Children of Resurrection

When the Sadducees mock the idea of resurrection, Jesus turns their trap into a revelation of eternal life. In this message, Pastor Marshall shows how the resurrection fulfills, rather than abolishes, all earthly goods—including marriage—and how Christ unites body and soul in everlasting glory. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

Transcript

Gospel according to Luke. Now, I'm not going to be saying that much more. You see, it's. It's. We're turning to Matthew here very, very soon.

All right? That's. That's kind of the point of the changing of the seasons, as Emily mentioned earlier. So we will be having a seasonal change. But as you're turning To Luke, Chapter 20, we have been in this gospel for quite a while, and over the summer, really.

And now as we're entering into the fall season, we. We really have been journeying with Jesus from Luke 9, where he says, it says he set his face toward Jerusalem like nothing was going to get in his way of going to the cross for us. He knows that, not everybody else around him knows that. But he sets a TR. To Jerusalem, and we've been tracking with him.

We've just been journeying along. And on the way, as you've seen, he meets all sorts of people. And some challenge him, some he heals, some he gives parables to some very difficult parables that we've walked through, right? These teachings, these parables. And now I'm trying to locate you here in Luke 20.

Now he's in Jerusalem. He's already entered a lot of fanfare. He's very famous at this point. And everybody knows. It's like one of these things.

Everybody knows. This is really a showdown. Nobody's publicly announced it, but this is a showdown between the religious leaders and Jesus because the two ways are not compatible. And so we have here the chief priest first questioning the authority of Jesus soon as he gets there, okay? And that would, you know, that would make a lot of sense.

Here's the priest. They're supposed to be in charge of, like, doctrine. It's like if you started teaching something weird here, you know, I might have to get involved, right? And so it's like, you would expect that. So they step in.

By what authority now are you teaching these things? Right? And then the Pharisees and the Herodians, through the spies, they send these spies to him. You can read this all in Luke 20. Ask him this question.

Try to, you know, again, it's a technicality, right? They're trying to catch him in something to prove that he's wrong. That's the one about taxes, you know. And so now the third group comes, which is a different group than the chief priest and all this. And the Pharisees, because, remember, the Pharisees and the Sadducees do not get along.

They do not agree theologically. They have grave theological pun intended Grave theological differences. Because remember the Sadducees, they don't believe in the resurrection. Pharisees do. Sadducees do not.

Again, a grave difference between them. Now, let's look here at Luke 20, and we'll start in verse 27. Let's all stand for the reading of the Word, the Gospel text. This morning, some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question. Teacher Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.

Now, there were seven brothers. The first married and died childless. Then the second and third married her. And so, in the same way, all seven died childless. Finally, the woman also died in the resurrection.

Therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her. Jesus said to them, those who belong to this age, age, marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the. In the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Indeed, they cannot die anymore because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised, Moses himself showed in the story about the bush where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living, for to him, all of them alive. Jesus, thank you for your holy word. And we pray now, Lord, in this challenging text, that you would challenge us this morning with your word to us in this place, right here, in this room, Lord, we believe you have a word for us.

So, Lord, give us that word. We pray so that we can do it and obey. We pray in your name. Amen. You can be seated.

So Jesus here, in proper fashion, if you will, is being tested by the religious leaders as he comes into Jerusalem, which again, would be, wouldn't it, the center of theological religious power, right? And this is exactly where he's come to, is sort of, you know, we. We all joke, God's country, right? But this is literally sort of God's country. And he's here now and he's being tested.

This is not some casual conversation. This is not a question, by the way, either. That is curious, like I actually want to know. But rather it has one design, and that is to trap Jesus and to prove through an absurd argument, which is one way to prove something right, is by showing how absurd it is. So by showing how absurd it is to show finally that Jesus agrees with the Sadducees and not the Pharisees, that there actually cannot be a resurrection of the dead.

In fact, now remember who the Sadducees were. They actually were the wealthy, priestly, aristocratic, sort of in bed, if you will, with the Romans, because that's how they actually got their positions in the temple, okay? So they're very powerful. They actually, you know, are extremely wealthy as well here and controlled the temple system theologically. They only believed the Pentateuch was the final authority, okay?

So they distinguished the rest of the Old Testament books and landed on the fact that the Pentateuch alone really is purely from God with Moses as its recipient, right? So in other words, the law of Moses, they would have landed right there in those first five books and that's it. So, so if you can't. So in their mind, if you can't prove resurrection from the Pentateuch. Nah, not happening, right?

