So we continue and are winding down our study of Genesis chapter three. I think this is the 20th message or so. Last time we tried to look at the fact that Adam is connected with three major events of mankind. Adam is connected in the scriptures with Justification, Romans chapter five, he's connected with death and he's connected with the resurrection. Last time we did not get to that fourth point, Adam and Christ and the resurrection, which we're going to look at today. It's important, I think, for several reasons to understand that there is this connection that the scripture makes very overtly between Adam and justification and Christ and Adam and Christ and death and Adam and Christ and the resurrection and the scripture uses this connection and by way of comparison and by way of contrast opens up to us spiritual truth and the spiritual realities of these three and actually what follows from Genesis 3 all the way to the end of time. I'd like to read two passages, one passage and then one verse, and then there was one other passage we'll look at later. But let's begin with 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 41 through verse 45, and then I'll read another verse earlier in the chapter. and give the outline, and we'll go from there. So 1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning at verse 41, and this is in the context of the resurrection. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead, Now here's the contrast. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. And then previous in that chapter, verse 22, again, Adam and Christ and the resurrection, verse 22, for as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive. I'd like to consider this connection with you this morning, Adam, Christ, and the resurrection. And as you can see from the outline, four areas we'll look at. First of all, the knowledge of the resurrection and Adam. Did Adam from Genesis chapter three understand the resurrection? Did he know about it? Secondly, the knowledge of the resurrection and the Old Testament saints. Digressing a little bit from Genesis chapter three, but showing us that there actually was a very pervasive understanding and knowledge of the resurrection unto life that the Old Testament saints had. Thirdly, the power of the resurrection. What is the power? of the resurrection. I would like to give an analogy or an illustration that I will tell you right now is very weak. It's human-based, but it will point to the whole idea of the power of the resurrection. And then, fourthly, Christ as the firstfruits of the resurrection, where we will really get in to understand the power of the resurrection, again, from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Two things quickly before we begin. Number one, when we're talking about the resurrection this morning, I am talking only about the physical resurrection of our body at the end of time. You're probably aware that the scripture talks about two resurrections. It talks about being born again as a resurrection. Ephesians chapter two and verse five, even when we were dead, Thank you, Adam. Dead in sins, and we're separated from God and everything else that mess brought in. We were dead in sins, yet he has quickened us together with Christ, by grace are you saved, and he has raised us up together, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ. The resurrection is spoken of by way of metaphor as being born again. But we're talking today specifically about your physical body resurrection at the end of time. And secondly, by way of a brief introduction, I would like you to think about an issue or a question that perhaps could come to you or comes to us. When we think about the work of God and the idea of the resurrection, And the issue or the question goes something like this, at least it has come to me. If God is all-powerful and he's eternal and he's wise, did God create you in some way inferior or lacking God said when he created the world, it was good, it was good, it was good. When he created man, he said, very good. But now God has to start over. The resurrection says that he has to now, he has to recreate us. And since God is perfect, why does he have to, if I can use these words that come to me this way, why does God have to start again? What was lacking when he made that first creation? And as we go through this resurrection, I think it answers that. We'll get to it at the end. I would like to give you a specific answer, but I think that's a legitimate question that the saints of God need to be able to answer. Well, anyway, in the first place then this morning, the knowledge of the resurrection and Adam. Adam knew all about sin. He knew all about the fall, he knew all about death, he knew all about judgment, if you will. Did he know, did he understand the resurrection? Did he have any sense to understand the completeness of what resurrection was going to do? Was Adam afraid of death, if he knew about the resurrection unto life? Did he have any sense of that intermediate state where the body returns to dust, the spirit returns to God who gave it? In medieval times, there are some really strange ideas as to where the spirit went and what happened to the body and how God would unite these together. I think I'd like to give you just a few thoughts of why I believe the Bible says Adam had some sense of the resurrection, and we can see it in