Welcome to our Sunrise Risen Service. What a beautiful morning God has blessed us with to celebrate the resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. As daylight comes and you look around and see the grass becoming greener; the flowers are blooming; the buds on the trees are coming out; and the weather is starting to get gradually warmer. We can see that it’s a time of transformation. The gray, dead colors of winter are being replaced by the promise of spring. It is no accident that God planned Easter to be in the springtime. The early spring season mirrors Jesus’ resurrection in the coming forth of life from the grave. The Resurrection points to the greatest transformation of all time as Jesus’ body, there in the tomb, transformed into a new, resurrected body.
Matthew’s Gospel tells us: 2 “Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow.” Matthew 28:2-3 (NLT2) So often, when people read this, they assume the angel opened the tomb in order to let Jesus out. But, from what we know from the other Gospels about Jesus’ resurrected body, it is more likely that Jesus had already walked out of that tomb while the stone was still in place! In other words, the angel rolled the stone away in order that people could enter in and see that Jesus had risen.[1] So, how did Jesus get out of the tomb? Well, He walked right through the massive stone that sealed the entrance of the tomb. His new resurrected body could do that with ease!
Unfortunately, there are some misguided people who would tell you that Jesus could do that because He was merely in spirit form—like a ghost that could penetrate solid walls. They need to read their Bibles more closely because the Scriptures clearly teach that when Jesus walked out of that tomb, He did so in a physical body—not in some ghost-like form. So, what do the Scriptures say to support the fact that Jesus’ resurrected body was physical in nature? Well, when Mary Magdalene visited the tomb, she looked inside and was greatly disturbed to find it empty. When she looked around, she thought she saw the gardener. But, it was Jesus in His resurrected body.[2] And when He spoke her name she recognized His voice and immediately knew it was Jesus. (By the way, Jesus had predicted this when He said that He is the Shepherd and His sheep—of which Mary Magdalene was one—would recognize His voice.) John’s Gospel goes on to tell that Mary Magdalene grabbed hold to Jesus. It is thought that she likely fell at His feet and was clinging to His ankles in praise and worship. The point is that she was physically clinging to Him. YOU CAN’T CLING TO A GHOST! Later, Jesus would appear to His disciples and show Thomas the wounds on His hands, feet and side that He had suffered on Cross. Jesus would even invite Thomas to touch His wounds. YOU CAN’T TOUCH A GHOST! In addition, Jesus walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and later ate supper with them. Again, on shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus cooked fish and He ate the fish with His disciples.[3] A GHOST CAN’T EAT FOOD! Jesus’ resurrected body could be touched. He could eat food. This clearly tells us that when He walked away from that tomb, Jesus was in a real, physical, resurrected body. It had substance and exhibited tangible characteristics just like our bodies do—except for something extraordinary. Not only was Jesus’ resurrected body physical in nature, it was supernatural as well.
The supernatural nature of Jesus’ resurrected body is clearly demonstrated when He visited His disciples on that first Easter Sunday evening as they were huddled in fear in a room with the door securely locked. John’s Gospel tells us: 19 “That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind LOCKED DOORS because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” He said. 20 As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!” John 20:19-20 (NLT2) It doesn’t say that Jesus knocked at the door and someone let Him in. It doesn’t say that Jesus had a key and let Himself in. The clear implication is that, in this supernatural, resurrected body, Jesus walked right through the solid door! Amazing!—but, apparently, that is one of the features of a resurrected body!