It's not doctrine for us. So they denied resurrection. I mean, where's that in the Pentateuch, in all those 613 laws and all the narrative of Genesis, right? Where are angels, you know, here? And so for them, there's no such thing as angels or spirits or any immaterial world.

Actually, there's just God. Now you can argue with them, that's fine, but that's what they believed. All right? And so Jesus coming into this, and their question comes from that sort of understanding. And so the argument runs like this.

You heard it. But let me just refresh it for you, because it's actually what they're using is scripture against Jesus. Okay? So now this happens sometimes with heretical teachings too, right? They're they based in some sort of scripture, right?

And so this is coming from Deuteronomy 25. Actually, it's this Leverite law. Do you remember this has nothing to do with the Levi's. Levirite is Hebrew for brother in law. Okay?

So just remember the Leverite law is literally dealing with a brother in law, because that's actually what it means here. So he says this. Seven brothers marry, one widow, they have no children. The stipulation for the brother in law marrying the widow was that there was no children. Okay?

So that's so like in a situation where there were already kids, that's not allowable. All right? Now I don't want to get too technical, but that's basically what's going on. And I know it's odd to us to say that it's actually a law of God that the brother in Law, okay, marry the widow. So in other words, if there's two brothers and one gets married and he dies, but no children, the other brother then marries that woman and gives her children and they're married.

Okay? And so, and thus continuing the name and also any benefits, let's say land wise or whatever from that. Now that sounds super weird to us, but there is a reason for it. So if the resurrection is real, then for them, they're saying, hang on, she's got seven husbands. So who's gonna be.

Is this polyandry? Is that what you're wanting to do? Jesus, Right? That's literally what they're asking. This is absurd, obviously.

So you can't say that there's a resurrection because we wouldn't know who here and who belongs to who. And so, because here's the thing, it's either in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, really polygamy or any form of polyandry, any form of multiple persons in a marriage is actually not the ideal. And the Bible discourages, allows for it in the Old Testament, does not allow for it in the New Testament and always discourages it even in the Old Testament. So now that's a complicated thing and we can talk about it more. But suffice it to say, that is the idea.

So even now, like first century here, when we land here, the Jews have a negative view toward being married to multiple people. Does that make sense? So they see this as a problem. Like that can't be, okay, so therefore resurrection is impossible because sin would be in heaven, Right? That's not possible.

Or it's just absurd to think such a thing. So they've taken a technicality of the law and blew it up into the worst sort of scenario, right? And then they said, basically, look, if earth just continues on into heaven and that's that, then you're left with some absurd conclusions, right? Which is true. And so you're thinking, man, this, this, wow.

What is Jesus going to do? Well, he answers in two ways. Number one, he says, you misunderstand heaven. This is a great point for us. He says, those who are considered worthy neither marry nor are given in marriage.

So the institution of marriage, hear me on this one, ends when we die and move on to heaven. Now some of you like, man, I kind of like my wife, you know, I kind of like my husband. I don't know that I really want this thing to end. Hold on. Keep that in the hopper.

Okay, that's great. That's a great problem to have, by the way, because Some people are like, lord, please come quickly. You know, you don't want to be those people. You'd rather be the other, right? Like, hey, I don't know that I like this.

Really. Jesus, can you help me out with this? I. I kind of like my spouse, right?

You see, in heaven, when we move from this life to the next, there's a higher pitch of reality, a different mode of existence. You see how words are failing me here. We're kind of talking. We're bumping up against things that we can't know, but can simply point to, so to speak. Analogically, if you will.

We can see something here that relates to what is to come, but it's not exact. It's like a sign, you know, like communion or a sacramental sign, like marriage itself, that points to another marriage. Remember Paul? He says, look, I know I'm talking about marriage here, but really what I'm talking about is. Is the marriage of Christ and his church.

That's what marriage points to. Just like then the laws in the Old Testament. You say people say this all the time. Well, you Christians just kind of pick and choose what you decide to do and obey in the book, in the Bible. Because, you know, the Bible says make sacrifice.

You don't do that anymore. Well, why don't we? It's very clear why we don't, actually. Because there's been one sacrifice for sin. And to say that an animal sacrifice compares to that one is absurd.

