"I Am The Resurrection And The Life” - Presentation In The "I Am Series Of John’s Gospel” Part 2 Series

“I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” - PRESENTATION IN THE “I AM SERIES OF JOHN’S GOSPEL” PART 2

We will continue on from PART 1 and examine this great saying of the Lord declaring Himself to be the Resurrection and the Life. We began to look at what this means in PART 1 and did ([1] – Christ is the Grain of Wheat). Now let us move on -

[[(2). Christ is the First fruits of the Resurrection.]] This is vitally important and is part of the victory won through Calvary. Let me tell you, that no human being today, in heaven or earth, has a resurrected body except the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man. Not even those Christians today in heaven have a resurrected body. Their spirits are there with the Lord, but like us, they are waiting for that day to come. We are going to have a look at this in more detail.

Firstly, in essence, death still has victory over the human race. Sin brings about death, and kills the body. I want to say that this is the earthly order. The spiritual order is different. I want you to regard this in the same way we do with the description of the Second Coming in Revelation 19. Jesus comes as King of kings and Lord of lords and when His rule is set up, then indeed He will be installed King of kings and Lord of lords over all former human government. Today He IS totally King and Lord but it appears not to operate in our world. It may appear that death is not defeated, but it is.

I want us to look at these verses, a wonderful description of the Rapture when the Lord comes back for His Bride – {{1Corinthians 15 v 52 “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1Cor 15:53 This perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality, 1Cor 15:54 but when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 1Cor 15:55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1Cor 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”}} [We do not have time to work through each of those verses one by one to explain each but it was done in the talk.]

Those whose bodies have perished, and those whose bodies are mortal (but wasting away), will one day put on imperishable and immortal bodies. They are our resurrection bodies, and earlier in this chapter Paul explained that further – {{1Corinthians 15 v 39 “All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. . . . 1Cor 15 v 42 so also is the resurrection of the dead (speaking of our sinful bodies). It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body. 1Cor 15 v 43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 1Cor 15 v 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.}} Yes, we all have natural bodies (or we had them if we are in heaven right now), but we will one day have spiritual bodies.

Number 2 we had earlier, is, “Christ is the First fruits of the Resurrection.” To conclude Point 2 we look at where this verse occurs – {{1Corinthians 15 v 20 “but now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 1Cor 15 v 21 Since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead, 1Cor 15 v 22 for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, 1Cor 15 v 23 but each in his own order: Christ the first fruits; after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.”}} The Lord is the trailblazer, the One who went before, and paved the way to heaven. This passage sets Him forth as the First Fruits of the Resurrection. He is THE Resurrection and THE Life, but He is also THE First Fruits. In that passage note carefully especially in verse 23, that Christ is the First Fruits, and after that, all those who belong to Christ, BUT at His coming, that is, at the Rapture, all the redeemed of all ages will put on the new, resurrected, spiritual bodies. That is why no human being today in earth or heaven has a resurrected body. It will happen at His coming for His own, His precious Bride, because He is the First Fruits.