Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] All right. If you want me to wear a tie, you're gonna have to get married. Okay.
[00:00:10] If I have not met you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here, and it's my just privilege to open up God's Word with you this morning. I want to give on the front end a very special welcome to those of you who are visiting, you are with family, you are with friends. Maybe you're kind of newer to the area, you're newer to church. This might be your first time here at Village Church. We are absolutely thr that you are here with us. I wanna give you two quick announcements on the front end. Number one, unless you're in the front rows, in front of you are called connect cards. And if you have any desire to ask any questions, talk to somebody, hear some more information about the church, or take a next step, you can fill those out. And then after the service, between the double doors, there's a black box. Put it in there. And then one of our leadership team, we'd just love to follow up with you. We'd love to put a face to a name and connect with you in any way we can. That's announcement number. Now some number two.
[00:01:05] After the service is done and you get your kids and you get your coffee, there is an opportunity for you guys to take family pictures because you got most people with you, and you all look really, really incredible. And so this is your moment to shine. And then outside, you can see that we've extended our foyer. All of the food is outside underneath the tent. So I want to invite you afterwards to go out there. You're welcome to hang out in the hallway, but the next service probably be just as packed, if not more. And so unless you want to be trampled, I would encourage you go out that direction and feel free to stay as long as you want. Every single week, we have food. We want to feed anybody who's hungry, anybody who wants to eat. And we just love food here. So that's not just an Easter thing. That is every single week we come together. We teach from God's word, we eat together, we worship, we pray, and we spend time together. So every week, you know where we're at. But today, photos, outside, food, and hope you guys all got a parking spot in Jesus name. All right, it is Easter, and most of us are pumped to be here. Most of us are excited to worship our resurrected savior.
[00:02:18] Some of you, you are here, and you are here because you are with somebody, and you are a faithful son or daughter. Some of you are here reluctantly, and you are like, listen, preacher, I know you're gonna have a message just for me, and. And you're right, I do. I have one just for you, actually. The message is for everyone with life and breath in their lungs today. My prayer is that no matter who you are or what brought you here this morning, that as we open up God's word, that you would be blessed as we give honor and praise to our resurrected Savior. All right, I wanna make sure you're listening. He has risen. He is risen. Okay, I'm gonna drop them throughout the message just to make sure.
[00:02:58] Oh, okay. All right.
[00:03:00] I have a pop quiz for you. It's one question. It's pass. Fail.
[00:03:04] It is a rhetorical question. We have to say this all the time, which means do not answer out loud. Particularly. The reason I don't want you to answer out loud is because, no offense, but the majority of people are gonna get this question wrong. Okay. You're like, challenge accepted, Pastor. Okay.
[00:03:21] According to the Bible, where do Christians go? Here's the key word, forever.
[00:03:27] When we die.
[00:03:30] So most of you want to shout out heaven because you wanna prove that you know the answer.
[00:03:36] Actually, that is not correct. And don't worry, I'm not gonna go crazy on you. This'll be the most biblical lesson you've ever heard. Okay. That is actually not actually where we go forever when we die. So here's what happens when we die. Our body and our soul are separated. And if you have trusted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, yes, when you die, your soul goes to heaven to be in the presence of Jesus. But that is not where you stay forever. The Bible also teaches that Jesus is coming back to judge the living and the dead. And when Jesus comes back, the resurrected Jesus, to judge the living and the dead, he will also resurrect the earth and so much more. So this is really important for people to understand. One of the things that the primary thing that we celebrate on Easter is the fact that Jesus was objectively and historically killed and dead, and God raised him to eternal life. But it does not stop there. The implications of the resurrection are huge, because in Easter, we also celebrate the eventual resurrection of this earth to be raised to a new earth without sin and corruption. On Easter, we also look forward to the resurrection of a new heavens. That's the sky and the stars, where sin has not infected every molecule in existence. We also look forward to resurrected plants and animals and a new creation that inhabits a new resurrected earth. And we also look forward to what the Bible teaches about every human being who has ever existed. Everyone will experience resurrection, either the resurrection to eternal death or the physical, bodily resurrection to eternal life on the new resurrected earth. I don't know about y'. All. I'm not interested in eternal death. I am interested in eternal resurrection life on a resurrected earth with a resurrected creation, with a resurrected Jesus. He is risen.
[00:05:40] You're paying attention. Awesome. All right, open up your Bibles with me. Revelation chapter one. So every week we open up a text of scripture and we work through it.