It's ludicrous. In fact, it's a slap in the face to God. It's a rolling things back and not forward. You see, the animal sacrifices were pointing toward a day when a truly innocent victim was murdered, was sacrificed in the place of me and you. You see?

So that when the real thing happens, we no longer need the sign. In other words, when you're already in Decatur, you don't need a sign saying you're in Decatur. The sign comes before Decatur, saying, 10 miles to Decatur. Because the sign always points to a reality. Everybody with me?

So Jesus says, you misunderstand. Because when we get there, marriage is not, notice, obsolete or abolished. Any kind of language like this, just like the law. Instead, it's fulfilled. We don't need it any longer.

Because now what it was pointing to is. Is in our face. In fact, what it was pointing to has now become reality for us, as we are one with Christ. So the oneness that is shown here, again, is analogous, notice, connected to the reality. Beyond that, we can't see.

So we have a little taste, a Foretaste of what is to come in a good marriage. That's what we have. And of course, marriage is a super important thing that has many laws around it because anything important is worth protecting.

So you say. I still don't, don't get it, Pastor. I'm with you. This helps me, okay? May not help you, but it helps me if I were to ask one of these little fellows down here, okay, maybe one of the ones that talk a lot, you know, let's say, and I were to ask them, I say, hey, would you want to go over there and kiss that little girl or you want some candy?

What do you think they're going to choose? It ain't going to be the little girl. Let me tell you hurt. Give me the candy, baby. You know, it's like right now, give them 16 years, right?

And you say, here's a piece of candy or you can go kiss that girl over there. Oh man. Now that's. Wow, that's a proposition, isn't it? Who would, who would choose the candy?

Okay, when we move on from even sex, everybody with me here, maybe perhaps one of the most pleasurable experiences that we as humans can experience. This oneness and connectedness when done correctly, as God says, even when we move on from that, it's like asking us in heaven again, would you rather have a piece of candy or your wife? I'm always going to choose my wife. And I'm always going to choose God over everything else. And when we've seen him, we move beyond it.

Not in a way that it's gross or bad or it was awful and now we've just improved. No, no, no, it was good. God says it's good. And we need to say that what God says is good is good. But we've now moved beyond it.

Candy's good, okay, in its own way, but there's something better than candy, and that's a person. And there's yet something better than the institutions that God himself provides for us. Marriage is not a human institution, which is why we can't vote on how we want to see it. But rather it is a God ordained institution that has one final end to point to him. That's it.

It's to point to him, which is why we can't twist things up or interchange even the sexes. Because God himself now took on human flesh as a man and says that we are his bride, not the other way around.

So now it's impossible to speak of reality again. In the image, we start convoluting and confusing the image. And then we don't have the scriptural revelation intact. We can't lose that. And that's why Christianity has fought so hard on things like marriage and absolutely should.

It's not our creation, it's God's. And it points to something that's not us, but God himself. Which means to God, we're all female, we're all his bride. Which means that even husbands now, you know, people misunderstand what Paul's doing there. That's why he says what he says.

He says, look, the husband is responsible finally in a marriage. Why? Why? Because he's in acting in the place of Christ. That's why.

But guess what? When Christ is there, there's no need to act in the place of Christ anymore. We all become submissive to him, his bride. Now, that's deep, but that explains a lot. If you actually ponder it for just a few minutes, and it doesn't get nasty with things.

It gets down to reality. And that's actually what Jesus is pointing to here. He keeps marriage intact, but says, look, we're moving beyond it. It's not that we don't need it here, okay, but it's that we're moving beyond it. From glory to glory, we can say.

And so the resurrection doesn't eliminate pleasure, it intensifies glory. So pleasure is something good, right? But it's not the highest good. If you were to only seek pleasure, okay? Even in a marriage, if you were to only seek pleasure, that is a vice.

It's not virtue.

They also, Jesus says, not only misunderstand heaven, but they misunderstand Moses. Now, he's going to use their own scripture, right, the Pentateuch, against them by going straight to Exodus 3. All right? And he says this. Remember the burning bush?

Of course. Like Seminole, you know, where we get God's name, Yahweh. Right? That's. That's where all that happens.

And it's given to Moses. He says, right, Right. So. So get this. Here's what Moses believed.

He believed. Let's just read it right here. He says, in fact, the debt that the dead are raised. Moses himself showed you. So he's like, I don't.

