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Episode 66 #Faith4TodayPodcast – Resurrection Hope: The End of Our Story · #Faith4TodayPodcast

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What if the places in your life that feel confusing are actually
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where real resurrection can begin?
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In this Easter episode of the Faith for Today podcast, we're
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going to walk through Luke 24 and the hope of the empty tomb.
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We're going to talk about why surrender is the path to read to
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multiplication, how the sunflower seed reveals the
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beauty of dying to self, and why the end of your story is not
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death but renewal in Christ. If you need fresh hope, clarity,
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or a reminder that Jesus is still re writing stories, then
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this episode is for you. Let's go.
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Well, welcome to episode 66 of the Faith for Today podcast.
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We're talking about resurrection, hope, the end of
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our story. And I'm Matthew, I'm your host
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and I am glad that you are tuning in with us.
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It is Easter Monday. I'm recording this on Monday
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after Easter. And as always, our our hope is
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to help you not just walk away inspired on Sunday, but
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integrating those things into a life of faithfulness, even on a
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Thursday. And so our hope is that your
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loyalty and your allegiance to Jesus is as much alive on a
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Thursday as it feels on a Sunday, and we want to help you
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to do that. And so we're going to walk
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through kind of recap the message.
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I'm going to share some bonus content.
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And typically I would respond to some questions, but we didn't do
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questions this week. And so just going to be a bit of
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a recap and then some bonus content as we talk a little bit
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more about the resurrection of Christ and what it means for us
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and the hope that we have for our for our future.
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So let's get into it. Here's the recap In this Easter
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message from Luke 24, I talked about the resurrection is a
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beginning place that many of us know well.
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Perplexity. The complexities of life and the
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things that kind of make us feel like life is perplexing.
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The disciples, they had come to the empty tomb confused,
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uncertain, and at a loss. And honestly, that's kind of
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often where real faith begins for us too, with a little bit
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more bewilderment than belief. Life has moments that make us
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scratch our heads, unexpected loss, uncertainty,
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disappointments, and questions we can't readily answer.
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Easter reminds us though that confusion is not the end of the
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story. Scripture is 1 unified story
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that really does lead us to Jesus and it has 2 great
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movements in the story arc. Thematically of the scriptures
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redemption and renewal. And through the cross, Christ
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redeems what was lost. Through resurrection he defeats
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death itself, and through his living, abiding presence in US,
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he now renews our daily life. These three things are available
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to us, redemption, resurrection, and renewal.
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I also kind of leaned into Jesus teaching in John 12 that only
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that life can only kind of multiply and grow through
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surrender. Jesus said unless a seed falls
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into the ground and dies, it remains alone.
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He would go on to say that if anyone wants to save or hold on
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to his own life, he'll lose it, but anybody who is willing to
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surrender his life for the Kingdom will.
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He'll actually find eternal life.
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And a seed kept in the hand stays small and it serves only
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one appetite, like a sunflower seed, but buried in the dirt it
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can break open and become something beautiful that blesses
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many people. In the same way a self-centered
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life stays trapped in the small story of self, but a surrendered
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life in Christ becomes fruitful, becomes radiant, turned fully
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towards the Son of God. Easter is really the invitation
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to stop looking for the life among dead things and let Jesus
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rewrite our story with resurrection hope with a living
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purpose and a daily renewal in Him.
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The end of our story is not the grave.
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It is new life in Christ. All right, I want to get into a
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little bit of bonus content now and I want to go to 1st
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Corinthians 15 and I talked about how like this is like one
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of the most dense or complete sections of Scripture that I
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think talk about resurrection. And I really do love kind of
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Paul's gospelling his his actual presentation of what the gospel
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is. It's not a self-centered gospel,
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it's a Christ centered gospel. If the emphasis that you hear in
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terms of what the gospel is has more to do with you and the
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benefits for you, that's not necessarily the gospel because
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it's not so much A gospel has to evolve around good news, meaning
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it's an event, it's news and, and it is good.
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And, and I do believe that the gospel has positive impact for
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us. It bears goodness for us.
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But the centrality of our gospel can't be about us.
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The centrality of our gospel has to be about who Jesus is and
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because what he did, the events about Jesus, the the
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proclamation of him as reigning king.
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This is where the gospel comes in.