Genesis chapter three. We may not be able to dogmatically prove the resurrection from Genesis chapter three, but I think it's inferred, it's implied, it's there as part of God's overall plan. First of all, consider the process of what happened after Adam sinned. Put yourself in Adam's shoes. And what happens? He sins. Genesis 2 verse 7 says, the day you eat of it, you will die. And he knew about spiritual death. He was separated from God. He understood that there would be this physical death. His body would die. And so when he took of the fruit and he ate it and his eyes were opened and he understood Wouldn't he have thought, that's it. It's all over. God's going to kill me. There's nothing after this. It's just death. Except, Adam goes through this process. Remember, Adam went to hide. God came and found him. God asked Adam, give me an account. Adam gave an account. God pronounced a curse upon the serpent, and then God gave a sentence to Adam and the woman. And then we have the first death, that blood sacrifice, and God used those skins of that animal, probably a sheep or a lamb, to clothe, fix the problem, the immediate problem with Adam and the woman. Yes, Adam was then removed from the direct presence of God. Adam understood a separation, physical death, but there's this process, this entire process, and it seems like from what this process and everything Adam knew about God would suggest, something has to follow death. Death is just not the end. Think about this, secondly, Adam's past experience with God. He walked with God in the garden and he knew that God had a desire for fellowship and communion and love. Would a created being, Adam had to ask himself, like the serpent, be able to do irreparable damage to God's desire for fellowship, and God would remain powerless. And so the serpent wins, intersecting and disrupting and ruining that fellowship. Adam had to think, there has to be more than just this. Think about the promise of the seed, that proto-evangelium, that God would have a seed of the woman crush the head of the serpent. Adam and the woman had to have some sense of hope. As a matter of fact, in Genesis 4, I think we could show that at their firstborn, Adam and the woman thought that was the seed that was being promised. The serpent had brought in death. Death was his little mini victory. The fact that there would be the seed of the woman had to suggest a reversal of death, that omnipotent God would be reigning, and not a serpent. Next, what about this idea of Adam was, I think, shown that he was the federal head of all of humanity. He was the physical federal head. Did he have a thought about a spiritual headship? And we looked at that spiritual headship, that representative principle in Romans chapter five. What about the Tree of Life that was over there? The Tree of Life was still there. It was guarded by the cherubim. The way to the Tree of Life was guarded, but it was still intact. It still had its virtue. It was still there. Perhaps God was gonna open up the way to the Tree of Life again. What would Adam have thought After he was removed from the garden and he lived through five seasons, he would have observed life after death in the natural world. Springtime, new life, new leaves on the trees, buds. Summertime, fruit on the trees, in the bushes. Autumn, or the fall, harvest time, winter, death, death. But then springtime comes again, new life. Would not that time clock, that virtual time clock of nature, have stated something to Adam as he thought about his relationship to God and what would happen after death. Again, maybe not overtly, dogmatically stated and displayed, but if you read Genesis 3 10 times, even though there is this spiritual and physical death that hangs over it, it ends in such of an open-ended way that there has to be something else after it. I think, though obscured, I think the knowledge of the resurrection is at least hinted and inferred and applied in Genesis chapter three. And that would go partially into answering that question, why does God have to start over and recreate us from the dead and bring us to life once again? Well, secondly, what about the knowledge of the resurrection and other Old Testament saints? How much did Old Testament saints know about the resurrection from the dead? Again, we've linked justification and death. They've gone all the way back to Adam, and we've seen that Christ, in using these, justification and death and how he has resolved them, goes all the way back to the beginning with Adam to solve them and to deal with them. Both of those needs justification and solving the death problem go all the way back to Adam. And so Christ goes, the word of God goes all the way back there to show how Christ has fixed that. Now if I were to ask you to talk to me about the resurrection, you would probably go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. That is the resurrection chapter. All 48 or 50 some odd verses talk about the resurrection. But the resurrection appears in other places of the scripture. And I'm gonna suggest it's actually all pervasive in the Old Testament. It was understood to some degree. It held out this hope for God's people. And if you were to take the time to study how the resurrection appears on the pages of the Old Testament, you would see that it's very applicable to the saints of God. There's a reason it's there. We've talked about