I am the Resurrection: Resurrection Sunday 2024

INTRODUCTION

For today’s Easter message, I want to share with you something that I believe is vitally important to understand about the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, this is probably not something that will be preached in most churches today. But today, I want to proclaim to you not just about the one Resurrection, but about three resurrections. Yes, I want to talk to you today about three different resurrections that have been made available to every person through His one Resurrection.

Now, first of all, let me say that today is ALL about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Yes, His victory over death, hell, and the grave is what has provided us with this abundance of grace. So we praise God for this one, glorious Resurrection that makes the gospel I am going to share with you today possible! Amen? However, the fact is that Jesus’ Resurrection has made available several things – namely, three opportunities for us to be raised up to a new life.   

Now when I refer to these three resurrections that have come from His Resurrection, what I am referring to is the raising up of all three parts of us – our spirit, our soul, and our body.  

You know, you are not just a one part being. You are not just what you look at in the mirror every day – just a physical being. Nor are you just a two-part being like so many consider us – body and soul. No, the Bible teaches us that we are a three-part being – spirit, soul, and body (First Thessalonians 5:23). So, there are three parts to every person. Therefore, there are three parts to us that are in desperate need of life. 

You see, in the beginning, God created everything with life in it, including man. But when Adam bit into the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil, the Bible says, death reigned. The Lord God had warned him that on the day he would eat of that tree that he would “surely die.” But the original language there indicated that “in dying, you shall die.” In other words, with the sin of transgressing God’s command would come two deaths. Yes, the eventual physical death, but also the immediate spiritual death. Therefore, this sin in the garden resulted in death – both of the spirit & the body of man. 

So what does this mean? It means that mankind is in need of life again in both our spirits and our bodies. Yes, we need these two resurrections in order to have life! 

But I’m here today to tell you that all of us have another part of us that also needs to experience resurrection life, and that is our souls. You see, our soul is the part of us that connects us to the present things of this world. Yes, it is the part of man that ties together the physical and the spiritual. So if that “valve” is broken, there will be leaks. And if it’s severely disconnected, there will not be much of a flow of life at all. Therefore, we desperately need resurrection life in that part of our being as well. 

So there is both the opportunity and the need for resurrection and life in all three aspects of our entire person. So let’s look at the story in the New Testament where we learn that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life for our whole man …   

I AM THE RESURRECTION 

This is found in the Gospel of John in the familiar story of the resurrection of Lazarus. 

In John 11:18-24, we read – “Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ 
You know, so many Christians are notorious for doing the same thing that Martha did here – over-spiritualizing God’s promises. What do I mean by that? I mean that they will take a promise that God gives in His Word like say healing and then say that it is referring to our “spiritual healing.” Yes, they will take the verses that say that by His stripes we are healed and how Jesus also bore our sicknesses and carried our pains as referring to how the healing we receive is from our spiritual sickness and infirmity. But, no, that is not true. In fact, you are really not healed spiritually; you are raised to a new life and made a new creation spiritually. So, no, you are not just made a better you when you come to the Lord; you are made a new creation and the old things have passed away and all things have become new in you. Glory!   
You will also hear Christians who will always point towards how we will ultimately be “healed” when we transition from this life to the next. This is usually a point that is made at funerals. And while I certainly believe that nothing can be compared to the wholeness and fullness we will experience in the next life, this does not mean that we should write off the promises God gives us in His Word for wholeness and fullness in this life either! 
Saints, God has promised us physical healing in this life now! Let us not try to spiritualize all of His promises. For the Lord wants us to know that just as He was in the Old Covenant, the God who heals us, He still says to us today – “I AM the God who heals you!” 
Well, notice how Jesus responded to Martha in verses 25 & 26 – “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’” 
Notice that Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” … He didn’t say I WAS or I WILL BE; He said, “I AM …” So what Jesus was declaring to Martha was you don’t have to wait for the resurrection of the dead in the ages to come because you have the Resurrection with you right now! Amen! 
This is such a profound statement made by Jesus because not only is He declaring what He can do, but He is declaring who He is. And who He is, is who He AM! In other words, by using these two most powerful words “I AM”, He is identifying Himself as more than just a man. 
Do you remember when Jesus said in John 8:58 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM”? This, of course, infuriated the Jews, because He made Himself out to be the One who spoke from the burning bush on Mt. Sinai. 