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And, and so I want you to carefully hear the words of Paul
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in First Corinthians 15, starting in verse 1.
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He says, now I want to make clear for you, brothers and
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sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on
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which you have taken your stand. In other words, this is the
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gospel I preached. It's preached to you and he's
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writing to brothers and sisters in Christ.
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He's saying you received this gospel and you're taking a
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stand. In other words, your allegiance
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to this gospel, your loyalty to this, your life that you're
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building around this gospel. This is the gospel that you're
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taking a stand on and many of you experiencing persecution
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because of, he says because of this, you've taken a stand on by
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which many of you are being saved.
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So, so in other words, here's the gospel that produces
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salvation and, and if you hold to this message, I preach to
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you. So he's saying this by which
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you're being saved. If you hold to this teachings,
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if you hold to this message, if you embody this message, here's
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how it it's saving you. Unless you believed in vain, He
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says, unless you heard it but never lived it, therefore it's
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in vain. This is what the Scripture talks
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about again and again. Belief isn't just agreeing with
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a set of truths. Belief is hearing something,
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accepting it, and acting in accordance with it as if it's
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true. In other words, don't act as if
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Christ isn't alive. Act as if he is alive, because
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part of the gospel that you believe is that Christ is risen
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from the dead. So there's an action there.
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There is. There's this.
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And this is Paul's words, Please, he says by which you are
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being saved. If you hold to the message that
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I preached to you, unless you believed in vain, unless your
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belief was just about you, unless your belief was just
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about the benefits you were getting from it, unless your
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belief was just. Yeah, I think, I think eating
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healthy is good. I just don't do it right.
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Like then you don't really believe eating healthy is good
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because you don't eat healthy. So you can know something to be
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true and still not live it out as a belief.
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And this is the difference that Paul's making and he's saying,
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I've given you something, you've received it, you've accepted it,
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you've begun to act on it. And if you're not acting on it,
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then have you really believed it?
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It's probably just some vain thought process that you have.
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And I think many of us are being puffed up by knowledge of God.
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We're not actually growing in God.
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We're not growing in the knowledge of God.
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We just have information about God.
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He says this in verse. The four I passed on to you as
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most important, what I received, that Christ died for our sins
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according to the scriptures. He was buried.
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He was raised on the third day according with the scriptures.
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And then he appeared to Cephas, then the 12, then he appeared to
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over 500 brothers and sisters at one time.
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Most of them are still alive. Some have fallen asleep.
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In other words, they're alive. Go ask Him.
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But some you can't ask because they died, but most of them are
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still alive. So you can go ask Him
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yourselves, brothers and sisters, at one time, most who
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are still alive, some have fall asleep.
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Then he appeared to James, then to all the prophets, last of
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all, then to all the apostles rather not, not not prophets,
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then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one born at
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the wrong time. He also appeared to me from the
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least of all these apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle
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because I persecuted the Church of God.
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But by the grace of God, I am what I am now, and His grace
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toward me was not in vain. In other words, he used in this
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word vain again saying in other words, the grace of God has had
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impact on my life, so my life has changed.
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Therefore it's not in vain. Again, cross reference that with
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what he said in the beginning of the passage.
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Some of you have believed, but you've believed in vain.
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In other words, your belief has become dormant.
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You're not actually acting as if Christ has raised from the dead,
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as if he's seated at the right hand of God.
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You're not acting as if Christ is king.
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You're acting if somebody else is king and worthy of your trust
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more than Christ and that's part of what Paul is getting at again
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and again and again. And so he's talking about
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resurrection is essential to the gospel.
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It is not just essential to the gospel.
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The resurrection of Jesus is central to the gospel.
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All of the gospel hinges on this.
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And then in verse 12 through verse 19, he talks about how
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resurrection is the essential truth in our faith that this
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thing that we proclaim. He he says in verse 12, Now if
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Christ has proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of
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you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
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In other words, he's saying, if if you believe Christ has raised
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from the dead, don't for a minute believe that doesn't mean
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that you can experience resurrection from the dead.
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Now if Christ did it and he's done it for us and we're going
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to experience that with him, then we ought to believe that
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resurrection is possible for us as well, because the same spirit
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that raised Christ from the dead dwells and lives on the inside
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of you and me. This is what the gospel writers,
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this is what the the apostles wrote to us again and again.