I'm not sure what the problem is here in the story about the bush where he speaks of the Lord, that's Yahweh as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. J. Now, he is God, not of the dead, but of the living. For to him, all of them are love. In other words, he's not the great I was, but the great I am, he's not.

He used to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And now they're toast and annihilated and extinguished. But rather is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now we just came out of all saints day, right? Which is when we remember that to God all persons are present to him he doesn't see like we do, past, present and future.

Everything is present tense to him. I think some of you in your CS Lewis class this morning went over just that point. So God cannot be the God of corpses. It's ridiculous and they know that, okay, when he says this, it's like one of those moments where your heart sinks. Oh shoot, I'm actually wrong.

In fact, right after we didn't read on to the next few verses. But basically what happens is the scribes come up to him, you know, because they were listening and remember they're lawyers, like experts of the law. And they say that was actually a really good, good answer, Jesus. And then it says, and the Sadducees no longer ask him any more questions.

Okay? Abraham still lives and resurrection is built into the covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In other words, it's still operating even to this day because there's eternal covenant. Because to God all people are alive. Alright, now there's three terms for God that he uses here that are instructive for us.

I am. He's the great I am Yahweh. Right, the ever living God. He's the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Secondly, he's the eternal covenant partner.

And then finally he's the God of the living and not the dead. So God refuses to let death have the last word. Isn't that what we always symbolize with the cross? You see now, now get this. This is going to blow your socks off, I think.

Let's go to that Job reading. I know that Derek wanted to say much more than what he was allowed to say because we're just supposed to read the Jackson and. But, but notice these words here. Oh, now remember this is in the throes, the deep throes of Job's suffering. And you know, Job lost it all, man.

Like he lost all his material goods. Just stop and think about that for a sec. Everything that you own materially, that is done. Okay? Then he lost all of his children in one day.

All of his children, Boom. Your whole progeny gone. And you say yeah Pastor, but he has his wife. Well let's talk about his wife. Did she really help that much in Fact, she basically says to him, job, listen, it's obvious God doesn't like you.

Why don't you just curse him and die and get it over with? I'm tired of hearing your complaining.

And then his friends, you say, well, Pastor, he's got friends. Oh, yeah, let's talk about those friends, right? They just are harping on. I mean, it wearies me just reading it, right? They don't help.

He says. Now, he says, in the middle of all of that, just think about that. The middle of all that confusion and all these varying ideas that we can go down this road with suffering. And, you know, Job, surely you did something to deserve this, buddy. Oh, that my words were written down.

Yes. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book. Yes. Give us that book. Oh, that.

With an iron pen and with lead. They were engraved on a rock forever, like the Rock of Ages, let's say. Rotten his hands and feet. For I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last, you can say, last day, he will stand upon the earth.

Now, let's just stop there for just a second. Job is the oldest book we have in the Bible, more than likely. Okay, best we can tell, there's not a hint of Israelite religion. There's not a hint of the Law, of Moses. There's not a hint of Abrahamic sacrifices.

There's not a hint of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, nobody. There is no temple language. There's no sacrificial, proper language, priestly, kingly, nothing. It's missing at all. It's probably the oldest book.

Now, with. With that in mind, just think about that for a second. The oldest book in the Bible is proclaiming to us in the deep suffering of Job, that there is a redeemer that lives beyond Job's own death. There's a redeemer that lives. Notice, notice.

And one day that redeemer is going to stand on the earth. That's indicative of a body which is kind of a prophecy about Jesus.

And in those ways, he says, and after my skin has thus been destroyed, after my skin has rotted away, then in my flesh I will see God.

Huh? Now, how could you do that unless there was resurrection? He believes in it, and it gives him hope. In the depths of suffering, in the depths of confusion, he believes, and it gives him hope to live by. And he says, and when I see him, he's going to be on my side.

That's a good thought, isn't it? That God is on your side. That's a really good thought. And my eyes shall Behold him, not another. Notice my eyes.

It's not hearsay. Oh, I heard him, I saw him. Like even what we get in the Gospels, right? Matthew saw him. And now every human person that has ever lived will see him, Every one of them.

In a resurrected body, you say, Pastor, I didn't think that the wicked resurrected read Revelation a little more carefully. Then everybody resurrects some to eternal bliss with God, eternal happiness and beatitude, and others to eternal destruction. But in a glorified body or, well, in a resurrected body. Let me back up on that one. The glorified part is for those who are going on to glory from glory.

