Resurrection Saves | Pastor Brian Aulick | Engedi Church

Amen all right go ahead and grab a seat some of you're like man I got to get better shape for standing up this long for church I think that seeing what God is doing I'm thinking the file away is how about we get two tubs for the next baptism what do y'all say is about that time if we is God doing it that big that we need two tubs to for baptism Sunday come on somebody that's amazing that's amazing I want to say again if you're new with us then I'm so glad you're here and my name is Brian and we just honestly take away everything that you've experienced a we just are people who love God and believe God loves people and we're just here to declare that as best as we know how and so I pray we can encourage you today I do want to welcome our Grand Rapids campus joining us from GR want to welcome it and say good morning to everybody I didn't get a Espanola I want to say hey to all those who are joining us from jails and prisons all across the country through the Pando app we just love you we're so glad to study the Word of God with you today and we're praying for you so thank you for joining us it's a big week in the life of our church and not the least of which is because of baptisms 70-some baptisms that's crazy man that's crazy it's crazy but also because in Getty music just launched and released a brand-new album called war anybody excited about the album let's go let's go now I gotta do this quick I know some of you are like I don't know about all that you know Christian music all right some of you that but are new to it but I'm gonna give you a little taste I'm gonna give you a little taste today all right and by the way if you want to stream or check out and get a music you can tap that seat back or that little sticker in front of you on the seat in front of you and that'll take you to the streaming options and all that stuff you can save it you got permission to get out your phone right now if you want I'll tell you what we did lace up we did lace up live a second ago during baptisms here I'm gonna give you a little taste in the booth we're gonna do a little Jesus be the name can you guys take a little Jesus be the name let's see what we got here that's it you don't get any more than that all right that's it we didn't even

plan on doing that song man y'all I mean I'm telling you I was one of the one of the most powerful tracks on the whole album it was like it was almost like an accident all right and then I'll give you a little taste of one of the one this is one of my all-time I've listened listen I get the songs a little bit before you guys I've listened to this war album I've listened to songs more times than all of it all of the other songs we've ever put out together all right that's how much I love this song but I'm gonna give you a little bit a little taste here this is a little mash-up between the song marvelous and raised up give me all right booth give me something give me some marvelous and raised up we're not gonna give them that much we're not they got a click on the thing they got a stream it they gotta say and please help us get the word out about in Getty Music Church I help us get the word out because the reason why we write these songs it's not just like oh that's cool we wrote a song the reason why we wrote these songs is so we can get the name of Jesus out to people that's all we do it for all right and man at the nine o'clock at the nine o'clock baptism this girl said I was suicidal and I was ready to take my life and a worship song came on and God spoke to me through it reminded me that Jesus isn't done with me that's why we write these song help us get the word out about what God is doing through in Getty Music now we're gonna continue on a series that we've been in called resurrection saves everybody shout out resurrection saves and including Easter we'll be talking about resurrection for four weeks and you may be saying to yourself why we're spending four weeks on resurrection and here's the reason why because we don't just celebrate resurrection one day resurrection is supposed to shape our lives every day of the year and so I'm trying to help you see how the resurrection can make an impact on your life we're turning today to 1st Corinthians 15 that's where we're studying from if you got a Bible turn to 1st Corinthians 15 there's a long chapter 7th longest chapter in the New Testament it's 58 verses long the reason why the Apostle Paul is writing such a long chapter all about resurrection is

because there were some in the city of Corinth who are questioning resurrection they were like hey we weren't some of the eyewitnesses we're not sure it sounds pretty fantastic a dude would die on a cross and then be raised to life again and Paul realizes that resurrection is the cornerstone of the entire Christian faith and so he spends this very long chapter both defending, explaining, and pointing to the power of the resurrection of Jesus. And so today, what we're gonna look at is eight verses. We're gonna start studying beginning at verse 21. I want you to know that what Paul does here is crazy in these eight verses, all right? He summarizes all of human history in eight verses. And sometimes the language is even a little bit confusing. And I remember when I was first starting to work on this text, it was a while back, I said to Christina, I was like, man, it's gonna be Baptism Sunday, and this is a hard text, and you know, can they handle it? Am I gonna lose everybody? And Christina said, Brian, I think with the help of God, like, you can do it on this text, all right? And so either she's right, and we're gonna have a good time, or you can send your emails to her after church, all right, and let her know. I was like, nope, wrong choice. So 1 Corinthians 15, verse 21. Paul says this. For since death came through a man, he's talking about adamant creation, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. He's talking about Jesus.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn Christ the firstfruits, then when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom of God, kingdom to God, the Father, after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For he must reign until he has put all of his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he has put everything under his feet. Now, when it says that everything has been put under him, it is clear that this does not mean God himself. Who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him, God the Father, who put everything under him, the Son, so that God may be all in all. Father, in these next moments, we're just gonna ask you to speak to us. It's been an exciting day witnessing person after person saying Jesus changed my life. But God, our prayer now is that you would speak to our lives through your word. I pray for the person who's here who does not yet have a personal relationship with you. Would this be the day they come home? Would this be the day they hear from you, turn from their sin and turn towards Jesus? And for each person who knows you, Jesus, and has given their life to you,