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He says if there's no resin for resurrection from the dead, then
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not even Christ has been raised. Then if Christ has not been
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raised, then our proclamation is in vain.
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There's that word again, and so is your faith.
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Again, linking faith and being faith in vain is pointless,
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useless, not not good, not vibrant, not alive.
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Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God
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because we have testified wrongly about God, that God
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raised Christ from the dead. If he doesn't raise us up, then
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he never raised Christ up. But if he raised Christ up, then
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he's going to raise us up as well.
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And those then who have fallen asleep, verse 18 says in Christ
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have also perished. If we have put our hope in
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Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than
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anyone. And So what Paul is doing is
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establishing the reality and the conviction that Christ raised
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from the dead. It's central to our faith.
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We believe it and live as if he did.
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Therefore, when we die, we know it's not the end, that one day
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resurrection will come for us. And, and that kind of gets to
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the text, kind of leads into the text that we read on Sunday,
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verse 50 through 58 where he talks about, hey, listen, or
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verse 5057 rather 50 through 57. He says, man, listen, you,
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you've been raised to life in Christ.
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You're going to be raised. And so if Christ was raised,
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then you will be raised. If he put on immortality, you're
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going to put on immortality. If there is resurrection bodies
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and existence waiting for us when he returns, that's the
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guarantee of the resurrection. That's the hope that we hold on
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to. This is what that looks like.
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And and, and then in verse, I want to go to verse 48 and 49
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because we will indeed come, come to death to life.
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Now, let me let me start a little bit earlier.
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Let me start in verse 35 because this is kind of the idea.
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OK, So if Christ raised from the dead, which gives us the ability
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to have life in him, and then that resurrection brings us hope
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so that we too will experience a bodied resurrection.
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Of course, we start asking questions like, well, what is
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that bodied resurrection going to look like?
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How how is that going to going to occur?
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Let me first kind of give you a rundown of of kind of what we
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said on on Sunday. We said that resurrection is is
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for us, like we we can have resurrection life, which will
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lead to ultimate renewal in all things, but we said that
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resurrection would occur our our bodied resurrection happens when
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Jesus returns. That's why the language at the
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in verse like 50525354 that we read First Corinthians 15.
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He talks about like at the trumpet, at the blast, when
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Christ returns, essentially then the dead in Christ will rise up
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and so the dead raise 1st and then those who are already still
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living, they'll be caught up together weather and we'll all
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be changed in an instant. In other words, in the minute
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when Christ returns, those who are already dead will be raised
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into a resurrected body, and those who are on earth alive
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when he comes will be instantly transformed into resurrection
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bodies and life, having never tasted physical death.
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That's going to happen for some generation.
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I hope it's my generation. I hope I'm alive when that
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happens. But if, if I should taste death
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on this earth, I am not worried one bit.
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I know resurrection is going to come.
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And he says, So when we die now, the Scripture tells us to be
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absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
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So when you die in this moment, your spirit goes and abides
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where God is the dwelling place of God, which the Bible often
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refers to as heaven, or the place of God's dwelling in the
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sky or in the unseen realm. So, So when you die today, as a
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follower of Jesus, as somebody who believes in him, you are
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gathered with the Saints of old being in presence with God, your
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spirit and your soul go there. Your physical body remains here
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on the earth, whether buried in the ground or kind of burnt up
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in terms of cremation, how whatever state it's in, it stays
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here on the earth. Then when Christ returns, the
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dead in Christ, spirits and souls resurrected into their
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bodies reunited there, and those who are alive on the earth when
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Christ returns come together and experience in an instant we are
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all changed. He says at the end of chapter
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15. That's what he said in verse 51.
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I'm telling you a mystery. We will not all fall asleep, but
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we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an
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eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead
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will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed too.
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In other words, this is what's going to happen.
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Christ returns, Bam, man, we get to celebrate that.
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Now, I talked a little bit more about Christ's return and
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rapture and what I believe the Bible actually teaches about it
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last episode. You can go back to episode 65
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and listen to a little bit more about the return of the King and
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how that's going to play out and what that's going to look like
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and what I believe the Bible teaches news about that.
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You can go check that out in in in last last episode.
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But but for this episode, I want us to just see that there will
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be some that experience death, but we will experience life when
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he returns. Some may not, but we will all be
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changed into a resurrected incorruptible body.
