Foundations Of Faith | Resurrection

Sermon Outline

WE

For several weeks now we have been establishing foundations of faith from Hebrews chapter 6.

Oftentimes one of the things I struggle with, and maybe you do too, is not the why but the how of a thing.

I understand why I would follow Jesus, but how do I follow Jesus?

These foundations give us the how.

• Internal
  • Repentance
  • Faith
• External
  • Baptism
  • Laying on of hands for prayer
• Eternal
  • Resurrection
  • Judgement

One of the hardest things you can do is face something you are unprepared for.

It happens all the time, but there are some things we naturally are not prepared to face.

If there is one thing I believe we are holistically unprepared for, it is when everyone in your home gets a stomach bug.

The human body just isn’t made for this kind of thing.

It’s not natural!

Maybe you’ve been there.

You get all the kids in the living room and spread out a tarp. That makes cleaning up easier.

When it comes to things we are unprepared for, it’s often about how we conduct ourselves as we deal with them.

Today we let the word of God speak to us about the ultimate moment we are unprepared for: death.

Today we focus on resurrection as a foundation of faith.

The difficulty of death is that we weren’t made for it, but it is present in our lives. Is it really possible death isn’t the end?

Let’s look at how the hope of resurrection helps bring stability and joy into our daily lives.

GOD

In many cultures and religions, there is a sense of an afterlife and how the afterlife is a reward or punishment for our conduct in this life.

The large difference is not the idea of the afterlife but how we get to that afterlife AND because of how we get there, what happens.

The hard truth is this life, our bodies, are finite, and so today we study the intersection of two things.

• When we come to the end of ourselves
• When our faith in Jesus bridges the gap between this life and the next.

What happens? What can we expect?

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes about the resurrection with the analogy of planting a seed.

When we plant a seed, what grows is the seed, but it’s not a bigger version of the seed; it’s the full manifestation of the seed.

You can imagine what would happen if we planted an apple seed and we just got a really big apple seed. We actually get an apple tree that bears fruit.

Paul says likewise, the resurrection is a planting that grows into something far better than what was planted.

Transition

We learn of…

A Resurrection of Glory

“Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory.” 1 Corinthians 15:43A NLT

The word brokenness is best understood as something that is now without value.

When I was a youth pastor, I once took our student leadership team to a scrap yard.

That scrap yard had huge piles of cars. All kinds.

It should occur to us that every one of those cars was once someone’s dream. They worked for those cars. They went to a job and made payments for those cars.

But now all those cars are broken and worthless.

They’re broken because they’re used up.

The Bible isn’t trying to be insensitive, but the reality is the older we get, the harder time our bodies have.

We can do the recommended maintenance, but like a car, this thing just seems to need more and more help.

Here’s the turning point, though.

However many years we live in these bodies of limitation on earth, we live in glory in the grand scheme of eternity.

No matter the state of our physical bodies, our hope isn’t in what we are now, but in what God will do.

Through Him, our bodies are not broken; they are glorified.

The best way to understand this glory would be like a restoration.

What the world calls broken and worthless, God makes whole and beautiful.

Transition

We are buried in brokenness and raised in glory. We also find out about…

A Resurrection of Strength

“They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.” 1 Corinthians 15:43B NLT

The word weakness in the NLT is also translated as the inability to do what you want to do.

The reality is that death subjects the human body to weakening.

I’ve heard it said that life can be summed up as a fight to walk.

For the first year or so of your life, a baby struggles to gain mobility—to walk.

For the next few years, the baby learns how to use that walk.

So, they walk to school.

They walk at their first job.

They walk down the aisle to get married.

For the next few years, they walk to support those around them.

They walk to help the kids when they’re sick.

They walk to the mailbox to get the bills and pay the bills.

They walk to the DMV line.

For the next years of their life, they fight to keep walking.

Walking becomes difficult, and so the desire to walk takes on a whole new meaning.

The drive towards mobility makes walking a key function of life.

Eventually, the word of God says the dishonor of death touches the body to the point we are all buried in weakness.

But that is not the whole story!

In Christ, we are raised in strength. Literally translated, we would say raised in the power of God.

This is the same power that declares Jesus is the Son of God.

This is the same power that will one day shake the heavens and the earth.

This is the same power that Jesus used for miracles.

And it is the same power that when we can no longer walk on our own two feet will bring about new life.

A Resurrection of Spirit

“They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.” 1 Corinthians 15:44 NLT

It also says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Romans 8:11 NLT

There is a lot of biblical support that says who you are doesn’t stop when you move from this life to eternity.

Just because you’re raised as spiritual bodies doesn’t mean you stop being you.

The true implication of this is that because we are raised into spiritual bodies, the pull of the flesh and the pain of the flesh are no longer an issue.

If we really break down where our problems and temptations come from, it’s this flesh.

It’s the desire to have immediate gratification.

It’s the flesh's inability to consistently desire what is holy and good.

The pull of the flesh is therefore replaced by perfect wholeness in the spirit.

“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” 1 John 3:2 NLT

Resurrection is therefore more than just “living again” or “living more.” Resurrection is being made like Christ.

Transition

If that’s what we have to look forward to in eternity, how do we live this out today?

YOU

What God has promised for the future can give us purpose for today. Look at how this chapter concludes:

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT

Resurrection isn’t just supposed to be something we think about at funerals. It should be a foundation for everyday life.

Transition

Be strong and immovable and realize…

You’re Going To Make It

Just because we weren’t made for death doesn’t mean death gets to determine our future.

If I could stand beside you at any point this week, I would want to remind you that whatever you are facing is not all there is.

The difficulty in front of you is real, but it is temporary.

The weakness you feel is real, but it is temporary.

The disappointments you are carrying are real, but they are temporary.

Resurrection gives us the ability to look at something difficult without believing that difficulty gets the final word.

God has more for you than this moment.

God has more for you than this season.

Ultimately, God has promised you eternal life.

Jesus said,

“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 NLT

Whatever you face this week, live with an eternal perspective!

Keep doing what you know to do.

• Keep showing up.
• Love your family.
• Read the word.
• Follow Jesus one step at a time.

The blessing of resurrection as a foundation for life is we don’t have to know how everything is going to work out. You just have to know who is walking with you and where He has promised to take you.

Everything Counts Because Nothing Is Wasted

Paul writes, “Nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

That means resurrection doesn’t just change how we face difficulty; it changes how we see ordinary life.

There are a lot of things we will do this week that nobody will applaud.

• You’ll get up and go to work.
• You’ll take care of your family.
• You’ll make another meal.
• You’ll encourage somebody who is struggling.
• You’ll choose obedience when compromise would be easier.
• You’ll pray a prayer that nobody else hears.

Some of those things may feel small.

Some may feel repetitive.

Some may even feel unnoticed.

Resurrection means that life is not a closed system where everything is lost or disappears.

What we don’t see the reward for in this life has not escaped God’s attention.

WE

Because of this foundation of resurrection, we get to live our days knowing the best is always ahead of us.

There are some good days in this life, and praise God for them.

There are some really hard days in this life, and God is always with us.

But the best is yet to come as long as we follow Jesus.