in the past what biblical theology is. Biblical theology is simply the idea that there is, throughout the scripture, beginning in Genesis, going to Revelation, there is an ever-opening door of the revelation of God. Biblical theology is the study of the fact that Revelation, starting in Genesis, God's truth, as it's revealed, opens up more and more and more. And I'm suggesting that the Genesis of, the seed of the resurrection starts in Genesis 3, and it continues on, So think about a few of these Old Testament saints with me for just a minute, and think about how powerful the resurrection was in their life. Noah. Noah comes just a few chapters after Genesis chapter 3. Many, many scholars, when they're making comments about 1 Peter chapter 3, which talks about Noah's flood, they connect the ark with the resurrection of Christ. They connect the waters that are burying the old and the newness of life. As a matter of fact, we've mentioned before, but the ark rested on Mount Ararat on a Sunday, on the eighth day, the day of the resurrection. And it's actually, in Noah's case, there's a lot of similarities between Noah and Adam. For example, something happened to Noah that happened to Adam that has happened to nobody else who's ever lived upon the face of the earth. Something happened to Adam that happened to Noah that's happened to nobody else. For Adam, God brought all the animals to Adam so he could name them. God brought all the animals to Noah so he could preserve them in the ark. There's seven or eight similarities between these two that are pointing to something about the gospel and something, too, about Christ. Noah speaks of the resurrection. What about Abraham? Abraham, you know the account, Genesis chapter 22. God tested Abraham and tested him by instructing him to offer up his son, Isaac. And the commentary about what Abraham thought about this in Hebrews chapter 11 says this, Abraham by faith when he was tried, he offered up Isaac and he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Not only was Isaac the seed of Abraham, the promised son, but it was through Isaac that the seed, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, was come. And God tested Abraham and said, offer him up. And Abraham was going to do that until he was stopped by the angels. But the commentary goes on to say this, that Abraham accounted that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. From whence also he received him in a figure. Abraham thought, if I go through with this and kill Isaac, God will raise him from the dead because God promised this son would be my seed and a channel from whom the seed, the Messiah, would come. God can raise him from the dead. And he received him in a figure. The figure or the type or the shadow is of resurrection. And by way of application, I think A belief, an actual belief and understanding of the resurrection lends itself to faith in all the promises of God. Because resurrection from the dead deals with the most serious major issue. And if God can deal with death, is anything else too hard for the Lord? The promises of the Lord become steadfast and unmovable. What about Moses? Moses, in Exodus chapter two, had God appear to him in the burning bush, and God told him, besides revealing his name as Jehovah, I am that I am, he said, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jesus brings this account into the New Testament in Matthew. when there's this argument, is there a resurrection from the dead, is there not? And you'll recall they use that imagery that a man gets married to seven different women who subsequently die, which is why he keeps marrying. And the question was, whose wife will he have in the resurrection? See, that proves there's no resurrection, they thought. What did Jesus say? He said, you do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. He talks about in the resurrection they neither married nor are given in marriage. He goes on to say, but as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. What about? Elijah. The Bible records that Elijah was a sinner. Great prophet. Tremendous prophet. But he was a sinner like the rest of us. Like passions, the scripture says. Talk about the resurrection. This guy went to heaven in a whirlwind. Those chariots of fire. There's life after this world. He did not die, but he was resurrected. What about Job? Many Bible scholars believe that Job lived before Moses authored the Pentateuch. Job says, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Wow, Job had a concept of a Redeemer way back, way back. My Redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy my body." Worms may eat my body, it doesn't matter. Yet in my flesh, I will see God. How does that work, Job? How do worms eat your body? You return to dust. The dust is probably scattered about. Yet in your essence, to some degree, somehow, in my flesh, I will see God, whom I will see for myself, and my eyes will behold him, and not another, even though my reins are consumed within me. Old Testament, King James Word, talking about the kidneys, but it's figurative of the inner man, the soul, the mind. I will see God. What about David? That famous Psalm 16, although it's messianic in nature primarily, David's word also rang true for what he himself believed. He said, my heart is glad, my glory rejoices, my flesh will rest in hope because thou will not leave my soul