Mike Bickle emphasizes the significance of Jesus as the 'firstborn from the dead' in his sermon on the resurrection, highlighting that this title encapsulates Jesus' supreme authority over the resurrection realm. He explains that the resurrection is not just a future event but a present reality for believers, as they experience the Holy Spirit's transformative power in their lives. Bickle elaborates on the multifaceted implications of Jesus' resurrection, including the promise of believers receiving glorified bodies and the restoration of creation. He encourages the congregation to recognize their participation in this glorious narrative and the hope it brings for the future. Ultimately, Bickle calls for a response to Jesus' invitation to embrace this new life and relationship with Him.

Verse 5, as we celebrate the resurrection on this Easter Sunday morning, but of course we want to celebrate the reality of the resurrection every day because we are participating in the firstfruits of it, in the down payment of it now. From the day that we're born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and that whole resurrection life begins. It's small measure, but it's real. It's not something that just begins in the age to come. Well here in Revelation chapter 1 verse 5, I want to highlight one of the titles of Jesus that captures the ideas related to the glory of the resurrection better than any other phrase or title I believe in the entire Word of God. And it's the title of Jesus as the firstborn from the dead. It's a multifaceted idea. It's glorious. Well John, he begins the book of Revelation in chapter 1 verse 1 and he says, I want you to know this whole book is a revealing of the beauty and the glory of Christ Jesus. The book of Revelation is not mostly God's plan, but it's the man behind the plan. It's a revelation of a man. And yes, we gain insight into him by seeing what his plans are for the end of the age. And so that's chapter 1 verse 1 qualifies the book as an expose, I mean not an expose, an elaboration of who the glory of Jesus is. Then here in verse 5, I see John exploding with this threefold statement about Christ that can easily be overlooked or passed over. But it's this threefold titles that are clustered together in a very important way here in chapter 1 verse 5. He said Jesus, number one, he's the faithful witness. Number two, he's the firstborn from the dead. Number three, he's the ruler of the kings of the earth. And the dominating idea there, the primary idea in my opinion, is Jesus as the firstborn from the dead. Now again, that's a title that has many implications to it. What it means is firstborn, that was a idea that the Jewish community understood well in the Old Testament. Firstborn was a very familiar idea and all the ideas associated with that were familiar to them. The Gentile or the Greek culture, this was a new idea they didn't quite understand. And so John, he explodes as this volcanic declaration about Jesus. He is the firstborn among the dead, the firstborn from the dead. And what it's stating here is that he's the one that has supreme authority over the whole realm of the resurrection. As firstborn, it means he's first in authority over the whole realm of the resurrection. Now the realm of the resurrection is bigger than us having a resurrected body. The realm of the resurrection includes us having a physical body with supernatural properties. Now you understand that the resurrection is a physical body like the one you have now, but all the qualities and the properties of the glory of the resurrection, the supernatural realm. But the resurrection realm is bigger than a new body, a glorious body. The realm of the resurrection is a new earth. This natural created order transformed by the power of the resurrection, a new atmosphere. The realm of the resurrection has many dimensions to it. And so here at the beginning of the Revelation, John makes this volcanic declaration. I can just see him exploding. There's one man. He's the firstborn. He's the supreme ruler over this entire realm. And of course, God's idea, his plan, we know, we're familiar with it, is to bring the whole realm of heaven, the heavenly realm, the supernatural realm, and join it together with the natural realm. That was always God's intention, that it would be heaven on earth together forever. The full merger of the natural and the supernatural on this earth. Some people have the idea that the heavenly realm or the age to come is this kind of ethereal kind of we're all spirit and we're just kind of floating around. No, no. Heaven's coming down to the earth. The realm of the resurrection is coming down to this earth. And there's one man that is the supreme authority over that realm. There's one man that possesses all of the power of the resurrection and he dispenses it and he imparts it and it comes from him. This is the most remarkable statement that a man could be fully God and have this ability that both of the realm of the natural and the supernatural would be fully brought together in a man and then imparted and dispensed to the entire created order. All of this is understood by this messianic title of Jesus, the firstborn from the dead. He's first in authority. He's first in prominence. He's first in privilege. He's first in timing, meaning he was the first man, the first human