Well, it's a great day message today. I'm excited to give to you. It's called a resurrected relationship See I think a lot of Christians live their relationship from the cross The cross is important the message of the cross is the power of God Paul says the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing But to us who are being saved it is the power of God So we talk about the message of the cross includes the the death burial and resurrection But see something shifted in Relationship the day that Jesus rose from the dead Something was available that morning that was not previously available even to the disciples Even to the inner circle, but it's now been made available and is still available today See the resurrection affects our relationship with God as we're gonna read in a minute in John chapter 20 We're gonna read verses 11 through 18 when Jesus speaks with Mary magnally on resurrection morning And he says to her in verse 17. He says go tell my brethren Go tell my brethren.
It's the first time in the gospels that Jesus ever referred to the disciples as his brothers He had called them servants. He'd call them apostles. He'd called them little children. He'd even call them friends But on resurrection morning something shifted and And through what he says to Mary he says go tell my brethren that I am ascending to my father and their father to my God and They're God and he's prophesying a shift in relationship that would be fully recognized later that day when he appears to them in the Room and they're behind closed doors and he walks through the door and he breathes on them and says receive the Holy Spirit And so he's prophetically speaking of that relationship that that shifts that there's a shift in relationship Because of the resurrection and we're gonna look at that today Three things I want to point out the fact that Jesus calls them called them and calls us his brothers So that word brothers means this it can mean to have the same two parents It can mean to have the same mother or in this case what it means is to have the same father That his father is now our father Jesus his father is our father Remember when Jesus hung on the cross and he said my God my God Why have you forsaken me?
It's the first time in recorded history that he called his father God Because he was standing in the place of our judgment and because he forsook Jesus He'll never forsake you Because Jesus stood in your place of punishment as Instead of his father, but it's God now you can call him your father Abba Father So it says in John chapter 20 it says this in verse 11 It said Mary stood outside the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb And she saw two angels in white sitting one at the head and one at the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had Lain then they said to her woman Why are you weeping and she said to them because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him now? when she said said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus and Jesus said to her woman. Why are you weeping whom are you seeking? She's supposing him to be the gardener said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him And I will take him away Jesus said to her Mary and she turned and said to him robonai which is to say teacher Jesus said to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father But go to my say it brethren and say to them I'm ascending to my father and your father to my God and your God Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her Three things I want to show you today because of this shift in relationship number one is that we have been reconciled to God We've been reconciled to God number two We've been conformed to his image and I know you might be thinking That's an ongoing process and there's an aspect of it is But the part we want to look at today is as it applies to resurrection We've been conformed to his image and number three we've been united with him reconciled to God Conformed to his image and united with him What did Jesus say said let's go forward here to the verse 17 it says don't cling to me So so obviously she sees Jesus and what would be her natural response?
Right she she wants to to grab hold of him She sees the resurrected Jesus She's been weeping and mourning and now standing in front of her is the one that she had been weeping for and she begins to cling to him And he says hey don't cling to me because I have not yet ascended to who my father See this isn't the ascension that would take place 40 days later 40 days after this Jesus would would ascend to the Father to be seated at the right hand where he sits today until he returns To to rapture us to take us with him But this was like a like a prelude if you will to the ascension that he had to ascend on Resurrection day See there was some unfinished business that although he had died Although he had shed his blood that his blood was the payment for sin and that his resurrection was proof that God Accepted the payment that was made there had to be a presentation of the blood to the mercy seat in the holy of holies in heaven And as he raises from the dead he comes up out of Hades and he stops for a few moments to talk to Mary We know that he was in the process of resurrecting and Matthews gospel It says when he resurrected the graves of many of the saints were opened and they began to walk around Jerusalem Imagine that so as he's the Paul calls it leading captivity captive as he's taking the saints that were in the compartment of Hades where the saints were At the time he's leading them out and he stops to talk to Mary before Continuing on to finish the work that had to be completed on