in Sheol, in the grave. Neither will thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Psalm 16 is a miktam of David. A miktam is a psalm that's written under stress, under peril, under times of trouble. And he had this assurance that he would not be left in the grave, even if Saul killed him, if Absalom killed him, if there was some major, major thing. How about the prophets? Isaiah said he will, speaking about God, he will swallow up death in victory. He goes on to say, dead men will live. Together with my dead body, they will arise. Arise and sing, you that dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs when the earth casts out for dead. There's a resurrection. Hosea talks about it. How about Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones? Remember that vision where God said, prophesy to these dead bones? And the question to Ezekiel, can these bones live? And Ezekiel says, you know, Lord, I don't know. will prophesy to them. He prophesies to them. Bone, they start shaking, bone comes to bone, sinew to sinew, flesh covers them, they stand up. God blows the breath of life into them. There is this life after the dead. Now whether this image or this reality is talking about literal resurrection from the dead, or spiritual resurrection from the dead, or maybe even a political resuscitation for the nation of Israel that was downcast and dismissed and degraded. Look at the imagery that God is using. Life from the dead. Daniel, a tremendous prophet Daniel, that book closes with these words. Many, and he's using this word many to talk about a large number. He's talking about everyone, all. Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting content. But thou, Daniel, go thy way until the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. The truth of the resurrection in the Old Testament is there. It's consistent with faith in God. The resurrection is not plan B to fix a problem, the sin problem. It was always part of the plan. We asked the question, we've been asked the question, why does God have to recreate? Why does he have to start over again? In the Old Testament, they knew about it. How about the Lord Jesus prior to his own resurrection? The account of Lazarus. Jesus raised three people from the dead in the New Testament in his earthly ministry. He raised up the son of the widow of Nain. He raised up Jairus, his daughter, and of course, Lazarus. And when he came to Lazarus' tomb, With Mary and Martha there, Jesus had told them, your brother will rise again. And what do they say? They said, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day. Yeah, there is a resurrection. He will rise. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead. yet he shall live. And I think we have both the physical and the spiritual resurrection blended there together. The knowledge of the resurrection of the Old Testament saints, they knew about it. It's not only in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It's throughout the scripture. Thirdly, the power of the resurrection. I'd like to put together this image, and I'm gonna ask you a question, and you know the answer is from the Bible. You know the answer. But I want to do this just to remind you just something of the power of the resurrection. Now, I think Jesus could tell us also, we do err, not knowing the power of God. We would say, yeah, God can raise the dead. God could create the world. We know that intuitively. We accept by faith many things. But have we ever stopped to think about what that means, what that looks like? What are the mechanics of the power of the resurrection? Again, our death or the resurrection is sown in corruption, dishonor, weakness, and a natural body. All bad, all severely lacking, shameful, corruptible, deadness. but it is raised in incorruption, glory, power, and a spiritual body. We see this great contrast. It's raised with power. So consider this image, if you will, just for a minute. Consider that Adam has died thousands of years ago. Adam will be resurrected. Let's say he's gonna be resurrected, let's just say tomorrow. We don't have to put a day on it, but we just wanna think about the process of Adam being resurrected. And let's just think from our vantage point of a human being. So Adam's gonna be resurrected. And we know from the scriptures that although Adam is gonna have a new body, there's something there of his, we'll just say his old body and his old nature, God is not just gonna leave our body in the grave and then totally create a new body. So let's take all the knowledge of the world. Let's take our knowledge of chemistry, and physics, and natural law, and mechanics, and mathematics, and biological, and all the sciences, and all the medical, like orthopedics, and cardiology, and neurology. Let's take all this knowledge and apply it to Adam of putting Adam back together. Now Adam's body has returned to dust. Maybe even worms have eaten it. How small are those dust particles that were once Adam? Where are those particles? By the way, they were probably disturbed in the worldwide flood, right? So now they're kind of maybe spread around. Adam needs to be collected, if you will. All of his dust particles are going to be organized. And, you know, skin and bones and vital organs and his brains and his arteries. And something's going to have to be done by God to make it alive and vital. And Adam has to be