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Now the question is, what does that look like?
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What's the nature of that resurrected body?
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Well, Paul starts talking about it in verse 35.
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He says, But some of you will ask, well, how are the dead
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raised, and what kind of body will they have when they come?
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You fool, what you sow does not come to life unless it dies.
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As far as what you sow, you are not sowing the body that will
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be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.
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In other words, he's saying just like the seed sown into the
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ground changes, breaks apart, the outer shell is gone and what
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is raised is different than what was planted.
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Paul is trying to use this analogy to help us understand
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that the body we have now, when it dies and goes into the
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ground, what is raised up is different than what was.
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How different? Well, that's a great question, a
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fair question. He says this verse 38.
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God gives it a body as he wants and to each of these seeds, its
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own body, meaning you're going to have your own body.
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You're not going to share it with somebody else.
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It's, it's not a 2 for one kind of a deal.
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There's, there's no Siamese bodies in the resurrection, but
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he does say he's going to give you the body that he wants.
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Now, I, I think that could mean a lot of things.
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I, I don't think that it's wrong to look at Jesus as a type and a
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shadow of what will be. Here's what we know about Jesus.
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He was recognizable by and large.
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He still had scars on his body and on his hands that were
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healed. He could eat, he could talk, he
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could think, he could reason. He was human in its form, but it
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transcended the laws of some metaphysics.
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He could appear and disappear, walk through walls.
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There was some differing abilities that he had.
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He was not constrained to some of the laws of nature as we are
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currently constrained to the laws of physical metaphysics,
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nature. No.
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He goes on to say this verse 39. Not all flesh is the same flesh.
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There is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for
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birds, another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and
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there are earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly
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bodies is different from that of the earthly ones.
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All he's trying to say he what he's not saying is that you
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might die a human, but you're going to be raised a pig in
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heaven. I don't think that's what he's
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saying. He's like pigs are pigs,
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animals, animals, humans are humans, right?
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Like like bodies are bodies. However, there is a difference
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between a earthly body and a heavenly body.
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A a non resurrected body and a resurrected body.
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Verse 41 says there is a splendor of the sun, and another
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for the moon and another for the stars, because in fact, one star
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differs from another star in splinter.
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In other words, there's still going to be variations.
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We're not all going to look the same.
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There's going to be variation in how we look because there's
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variation now. And part of that variety is
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beautiful to the Lord. And so he says it is.
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Verse 42. So it is with the resurrection
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of the dead, sown in corruption, raised in incorruption, sown in
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dishonor, raised in glory, sown in weakness, raised in power,
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sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.
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If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
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So it is written, the first Adam became a living being.
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The last Adam, meaning Jesus, became a life giving spirit.
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However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the
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spiritual. The first man was from the
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earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven,
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like the man of dust. So are those who are the dust
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like the men of heaven, and so are those who are of heaven in
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verse 49. Here's a key verse.
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Listen what he says. And just as we have borne the
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image of the man of dust, so just like we are made in
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humanity and and because of Adam being a human, we have human
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bodies and tendencies, we will also bear the image of the man
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of heaven. In other words, when we are
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resurrected there, there may be some earthly features that we
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have some some physical realities, but there is also
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some spiritual transformation and realities that we hold to
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where we might have some earthly realities.
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We are not limited because there are spiritual lack of limits on
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some things. So, so basically here's what I
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here's what I, what I love verse 49.
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It basically says we are all going to bear the image of the
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man of heaven. And I love that.
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Like ultimately the goal is that we would reflect the image and
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the character and the nature of Christ.
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When we are transformed into resurrection, into the
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resurrection, we we experience this reality.
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Now the truth of the matter is we've been given a foretaste
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through the Holy Spirit that is working in us to change us into
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the image of Christ. Philippians says that he who
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began a good work is faithful to complete the work until the day
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of Christ. In other words, Christ has begun
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to work in you through the Holy Spirit to make you more like
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Christ, to make you more a person of love in the image of
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Christ. And when you when we experience
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that resurrection, because Christ returns, the resurrection
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happens, then we're experienced the full perfection of that
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renewal, fully transformed into an image of the man of heaven in
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his nature and his likeness and his character.