[00:05:50] Most of you, you know, because I just said it. On Easter, we celebrate the fact that Jesus, his body was killed and then it was raised to new life. But if you ask most people, so what did the resurrection body of Jesus look like? Most people actually don't really quite know the answer to that. So what's really fascinating is that Revelation chapter one, John, who wrote this, describes Jesus glorious resurrection body. And in so doing, it has two huge implications for everybody. Here's the first implication.
[00:06:27] This true and accurate description that we're going to read of the resurrected Jesus is intended to put you in your rightful place and to put Jesus in his rightful place.
[00:06:40] When we read through this description, it is intended to make you and I ask this question, am I prepared and ready to come face to face with the resurrected, glorious Jesus Christ?
[00:06:55] Second, this true and accurate description of the resurrected Jesus is intended to to give you and I just a glimpse into our own awaiting glorious resurrection bodies that one day will inhabit a new resurrected earth. The Bible says that our resurrection bodies, unlike the ones we are currently living in, are going to be imperishable or unable to decay, are going to be immortal or unable to die, and they're going to be glorious and bright. And we're gonna come back to that in a little bit. Listen to Romans, chapter 6, verse 5. Paul says this.
[00:07:38] We shall certainly be united with him, Jesus, in a resurrection like his. He says in Philippians three, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.
[00:08:00] I want to know what does Jesus glorious resurrection body look like? Because in as much as we study this, we get a glimpse into our resurrection body. Now, I want to be clear. Are any of you Jesus?
[00:08:14] No. None of you will have the level of glory that Jesus does. But we are meant to read this and say, there is something about this, this resurrection body that should not just leave us in awe, but give us just a glimpse into our future resurrection. So Revelation chapter one tells Us, very simply, from the apostle John about his vision. And in this vision, he sees the resurrected, glorious Jesus. And his description starts in verse 12.
[00:08:40] John says, Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.
[00:08:47] And on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. If you are new to the Book of Revelation, it is written with a whole bunch of imagery. It's a normal way that apocryphal or kind of like end times literature is written. And so, thankfully, we know what John was referring to when he said the word lampstands. Later in the chapter, we learn that the lampstands are actually each of the seven churches who are the recipients of the letter of revelation. In verse 13, John identifies where Jesus is located in this vision. He says this and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man. Okay, so where is Jesus? This is actually pretty cool. Jesus is in the midst, in the middle of these local churches.
[00:09:41] And by the way, he's not just only in the middle of these seven churches. What we find is that the spirit of Christ, he is present in local churches, in churches that preach and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so when we sing and we worship, we're not just singing and worshiping to something ethereal out there. The presence of Christ by his own spirit dwells here with us.
[00:10:05] Now, I want you to notice, what does John call Jesus? He says one like a son of man.
[00:10:13] For most American Christians, we think, what does that mean? Does he look like a dude? Actually, this phrase has huge, huge theological weight. And all of the first recipients of this letter would have known exactly what John was referring to this phrase. Why, unlike a son of man. It comes from the Book of Daniel, chapter seven. And I wanna read this for you. 570 years before Jesus was crucified and raised to new life. Here's the vision that Daniel had of the Son of Man.
[00:10:47] He says, I saw in the night visions.
[00:10:51] And behold, with the clouds of heaven there came. What does that say?
[00:10:57] One like a son of man.
[00:11:00] And he, the Son of Man, came to the ancient of days, that's God.
[00:11:04] And was presented before him and to Him. Verse 14. The Son of Man was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. And here's what John says.
[00:11:27] I know who the Son of Man is. When I saw in my vision it was Jesus. It was the same Jesus that I walked with for Three years. We now know the name of the, of the Messiah. We now know exactly who he is. And John's like it was Jesus, but it was the resurrected glorified version of Jesus.
[00:11:46] Verse 13 goes on to describe this long awaited Son of Man. He says that he was clothed with a lady long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
[00:11:57] The hairs of his head, they were white like white wool, like snow.
[00:12:02] And everything about this communicates royalty and wisdom and age. But what's really clear is that this isn't old age. This is eternal age clothed with immortality.
[00:12:18] And verse 14 ends with this. His eyes.
[00:12:22] His eyes were like a flame of fire.
[00:12:27] And the fire in Jesus eyes represents judgment. But it's not in a bad way here.
[00:12:34] The idea is that Jesus sees past the fluff, directly into your soul to your truest self.