reconstructed and assembled And then he has to be wired up with all the nerves and all the ligaments and the muscles. There's this new body that has some essence of the old Adam, and then some essence of a new body that God is going to make. And then Adam's body has to be reunited with his spirit. Ecclesiastes 12.7, then shall, speaking about death, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. The body's in the grave, the spirit God has, so I guess the spirit in God's hand is a lot easier to manipulate and move and we, as opposed to the body that is scattered all over creation, if you will. So then God has to do this, this recreation, this new body, there is this element of the old body. It is sown in corruption, but there's some glory that God's gonna get by making it incorruptible. And some glory God's gonna get from taking something that was dishonorable to make it glory. And weakness, power, a natural body, a spiritual body. So here's the question that I think helps us understand or illustrate the power of God in the resurrection. The question is, how long, so this whole process for Adam, how long does it take for God to do this, not just for Adam, but also for the billions of people who have lived upon the face of the earth? How long does it take for God to do that? The Bible says, in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment. In a moment, in a twinkling of the eye, verse 52, at the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and will be changed. There's that change. where the corruptible puts on incorruption. Twinkling of an eye, how fast is that? Is that the speed of light? Is that a second? Is that faster than the speed of light? God does that process for the billions of people who have lived upon the face of the earth in the twinkling of an eye. And then this corruptible will have put on incorruption, the mortal will have put on immortality, and then the saying is brought to pass, death is swallowed up in victory. Isaiah's prophecy. Thanks be to God, which giveth us that victory through Jesus Christ. The power of the resurrection can be seen in how fast it takes God to do that. He can create the world in seven days, we'll add the seventh day of rest, but in a twinkling of an eye, all of humanity will now, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting shame and contempt, will be brought back to life in a moment. We're in the last place this morning. Consider that the scripture speaks about the real power of Christ, of course. We've tried to measure the power of God in the resurrection by thinking about a time element, which, I mean, I think the Bible says the resurrection occurs after time is no more, right? Time is no more, and then there's a resurrection. So we're kind of mixing things here. But the real power of the resurrection, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ, his victory over the grave. And earlier in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, let me read just a couple of verses, verse 20 through 23. 1 Corinthians 15, 20 through 23. But now Christ is risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man, Adam, came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits after they that are Christ at his coming. The Holy Spirit is picking up the analogy or the type or the figure of the first fruits. Under the Old Testament dispensation, the Israelites were instructed to bring before Jehovah God the first fruits as an offering to him. The first fruits were just that. It was the first, whether it's barley, it's wheat, whatever that that field that has been planted, that grain, that first stalk to yield its fruit, that was to be offered to God. That first fruit was looked upon as a token for the rest, kind of like a tithe. A tithe was representative of everything. The first fruit was offered to God, and it was saying that under the blessing of God, That entire field, that entire orchard would blossom. It would bud. It would bring forth fruit. And there would be this harvest. And what they would do is they would pick the best, the first, the choicest, the fullest. And they would offer that to God. And it would be representative of all the rest. It would sanctify. the rest. It was a promise. It was a token. It was an earnest. It was saying that the rest of the crop would not wilt at the last minute. The rest of the crop would not be stolen away by an enemy. The rest of the crop would not just be left in the field because there's no laborers to reap it in. It was offered to show as the first fruit that this is representative, this stands for the rest. And so in the resurrection, Christ is spoken of as the first fruit, that one who stands for the rest, that one who is the best, the choicest, the fullest. Other people were raised from the dead in the Bible, but they were raised to die again. The Lord Jesus Christ is the first begotten of the dead. There's many intricacies about this first fruit. Let me mention a couple briefly. Let me develop just a couple more. The first fruit, the scripture says in the book of Leviticus chapter 23, it had to be offered on the day after the Sabbath. It had to be offered on the eighth day. the day of resurrection, actually. The 14th day of this month was the Passover. The 15th day was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The 16th day, that third day, was the Feast of Firstfruits. There's this spiritual