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It is conduct, but with some physical features that still
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look like humanity. This is the beauty of the
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reflection of the radiant people of God, of the radiance of God
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that we become this, this beautiful renewal that does a
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curse. So here's what we know.
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Redemption happened because of Jesus.
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Resurrection was the first thing Jesus did, which leads way to us
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beginning to experience renewal. The renewal will be fully
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complete once we experience resurrection on the end.
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So what do we do in the meantime?
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While we're waiting for that full renewal to accomplish?
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While we're awaiting resurrection one day, what do we
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do in the meantime? Knowing that we've been
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redeemed, knowing that resurrection hope is for us and
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renewal here and now has already begun, What do we do in the
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meantime? Here's what we do in the
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meantime. Are you ready?
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We resist the way of the world while we're waiting for
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resurrection and we're experiencing some renewal after
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we've been redeemed, We resist the way of the world.
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Let me prove it to you in first Corinthians 15.
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I'm not even going to go anywhere.
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He says this in verse 56. This thing of death is sin and
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the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives
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us the victory right now through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Verse 58. Therefore, my dear brothers, and
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therefore, in other words, considering all of the
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resurrection hope that we have because of what will be done for
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us, because we will experience resurrection one day.
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Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, be
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immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work because you know
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that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
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Hold up. He started this whole thing by
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saying, hey, listen, remember the gospel of Jesus being raised
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from the dead unless you believed in vain.
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But I don't think he believed in vain because you can.
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You're going to act out your faith.
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You're going to act in the allegiance that you're giving to
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the risen and reigning King, and we haven't come to you in vain
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in this. Jesus didn't do it in vain.
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His resurrection wasn't pointless and in vain.
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It had purpose and meaning. And then he talks about it and
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the type of body that you're going to have heaven when it's
24:18
going to happen and when it does happen, we're going to be
24:21
changed and transformed and it's going to be beautiful and we're
24:23
going to fully reflect the image of Christ.
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And therefore, in the meantime, don't give up.
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Be immovable, be steadfast, remain faithful to the Lord's
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word. This is what Romans 12/1 and two
24:36
says. Therefore, in view of God's
24:39
mercy, his mercy to save you and redeem you, His mercy to
24:42
ultimately produce redemption or excuse me, ultimately to bring
24:46
about resurrection in your life. First, Peter talks about South
24:50
in view of all of those things, resist the way of the world.
24:54
Keep moving. Be steadfast in holding to the
24:58
proclamation of the gospel that Jesus has raised from the dead.
25:01
Don't do it in vain. Don't believe it in vain.
25:04
Live it out. Don't let your faith be dead
25:06
works. Let it be living works of
25:09
righteousness. Don't be immovable.
25:12
Don't shrink back as they would say in Hebrews.
25:15
Don't give up. Don't, don't, don't look back.
25:18
Dump everything in the trash and be embraced by Christ as Paul
25:21
would write to Philippians and then you'd say persevere
25:24
looking, fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and the
25:26
perfector of our faith, as Hebrews 12 tells us.
25:30
He says don't give up or Hebrews 11 rather don't give up on these
25:33
things. Persevere, Peter would write,
25:36
add to your faith, hope and hope, righteousness and love and
25:39
like keep adding to the work of God in your life.
25:42
Keep resisting the way of the world so that you are immovable
25:47
in your belief thief that Jesus has raised from the dead and
25:50
he's the only king worthy of your loyal obedience and
25:55
embodied trust. He's the only one worthy of it.
25:59
And stay steadfast, always excelling in the Lord's work.
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Listen, we we are called to be about the the Lord's work, to be
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an ambassador for him who is ruling and reigning.
26:14
Biblical renewal happens in our minds and our bodies through
26:19
acts of loyalty to God. Biblical renewal encompasses the
26:23
restoring of spiritual strength that flows from and follows the
26:27
new birth of the renew, of the redemption that we've
26:30
experienced. The renewal operates as this
26:33
ongoing daily process of renovation within a believer's
26:38
life, transforming your old pattern of living into something
26:42
life giving and hopeful and good.
26:44
It is transforming your old pattern of living.
26:47
Don't miss this into the image and the likeness of Christ.