resurrection day There was there he said I have not yet ascended let me go There's still some unfinished business that needs to be taken care of and I'm going to do that It says this in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 20 or verse 12 It says Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands which are copies of the true But into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God for us See he had to appear before God To make the presentation of the blood see there all the types and shadows of the Old Testament had to be fulfilled The Bible tells us there's a mercy seat in heaven There's a holy of holies in heaven not made with hands It wasn't the temple that Moses built it wasn't the temple that Solomon built it wasn't the temple that Herod built It was a temple that God built in heavenly realms and Jesus said I have to ascend there See when ball when Paul gives us the gospel he says in 1 Corinthians 15 He says I declared unto you that which I also received talking about the gospel He says how that Jesus died for our sins according to the scripture how that he was buried how he rose again the third day according to the scripture And was seen by Peter he was seen by the by the 12 then he was seen by over 500 people many of which were still alive at the time And then he said he was seen by James Jesus his brother then by all the apostles there were apostles other than 12 He said then he was seen by me as one born out of your time Paul had a had an interaction with Jesus after everybody else did and so that Jesus died buried resurrected And he appeared to people but so the gospel in a nutshell is the the death barrow and resurrection of Jesus But if you will the bookends to the gospel or this his humanity See if Jesus didn't become a man he never would have been able to die His humanity and his ascension into the heavenly realm to the mercy seen in heaven are really the bookends of the trilogy in the middle Which we call the gospel and it's that that I want to talk about today goes on in in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 24 He says Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands which are copies of the true one But into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. I think already read that Let me go back to verse 12. It says not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood He entered the most holy place once and for all See under the old covenant Every year the high priest had to go into the holy place Blood had to be shed blood had to be applied to the mercy seed in the holy of holies And then Israel for the period of one year would their sins would be atoned for? They would be covered up But after a year the blood had to be reapplied see the the duration of the efficacy of the blood is Indirect proportion to the age of the lamb how long does the blood last?
How old was the lamb that the high priest slew in the old covenant one year? How long did the atonement last one year? How old is Jesus? He's eternal.
Yeah, that's just how old is the word of God Jesus He was the lamb of God revelation says slain before the foundation of the earth Which means he lives outside of time, but we realized the crucifixion 2000 years ago See if the blood of a one-year-old lamb covered sin for a year How long will the blood of the eternal son of God take care of sin? Eternally it said that he obtained eternal redemption Redemption is the releasing of a prisoner affected by the payment of a ransom that Jesus paid the debt that brought freedom to your life and He didn't do it till the next time you sin he obtained eternal eternal Redemption man if that doesn't excite you You're staring at me like I got three heads. I see three crosses, but do I have three heads today? We're talking about that he purchased your eternal Redemption It's not until the next time you say you're sorry It's not until the next time that you repent it's not until the next time that you sin or do something good he bought it eternally Anybody like to use Germex like I do Anybody have some germex?
Oh my wife look at this Do you have germex? Look at this? Alright, hey Drew. Let's wake up.
Here we go. Alright, so if I shake Drew's hand You can't see it, but probably what got on my hand germs now if I go touch Seth what's gonna happen? I'm more germs right and if I go if I go smack every like we're gonna have germ fast right, but what happens when I apply this? What's this a it says kills 99.99% of all germs?
This doesn't kill anything as long as it's left in the bottle it has to be Applied right so now. What is my hand now clean? 99.99% clean now if I shake if I shake pastor says and what happened now? All right now I got more germs now.
What do I have to do? I got to reapply Germex no one if I go over here and I shake Jen's hand what do I got germs? What do I got to do? I got to reapply?
This is how the old covenant worked This is not how the blood of Jesus works See the blood of Jesus is a one-time Application that he applied and when when I apply the blood to my life It doesn't need reapplied because he eradicates in he doesn't cover it up See he's the one under the old covenant if you're unclean you touch somebody who's clean the unclean makes the clean unclean But under the new covenant when the clean one Jesus touches the unclean one me I don't make him dirty. He makes me clean That's good news Well, I'm just getting open up Come on. This is the gospel This is the gospel. This is the good news that when you make application of the blood to your life that Jesus Purifies you he cleanses you that sin is not greater than the blood the blood is the most powerful Epochus the thing in the world.