[00:12:46] The idea is that nothing is hidden from his sight. There's another passage in the New Testament that actually refers to this and I'll put it on the screen as well. It's from Hebrews chapter four and it's speaking not of the Bible, but of Jesus. To be clear, it says this for the word of God. Jesus is living and active. He's not dead. And twiddling his thumbs, he's sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. He sees you, the real you, the you that nobody else sees. Always in verse 13 it says no creature is hidden from his sight, not its sight, his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of whom, to whom we must give an account. And the idea is that John looks into the eyes of Jesus and Jesus sees everything. There are no secrets. There is nothing hidden. The fullness of John is laid bare before the eyes of Jesus Christ.
[00:13:57] Verse 15 moves from Jesus blazing eyes to his feet.
[00:14:02] His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace.
[00:14:07] And his voice was like the roar of many waters.
[00:14:12] Jesus is unmovable. He is unshakable.
[00:14:16] He is secure.
[00:14:18] And John hears him speaking. And I just love this. He describes the voice of Jesus as the roar of many waters. If you've ever been near like really strong rapids, they are very, very loud. You have to raise your voice above them in order to be heard. They are powerful and you know intuitively in that moment that you are in the presence of something dangerous.
[00:14:44] Most people, they hear the roar of many waters and they keep a healthy distance. And John wants to us to take this away from the Description that Jesus is majestic and Jesus is pure, but Jesus is also very dangerous.
[00:15:05] You've probably heard of C.S. lewis in the book the lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. And I want to read you just a really powerful dialogue between Susan and Lucy and Mr. Beaver.
[00:15:16] She says, is he quite safe?
[00:15:21] I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion. And the lion is Aslan, who represents Jesus.
[00:15:29] And Mr. Beaver responds, if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly. Lucy responds, then he isn't safe.
[00:15:41] He responds, safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good.
[00:15:47] He's the king, I tell you.
[00:15:50] Verse 16 gives us three more descriptions of Jesus.
[00:15:53] First, Jesus is holding something in his right hand. He held seven stars.
[00:16:00] And there's a little bit of debate, so for fun we'll talk about it. The debate is whether or not the stars are angels, where each church has an assigned angel that oversees it or if the. If he's referring to the. The pastor of the church. I like the pastor version personally. I don't know why, but either way, whatever the interpretation, Jesus is holding local churches and their leadership in his hands. Verse 16 goes on and he says, from his mouth came a two edged sword. A two edged sword simply means this. It's not just sharp on one side, it's sharp on both sides. And what this allows it to do is is to cut deeper and more quickly.
[00:16:41] And so Jesus words are his weapon. The power that comes from just his word is beyond anything we can really understand. When Jesus speaks to a dead body, it rises. When Jesus tells a demon to flee, it gets out of there immediately. When Jesus speaks to an illness, it heals thoroughly and completely. When Jesus speaks in judgment, whatever that judgment is, is final and true and good.
[00:17:11] Lastly, in verse 16 it says, his face, his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
[00:17:20] The Bible uses a pretty specific word to describe or refer to the glory that comes out to the light that comes out of Jesus face. And it's the word, I just gave it away, glory. But it's actually a Hebrew word. Behind it is the Hebrew word kavod. And literally it's an interesting word because literally kavod is. It's the word weight and it refers to the impact of experiencing something heavy. It's like a weight on your chest. And the greater something's glory, the more crushing it becomes on your chest. And if you're not protected. Let me illustrate this. I want you to think about the singular thing that you fear the most.
[00:18:06] I'll tell you what mine is.
[00:18:08] Mine is heights. But specifically when I am standing on a sheer cliff and if there's any wind whatsoever, like, I can't even function.
[00:18:20] So I have a reoccurring nightmare.
[00:18:23] There's a few that I have and they always show up, but this is one.
[00:18:27] I get dropped onto a mesa in the desert. A mesa is one of those things that kind of go vertically up, but this is a really small mesa. Like, I can't move anywhere and I am there for days and I finally fall asleep on the mesa and I end up rolling off and I wake up mid fall.
[00:18:45] That's my nightmare.
[00:18:47] I want you to think about that anxiety when you are near that fear. Your heart races, your chest is heavy, your knees shake, blood rushes to your head. This experience, this is Kavod. This is glory. This is the crushing weight of being in the presence of something bigger than you.
[00:19:08] The glory of God. When you are in its presence, if you are a sinner, like all of us are, it would feel like the closer you get to it, like a completely crushing weight on your soul.
[00:19:24] When we have a resurrection body, we will not have sin. And we will be able to be in the presence of God's glory, God's light, God's power, and it will not crush and destroy us.
[00:19:38] It's interesting because Moses, he's like, God, can I see your glory? And God's like, ha, that's hilarious. And you're all supposed to laugh when you read that in the original. And like. And so here's the idea. God's like, if I show you my glory, you're gonna be incinerated. So God shows him his back.