Even in the Garden, when they came to arrest Jesus, He approached them and said, “Whom are you seeking?” They responded, “Jesus of Nazareth.” And the Lord said, “I AM!” Now I know many of our translations say that He responded “I am He” but the personal pronoun “he” is in italics. So literally, Jesus just responded with “I AM” – making that same proclamation that was made to Moses on Mt. Sinai. And do you know what happened? The same thing that happened when the Great I Am appeared to Moses – He hit the deck! When Jesus spoke these powerful words- “I AM!”—the soldiers and such fell back and hit the deck as well! Glory! (See John 18:4-6)

But just as it has been so eloquently put that the Old Testament is Christ concealed and the New Testament is Christ revealed, God revealed Himself as the I Am that I Am in the Old Testament, but Jesus came to fill in the blank in the New Testament. In the Gospel of John alone, Jesus revealed Himself as the I AM seven different times …

1. I Am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)

 

1. I Am the Light of the World (John 8:12)

 

1. I Am the Door (John 10:9)

 

1. I Am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)

 

1. I Am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

 

1. I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6)

 

1. I Am the True Vine (John 15:1)

So Jesus reveals Himself to be more than a man! He reveals Himself as Divine, as greater than any prophet or good person as the Word clearly states that He is before all things and the creator of all things. Yes, all things were made through Him and for Him. Jesus was, is, and forevermore shall be the Great I AM!

And notice Martha’s response to His question in verse 27 of if she believed this – “She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’”

This response sounds extremely familiar, doesn’t it? It reminds me of the disciples’ response to Jesus’ question: Who do men say that I AM? They responded – “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” (Matthew 16:13-16) 

You know, man has always been confused regarding this question. When asked who Jesus is, some say that Jesus was a prophet and others say He was a good man. But the truth is that He was not just a prophet nor was He just a good man. Jesus was, is, and evermore shall be the Great I AM! 

You see, Jesus could not just be a prophet or a good man. He either is who He says He is, He is a liar, or He is a lunatic. Jesus said He is the only way to the Father. He said He is the way, the truth and the life. He said that we cannot have eternal life apart from Him. These are not the words of just a good person. Again, Jesus is either who He says He is, or He is a madman or a liar. There is no compromise.

No, He is who He says He is and, as the Scriptures expressly say to us, He was God manifest in the flesh. Therefore, Jesus is divine and is the great I Am! 

WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME

You can hold your place here in John chapter 11, but let’s quickly turn over to Revelation 1:8. In this verse, Jesus declares – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord …”

Now the word “Alpha” is the first letter of the Greek alphabet and “Omega” is the last letter of the same. Thus, Jesus is referring to Himself as the First and the Last. But this means so much more than just simply being the beginning and the ending of an alphabet. This is an ancient Greek formula that was used to convey eternity and timelessness. Therefore, this reference to Him being the Alpha and the Omega is a reference to Jesus’ being eternal.  

So what our Lord & Christ was declaring here is that He is the beginning of all things, and He is the conclusion of all things. He is eternal and everlasting – which means that He embraces and fills everything in between. And because He is timeless and envelopes all parts of our existence, He is a part of our past, present, and future. 

Thus the reason for Jesus’ next statement in Revelations 1:8 – “… who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” This again ascribes to Jesus the position of the Everlasting I AM as the prophet Isaiah describes the triune God in several places … 

In Isaiah 41:4, the Lord says through the prophet, “I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last I am He.” In Isaiah 44:6 he says, “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” In Isaiah 48:12 he says, “I am He; I am the first, I also am the last.” These are clear indications of the eternal nature of the Godhead represented within Jesus Christ.