I don't know how to say it. It's just that powerful He said go tell my brethren. I'm ascending to my father and their father my God and their God So I want to look today We're gonna go fast three aspects three aspects of this brotherhood that's now available this shift in relationship Because of the resurrection because Jesus has now entered heaven because he is functioning as our high priest in the very presence of God on our behalf There's some things like things changed. We're under a new covenant when he said this is the blood of a new covenant The old ones done The new is is now and it has been ever since the day he rose again.
All right, so number one Reconciled reconciled to God Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. It says in as much let me just say this Step one he had to become like us Right he had to be in order for us to be brothers He had to become like us step two is then we become like him this step one He became like us see us Lewis in his book mere Christianity says that this way He said the son of God became a man to enable Men to become sons of God so it starts with him becoming a man It says in Hebrews chapter 2 it says in as much as the children have partaken of flesh and blood he himself likewise Shared in the same that through death. He might destroy him who had the power of death look at this Jesus couldn't destroy death unless he died he couldn't die if he was God because God can't die so Tricky he like this is this is like the plan of all plans man Oh, what I'll do I'll become a man still God But I'm gonna become a man and when I become a man then I can die and when I die I can now sneak into the place of the dead Because Jesus couldn't get into Hades the place of the dead unless he died and he couldn't die unless he became a man And so when he gets in there he destroys the one that has the power of death See the there was one that had power of death He tricked Adam into forfeiting what he had do you realize Adam was called the son of God with a little s Luke chapter 3 I think it's verse 38 and it goes I know you guys never read the genealogies But it works from Jesus Christ all the way back to God and the last verse says and the son of Enosh was Seth and the son of Seth Was Adam and Adam was the son of God But what happened Adam severed the relationship and when Adam sinned death entered And death just means separation see Adam was a son of God But sin and it's got separated from God and that death Roman says passed on each one of us Because of one man sin death entered the world and death passed upon all men because of his one sin So you're born in this condition of being separated from God. You're just born dead And so Jesus comes to reconnect what Adam lost that you can now become a son or daughter of God He said that he destroyed him and had the power death and release those who fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage Do you know what I believe I believe this verse needs to be said over some believers today Do you know what I think believers fear the most when you're not confident in that you are a child of God You begin to fear spiritual death You begin to fear that you can lose what you have and it says those who by fear of death were their entire lives subject to bondage fear becomes the door through which the enemy brings you back into bondage and I believe it goes a little bit longer than that because What happens when we begin to worry that we're gonna lose and think that the power of death is greater than the power of resurrection Which it's not and we begin to put more faith in the power of death than we do in the power of resurrection We begin to be put into bondage Which is actually falling back under the law and trying to do things to maintain what I already received by faith Paul says stand fast Galatians 5 1 therefore in the liberty and freedom by which Christ has set you free What's he saying says and released those you've been released you've been set free says stand fast in it And don't don't be go back into the yoke of bondage, which is legalism See when I begin to think that I I don't know I better do more better do more because maybe maybe I haven't done enough yet.