to ever have resurrection qualities and properties with his physical body. He's the first source. He's the first cause, the first reason for all of this. All of these are combined in the idea of being the firstborn. Now the book of Revelation really is an elaboration of Jesus in this exalted capacity and this place of power and honor. I mean the whole book is unfolding this reality of this man. Now notice it says he's the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. He couldn't be, he couldn't rule the kings of the earth unless he had all the power of the resurrection in him and the ability to dispense it. I mean you can't rule all the kings of the earth. That would be an impossible task unless you have that kind of capacity and that kind of ability. So it's these ideas are combined together. Being the supreme ruler over the realm of the resurrection is what enables him to be the ruler over the kings of the earth. And again the whole book of Revelation unfolds this primary storyline. Now the Bible calls, speaks of the glorious hope. There's a glorious hope and the glorious hope is a man that's coming. We know it's Jesus. He's coming as king but he's coming as more than a man and he's coming as more than king. He's coming as the supreme ruler over the realm of the resurrection as well. That's what makes his humanity so unique and that's what makes his kingship so powerful. He's coming as the leader over the realm of the resurrection. That's the man that's coming and when he comes he's going to raise all the redeemed family from history. Every redeemed, every believer from history, they're all going to receive the resurrection body and they're going to have a physical natural body with these qualities that are corresponding to Jesus's body. And when he comes he's going to do the same thing to the earth. And so what John's saying is we're not talking about just a man coming. We're not just talking about a king coming. We're not just talking about someone forgiving you coming, a Savior. We're not talking about someone who just heals. We're talking about the supreme authority, the preeminent ruler over the whole realm of the resurrection is the man who is the king who is coming. Remember paragraph B, here in Psalm 89, the Lord gave prophecies over David and over his descendant. There was one descendant of David. Of course we know it's Jesus. And the spirit of prophecy made clear that his distant son, nobody knew who the son was. It would be the Messiah. They didn't know at that time it was Jesus of Nazareth because this is a thousand years before the Incarnation. But in Psalm 89, the Messiah, the Messianic King is described very clearly as the firstborn, as the ruler of the kings of the earth, and as the faithful witness. And so John here in Revelation 1 verse 5, he's tying into that in a very intentional specific way. And he says Jesus is that man and all of his other qualities flow out of this reality. Paragraph C, Paul elaborates on this idea that John the Apostle says in Revelation 1. Paul says this, listen to this very full, multifaceted ideas here in Colossians 1 verse 15 to 18. Jesus, number one, he's the firstborn over all creation. Verse 16, by him all things were created. Verse 18, he's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in him all things, no, that in all things he might have preeminence. Now what's Paul saying here? Now Paul, being raised in a Jewish culture and tradition, he understands the multifaceted ideas behind the term firstborn. He knows it's more than just the first one chronologically that's born. He knows it's way bigger than that. It's the heir. It's the preeminent. It's the chief authority. It's the one of primary privilege, unique from all of the others is the idea. But Paul knows that his Gentile or Greek readers of this are maybe not so familiar as the Jew, those with the Jewish heritage. So Paul says, let me break this down for you. And he uses the term firstborn. He uses it twice. And he's unpacking the one idea in a more complete way. Verse 15, he says he's the firstborn over all creation. Now some of the Gentiles misunderstand that and they think he's the first one born. Meaning they said, wow, he's a created. Jesus, Paul says, no, no, no, no. He's not created. He is the creator. He's not first in chronology in that sense. He's first in authority and preeminence and power. He goes on in verse 16 to explain. He goes, let me tell you. He goes, don't be confused. He's not created. He is the creator with the Father and the Spirit. In verse 16, by him all things were created. He is the beginning. And the beginning meaning not that he had a beginning. He's at the, he's the beginning of the rule, the government over the earth. He is at the top of the list is the idea. Then it goes on and he says the same idea but in a different angle. He said he's the first born from the dead. Again quoting Psalm 89, the passage I talked about a moment ago, the same one that John the Apostle, they're going back to Psalm 89, which is the messianic king, ruler over the earth, first born from the dead and the faithful witness. He's the first in purpose. He's the first in cause. He's the source. He is the very source of the power. Paragraph D, I give a few more ideas. He occupies the first place. He's the most beautiful, the most stunning, dazzling man that