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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Without a proper response to the Holy Spirit, our lives will be unproductive and our service will be feeble and weak.
To start the new year off we are going to discuss Recognising and Responding to the Indwelling Spirit.
Today we are talking about The Resurrection of Christ and Our Resurrection.
Prayer
Father, Loving Father, we are the recipients of Your gracious and wonderful gifts.
Thank you for loving us in Jesus Christ.
Thank you for giving us assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we are accepted in Christ as members of Your family.
Thank you for the fellowship that we enjoy in and through the church.
Thank you for the task that is ours of sharing the good news of a risen, living Lord with a needy world.
Accept our gifts as tokens of our desire to be dedicated to the proclaiming of the good news of His death, resurrection, and living presence to the ends of the earth.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
1 Corinthians 15:20 NKJV
The Last Enemy Destroyed
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 1 Corinthians 15:35-45 NKJV
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
1 Corinthians 15:35-45 NKJV
A Glorious Body
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?”
36 Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
37 And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.
38 But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Introduction
As we begin the new year, let us rejoice the new life that Jesus Christ provides for us through His death and resurrection.
One of the great truths of Christianity is that death has been defeated, giving us hope for a life beyond this veil of tears in which we live.
The word resurrection means a state of standing up or a state of standing again.
In the New Testament the word referred to the raising up of the body, the victory of the body from the cruel clutches of death.
Our belief in resurrection is based solidly on the fact that Jesus Christ has conquered death and the grave.
- The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
TheNew Testament writers based their belief in the resurrection of the saints firmly on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
They believed that the victory Jesus experienced over death is a victory that is to be experienced by those who believe in Him and follow Him as His disciples.
Jesus predicted His own resurrection in Matthew 12: 39-40, and John 2:19-22.
The resurrection of Christ is the central fact of the New Testament.
The Scriptures declare that Jesus’ physical body did not decay in the grave.
He was made alive again but he power of God.
It was gloriously transformed so that it was no longer limited by time or space nor subject to change, decay, and death.
We have at least ten post resurrection appearances of Christ that have been recorded.
This is the same Christ who experienced the crucifixion and death but rose and appeared to His disciples.
Six of these appearances are significant for us.
First, the appearance to Mate Magdalene in the garden, in John 20:11-18.
Second, the appearance on the road to Emmaus, Luke 24:13-32.
Third, The appearance I the upper room, Luke 24:36-43.
Fourth, the appearance one week later, John 20:26-31.
Fifth, the appearance by the sea, John 21:4-19.
Sixth, the appearance to Saul of Tarsus, Acts 9:1-22.
What was the nature of Jesus’ resurrected body?
Jesus’ body was tangible.
The disciples saw Jesus
Jesus talked to the disciples.
Mary clasped the feet of the resurrected Christ.
Jesus ate bread and honeycomb.
Jesus’ body was transcendent.
2. The resurrection of believers.
Christianity’s belief in the certainty of a resurrection is based solidly on our belief that Jesus conquered death and as such is the first fruits from among the dead.
The resurrection of believers is based on the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The gospel is the truth that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried in a tomb, and that He was raised from the dead on the third day.
He was seen by many people, giving indisputable proof of His living presence.
That Christ has been raised from the dead is our proof that the kingdom of death has been invaded and the power of death has been defeated.
The message of Christianity is that ultimately death will be completely destroyed.
The resurrection of believers is based on our belief I the power of God.
When Paul is asked the question “How are the dead raised?” His answer is the power and wisdom of God.
The resurrection is possible because of God’s power.
God’s power is demonstrated in plants, where He is able to make from seeds planted in the ground a variety of plants and trees that are adapted to their habitats.
In the animal world, the Creator has given living creatures bodies adapted to their habitats.
Although there are similarities between these living creatures, each is given a body suitable for its surroundings.
God’s power is perfectly demonstrated in the heavenly bodies, the stars, the moon, the sun, they are all unique.
God’s power makes in possible for Him to do what He wishes regarding the resurrection of the saints.
The resurrection of believers is possible because of the wisdom of God as well as His power.
The body, planted in corruption, will be raised in incorruption.
The body is planted in dishonour because of sin, but it will be raised in honour, not subject to sin.
The body is planted in weakness, because it is subject to death, but will be raised in power, not subject to death.
The body is planted as a natural body, but it will be raised as a spiritual body.
The earthly body has been perfectly adapted to the needs of our physical plane of existence.
The body in which we will exist in heaven will be perfectly adapted to the needs of that level of spiritual experience.
Out of our relationship to Adam, we received a physical body subject to decay and death, by=ut through our relationship with Jesus, we will receive a spiritual body that is subject to neither decay nor death.
3. We must respond positively to the prospect of resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 essentially tells us If Jesus Christ hasn’t risen, we are of all people to be most pitied.
If Jesus hasn’t risen we are all wasting our time when we think of the possibility of survival beyond death.
If Jesus hasn’t risen, it is goodbye forever when we go to the cemetery that last time.
If Jesus hasn’t risen, there is absolutely no hope for a life beyond.
The message of Christianity is that Jesus Christ is risen.
Consequently there are four great responses we should make.
We should respond with gratitude.
We should respond with comfort.
We should respond with faithfulness and diligence in service with the conviction that what we do for God is not in vain.
We should respond with joyful obedience to the living Lord as He commands us to carry the good news of His life, death, resurrection, and living presence to the ends of the earth.
Conclusion.
We must all respond to the resurrection of Christ by trusting Him as Lord and Saviour.
Jesus Christ arose from the dead to give proof of the fact that His death o the cross was an adequate solution to your sin problem.
He conquered death and the grave that He might be able to give you the gift of eternal life.
Today is the day in which you can do business with the living Christ.
Let Him become the Lord of Your life now.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2021 IS A YEAR OF REFORMATION
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