[00:19:56] The glory of God in its most pure form is light. It's light that carries with it more power and energy than the brightest star. It is light that is so powerful that the Bible calls unapproachable. Here's how 1 Timothy 6 describes it.
[00:20:12] He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who alone, God bless you, has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. And this idea is that Jesus glory is so heavy that you can't endure, in fact, for John to see it. John can only see it in a vision.
[00:20:43] Now, Revelation 21:23 describes the impact of Jesus glory on this future new earth. And here's what it says. The city has no need of sun or moon to Shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp.
[00:21:03] So John hears the voice, and John turns and he looks and he's described for us what he saw.
[00:21:11] The glorious, majestic, wise, powerful, resurrected Jesus.
[00:21:18] But then in verse 17, he tells us how he responded the moment he laid eyes on.
[00:21:27] He says, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. In other words, he passed out cold.
[00:21:37] But he, Jesus, laid his right hand on me, saying, fear not. I don't know how long he was out. The Bible doesn't tell us.
[00:21:48] But Jesus puts his hand on him and he says, listen. Listen carefully what he says next. Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one.
[00:22:00] I died and behold, I'm alive forevermore. He is risen.
[00:22:09] I want you to pay special attention to what happens next.
[00:22:13] At the end of verse 17, the resurrected Jesus says, I have the keys of death and Hades.
[00:22:23] Whoever has keys, controls, access, has control and ownership of whatever these things are. And Jesus is crystal clear. When it comes to death, when you die, when it comes to Hades, the afterworld, where you go, when you die, it is Jesus who has final authority over where you go when, when you die. And every decision over every soul that Jesus makes will be good and it will be right. And it will be just.
[00:22:54] Now, as we get closer to the end of our messages, we have what's called so what?
[00:23:00] Or five, and don't worry, we have just one. Today we do this because what we want to do is say if you remember one thing, we want you to take this one thing home. Because the text always has a demand on everyone who reads it. And so this description of the resurrected Jesus is supposed to whet your appetite for your future resurrection. You're not going to be as glorious as him, but you will have a glory that will be unbelievable. But it is also designed, this picture of the resurrected Jesus to force us to ask this question before we are dead.
[00:23:36] When I meet the resurrected glorious Jesus, will I be safe or will I be in danger no matter what happens, 100% of all of humanity who stands for the first time in the presence of the resurrected glorious Jesus, you will be left in shock and awe. John is doing his best to help us understand that whatever ideas you have about the resurrected Jesus, your ideas are too small and not glorious enough.
[00:24:11] His glory and his power should compel every one of us to ask, where will Jesus send my soul?
[00:24:22] Because if he has the keys of death and of Hades, then he's the one who gets to make the decision.
[00:24:29] And Aren't you so glad, by the way, that he tells us how he is actually going to make that decision?
[00:24:37] Like most people, they think to themselves, I just need to be good enough. This is what, by the way, every religion on the planet, next to biblical Christianity, is going to teach you about eternal life. If they believe in it, they're going to say, you gotta be good enough. And I cannot think of a more terrible doctrine to tell people, because you know what? They never tell you how good you have to be. And so every religion that teaches this nonsense, it's nonsense because it's not in the scripture and it's not true. Leave people wondering at the moment of their death, was I good enough?
[00:25:12] Did I accrue enough good works to get in? And I cannot think of a more mean religion, religion to teach than that. Especially to sit with somebody on their deathbed and not be able to say with a clear conscience, I know the rules by which the king of the universe, the one with the keys to death and Hades, I know the rules by which he makes that decision. And aren't you so glad that Jesus, with unbelievable clarity, tells us how we can be forgiven, how we can be saved, how we can that when we meet the resurrected glorious Jesus, how we can know that he will say, you, this soul, you get to go to eternal life on the new Earth where you will reign over a new resurrected creation with Jesus. I don't know about y', all, but I'm very grateful that Jesus and the Bible give us unbelievable clarity. And we've already established this. Let me tell you what it's not. The Bible does not teach that good people go to heaven because you don't have enough goodness in you to be able to get there. If that's the case, nobody has it. And I am so thankful that the Bible is so clear that those who are forgiven or saved or who have received the promise of a new body on a new earth and eternal life are the ones who are forgiven, not the ones who are good enough.
[00:26:29] And here's the deal, like you and I, we have sinned against God. He did not sin against.
[00:26:36] We have sinned against him and we have broken this relationship. And here's the deal. If you sin against someone in your life and you do something wrong to them, what is the protocol for making that thing right?