But I want to draw your attention back to the point we made earlier – where Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Resurrection and the life.” 

So if He “Am” the Resurrection and He is also He “who is and who was and who is to come,” then He must also be the Resurrection that is, the Resurrection, that was, and the Resurrection that is to come. Amen? And this is what I want to talk to you about today on this Resurrection Sunday. I want to talk to you today about the three resurrections – the resurrection that was, the resurrection that is, and the resurrection that is to come.  

So let’s begin with the resurrection that was … 

THE RESURRECTION THAT WAS

The resurrection that was is the resurrection that most of us have already experienced – the new birth. This, of course, is a reference to our salvation experience when we came to the Lord. 

Sadly, most Christians are not aware of what transpired on the day that they were saved. Many do not see themselves as any different. But the truth is, something very significant took place in your spirit when you called on the name of the Lord.

The Bible calls it being born again. Now what it means to be born again is where the ignorance lays. This is where new life was given to the eternal part of us. In other words, it is where the Lord raised our spirit from the dead.


In fact, what we symbolically do through water baptism is a perfect representation of what happens at the new birth – for baptism is simply the outward expression of what took place inside of us when we called on the name of the Lord. Yes, our old man is buried with baptism into death and the new man is raised up (i.e. resurrected) to new life (See Romans 6:4-5)! 

Therefore, “the resurrection that was” is when our spirit was resurrected from the dead by the glory of the Father. This is to be the first resurrection that takes place in our lives – being born again, raised to a new life in Him. 

But what is also important to understand is that Jesus’ resurrection was pertinent to our salvation. Without it, we could not even have the opportunity to be born again, and without believing in it, we likewise cannot be born again.

We see this in First Peter 1:3 when the Apostle Peter said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 

The phrase “begotten us again” is referring to the new birth. So how does Peter say that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “begot us again”? It was through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 
This is such an important part of our faith. As a matter of fact, Jesus’ resurrection is the most important event of our faith. Yes, even more than His birth (Christmas) and the Cross (Good Friday). Now, of course, these other two events were absolutely necessary for what God desired to accomplish for us, but if Jesus would have just been born and then just went to the Cross, our faith would be futile. There had to be a resurrection!
You see, without the resurrection of Christ, there would be no hope for us. First Corinthians 15:17 says that if Christ was not raised from the dead, we would still be in our sins. Even if Jesus went to the Cross, took all of our sins upon Himself, and suffered for us, we still could not ever have been born again until He was raised from the dead! The resurrection of Christ is what sealed the deal for our spirits to be raised from the dead. Amen!  
Far too many Christians stay at the Cross – meaning, they embrace what Jesus did for them through His passion, but they never leave the Cross and experience the power of His resurrection! We should identify with His resurrection!
But my point is that the Resurrection that was, is the giving of new life to our spirit man – that is, it is the resurrection of our inward man.  
THE RESURRECTION THAT IS TO COME
But there is also a resurrection which is to come: This, of course, is referring to the resurrection of our outward man on that great and glorious Day when Jesus splits those eastern skies and comes to claim His promised kingdom! 
The apostle Paul teaches us this in First Thessalonians 4:14-18 where he says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

The apostle John gives us more wonderful insight of what will happen to those who are alive and remain at that time. In First John 3:2, he says, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

What he was saying here was that right now, when just our spirit is raised from the dead, we are children of God, but it has not been revealed what we shall be when Jesus returns! But one thing we know from passages of Scripture like this one is that we shall be like Him. What is that referring to? It’s what Romans chapter 6 was talking about when it referred being in the “likeness of His resurrection.” Hallelujah! What an awesome promise! 

And so what we have the hope of is that one day – soon and very soon – we are going to have our physical bodies quickened. Yes, we are going to be raised up physically – those who sleep in Christ Jesus, will have their physical bodies resurrected, and those who are alive and remain, will also receive their glorified bodies. Both alike will receive the same resurrection that Jesus received, and we shall be like Him!

