OUR RESURRECTION GUARANTEED
II CORINTHIANS 4:11-18
2 Corinthians 4:14, “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
Introduction:
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the doctrine that makes or breaks Christianity. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” The resurrection is our hope for a better life in the future. The Believer yearns for the day when that takes place.
I. IF OUR EARTHLY HOUSE BE DISOLVED
A. We have a building of God, 2 Corinthians 5:1-4, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2- For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3- If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4- For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”
1. A house not made with hands, Hebrews 9:11, “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;”
2. An inheritance incorruptible, 1 Peter 1:4, “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
B. We desire to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, v. 2, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:”
1. We desire to be delivered from this body of death, Romans 7:24-25a, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
2. We are waiting for the adoption, Romans 8:23, “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
3. We are waiting for the quickening of our mortal bodies, Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
II. THE BELIEVER NEVER DIES
John 11:25-26, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
A. The Son gives life, John 5:21, “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.”
1. He is the Life, John 1:4, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
2. Because He lives, we shall live, John 14:19, “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.”
B. Do you believe that?
1. Job believed it, Job 19:25-27.
a. My Redeemer lives, v. 25, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:”
b. “Yet in my flesh shall I see God,” vs. 26-27, “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.”
2. The Apostle Paul believed it, 1 Corinthians 6:14, “And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.”
a. Paul says that Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
b. The Lord will bring those who have died trusting Christ, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
C. The Lord Jesus will present every Believer faultless to the Father, Jude 24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”
1. He is able to keep you from falling, Ephesians 3:20, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”
2. He will present us without sin to the Father, Colossians 1:21-22, 28, “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”
CONCLUSION
The Lord is coming back to get His people. Those that have died in the Lord will be resurrected first and then those who remain alive will be raptured out to meet the Lord together in the air. And we will be with the Lord throughout eternity.