calendar God authored to reflect what his son would do. It was offered on the eighth day. The first fruit was spoken of in the book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. It was owned by the priest. The high priest owned it. It belonged to him. And so Jesus Christ, he said, I am the resurrection. I own the resurrection. It's because of me. It's because of my victory over the grave. There was an acknowledgment, a profession, that the first fruits was entirely God's doing. In the book of Deuteronomy, the offerer was supposed to say, and now behold, Lord, I have brought the first fruit of the land, which thou, O Lord, has given to me. There was actually a confession that goes all the way back to the deliverance from Egypt. And they were brought into this land. It was all God's doing. And the first fruit, it was all of God. It was nothing of me. And so the resurrection is entirely of God. The resurrection in the Bible is Trinitarian, which is why sometimes you read that God raised Jesus from the dead. Sometimes you read, as Jesus said, I take up my life after I lay it down, no one can take it from me. Or Romans 8, the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead. The resurrection is Trinitarian. But you, you're not any cause of it. It's all of God's doing. The first fruit, the type of offering it was, it was a picture of the resurrection. In other words, it was not one of the blood sacrifices. It was not picturing the atonement. This specific first fruit is talking about life from the dead, the resurrection after we die. Again, verse 20, now Christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those that slept. We, in and of ourselves, had a one-way ticket to the grave. The ticket was death, we die, and that's it. The Lord Jesus Christ, because he went to the grave and he conquered death, and he was raised from the dead, that's the power of the resurrection. You know, when Christ gave up of his life on the cross, and he laid in the grave those three days, his body did not deteriorate, One bit. He did not go back to dust. His muscles did not atrophy. He conquered death in its fullest measure. Well, think about a couple of these thoughts relative to the first fruits. The first fruit was chosen because it was the best. It was the preeminent. It was the choicest, it was the fullest, it was the chiefest. It was, I think God so ordained these orchards and these fields that it was obvious that is the first fruit. And so it is with the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture constantly is setting forth Christ as the one who has preeminence above all things. as the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the first begotten of the dead, the one who is highly exalted, the head of the church, the chiefest among 10,000, the supreme. He's everything. Paul said in his own personal testimony and confession, he said, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I count everything but dung that I might win Christ. We can even tend to hold on to spiritual things and not or unwittingly thinking or elevating those to places they should not be. Christ is all and in all. He is exalted above everything. It's not just what our opinion of Christ is, it's God's opinion. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He is all and in all. He's the one that God the Father has sealed. He is the chiefest. He's the perfection. The whole theme of the gospel is vicarious death, his substitutionary life on our behalf to merit righteousness, it's all about him. And when the Bible talks about him as the first fruit, it's reminding us that it's all of him. And in the resurrection, he goes before us, gaining that victory over death for us. Think about the contrast, the nature of the first fruits, the whole idea of sowing and reaping relative to the resurrection. The great contrast for us is that the first fruit is a token for the rest. And we think about Christ as that token, that one, that first fruit for the rest, We see that there's this diametrically opposed sowing and reaping. What do we sow? Again, we sow that corruption, that weakness, that dishonor, everything that 1 Corinthians 15 talks about. But then we are raised entirely opposite of what we've sown. We're raised in glory. We're raised incorruptible. We're raised by the power of God. Though it will be us in some measure, it will be that body, that new body that is fitted for heaven forevermore, joined with God. It's just hard to understand or really imagine And yet, Paul said in another place, if we are planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. When he appeared to the disciples, at first they didn't even recognize him, right? He had the scars in his hands and his feet and his side. It was still Jesus. And humanly speaking, we could say he did not need to be glorified. over and above being the God-man, but he had this body that was, how do we describe it? It was glorious. It was different. And you will be raised in your own essence. You will know it's you in heaven, and yet you'll have this body that is perfect, perfect to the point that it will you'll forever be joined with the Lord. No temptation in heaven, no sin in heaven. Lastly, we're speaking about first fruits. The first fruit was described in Leviticus and Deuteronomy as being something that gave life. When Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, he