will ever walk this earth. I love Psalm 45 where they declare the psalmist, you are more beautiful than all of the sons of humanity. The radiance of his glory. Who he is in his person, physically as well as spiritually, as well as internally his character. He is more beautiful than any man that would ever walk the earth. When he comes and his resurrected body is the idea. Now the firstborn here in paragraph D speaks much more of his majesty and sovereignty than it does chronology. Paragraph E. Now Paul, he makes a very dramatic statement related to the resurrection. He goes, let me tell you one of the implications about the resurrection. He goes, when God raised Jesus from the dead, God was making a public statement about who Jesus is. The resurrection has many implications, but one of the implications, the father from heaven was making a public statement on the earth about his son. And Paul says this, he was declared, openly declared, to be the son of God, to be fully God. He was declared with power. It's not just that God verbalized it, God demonstrated it with witnesses, human witnesses saw the demonstration and they were witnesses of the demonstration. I mean God could have simply said, which he did on a couple other occasions, this is my son, my beloved, and left it there. But he says no, I'm gonna make a bigger statement that's simply to utter the truth. I'm gonna give a display of power in the presence of witnesses that is so unique, so dramatic. I'm gonna raise him from the dead and show people in the natural realm, I mean people alive at that day, I'm gonna show them what I think about my son. He's more than fully man. That's Romans chapter 1 verse 3, the verse before. He's more than fully man, he's fully God. He's more than the Messianic King, the descendant of David, that Psalm 89 was talking about. He's more than the hope of Israel as the Messiah, he is fully God. He's uncreated. He is my son. And so he raised him from the dead. Now look at the verse in 1st Corinthians 15, verse 4. Jesus rose again on the third day. He was seen by Peter, then he was seen by the twelve together. But verse 6 is what I want you to really catch notice of. After that, he was seen by 500 people all in one gathering. Now let's look at verse 4. This simple statement. He rose again. So dramatic. Now remember the resurrection of Jesus is not a resuscitation from death. We know the story of Lazarus. He died. He'd been in the grave four days he'd been dead. Jesus came to his town and raised him from the dead. But technically that was a resuscitation by a supernatural act of God. I mean it was a supernatural power, but Lazarus' physical body did not have supernatural qualities after that miracle. He still died a few years later. Lazarus was not a resurrection in the ultimate sense of which we talk of it. Again, his physical body did not have any supernatural properties when he was raised. And he died a few years later. But in verse 4, this is one, this is, I mean the most, I mean right at the top, I don't know, I mean besides the incarnation, this is the most dramatic advancement of the human story, of the human order. It's an advancement for the human race. A human being with a physical body has supernatural properties in his physical body. But he's not only possessing them himself, he is the first fruits and the firstborn. The two ideas we merge together or we combine them together to get the full picture. He's gonna bring billions into the quality of the glory of that experience. Now when somebody gets raised from the dead, no, I mean at the resurrection, we're talking about their real body is raised out of the grave. Now all through history when somebody dies, after a little short period of time, their body decays and there's little invisible fragments and traces of their body. I mean, I mean not discernible by the, by the naked eye. But their DNA is actually still on the earth. Their spirit went to be with God in heaven. But their body is still in the ground, decayed, decomposed. And it's from that very DNA that's on the earth, that's still on the ground or in the sea, God supernaturally takes that and raises up a physical body from the very substance of that person's former body. So it's not just on the last day we get a body, you get the body you have now but in perfection of glory. You have the same DNA. You're the same person. You'll recognize each other in the resurrection. You'll have the same personality. I'm talking about the, the, the positive qualities brought to fullness. Koreans will still be Koreans. Africans will be Africans. The Jews will still be the Jews. Jesus will be Jewish forever. My heritage is mostly German. The Germans will still be Germans. Oh my, that's a good thing. But this is a remarkable reality. 