26:49
This is what we are called to do, to be conformed into the
26:54
image of our master, into the image of our teacher, to be
26:57
disciples and apprentices that look like the one that we're
27:02
serving, that we go in the name of Christ as an ambassador to
27:06
represent the Kingdom of God, doing the Lord's work on the
27:11
earth. We get renewal now and renewal
27:14
will be finalized in the future when all things are made new
27:19
again. And, and it's important to
27:21
recognize this, like doing the Lord's work, knowing that your
27:25
labor for the Lord or in the Lord is not in vain.
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We are the message of Christ on the earth.
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We are the ones that help people see that there is a new way to
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be human, just like Jesus pronounced in the Sermon on the
27:37
Mount, like there's a new way to treat people, a new way to
27:41
operate in the Kingdom of God. Living and operating in the
27:44
Kingdom of God is about representing the King in the
27:47
world in which we live. To be about to partner with God
27:51
for the renewal of all humanity in this moment, bringing people
27:56
to be reconciled to Christ so that they could be experiencing
28:00
the redemption, the resurrection, and the renewal of
28:04
Jesus Christ. We are a living symbol that
28:08
Christ is alive. In other words, our life ought
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to be something that people look at and be like man.
28:14
They really do believe that Christ is alive.
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Our life ought not to be. Please don't miss this in vain.
28:20
One way that our life becomes vain is when life is all about
28:26
us. And this is what we talked about
28:28
so much that this idea of secularism that creeps into our
28:32
world that where we make life all about us and we reduce
28:35
Christ and the Bible to being about us.
28:38
What is the Bible? How is God wanting to bless me?
28:40
How can I be favored? How can I experience this?
28:43
What main character in the story am I?
28:46
How can I be like David and slay my giants?
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How can I be? And we just put ourselves into
28:51
the text rather than recognizing the main character is God.
28:54
We don't deserve main character energy in our story.
28:57
That's the our our story is 1 being written by God.
29:01
And so we surrender our life to Christ and allow him to be the
29:04
main character. We become a living symbol that
29:07
Christ is alive. He's alive because we've died.
29:11
This is what Paul writes when he says I have been crucified with
29:14
Christ. It is no longer I that live, but
29:18
Christ lives in me and the life I now live.
29:22
I live by faith, by loyalty to the Son of God who gave himself
29:27
for me. This is what Paul writes and he
29:30
tells us that that we've been crucified with Christ.
29:34
I've surrendered. I said no to my way of living
29:37
and said yes to his way of living.
29:39
I said no to my ego so I could say yes to his glory.
29:42
I said no to my pride so I could say yes to walking in the
29:46
humility and the meekness of Christ.
29:49
This is why I love people. This is why we can forgive
29:53
people. This is why we can serve people.
29:55
This is why we bear his name because the story of self always
29:59
leads to death and enslavement, but the story of Christ leads to
30:03
life. And I want life and you want
30:05
life. And if you've believed the
30:07
living story that Christ has raised from the dead, then don't
30:11
believe it in vain. Live it out in faith.
30:15
And, and that kind of life, that life that Christ brings us, man,
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it renews everything. It renews everything.
30:24
On Sunday we talked a little bit about the sunflower and
30:28
sunflower seeds and, and the kind of the beauty of all of
30:32
those things. And it kind of reminded me of
30:35
Matthew chapter 6 where Matthew chapter 6 starts kind of kind of
30:41
towards the end of it rather kind of has this moment where
30:44
where Jesus is talking about the the importance of not letting
30:49
anxiety and worry rule and reign in your life.
30:55
In fact, he says it like this. Therefore, I tell you, don't
30:58
worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink
31:03
or about your body, what you will wear.
31:05
Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing?
31:08
In other words, he's saying this.
31:09
Hey, listen, don't worry about your life because you're self
31:13
absorbed in your life. Don't make life about you.
31:18
Don't just fixate on who you are and what you are and what you
31:21
want and what you. Listen, God, God's got more in
31:23
store. Don't let your insecurity run
31:26
your life. You can find security and God,
31:30
he says. Consider the birds of the sky.
31:32
They don't sow A reap. Gathering barge at your heavenly
31:34
Father feeds them. Aren't you more than a bird?
31:36
Can any of you by worrying at a single moment to your lifespan?
