49. Jesus' Resurrected Body Series

[IN GOD’S IMAGE 49 - JESUS’ RESURRECTED BODY]

This message is part of a series of 90 sermons based on the title, “In God’s Image – God’s Purpose for humanity.” This series of free sermons or the equivalent free book format is designed to take the reader through an amazing process beginning with God in prehistory and finishing with humanity joining God in eternity as His loving sons and daughters. It is at times, a painful yet fascinating story, not only for humanity, but also for God. As the sermons follow a chronological view of the story of salvation, it is highly recommend they be presented in numerical order rather than jumping to the more “interesting” or “controversial” subjects as the material builds on what is presented earlier. We also recommend reading the introduction prior to using the material. The free book version along with any graphics or figures mentioned in this series can be downloaded at www.ingodsimage.site - Gary Regazzoli

The last couple of times we have been looking at the subject of the new creation inaugurated by Jesus’ resurrection.

• He was the first human who passed from mortality to immortality, so there is a new creature in God’s good creation.

• A human has been infused with the life of God.

• A human has crossed from death to life, not just physical life, but to eternal life.

• The question we are going to look at today is, what kind of body did this new immortal creature have?

• And I hope to show you there is a very important connection between the resurrection and the incarnation.

What is the relevance of this question for us today? What kind of body did this new immortal creature have?

• The simple reason is, the time is coming when we will have the same type of immortal body as the risen Christ has.

• 1 Corinthians 15: 20-23 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

• Firstfruits, as mentioned before implies something to follow as this section of scripture goes on to explain.

• V.21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

• Notice again the representative principle at work. Adam introduced sin and death, while Christ introduces righteousness and eternal life.

• Now Paul goes on to explain the progression of those who will follow Christ to immortality.

• V.23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

• This is the culmination of God’s plan of making man in His image. Physical human beings who have fallen asleep will follow in Christ’s footsteps and be resurrected to share eternal life and fellowship with God.

• 1 John 3:1-2 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is

• Incredibly, humans will be infused with the very life of the godhead so we can share their existence as their children.

We will speak more of that in the future, but for now, we will concentrate on the “body” of the resurrected Jesus.

• Notice though, both in this section and as we will see in 1 Corinthians 15, there is a limited amount of information on what our resurrected body will be like, and what we will be has not yet been made known.

• And a complete revelation of what our body will be like won’t happen until we encounter the risen Christ.

• However, until that time, there are some things we can know.

The first thing we need to understand is there are different bodies designed to suit different environments.

• In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul goes to great lengths to explain how these various bodies have been designed to function in the their particular environment.

• V.39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.

• Human bodies and animals have been designed to live primarily on land, while birds have been designed to fly, and fish designed to live in water.

• The bodies they have are designed to function in their particular environment.

• He then makes the same point in reference to the celestial bodies.