500 people witnessed this man right in front of them with a physical body. They'd never seen anything like this. This has never happened in history ever before. Before or after that. Now people might have a vision, a handful of people, a large gathering might see an open vision of something. I don't know how, you know, all the record of history on all of that. But we're not talking about a vision of Jesus. We're talking about the actual physical presence in front of 500 people standing there. Recognizable with bones, with flesh, with supernatural qualities right before them. Now one of the proofs of the resurrection, and there's quite a few actually, I don't want to take time to go on that right now, but there's quite a bit written on historical proofs of the resurrection. It's not just purely all hearsay by faith. There's a certain logic that unfolds when you do the research on it. I've done that over the years and it's quite compelling. But one of the points that is often mentioned is the radical transformation of cowardly men into fearless, bold in the presence of death. Fearless and bold in the presence of death. I mean right before martyrdom, they are in this place where they're unwavering. They're unwavering right before the threat of even being killed and persecuted. And the reason, because they testify they saw the risen Christ. And so some people said, well they just all got together and had a cleverly devised tale. They wanted to start this new religion, religious movement. But beloved, a group of leaders that are all fleeing in fear, cowards, overcome with fear, are not suddenly emboldened in the face of martyrdom, unwavering, unflinching, unless they saw what they testified that they saw. And of course this story has been multiplied, this testimony throughout history. Throughout history, they have many people who have experienced the Lord in a deep and a profound way and have seen evidences of the resurrection. The Lord's even from the Word and even visitations to them. They're bold before death because they've seen and they know and they believe. They know by the Holy Spirit and the Word or some people have been blessed by even encounters with the Lord. But the idea that 500 believers at one time, the Lord says, I demonstrated in power who my son is. No man has ever had the witness, the public validation of 500 people seeing them in their physical body together. 500 people of different personalities, different backgrounds, undoubtedly different social statuses, all of that. They all saw it together and they lived in the power of that testimony throughout their lives. That was a down payment because at the second coming, every eye, billions will see at the second coming what those 500 saw. But the Lord says, I've never done this for a man before. I've never associated a miracle of this magnitude with another man's validation. But my son is different. Because when he died, the final word from man was that he was a religious heretic, is what the Jewish leader said. And Rome saw him as an insurrectionist, a rebel against the Empire. He died as a criminal of the state. And the father says, that's not the final word. I have another word about my son. And he stands in his physical body by the permission of the father before 500 people and individuals as well. And the father says, I've shown with power openly and gave witness. And those folks spread that news throughout the entire Roman Empire. Look at paragraph F, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20. God the Father raised him from the dead. And he was seated. God the Father raised him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand, far above all principalities and power and might and dominion. Now this statement, verse 20, he was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God the Father. It's a remarkable statement. I mean, an angel can't be seated in God's presence. No angel has ever been described as seated in God's presence. No man has ever been described in the Bible as entering the royal court of God the Father. Let alone a man entering it, he could never get access to it. It's out of reach. It's impermissible. It's never happened in terms of biblical record. This man, in a resurrected body, here's what happens. He bursts forth from the grave with his same physical body, but supernatural properties. And in his physical body, he ascends through the heavens. I mean, not a visionary encounter. In actual, his physical body ascends. The demonic powers in the second heavens cannot stop him. He gets into the realm of the heavenly realm, the third heavens. He marches right into the Father's royal court. No man has ever done this. The Father openly welcomes him, and Jesus sits at the Father's right hand, which means it speaks of the permanency of what Jesus has accomplished and the status that He possesses. There'll never be a struggle again. There'll never be any kind of successful resistance or challenge to His authority at all. He's seated. It is finished. The victory is won. It's not just that our forgiveness is finished. That is true. It's bigger than our forgiveness, beloved. Forgiveness is important. I mean, I love being forgiven and escaping the judgment of hell. I really like that. I really do. But that's not the ultimate point of salvation. So those are, Jesus just removed the obstacles for which salvation is about. Salvation is about us in relationship and partnership with Him and enjoying Him forever and partnering Him together and being in His family. That's what salvation is about. Encountering Him, enjoying Him, partnering, being together with Him forever. That's what salvation is all about. Well, He is seated at the right hand. Never ever to be challenged. And He's, verse 21, Ephesians 1, He's far above, far above all demonic principalities. That's demonic powers of the highest level in the dark realm. He's far above all powers. He's far above all