You're in bondage Jesus came to free you that not just the bondage of sin, but I think Christians need free the bondage of legalism The next verse says this it says therefore in all things he had to be made This was he had to become like us in every way He had to be made like us see if he didn't if he didn't cover one issue then there would be there'd be an exception But he covered them all he became like us to the nth degree Every facet of your humanity the way you think the way you feel the way you act the way you decide the way that you do things He became like us that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest remembering he ascended to apply the blood He's a merciful and faithful high priest and things for painting pertaining to God to make propitiation for what the sins And he can't see it already to of the people see when he up when he presented the blood It propitiation means this some translations say reconciliation It means to appease God If you think God's mad at you today, he's not because Jesus already appeased his wrath If you don't receive what he's provided today, there will come a day of judgment At which the wrath of God will be pulled out and you will have to pay for your own sin But for now under grace until he returns again He has made an appeasement for all sin He literally appeased God's wrath He satisfied First John chapter John talks about this way first John chapter 2. He says my little children You're like so here's here's the here's the what everybody wants say well if God's already paid for my sin Then I can just what I can go sin You could but that's not a good answer because here's why sin becomes an open door for the enemy to steal care and destroy So you don't want to do that you actually if you would if you would grab hold of this you would live a holier Life by accident then you ever could on purpose before because you're gonna want to You're gonna want to you don't have to but you're gonna desire to he says I write you these things that you do not sin But if you sin we have an advocate a defense attorney with the father Christ Jesus the righteous who he himself is the propitiation for our sins Who is the propitiation he is not you not your efforts not your repentance not your good works Not your boo-hooing he is he stands in the place of your defense attorney your advocate before the godfather And he himself is the satisfaction for your sins John is one to say for these says not only our sins But also the sins of the entire world Which means this God's not mad at the sins of an unbeliever because Jesus has already appeased the father's wrath for all sin They just haven't received what he's provided yet, but God's not mad Paul says in 2 Corinthians says that God was in Christ reconciling the world 2 Corinthians 519 to who to himself so God's in Christ while this is going on and the purpose is to bring back into a friendly relationship That's or I'm not relationship friendly terms That God's in Jesus bringing the whole world back into friendly terms with himself How did he do it not imputing their sins to them? So here's what he did he said, okay, I'm not going to put the people of the world their sins on their account I'm gonna bring them back into friendly terms with me by putting all of their sin on Jesus's account Verse 21 in secret he's five it says he who knew no sin Jesus was made sin God puts all those sins on Jesus He was made sin. It's a settled fact.
Here's the possibility so that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus That part's not a settled fact until you say yes All your sin is on Jesus God reconciled the world. He's not mad at you. He's not mad at the sinner He's not mad at the the same person that that might be stuck in something. He's friendly toward you The righteousness part is received once you put your faith in what Jesus did and then your righteousness is transferred His righteousness is transferred to you actually when you think about it outside of time and space Paul says in Romans 4 verse 25 It says that Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses He went to the cross because of the bad things we did and he was raised up because of our justification That God raised Jesus up because he accepted the payment that Jesus made and it's evidenced by the fact that the tomb is empty Delivered for our offense raised up for our justification Which means your innocent gilless fallest to stand before God without any shame guilt or sense of condemnation If you're carrying that today, you haven't fully recognized what God has done for you and who you are in him But I pray that the eyes your eyes will be open today number two Okay, we got to skip that but that basically says that if Jesus didn't raise from the dead Your faith is worthless Like if he didn't raise our faith is no different than any other religion in the world It's worthless But the fact that he it said and you are still in your sins, but he did raise Which means when we put our faith in him we're no longer in our sins because he removed them He rose like it changed.
This is a game changer today Number two conform to his image. Oh, this is a good one. I'm excited about this. I'm excited about this man Here's the thing I'm gonna preach so I'm done because it's Easter if you need to go eat him You can leave whenever and if you want to stay stay for whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son That he might be the first born among what many brethren whom he predestined he called and whom he called He justified and whom he justified he glorified all those are in the past tense All those are out of result of what's already taken place if you receive Jesus He became like us when we put faith in him we become now like him and I want to I want to hone in on to this part It says that whom he foreknew so God how many know this God knows everything God knows things that happened before they happen And in eternity past he knew that you would one day say yes He knew that he doesn't force you to say yes because we all free will but he knows who's gonna say yes But he doesn't dictate it and he said that because if he's those he foreknew he predestined it doesn't he doesn't say He predestined certain people to get saved and predestined means to determine ahead of time and it doesn't say the Destined other people to go to hell it says that he predestined us that we would be Conformed that means to have the same form as to be just like what the image of his son now There's a work of the Holy Spirit and that's ongoing that that conforms us or makes us more like Jesus every day Or at least he should if you're willing right that Scent Corinthians 3 18 says be holding as an emir of the glory of the Lord and that the Holy Spirit transforms us into the same image Even as from one level of glory to other so so that he there's an ongoing aspect of transformation That's not what he's saying here what he's saying here He says that we should be conformed to the image of his son and then he goes on to explain it that he should be the first born Among any brethren.