You see, I fear that we get so enthralled with what has already taken place in us through the new birth that we forget how much more glorious it will be when our body catches up to our spirit and we become like Jesus, in His resurrection! Oh, hallelujah! 

THE RESURRECTION THAT IS

But here is the main point that I feel the Holy Spirit wants us to take away from today – that Jesus is not just the resurrection that was and the resurrection that is to come; Jesus is also the resurrection that is! He is the Resurrection that AM! In other words, there is a resurrected life that is available and to be had by us today! 
Didn’t Hebrews 11:6 say that without faith it is impossible to please God “for he who comes to Him must believe that HE IS and that HE IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”? 
The writer of Hebrews did not say that God wants us to believe that He was or that He is to come… No, he said that we must believe that HE IS – that is, that He is who He says He is and that He’ll do what He said He will do. But even more than that, He is who He says He is and He’ll do what He said He will do NOW! In other words, He IS, right now, today all that He has said that He is! Glory! 
Well, God actually expects us to believe He is in the NOW and wants to reward, bless, heal, prosper, deliver, & honor us TODAY! God is waiting for His Church to get off their hands and start getting their hands on people to bring His kingdom to earth now.
And as I mentioned earlier, Jesus is not just the Great I was or the Great I am to come; He is the Great I AM! This means that He is in the NOW! His resurrection power can work in our lives now, today, in this very hour! It’s a resurrection power that is readily available to us TODAY!
We see this in Romans 8:9-11 when the apostle Paul tells us that the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies. This is in the now – not when Jesus returns. The Holy Spirit is alive and in our midst right now, and He wants to give life to our bodies today. Glory!   
Behold, today is the day of salvation (See Second Corinthians 6:2)! Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Today! The Lord wants you to experience eternal life today! He wants you to experience life and life more abundantly today. You don’t have to wait. You can be saved today. You can be healed today. You can be delivered today. Today is your day to experience the resurrection. 
FREEDOM TODAY!
This is exactly what we see in the story of Lazarus that we began looking at … 
John 11:38-44 continues saying, Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.’ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’”
To me, this is such a powerful example of the Lord’s will to see all of His people set free in every area of their lives today – not just spiritually and physically, but also in every part of our soul as well.  

You see, the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead is a type of our resurrection from the dead spiritually – how we became alive in our spirit when we received the Lord into our hearts. Well, notice how even after His resurrection that “he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.” 

You know, just because we have been raised from death to life through the new birth does not mean that we experience that same resurrection in our everyday lives. Many of us carry the residue of that old man into our new life. Many still have their hands bound, where they cannot do the things they want to do. Many still have their feet bound, where they cannot go where they want to go. Many still have their face wrapped up where their spiritual vision, sense, sight, and hearing are all impaired. In short, the vast majority of legitimately born-again believers are still wearing various “graveclothes” (unnecessarily, I might add). 

Well, the Lord’s next words in this account are extremely significant then … He said, “Loose him and let him go.” Glory to Christ! 

Friends, the Lord’s will is for all of His children to be loosed from our infirmities – whether that be weaknesses in our flesh, our body, or our soul. His will is for us to enjoy the liberation that Christ our Lord has purchased for us! Jesus tells us to let go of anything that keeps us from living for Him in power.  And he tells us to go and, in God's power, lose others from their bondage. Amen!   

Beloved, there is freedom found in this new life! No more bondage! No more identifying with our past! No more living under the law of sin and death! We are free – free to walk in His perfect liberty! 

Saints, we need to experience all three of these resurrections! Yes, it all starts with the resurrection that was – that is, being born again and saved – to where our spirit man is raised to a new life. And, yes, it will all be consummated with our physical bodies being raised up in the end. But it also includes every other area of our life that is in the present. He wants your entire soul to experience His resurrection life! Amen!