Everybody gets resurrected in the general resurrection, which is what they're arguing about here. And what Jesus coming back and saying, no, absolutely there is a resurrection. And this Lev right law again, dealing with brother in law is not just to fix loneliness. It's not, oh, here's the poor widow and we got to give her somebody. Okay.

It was to defy death. It was that the name of that fellow that died, unfortunately, just like in Ruth's example, remember that. That actually the name of her husband continues beyond his death. So here the Sadducees are actually using a law that was actually pointing toward resurrection in its own way. And then you get Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We where the covenant is resurrection again from these three. And particularly so we often call God the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So what does this mean then? It means this. There is no physicalism for us as Christians.

That is to say, if you just think that the material world is all there is and there is nothing spiritual, that is not biblical, period. Okay, so people call it materialism or physicalism. It's saying that the body is all there is. So just try to take in as much as you can, because 70 ish years and that's gonna be it. Wrapping it up and you're annihilated, you're done.

Now, of course, if you've ever been to a funeral, have you ever lost someone you love, it doesn't feel like that, does it? And isn't that curious? Like, I'm talking about across the board, across. Across centuries, across millennia, from tribal groups to civilized groups, it's all the same thing. We think Grandma's watching.

Remember, tribal groups always were worried about the ancestors. Why? Because even when they die, they don't really feel like they're completely gone. That's why you get, you know, yesterday I didn't watch much football, but guaranteed whoever was afterwards. Yeah.

I just want to thank my grandma for watching, you know, it's like, how do you know she's watching? Everybody does it. I mean, it's just this interesting subjective feeling that's pointing to reality. And that is, we all really know that there's more than just the physical world, but it's also correcting us against dualism, which is an old thing that's still hanging around today, which is to say the body is bad, your spiritual self is good. This is where the occult comes from.

And New Age stuff and Gnosticism back in the day, it's a split between matter and spirit. Matter is evil, material existence is evil, and the spirit is good. So go after the spiritual because your body means nothing. Like, all this stuff means nothing. Again, we can't go there.

Why? Why? Well, number one, you read the Old Testament, it's a very bodily religion. You're going here, you're demanded to go there. You're actually told to do this with your body and that with your body.

Okay? But more than that, simply put, Jesus. Jesus takes on a body. Not to say, yeah, let's just get rid of this thing finally, and we're done with that. No, no, he takes it on, raises it, glorifies it, and is still in that body.

In other words, the immaterial spiritual God is now joined with humanity forever in a body as a human Jesus. What a thought that is, by the way. That's the core of the gospel. You know, like, that shouldn't be really hard for us. I mean, it is hard to understand, I get that.

But it should be second nature when we're talking about Jesus. Okay, so we can't be dualist either where soul matters but body doesn't. It absolutely matters. And listen, this is the anthropological problem right now in our own, isn't it? I mean, the whole idea about identity right now is that I'm in here and I'm somebody completely different than my body.

That's a problem. That's not a good thing. And you say, well, but you don't understand psychology. I don't have to understand all of psychology. I understand quite a bit, but I don't have to, because here they're supposed to be one, not divided.

You're living in that body. And Paul says you're to bring the body under submission. You are like the you in there. In other words, your soul, your person.

This is literally applicable to our children who want to divide what is material from what is spiritual, identity from body. But the body has been given by God and is good.

Now all of us have Problems with our body. Can I get an amen? Everybody can agree with that one. Yes, it's okay. Okay, I get it.

And we all have unfortunately addicted our bodies to certain things. And it absolutely shapes the soul. So it's not a one sided thing. It's not. Your soul's completely in control.

It's gonna be an easy thing. No, no, listen. And some of what has been done to your bodies, some of our bodies, we didn't ask for. Let's get real right here. There's real hurting people inside because of what's been done to their body by others.

And the Bible says that's a great evil. But listen, body and soul, they go together. They go together so much that even when we die and shed this body, we get it back because of Jesus.

And that's his plan, which means the body is ultimately good.

Now if that doesn't convict you, then you're just not really listening. It should convict all of us because whether it's pleasure or like sexual pleasure or food or whatever it is that we have issues with, like those things God wants to help us with and they actually shape us.

And listen, we don't need to look down the aisle. When you look inside, Lord help us. Okay? Now, Christian resurrection then, is body and soul united in glory. It's the final solution.