[00:26:48] You need to go to them and say, I was wrong, I sinned against you.
[00:26:53] Would you forgive me? It's so logical. But for some reason, when it comes to God, most people don't think that Like, I need to actually go to him and take responsibility for my sin. And here's what I just love that the Bible teaches that Jesus is very excited. He is chomping at the bit his hand is extended to. Say yes to any person who comes before him and believes in him. Who says, I am sorry. I believe, Jesus, that you died for my sins and were raised from the dead. I want to read to you how Paul says this in Romans, Romans, chapter 10, verse 9. It's very simple. He says this. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Let me translate. If you can affirm that Jesus is your God, like, yes, I'm done being my own God. I'm done worshiping pleasure in life and whatever else it is. Jesus, you are the God that I worship. He says this. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[00:27:57] I'm not sure if you have ever gone before Jesus and said, I have sinned. I believe you died for my sins and that you were raised from the dead.
[00:28:07] Will you forgive me? I just want to encourage you right now. There's no special mantra. There is no, like, formula. If you sincerely want to be forgiven and reconciled to your Creator, he wants to. To forgive you and to be reconciled to you. But here's the deal.
[00:28:25] What is required for reconciliation is that you tell him and that you make him your God. We're not just saying sorry because, like, we want to get to heaven, then we want to just ignore him for the rest of our life. What he's saying is, if you want to be in a relationship with me as your God, I'm all in. And if you want that, I 100% will forgive you. And here's what I just love about forgiveness. Village church. If you've been around, you've been hearing me kind of tripping on this for a while. It's just been blowing my mind lately that when God saves you the very first time you come to him and say, will you forgive me? I want you to be my God.
[00:28:59] I have sinned against you. I believe that Jesus, you paid the price for my sins. I believe that you were raised from the dead in that moment. He saves you and forgives you of all of your sin, past, present and future. And here's why I think this is crazy. Because the moment that you and I trusted in Jesus, he knew every dumb thing we were gonna do for the rest of our stinking lives, every one of us, he knew the worst that we were capable of and the worst that we would do. He knew the secrets that we would keep from everyone else. And he said, I will forgive you anyways. I mean, love everywhere in this world is far more contingent than that. And we have a God who has committed himself. I will forgive you once and for all and forever. And I will give you my Holy Spirit. And I will never leave you or forsake you. And it is not by being good enough. Stop trying to be good enough. It's futile. It'll never work. God has broken down every barrier that stands between you and him by having Jesus die on the cross. And then the Father validated this by raising Jesus from the.
[00:30:06] Here's what he's saying. Everything the guy said about himself is true. I don't know about y', all, but, like, you didn't get raised from the dead. Other people didn't get raised from the dead. Jesus got raised from the dead. And it was God's validation that what he said about himself is true. He is God. He is the Savior, and he is the only singular way of salvation. Bill Church. He has risen. He is risen.
[00:30:27] I've got an hour longer of preaching, so I'm going to pray, and then we are going to continue to worship together. But before I do that, I just have great news for you.
[00:30:36] If you want to be in a relationship with God, ask him, talk to him, take ownership, and his answer is yes. And if that's a decision that you are ready to make, come tell somebody. It might not be today. It might be a year or ten years from now. I don't know. I hope it's before your dad or Jesus comes back. But when you're ready for that, tell someone so that they can celebrate with you and help you take a next step. Let's pray together. Father, we love you.
[00:31:04] We're so thankful that you have paid the price for our sins that we could not pay.
[00:31:12] Lord, in the divine, eternal court, sin must be dealt with.
[00:31:17] And the wages of sin is death. And God, we honestly, we just don't have the goodness inside of us to pay for our own sin. Thank you, Jesus, that you willingly went to the cross and you took in your body, soul and emotions the full punishment that we deserved.
[00:31:34] God, I'm thankful that eternal separation from you, eternal death, is 100% unnecessary because every single one of us can come before you and tell you we're sorry.
[00:31:50] Every one of us can come before you and make you our God, as if there are any others.
[00:31:57] Every one of us can come before you and ask you to save us and forgive us for our sins. And I'm just so grateful that your answer to anyone who is sincerity is sorry and wants you to be their God. Your answer is simply yes.
[00:32:11] Past, present and future.
[00:32:13] Forgiven, secure.
[00:32:16] Thank you for this image of the resurrected Jesus that is honestly just so encouraging to us. We don't serve a weak, pathetic God.
[00:32:26] We worship a strong God. We give you all honor and we give you all glory and majesty and power. And we do all of this in the name of our resurrected Savior, Jesus. Amen.
[00:32:39] Amen.