might. He's far above all dominion. He's far above any name. Now this power and might, He's above the power and the might of humans, all humans, all angels, all demons, good power, bad power, spiritual power, natural power, the power of creation, the most violent hurricane. Nothing can stop Him at all. He's far above all of it. When the storm broke out, He just said, silent. And the storm was silent. The storm had no power over Him. No man, demon, angel, no realm of power can challenge or touch His authority. He's far above. It's not like He ran the race against darkness and at the very end He leaned forward at the finish line and kind of edged out the devil. Beloved, He's far above. He can whisper a word. The glance of His eye is all that it takes. Matter of fact, on the last day of this age, when He stands before the Antichrist and the Antichrist has rallied the nations together at the Battle of Armageddon and Jesus faces the Antichrist, 2nd Thessalonians 2, I love this verse, verse 8. It says that Jesus stands before Him and He gazes at Him and then He breathed on Him and it's over. The most powerful man in human history on the dark side ever that could not be destroyed or prevailed over by any armies of the earth. Jesus doesn't even have to say a word. He looks at Him and by the gaze of His face and by the breath of His mouth utterly destroys the most powerful force that Satan could raise up from the human race. Utterly inability, I mean unable to challenge the Lord Jesus. He's far above. Now what's happening? There's a man up there. This is the most remarkable implication for us. The very presence of this man so exalted. I don't mean he's just king of the nations. He's more than king of the nations. There could be a man king of the nations without having all of this in his resume. He's more than king of the nations. He's the chief authority, the supreme authority of the whole realm of the resurrection. More than that. He's fully God. He's at the Father's right hand seated. It's all done. And when we see a man in that position so exalted, it gives us tremendous insight into the Father's plans for the human race. When we see a man there, he's beckoning the human race. I won this victory. Come and follow me. Billions of you. I'm the first fruits. I'm the beginning. I'm gonna bring you into the glory of this realm and into this relationship. He's up there, so to speak, lobbying for the human race. He's not up there lobbying for angels. That's not the best word. But he's there before the Father saying, Father, bring the human race with me. That's what this is about. And one or two billion through history will be a part of that grand company from the beginning to the to the day of the second coming and right through the Millennial Kingdom. Look at top of page 2. Jesus was the first man to have a resurrected body. 1st Corinthians chapter 15. 1st Corinthians chapter 15, it says that he's risen from the dead. And he's become the first fruits. Now, first fruits is a different word than firstborn. But the two ideas are combined together to get the larger storyline of what Jesus is about. And beloved, this isn't just his story. Because of the kind of man he is, it's our story. Meaning, I've been talking the last few weeks about gratitude and not being lost in the struggle of the small bubble of our own pain and even goals and agendas and opportunities that are positive and good. But there's a bigger storyline. There's a divine narrative over our life. We're a part of something far bigger than what we're accomplishing in our spheres or what we're struggling with in our 70 years on the earth. There's a far bigger storyline that's your story. I've been talking about gratitude, being able to tap into that storyline, align ourself with it and make that the dominant story of your life and make the struggles that we have as well as the opportunities important to face in a right way but to make it secondary. It's not the main narrative of our life. And when I see this reality of who Jesus is and the Lord would say, this is your story. We're in this together. We're in this together. He's the firstfruits. Now in the, again, the Jewish culture, firstborn, firstfruits, well-known ideas to the people of Israel through the Old Testament days. But again, the Gentile, the Greek culture might not have understood it so clearly. But the firstfruits were offered to the Lord. The firstfruits of the flock of the livestock or the firstfruits of the agriculture, the crops. They were offered to the Lord. And in offering them to the Lord, they were acknowledging that the Lord was owner over all of the crops and all the livestock and all the agriculture. But more than God was the owner of it, God was the source of it. That's what we do when we tithe. We give 10% to God and we acknowledge when we give him 10%, he's over the 100%. But more than that, we acknowledge he's the source of the 100%. And when they gave the firstfruits and the Lord received it, it was like a pledge and guarantee of much more to come. Paul says Jesus is the first human to have a resurrected qualities in his physical body. It was a significant advancement for the human race. Nothing like this has ever happened. And he's the only one with a resurrected body right now. But he's only the firstfruits, meaning there's a whole harvest coming afterwards. You