JOB 19:25:

JOB 19:25-26, “And as for me, 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;”

In his flesh, or his human body, because of the doctrine of resurrection,  Job says , “I shall see God.”

Now, what does Job want to say in this passage to us? He thinks he’s dying. He assumes that he’s going to die. He wants everyone to know where he stands.

JOB 19:25, “And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last [the end of time or human history] He will take His stand on the earth.”

Now a redeemer is someone who dies for the sins of the world and therefore this is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. And Job looks down the corridors of time with the doctrine resident in his soul,  and he sees TLJC dying for the sins of the world and then he sees Him in resurrection form.

JOB 19:26-27, “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes shall see and not another. My heart faints or rather yearns within me.”

So he has made an application from the redemptive work of Christ and the doctrine of resurrection. We need to make application from resurrection in time of disaster. For resurrection means that our life on this earth is merely the first part of eternal life and our life is extended forever in the presence of God. This is why we need to see that time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity and what we do in intense suffering in that short time while on the earth will be reflected in resurrection.

ROM 8:17, And if we are children, we are heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

In ACT 14:22, after Paul was said to be stone to death, he got up from the stoning and he continued strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

2TI 2:11-12, If we endure [in suffering for blessing], we shall rule with Him [as mature believers]. If we deny Him [in time by rejecting the PPOG] He will deny us [rewards, escrow blessings]. If we are unfaithful [disbelieving, faithless], He remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.”

So we need to make application from resurrection in time of disaster because resurrection means that our life on this earth is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity...and also what we do in intense suffering, in that short time while on the earth will be reflected in resurrection. For in resurrection some will have decorations and crowns and rewards, and some will have just a resurrection body. And Job turns to his friends and he says in

JOB 19:28-29, “If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’ And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’ Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment.” 

And what does he mean by the word sword? He means the sin unto death! You see, Job has reached the state of resurrection where he believes that as the Lord Jesus Christ, his Redeemer, lives, so shall he!

Let us note some of the privileges that we can expect from having a resurrection body. What and how will we be able to do.

1. The resurrection body is recognizable as a human body, Luk 24, JOH 20:25-27.
2. The resurrection body has substance and it can be touched, LUK 24:39-40, MAT 28:9.

3. The resurrection body can carry on conversations so it must have some system of vocal cords. JOH 20:26.
4. The voice of the resurrection body is recognized as the voice of the person in their human body, JOH 20:16.
5. The resurrection body has flesh and bones, LUK 24:39-40.
6. The resurrection body can also eat food, LUK 24:30,43.
7. The resurrection body can also walk though doors and walls, JOH 20:19,26, LUK 24:26.

In fact, on one occasion the disciples were in the upper room and the door was shut for fear of the Jews and the Lord jesus Christ just walked right through the door. And that’s what impressed Thomas, by the way! You do not realize it but, in a wooden door or any kind of a door there is actually more space then there is solid. It’s just an atomic structure and if you had the right kind of a body you could pass through that space. Our human body cannot do that, our resurrection body can.

8. The resurrection body is able to appear and disappear, LUK 24:31.
9. The resurrection body can move vertically or horizontally; MAT 28:10, ACT 1:9-10.
10. The resurrection body will be just like our Lord’s; PHI 3:21 He will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

1JO 3:1-2, See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.