didn't say, I am the resurrection and the existence. He just doesn't exist. He's life-giving. It's abundant life. There's this definition of life that God, that Jesus Christ has, that we cannot understand. It's more than just existence. It's life as what it was meant to be. It's life spiritual. It's life eternal. It's life glorious. It's life with God. Jesus said, speaking about the resurrection of his body and what it would bring to us. He said, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Christ is the first fruits. So Adam and the resurrection. Let me get back by way of closing. Let me get back to that question or that issue that I was confronted with. Maybe you have, maybe you will be. But it goes something like this. Doesn't the fact that God has planned a resurrection from the beginning, doesn't it suggest that there was some shortfall in God's creation? Why does God have to start over? Why does God have to recreate us? If he does all things well, which we would say he does, why do we have to go through this process, this death, this resurrection, this new body? Yeah, of course, sin came into the world, but what's the overall picture? Why didn't God do it right the first time? That's the way the question came to me. My dad used to tell me, I'm sure you've heard this, a job not done right the first time is not a job worth doing at all. You gotta do it right the first time, or don't even bother. So what about this idea of God having to recreate? Does that mean God did not do a perfect job when we were created? Let me remind you of one of the answers. Again, this comes from John Owen's book, Communion with God. He said, God decreed the fall by sovereign design so that recovered man, that is the believer, will be brought into such an estate that in fact is infinitely above what at first appeared and put sinners into inconceivably better condition than they were before the entrance of sin. God decreed the fall so that we can be brought into a relationship based on redemption. And that is infinitely better than if we had never sinned and stayed in the garden. We are fully established in God's favor because now we are inextricably joined to the Son. We are joined to Him. to enjoy life with God, there's two choices for you. Number one, you either have to be divine, like Him, so we have to take that off the table, because that's not going to happen. Or number two, somehow, some way, though you're not divine, you have to be joined to Him. And that's what redemption does. And don't think of recreation as starting over. It's not starting over, it's part of the overall process. Again, John 12, verse 24, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. You see, the fact that you are going to die and yet come back with Christ, much fruit, That gives him more glory. Do you see the amount of glory that Christ gets by redeeming a bunch of worthless sinners like us? Do you see how much glory? What if Adam had stayed in the garden alone? There's no fruit there. There's nothing God has to continue this process on. You, were created not for yourself. You were created for God. Simple truth. But think about this. You were created from day one for God. If you were created for yourself, Then you could logically say this whole process of sin coming into the world, and why am I held accountable for Adam's sin, and why does sin pass on everybody? And if you were created for yourself, false premise, you could argue that. You weren't created for yourself. You were created for God. And the scripture says that he is going to be the firstborn among many brethren, Romans 8, verse 29. Hebrews chapter two, Jesus is gonna say to God the Father and to the world, behold, I and the children which God has given me. The whole idea of this process is revealing his greatness, his power, and who's in charge and who's preeminent. It's not us. It illuminates verses like 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19. You are not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. And the way to look at this process, sin entering the world, Adam, our federal head, death, and having to be rescued from death, having to die. Nobody wants to die. Nobody wants to be laid in the grave, returning to dust. Worms are going to eat our body, this body that we try to take care of. But then on that day, raised by the power of God, it's all part of the process. That's what God had planned from the very beginning. And the Christians should take great comfort. Everything's going right according to plan. We have to go through death so that he will get glory. Would you die if it meant God's going to get more glory and he's going to bring you back to life anyway? Of course we would. But the natural man has trouble, I think, latching onto and trying to understand spiritual truth. but he give us the ability to grow in grace and knowledge that we can begin to understand and live some of these things out. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, we should be singing about the resurrection every Sunday. What a tremendous reality that you have preordained and designed in the creation of man. Thank you for new life in Christ. Thank you for the promise. We can, like David, rest in hope. What a day that will be. We can't even imagine. Seal thy word to our heart. Encourage us in the faith. Be with us this week. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.