Remember, our last enemy is death, but it also leads to not life. There is no resurrection without death. You must first die and then the resurrection. So God is going to raise our bodies.

And that's why Jesus says marriage like it's coming to its final end. Now, I've been thinking about this all week because in our small group, we actually looked at this text last Sunday. So it's been on my mind and I keep thinking about my precious wife Jessica. And I'm like, you know, I don't know that I really want to, like, lose what I have here. And I get that, like I'm talking to myself, I get that.

I feel that pain, right? Because I like what we have. However, as I even looked at our relationship, I need her for certain things in my life. Anybody that knows me knows this very well. I call her name just as much as the kids do, you know, they say mom, I say Jessica, right?

I mean, people make fun of me how much I say Jessica because I need her, okay? That pools on her, you see, that's something that will be done away with in heaven. The obligation even, okay, to serve one another over you is done away with. When we come to the end of that, it's not that it's a bad thing. Now we are supposed to put each other before other people.

Like that's actually what's supposed. Even before our own kids. They need that. Kids need that strength, knowing that they don't even have to worry about their parents. What a beautiful gift to give them.

Okay, but the greater point here is this. The symbol now, which is marriage is complete. It's completed. Because now we are married to Christ. That is the end of all mankind, brothers and sisters, is to be united with him.

I heard this thing. It said, it's as if our marriage is like walking down. Walking each other down the aisle to meet Jesus. That's an interesting. You know, I think that works.

I think that we're all helping one another, whether married, whether single, whether we're all helping one another get to our true husband. Notice, not true wife, not confusing here. True husband. And that husband is Jesus. And that husband will be faithful for all of eternity.

So that means if my marriage is good, which it is, it's very good, then it's gonna be even greater when I get to heaven. I wasn't down in the dumps this week. Oh, man, you know, I hate to get to heaven because I'm gonna miss just. No, no, no. I get Jessica.

And more. Because now I'm united to the beautiful one who created marriage.

What a thought that is. This is why C.S. lewis, in a grief observed, says, you are not, in fact, her owner. He was thinking about his marriage when his wife Joy, remember, died. He says, I came to the realization that I'm actually not her owner.

I don't own Jessica. I don't own my kids. I don't own this congregation. I am a steward. You were only entrusted with her.

What if we saw it like. What if we saw each other this week like this? That love in this life is a charity to be stewarded, not a possession to be kept.

I never owned her to begin with. She's God's child. And if you notice a couple different times in this text, child is mentioned. Children of the resurrection, children of God. And it's showing the point, which I said last week, I think, before, she's my wife.

Or maybe I said my small group before she's my wife. She's actually my sister in Christ, and I better treat her like that.

So how does this hope strike you today? If nothing else, if you have children, we need to make sure they're not little dualists. I'm serious. Like, it may sound like a. Oh, you're just trying to be Fancy and like theological and whatever.

How many have died because they've been told the false lie of this life? How many have taken their life because they were told you can become whatever you want to become in your head to mutilate the good body that God has given you? How many.

Listen, the good news is here, but are we proclaiming it? How many times when somebody says, man, I just going through this great amount of suffering, we just say, I'll pray for you, rather than offering a picture of what is to come. Listen, we need to sit in that picture just a little bit. I think that's my hope. We need to let that picture of the next reality we're moving to, to our true husband.

We need to let that saturate our actions even this week. And people who are going through a tough time, we need to offer that hope. Like say, I don't know what to do in your situation. That sounds awful, terrible, but I know Job and he believed in a redeemer and he believed he'd see God and be vindicated by that God on earth, like not in some world to come on earth. Now, that's what I'm saying is we're not waiting.

Oh, yeah, we're just waiting around. I don't know what to do. No. Now experience this resurrection life. Now experience this hope.

And it is real hope, brothers and sisters. And our kids need to know it.

That's a lot of, lot of stuff to navigate. And really it's impossible for us to do. That's why we need to pray now for His Holy Spirit to come, because he comes and whispers to us who we really are. Nobody can know who they really are. Everybody questions who they are.

That's not new.

And we must not listen to that devil liar. We need to listen to the greatest spirit ever that can come into our own souls today and make us new, align us to his purposes. What a gospel. What a God. What a God that has allowed you to steward your marriages, your relationships, your singleness.

He asked you to bear that and to steward that. Well, your children, he gave them to you to steward.

Let's do it with the hope that we have here that he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and to him all of them are alive. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, help us. Amen.