31:42
Of course not. And why do you worry about
31:44
clothes? Observe how the wild fowlers of
31:47
the field grew. They don't labor or spend
31:50
thread. Yet I tell you that not even
31:53
Solomon and all his splendor was adored like these.
31:56
And if that's how God closed the grass of the field, which is
32:00
here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't he do
32:04
much more for you? Oh, you of little faith.
32:10
Oh you of little trust in the Lord, Oh you of little
32:13
allegiance to Jesus. Don't believe in vain.
32:21
Hold to the gospel. Know who Jesus is and live in
32:25
such a way that isn't worried and self absorbed because of
32:30
your life and your control for outcomes in your life.
32:33
But trust the Lord with all your heart.
32:37
Don't lean on your own understanding.
32:38
Acknowledge him in all your ways and he's going to make your path
32:42
straight. The proverb says, listen, all of
32:44
the scriptures are kind of pointing to this idea.
32:47
I think that one of the realities of of, of Jesus
32:51
teaching this whole sermon on about this new way to be human,
32:54
this this way in which we can trust and live to become more
32:57
like him and find real life and not hold on to our definition of
33:01
life or our priorities in life or our way of thinking.
33:04
But to really give it to him. He's saying this man, listen,
33:06
when you when you do this, you're going to find yourself
33:11
walking in, in the newness of life.
33:13
There's going to be joy and life and hope and fullness.
33:16
You don't have to worry about these things.
33:18
But he says at the end of of of chapter 6, he says, man, this is
33:22
what the pagans do. The pagans worry about and are
33:25
consumed with self. Don't be a Pagan consumed with
33:28
self believing in vain. Instead, seek first the the
33:33
Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all of those
33:36
other things will be provided for you.
33:39
What? What was Jesus saying in John 12
33:41
that we read on Sunday? He says, man, if you try to hold
33:44
on to your life, you're going to lose it.
33:45
But if you'll give, if you'll surrender your life for my sake
33:48
in the Kingdom, but you're going to find it.
33:50
This is what he said in Matthew chapter 6.
33:51
Seek first the Kingdom of God, his righteousness.
33:53
Those other things will get added in, in other words, but if
33:56
you seek all of those other things, not only will you not
33:59
find those other things, you'll miss that on the Kingdom of God
34:02
entirely. You'll have a life in vain.
34:06
Don't make you probably think this life is all about you.
34:10
This song ain't about you. This life isn't about you and
34:13
it's not about it's not about me.
34:15
The life that God has for you is 1 of splendor, one of wonder,
34:19
one of beauty, one of glory, one of one of transformation.
34:23
To where you look and reflect and experience Christ, not, not
34:27
just in this life, but also in the life that is to come.
34:30
And not just in the life that isn't to come, but also in this
34:33
life here. And now I realize we're talking
34:36
about flowers and fields. And maybe for a guy that kind of
34:40
feels like I, I'm not a flower bro.
34:42
That's, that's not me. Yeah, I get it.
34:46
I get it. The other day I was talking with
34:49
a friend and he was sharing with me a bit of a vision that he
34:53
had. It was kind of a unique
34:54
experience for him. He wasn't really sure.
34:56
He's like, man, it was so weird. I was, my eyes were closed and I
35:00
knew I was there in the room, but like everything was so vivid
35:03
and clear. It was like a dream, but it was
35:05
like reality. And I was like, yeah, it's
35:07
called the vision. Visions you have when you're
35:08
awake, dreams, you have all you're asleep.
35:11
And God, that's how God speaks to us, right?
35:13
The cool thing is, is this is actually the fulfillment of what
35:18
the prophet Joel said in Joel, Joel in Joel he prophesied
35:22
saying in the last days, I'm going to pour out my spirit on
35:26
all flesh. Sons and daughters will
35:28
prophecy. Young men will see visions, old
35:31
men will dream dreams and this is what God pours out and this
35:35
is what Peter says in Acts chapter 2.
35:38
Hey, this is the fulfillment. The Holy Spirit's been poured
35:40
out. The language of heaven is being
35:42
released in people's minds. They're speaking in tongues and
35:44
all these things are happening in tongues of fire showing up
35:46
and and he's sitting there saying, hey, listen, and, and
35:49
this is the fulfillment of the prophet Joel and I'm pouring out
35:52
my spirit. So here and now, man, we, we've
35:55
received the Holy Spirit and if we've been filled and baptized
35:58
with the Spirit, well, then the one of the ways God wants to
36:00
speak to us is through dreams and, and visions.