What does that mean? Let's compare this word first born means to what anybody have more than one kid Right your first born is the one that's what born first? Well, this is not talking about Jesus's birth with Mary This is talking about his resurrection Revelation chapter 1 verse 5 says this next slide It said and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness say this the first born from the dead Ruler over the kings that are to him who loved us watch this from our sins with his own blood and has made us kings and freest His his art has got okay Jesus was not the first person to raise from the dead Do you realize that that we know of six people raised from the dead according to scripture before Jesus ever raised from the dead You had Elijah raised the widow of Zarathath son you had Elisha raised I don't remember but another woman son you had the guy that fell on the bones of Elijah that was dead and came back to life You had Jesus raising Jairus's daughter You had Jesus raising the widow of named son out of a casket and John 11 had Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead after he'd been dead four days Other people had raised from the dead, but here's the difference. They all died They didn't raise and stay raised they raised until they naturally died again Jesus's resurrection was not like theirs Jesus was born from the dead from is the Greek word ech which means out of or to exit from He was born exiting out of the dead and so that his resurrection is our resurrection his Birth from the dead is the same birth that we have because what we're conformed to we're conformed to the same way that he was born from the dead Now do you realize Paul says this he says that we died with Christ we were made alive with Christ We were raised with Christ and now we're what seated with Christ all those things are accomplished facts, but look at this I want to show you this next slide This is not talking about water baptism So anybody reads Roman 6 this is talking about baptism that the Holy Spirit places us into the body of Jesus Different from water baptism and different from being baptized in the Holy Spirit This is the Holy Spirit baptizing or placing us in Christ It says if we have been united together in the likeness of his death now What did Paul just say that we're conformed to his image that he would be the first born among many brothers that if we have been United together in the likeness of his death certainly we shall be in the likeness of his resurrection Now, no, you probably can't see it, but let me read to you what this word united mean Suma futos in the Greek means this born together with of joint origin Congenital in eight implanted by birth or nature Jerry here somebody has a congenital heart heart disease It means that they have heart disease that was present from the time that they were born So he says that if we have been united if we've been born together in the likeness of his death Certainly not Questionably certainly we shall be in the likeness of what his resurrection So that his resurrection which was a birth from the dead is my resurrection, which is also a birth from the dead Now, let's see a little bit about that.
Look at look at the next line Knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead does what he was born from the dead never to die again All the other resurrections they raised and died Jesus rose once and from that time is alive forever more never to die again When you receive him and you are planted in the likeness of his death You're also planted born together of joint origin Congenital in his resurrection. Why do you think they call it eternal life? Too many believers think they have temporary life Questionable life. I'm here to tell you when you receive Jesus you receive resurrection eternal life never to die again Because he defeated the one the devil that held the power of death Completely defeated and what we receive is his very life his nature Implanted have you ever met anybody that's found a way to change their DNA?
You can trick people into thinking You're something different than you are you can wear a mask you can change your clothes you can do whatever But your DNA is implanted from birth and when God puts his DNA in you It's the resurrection life of Jesus. You find me a power that can change DNA Number three skip United look he became like us So that when we put faith in him we become like him and now guess what? We're one we're one we're one See you can't have oneness with things that are different You can't be one with Jesus if you're not like Jesus It says Hebrews 2 11 says both he who sanctifies who's the one that doesn't sanctify Jesus sanctify means this it means to cleanse It means to purify it means to remove guilt it needs to make holy it means to set apart The one that does that how holy is Jesus? Give me a number hundred it's bigger than a hundred It's infinite.
He's infinitely holy the one that is that does that and those who are being sanctified Who's that that's us are all what one? The one that does the work the one that gets the work are One you're one with Christ Jesus doesn't believe in divorcing you You're one if he told us what God has joined together Let no man put a sunder. Don't you think that he would carry that out better than we do? You're one with Christ Because of that he's not ashamed of you God doesn't hang his head when he looks at you He looks at you.
It's like that's my sister. I'm proud of her That's my brother. I love that guy. I'm so proud of what he's doing See he's not looking at your faults because he's already taking care of him and you're like him and you're one with him And he's proud to stand arm in arm hand in hand and doom life with you Because he says I'll sing your name to my brother in the midst of the assembly.