know, one or two billion plus from history and the great harvest at the end of the age. They're going to enter into a quality of body in life that is corresponding to the glory that Jesus the man is operating in. He's a prototype. I have paragraph 8 here. He's the first member of a new order of people that triumphed over death. Philippians chapter 3, Paul would go on to say, Philippians 3 verse 21, he would say, I want you to know that our lowly body is going to be transformed and we're going to be conformed to His glorious body. I mean, we're going to have corresponding qualities that Jesus has. You and I are going to have qualities in our physical resurrected body that are like unto His. Now here we are in Revelation 1, that's where we started. John says he's the firstborn from the dead. He's the chief supreme authority over the whole realm of the resurrection. Resurrection bodies, the resurrected earth, the throne of glory coming to the earth. Everything that has to do with a resurrection power is under his authority and he's the source of it. Well then a few verses later, Revelation 1, we're still there, about five verses later, verse 10 to 18, Jesus stands in front of John in the glory of his resurrected body. In other words, he's standing in front of John as the firstborn, as the premier source and leader of the resurrection. He stands in front of him, eyes like fire. John had never seen him like this. Face like the sun, shining bright. His voice powerful like a trumpet, like many waters. The book of Habakkuk says his hands, the lightning, the fire and the power of God is in his hands. The very breath I talked about a few moments ago that will vanquish the enemy with one statement, one breath, one glance of his eye. John is saying, I mean Paul's saying, you're gonna have a body similar to this. I mean what a remarkable reality. John was so overwhelmed, he fell like a dead man before him. It's almost like Jesus said, John, it's me. Or didn't you really understand who I am as the firstborn from the dead, as the chief supreme leader and source of the whole realm of the resurrection? Don't you really know who I am? Well the rest of the book of Revelation would be an unpacking of that reality that John would see. Look at paragraph B, paragraph B. Beloved I want to say this first, you're not just going to worship him forever, you're going to be like him forever. That's different. Yes you will worship him, you will love him forever, but there's more. You're gonna be like him. You're gonna have internal and external qualities that are like him, that are corresponding to him. Because he's not just your Savior, he's the leader over the realm of the resurrection and the firstfruits, and he's beckoning you to enter in fully with him. He'll always have a greater measure of the qualities, but you will have corresponding qualities. Your face, your eyes, your hands, your words. I mean our resurrected bodies, we will be a billion years from now eternally vigorous. No diminishing of qualities, no sickness, no injury, no loss of memory, no loss of strength, no loss of emotional vigor. Your mind, the great your mind will have a capacity far greater than the supercomputers of today. Your resurrected mind will have a capacity far greater than anything we can imagine. Your mind will be clear, your mind will be clean, and you'll have a capacity. Your heart, no fear, no lust at all, no pain, no bitterness, no rejection, no drawing back, no anxiety. Your heart will be vigorous in love and tenderness, fully feeling love and fully loving like him forever. Beloved, this is what we're talking about. This is your story. Look at paragraph B. All three persons of the Godhead participated in his resurrection. When you read the Bible, it's clear the Father raised Jesus. It's also clear the Holy Spirit raised Jesus. It's also clear Jesus was involved in raising Jesus. Like what? Look what he said in John 10, verse 18. He makes this statement, and I'm sure not a one of them understood. He looked at them. He says, I have the power to lay my life down, meaning they're not going to take it from me. There's a bigger plan, far bigger than their evil designs. I am voluntarily walking into this. I could call the legions of angels and destroy the entire Roman Empire. No problem. I created the earth with my word. I'm not troubled. I know, I mean, he's troubled by what he would endure, but he goes, nobody is triumphing over me. Trust me. I have full power to lay my life down, but the remarkable thing, I have power to take it up. What? Yes. I know who I am. I'm the uncreated God, like the Father and the Spirit. I am the source of the resurrection. I could take my life up when I want. Like, what are you talking about? The Bible makes it clear, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit participate in all of the acts of creation and redemption. They all contribute in full unity and whole-hearted connectedness together. The most glorious family story imaginable, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but we're beckoned to participate in those family dynamics forever. It's most amazing. Paragraph C, Paul says it in a different way. First Corinthians 1521, he said, by a man came death, and he meant by Adam. By Adam's sin, death entered into the human experience, but he goes, let me tell you, by a man