36:02
And so my friend was sharing with me this vision that he had
36:06
and, and he said that, man, it was like I was there and all of
36:10
a sudden it was like the most beautiful city, cobblestone
36:12
streets and like pure, pure water, like just gorgeous water.
36:18
Like, like if you're off, like the, the island of Greece or
36:21
something like that, like just this beautiful scenery and
36:24
picture. But everything was pristine,
36:26
everything was clean, everything was awesome.
36:28
It was like the most breathtaking thing I've ever
36:31
seen in my life. And he goes, and it was as if
36:35
Jesus was guiding me around, showing me this beautiful place.
36:40
And he says, I didn't want to leave.
36:42
I didn't want to go away. It was just so amazing to be
36:44
traveling, showing me all the different sites.
36:47
And it was just this overwhelming, awe inspiring.
36:50
Like he's like, I don't have words to describe what I saw
36:53
like in detail, like it was, it was more beautiful and
36:56
breathtaking than anything you've ever seen.
36:58
Just amazing. I was like, yeah, I was like,
37:02
can I, can I just tell you what I think God was saying to you?
37:05
I think God was just trying to remind you that life with Him is
37:09
worth it. Like resurrection life that
37:12
we're going to experience one day and that we get to
37:15
experience a tasting now is well worth everything that we would
37:20
give up in this life in order to experience it again.
37:24
Think about Jesus's words. He who holds on to his life
37:27
loses it. But whoever gives up his life
37:30
for my sake, we'll find it. Seek first the Kingdom of God,
37:35
His righteousness. All these other things are going
37:37
to be added. The life that God wants to bring
37:41
about in your heart and in my heart, the the life without
37:45
insecurity, without fear, without being controlled by
37:48
anger. A life not broken anymore and
37:51
and, and bitter because of bad memories that the, the life of
37:56
inner healing and wholeness that he wants to produce in you.
37:59
It's more beautiful, more breathtaking, more amazing than
38:03
you would have ever can imagine. I think this is what Pauls
38:07
writing in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20.
38:10
Who says now to him who's able to do exceedingly, abundantly
38:14
above all that we could ever hope, dream, or imagine
38:18
according to the power? That's not just like God doing
38:20
external things like materialism.
38:23
That's kind of doing something in our heart because of his
38:25
immense love for us. That when we experience the love
38:30
of God, the life of God, the transformation of God into
38:34
people of love, well, then there's not anything that that
38:38
we're unwilling to give. I don't want to have anything on
38:43
this earth that is temporary. Hold me back or be more
38:47
important than experiencing the fullness that God has for me in
38:51
my life, the abundant life. There's no money, there's no
38:55
hobby, there's no priority, there's no point of
38:57
entertainment, there's no prestige, there's no pride,
39:01
there's no arrogance, there's no secret.
39:04
There is no sin, no habit, no, no, no, no, no status in life
39:12
that I am unwilling to give up, that I'm unwilling to, to let go
39:17
of so that I can be fully embraced by Christ.
39:21
It's worth it. The resurrection life, the
39:25
redemption and the renewal of Christ, it is worth it.
39:28
Don't believe in vain. Be steadfast, immovable,
39:36
abounding in the works of the Lord.
39:40
And when we embody a life of faith in that way, when we act
39:44
out a life based on we believe that Jesus is alive, if our
39:50
allegiance, our loyalty, our trust in him looks like that
39:54
man, he is going to continue to be faithful to transform who we
39:58
are more and more and more into the image and the likeness of
40:03
Christ. It's going to be worth it now
40:08
and on going into life in the world to come.
40:10
So don't look for the living things among dead.
40:13
And don't try to hold on to life on your own terms.
40:16
That's life in vain. Don't do that.
40:19
Don't believe in vain. Don't live in vain.
40:22
Trust Him fully, Embody a life of faithfulness, and watch God
40:26
transform your life into the image and the likeness of Christ
40:30
little by little. Hey, that's going to do it for
40:34
today's episode of the Faith for Today podcast.
40:36
I hope that this is helping you not live a life in vain, but
40:40
live a life of faith in Christ. Until next week.
40:45
I love you and remember He's still alive.