I'll sing praise to you next line real quick I know it's almost hand time, but man I'm excited. I'm excited. I'm excited All right. Look at this He said those that are being sanctified.
Who's that? Believers right not every believer's in Jesus and the one who sanctifies or what one? All right now Sanctification has two parts You've been sanctified and you are being right look at this verse 10 and hebers by that will and Jesus says I come to do your will and you supply the body and by his giving up of the body That's what it's talking about says by that will we have been present tense or past tense It's past is actually in the perfect tense, which means this it was completed in the past once and for all time never to be completed again You have been forever Sanctified made holy purified cleansed set apart separated in here Your holiness in here is equivalent to the holiness that Jesus has Paul says put on the new man in Ephesians 4 which is created according to God in true holiness And righteousness the new you is as holy and as as righteous as God is right now But we're all in process There's things that we need to clean up. That's the ongoing work of the holy spirit sanctifying you and making you more like Jesus He says we've been sanctified once and for all time first 14 four by one offering say one offering He has look at this perfected forever Perfected forever This is why I know you're here, but I don't like this song.
We're all just broken people Anybody sing that quit singing it because you're relating to the natural you instead of the real you which is made in the likeness of Jesus The you the real you that's made like Christ has been perfected forever. There's no brokenness. There's no lack There's no sin. There's only holiness righteousness love joy peace everything that's him in you perfected forever Those who are being sanctified that's in the present tense So there's an aspect that you need to relate to in your relationship with Jesus that you've been united with him You're one with him.
You've been perfected forever in your born-again spirit if you've accepted him But the rest of you is still in process of becoming more like him But too many Christians relate to the part that's in process Well, we're all just broken people all just getting by just want to get through the day I can just make one more step. I don't know if I can do it. Man life sucks. Well, it's just can't take another Quit it.
You need to renew your mind to who you are in Christ Because you're one Man, if if you've got to hold it that one thing today What could you accomplish if you knew that you like not just oh yeah? I get it not just I don't mean as a point of theology I mean as a point of experience That you by experience and that you know that you know that you know that you know you're one with Christ What's going to stop you that his resurrection is your resurrection his victory is your victory his life is your life He's given you his holy spirit to live in you to empower you to do the works that he did Like nothing's going to stop you Unless you let it all right. I'm going to close with this Here's Jesus's prayer. Let's just let's just pray this over ourselves today This is the night before he goes to the cross He wasn't just praying for the disciples.
He's praying for you say that he was praying this for me He was praying this for me Who here has ever believed in Jesus? If your hands up he was praying this for you I do not pray this for these alone speaking of the disciples But also for those who will believe in me through their word If you've ever believed in Jesus, this is for you that they may all be what one As you father are in me and I in you that they also may be one in us That the world may be leave that you sent me verse 22 And the glory which you have you gave me I have given them that they may be one just as we are one I in them You you and me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me And have loved them As you have loved me If you don't know that God loves you, how are you going to tell the world that God loves them? If you question God's love for you Jesus is how many believe Jesus prays powerful prayers How many believe that Jesus's prayers are answered? When he raised Lazarus from the dead Father, I thank you That you always hear me Lazarus come forth Jesus had the most effective prayer life of anyone that ever lived And he prayed for you that you would be one in him The father in him he and the father them and us us in him that the world may know that God sent Jesus See there's a lot resting on you knowing this And that the world may know that God loves them as he loved Jesus Don't let your questions and doubts rob the world of the love of God that they so desperately need Because you need to stand in this thing You need to be confident in this You need to know that you're with him and he's with you So that the world knows that God sent him and that God loves them so that they can participate and partake of what you have in him That's a resurrected relationship I ain't just some old oh, yeah, I'm a Christian.
I believe in Jesus I believe in God, yeah, no, there's more to it The the eternity of somebody is riding on you getting this Jesus isn't going to do it for you, but he'll do it through you He'll use you But don't let the enemy keep you trapped in fear so that you become stagnated And rendered idle from being the sign in the wonder that God has designed you to be There's a call on your life