came the resurrection. He was talking about Jesus. Jesus was not just a model of the resurrection, he's the source of it. I mean, the resurrection power comes from him. I mean, this is, who is this guy? That's the question of the ages. I mean, a billion years from now, we will never lose the wonder of who this man is. They describe our response forever and ever. Worthy, worthy is the Lamb. New revelation, new insight, a new encounter of wonder of who this man is and why he did this for us. Because he's love incarnate by a man. There's a man, he's the source of the resurrection. He paid the price, and he is the source, and he is the model, and he is the picture, and he is the leader of the resurrection. The title in the scripture, firstborn from the dead. The chief authority over the whole realm of the resurrection. Therefore, he will succeed as ruler over all the kings of the earth. Because he's got power far beyond anything they could imagine. Jesus, he loved this thing. He says it over and over, John. I'll just give you one little snapshot, John 6, verse 40. Everyone, Jesus speaking, who sees the Son and believes in him, they give their life to him. This is not just intellectual assent. Believing in the New Testament means the giving of yourself to him. In our weakness and brokenness, we believe and we get the free gift, the amazing thing, this whole thing is free. But we give ourself to him in our weakness, and he forgives and cleanses and even empowers us more and more over the years to follow through on the giving of ourselves to him. But here's what Jesus says over and over. I just love it. I put one, two, three. He goes, I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do to the people who come to me. I'll raise them up on the last day. They're gonna have supernatural properties and capacities in their physical body. I'll raise them up on the last day. Verse 44, he says, let me tell you again in case you missed it. I'm gonna give them supernatural resurrection qualities in their physical body. Verse 54, let me say it again. I'm gonna give them resurrection qualities and capacities in their mind, their emotion, their body, the world they live in, the government over that world. My throne of glory will come down and the governments of the earth will be transformed by the power of the resurrection from my throne. This is remarkable. I mean, the book of Revelation tells us, chapter 21, verse 23, that in heaven, the New Jerusalem, and by the way, that whole city is coming down to the earth, but here's the remarkable thing I want to point out about the New Jerusalem. There's many things to point out, but in that city, this massive city, the eternal city that's coming down to the earth, the city we'll live in will serve on the earth. We'll live in that city, it will come down to the earth at the time of second coming. There's no sun in that city. How's the city lit? It says in verse 23 of Revelation 21, it says, the Lamb of God is the source of the light and the glory that fills that city. There's a man, he's fully man, fully God. He's the source of light that illuminates the city and he's the glory of God that will be released across the earth in perfect unity with the Father and the Spirit. Remarkable. Paragraph D, when we get raised up, beloved, we're not talking about an ethereal kind of, kind of we're here mostly but not entirely, you know, we're kind of spirits and that's it, floating around on a cloud in heaven, playing a harp, kind of knowing it's gonna be good but not really understanding it. Beloved, you're gonna be on the earth with a physical body. When Jesus appeared to them, look at here in Luke chapter 24, read the whole thing, they were terrified. He walks through the wall first, doesn't knock on the door and wait for them to open, he just walks in. They, it says they're terrified because they've never seen, well no one has ever seen a man with a resurrected physical body. They're looking at him, they're going, you look exactly like our leader who died. You look exactly like him. We're not getting what's going on. Jesus says, it's me. They go, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, no, we saw him die. It's me. You look like him but no possible way. He goes, touch me, handle me. I got flesh. Now it's supernatural flesh, it's not corruptible flesh. I have bones. Beloved, you'll have an elbow, you'll have a kneecap in the age to come. Then the next verse or two later, he ate fish with them. They're looking at him going, you look like him. You feel like him, like you're one of us. What is going on here? He goes, got some food? They go, yeah, why? Well, I want to have a lunch with you. Like, really? They make the food. I'm sure they're sitting back and, you go first Jesus. He starts eating the fish. Then he walked through the wall. Alan Hood always asked, did the fish go with him when he walked through the wall? We don't know. I love that. Paragraph 8. We all know about the rapture. It's coming, at the rapture. But I want you to see the rapture in the lens of Jesus as the firstborn, the chief authority, the supreme authority over the realm of the resurrection. He says, I've been raised from the dead. I'm fully into all those qualities and properties. Operating in my natural, physical body, with all the, I mean, my body, my physical body has all the