Now, why is it important for Christians to believe and understand the physical and supernatural nature of what a resurrected body is like? The answer is if you want to reside eternally in God’s Heavenly Kingdom, you will need to be awarded one of these resurrected bodies. And you won’t get one unless you have committed to Jesus as your Lord and Savior and accepted the reality of His Resurrection. You see, when you die, you won’t be floating around as some disembodied spirit in Heaven. The Bible teaches in multiple places that it simply does not work like that. In fact, it would appear from the Scriptures that it was never intended to be that way. God always intended people to be comprised of soul and body—and not just spirit alone. Only when humanity decided to depart from God’s commands and go its own way did things change for the worse. This was the case with Adam and Eve. God commanded them that they were not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why?—because that Tree was a source of worldly understanding of what is good and what is evil. God didn’t want men and women to rely upon worldly sources for their morality and ethics to govern their conduct. God wanted them, and us, to rely solely upon Him for such vital things. But, Adam and Eve disobeyed. They ate of the forbidden fruit and set the course of humanity to rebel against God. I.E., they decided to sin against their Creator. And what happened then? Sin and death entered into this world. Prior to that there was no sin or death. The implication being that the bodies Adam and Eve, prior to sinning against God, must have been imperishable bodies—bodies that would not die. Perhaps even bodies comparable to the Resurrected Body of Christ. But with the Fall of Man, all of that changed. Human bodies degraded and became susceptible to death, and human souls became stained with sin. God had to send His Son into this world to reverse that curse of death and sin. Jesus came to save us from our sins and return us to the states of Adam and Eve BEFORE THE FALL OF MAN! His death on the Cross paid for the sins of those who repent and abandon the ways of the world and go back to the ways of God—AS WAS INTENDED IN THE VERY BEGINNING! Jesus wants to restore His relationship with humanity. He wants to walk with you again as He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.[4]
That is why Jesus’ resurrected body is referred to as the “FIRST-FRUIT”. For example, the Apostle Paul proclaimed in 1st Corinthians 15:20: “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (NIV) That is the NIV translation. The same verse in Today’s Living Bible, paraphrases this same verse by saying: 20 “The fact is that Christ did actually rise from the dead and has become the first of millions who will come back to life again someday.” 1st Corinthians 15:20 (TLB) That “someday” Paul mentioned will be when Jesus comes again during the Rapture of the Church. That’s when all believers will receive their resurrected bodies. You’ll trade in that old, beaten-up Model-T of an earthly body for a million dollar souped-up Ferrari! It will be an ETERNAL BODY that will never die, and it equips you to live forever with Jesus in His Heavenly Kingdom.
But, here’s the thing that most sinners fail to understand. If they do not repent, they will receive a resurrected body as well. But, it is a resurrected body that they will wish they were never given. Oh yes—it will be a very durable body. It will not deteriorate. It will actually be flame retardant, but in the worst of ways. The resurrected bodies that unrepentant sinners will be given will have one purpose—and one purpose only: IT WILL SUIT THEM FOR AN ETERNITY IN HELL! In other words, the fires of Hell will not burn it up. But, it won’t protect them in the least from the sufferings and torments of Hell. Jesus mentioned this when He said that unbelievers will reside in Hell “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:48 (KJV) That’s the KJV. If you put it into today’s language, it would be: “Where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.” Mark 9:48 (NLT2) What a horrible, resurrected body that would be!—and to think that you’d have to spend eternity in!—It’s almost unimaginable. ALMOST!—but the thing is, it’s going to be a reality for many people.
That is why Easter is so very important. It celebrates the fact that Jesus has made us a way forward—a way to avoid that terrible resurrected body designed for Hell, and to take on the one that we were intended to have all along. In a few minutes, we will be heading over to the Fellowship Hall for our Easter morning breakfast. It is one of my favor things about Easter—but not the most favorite. The thing that tops everything else, is that Jesus’ Resurrection guarantees me a place in Heaven. It confirms that God the Father accepted His Son’s sacrifice on the Cross as sufficient payment for my sins—and for all the sins of those who come to Him as Lord and Savior. The same is guaranteed for you as well, if you know Christ—and believe God raised Him from the dead. If that is true for you this morning: There’s a HEAVENLY RESURRECTED BODY just waiting for you to try on someday soon!
Let us pray.
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
Sunrise Service, March 31, 2024
©2024 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] Wiersbe, Be Loyal (Matthew), (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor, 2003), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 105.
[2] John 20:14-17 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” (NLT2)
[3] John 21:12-14 12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead. (NLT2)
[4] Genesis 3:8 “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (ESV)