supernatural qualities. He goes, but that's not enough. He told him in John, I mean, to the father in John 17, verse 24, he goes, father, I desire them, that where I am, they would be with me forever. I don't want to enter in this room, this realm, without them coming with me. I'm going to use my power. I'm going to use my authority. I'm going to use all that I am to bring them into this realm with me. So on the last day, by his own word, by the very shout from his lips, the Lord Jesus himself, with his own mouth, he will stand in the clouds and he will say something like, I love you, my beloved. And all the graves will open up of the redeemed. Abraham, David, Peter, James, John, all the saints through history, grandma, all of them are going to be there. The graves open up. That little fragments of their DNA, that is all kind of, you know, decomposed to nothing that nobody can even see with their eyes. God's going to, from there by his lips, he's going to call it forth. They're going to have a resurrected body and the full properties of the resurrection, again, not the full measure of his, but all corresponding properties. They're all there. The human race, you know, the saints on the earth go, wow, grandma, grandma, wow, you're amazing. You're beautiful. They never told me you look like that. They should have just believed grandpa and they had gone along with it. Then all of a sudden all the saints, the one or two billion, their bodies are resurrected in the twinkling of an eye. We're all caught up in the great meeting space, the family gathering. The entire family has a physical resurrected body on the same day. And Jesus says, we're almost there. I am the first fruits and I am the first born of this realm. My family is with me, but we're in the sky right now. Then he comes down to the earth and then he transforms the earth by the power of the resurrection. I'm talking about the animal kingdom, the vegetation, the agriculture, the atmosphere. Everything is transformed by the power of this man, the supreme leader of the realm of the resurrection. The earth is transferred. He brings his throne of glory. It's now down on the earth. Water flows out of that realm, out of his throne. Water does, Ezekiel 47. It heals the seas. It heals the land. Water flows out of his throne that heals the nations. That's where this thing is going. And then the Lord says, before it's over, I want you to know this. Your life wasn't wasted. He says, the power of the resurrection, because I'm the leader of it and I have the authority to do this. I'm going to take every act of obedience that you did in your entire life. Every act of obedience, no matter how small it is, the smallest cup of water you gave in my name, the words of encouragement, the service that was unrecognized and unappreciated, but you did it in the will of God. He goes, by the power of the resurrection, I'm going to transform it and I'm going to give you rewards and you're going to wear the love that you had for me in your garments, in your crowns, in these 10 or 15 ways the Bible describes. I'm going to give you resurrected power, transforming your work so that you see that your 70 years on the earth, more or less, was not in vain at all. Every single thing that you did will be remembered and honored in the resurrection. Everything in the will of God. Every loss that you've endured because you chose obedience. You chose to obey. You lost opportunity. I say lost, quote, unquote. You lost an opportunity because you obeyed God. Or you lost an opportunity because you were persecuted because you took a stand. The Lord says, are you kidding? You think you lost that? I'm the firstborn. I'm the chief supreme authority over the whole realm of the resurrection. I'm leader over everything. I'm going to give you a hundredfold and many times over for every single thing you did in your love and obedience to me. For I am the firstborn among the dead. Worship team, come on up. Beloved, because he's risen, we don't have to fear tomorrow. Because he's risen, we don't have to fear being irrelevant. Because he's risen, we don't fear death. Because he's risen, beloved, we have a storyline. It doesn't begin then. We're in it now. We're in it now. And Lord, we just say, we love you and we honor you. Now there might be some people in this room that because it's Easter, your family member said, Hey, we've got a big dinner coming over, but Hey, why don't you just come to church with me on the way to dinner? And you go like, okay, I know where this is going. So you're sitting here. Maybe you have a Christian background and you haven't been walking with the Lord over the last few years in the way that you know you should. The Lord says, I'll freely wipe the slate clean, completely forgive you, give you a brand new beginning right now. You can get up to date with me right now today as a gift. Just give your heart, realign yourself. Or maybe you're saying, no, I don't have any Christian background. Is this free for real? I've done some really intense stuff. The Lord says, you can't outlaw, you can't out send my love and my power. If you'll say yes to me, I will raise you up on the last day. It's a free gift. It's utterly free. That's what's remarkable about it. I'd like you all to stand. I'm going to pray for anybody in the room that's saying, you know, I need to recommit.