would you meet us in this place, and yet again show us how your resurrection changes everything? We pray it in the strong and the mighty name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and everybody said. Amen. Eight verses to summarize all of human history. And in many ways, these eight verses can be broken down, as we'll see, as four periods of history. It's almost like, if you wanna think of it like this, it's almost like Paul is saying all of history can be viewed as a four-act play. So let me take you through each of the acts of the historical story. Number one, this is act number one, we might title it Creation and Fall. Verse 21, Paul says, for since death came through a man, and then in verse 22, for as in Adam all die. Here, what the Apostle Paul's doing is he's looking to the opening chapters of Genesis, Genesis 1, 2, and 3, the very first chapters in all of the Bible. He's talking about when God created humanity, and then when humanity rebelled against God. Now, if you were to just turn to your Bible, and I commend you to read Genesis 1, 2, and 3 sometime, maybe after church today, what you'll find is this. In Genesis 1 and 2, we discover God created us

for a loving, trust-based, purpose-filled relationship with himself. What's beautiful about Genesis 1 and 2 is you see Adam and Eve in the garden, and Adam and Eve have harmony with each other, they have harmony with God, and they have harmony within the entire natural creation. It is marked by harmony. Then Genesis 3 comes. Genesis 3 is where Adam and Eve, our human forebearers, decide, we're gonna seek meaning and purpose and happiness apart from you, God. We wanna do this by ourselves. Anybody ever had a kid who got to a certain age, and they decided they wanna do things, and they said these words, I do it? Anybody ever heard this before? or I do it, parents, I do it, right? Like you, I don't know if you've ever done this, you put your kid on their lap, maybe you've been in the neighborhood and you put them on their lap and you let them like fake drive the car, you ever done that? And you got the bottom of the wheel, making sure things don't go off the track, but they're holding on the top and I don't know if you had this, but then they say, I do it.

And you're like, I don't think so, all right? You don't do it. But they wanna do it, but they're not ready to do it. I do it. This is what basically happened in Genesis chapter three. You and I, humanity, looked at God and we said, when it comes to our purpose, our meaning, our happiness, I do it, God, I don't need you. I'm gonna figure this out on my own. Can I tell you something, church? From the moment humanity said, I do it, that is when spiritual and physical death entered the human story. At that moment, Romans chapter six, verse 23 says, the wages of sin is death. And man, you don't have to look far to see evidence of spiritual and physical death, do you, church? Now, I was just thinking about this. I look around, I see nations at war. I see disease. I see family disintegration. I see injustice in the legal system, mental health struggles, sexual brokenness, addiction, chronic loneliness, and I could go on. How many of you would agree today, death, spiritual death, is present everywhere? I mean, it's not just... Spiritual death isn't just something out there. Spiritual death isn't just something out there.

How many of you know spiritual death is in here? Spiritual death is every time you say, God, I know what you've said, but I'm gonna do it my way instead. Spiritual death. Spiritual death is every time you sense that impulse in you to do something you know is not the right thing and you do it anyway, spiritual death. Now, I just wanna encourage somebody right now. The worst possible thing you could do when it comes to act one, creation and fall, is try to pretend your spiritual death doesn't exist. It's what some of us do. Some of us know we're broken. Some of us know we've got sin. Some of us know we mess it up, but we try to tell ourselves all the time, but I'm a pretty nice person. I try to be a good person, and you end up burying your head in the sand when it comes to your own spiritual death, friends. Can I tell you something? You can't get well if you're not willing to admit you're sick. I can put up here the best possible spiritual cure right before you, but that cure is not gonna do you any good if you're not gonna acknowledge you need it in the first place. Can we just all acknowledge we're sick sinners in the house

and we need Jesus in our lives? Can we just look in the mirror, man, quit trying to tell yourself, oh, I'm so good, I got it all together, and just look in the mirror and say, I'm broken. That's creation. That's Acts chapter one, and we're all in the same boat in that regard if we'll be honest about it. Act two, verse 22. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn, Christ, the first fruits, everybody shout out first fruits. First fruits. Now when Paul uses this word first fruits, he's talking, watch this, about the first coming of Jesus. He's talking about when Jesus left all of the glory of being with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in heaven, he came to this planet in the form and the place of a baby in a manger. He grew up, he lived a perfect life, why? So he could go to a cross just like this and offer a perfect sacrifice for your sin and mine. And how many of you know that Jesus did not stay on a cross, he was put in a tomb. Three days later, he overcame that tomb, he was resurrected, and in so doing, defeated the death, the devil, and sin.

That is act two. I'll call this the first coming of Jesus. Life, death, resurrection. I get excited about acts two. I get excited about act two, and here's why. For those of us who've been stuck in act one, you've been battling sin, you've been carrying shame, act two is where your story can start to change. Act two is what we got to see in baptism today. Act two is when you come to know Jesus and he makes you into a new person. Here's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5. He said, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, and say this next part with me, the new is here. God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. Paul's saying, it's not just that Jesus defeated sin and defeated death on the cross, it's that you can also defeat sin and defeat death when you put your trust in Jesus who died on a cross for you. That's the good news that we're talking about in 2 Corinthians 5, all right? That you can experience Jesus' own victory when you give your life to him. And I was thinking about this point, and I'm like, act two breaks the spell of act one. I gotta come up with a really great illustration from people going from death to life,

and then it hit me. I got about 70 of them on Baptism Sunday, everybody. 70 stories of Jesus raising people from spiritual death and raising them up as new people in Jesus Christ. Man, every person who lowered there, they said, man, I got sin, and I can't fix it myself. I got brokenness, and I can't save myself, heal myself, or fix myself. I need Jesus' help on that. I need Jesus' death on the cross for me. And every time they came up with the water, they're declaring, I have been made new. I'm not stuck in my death, because Jesus died for me, and I have been raised to new life. The old has gone, the new has come. Time after time, you saw it, the new has come. I just wanna say to somebody today, man, if you haven't put your trust in Jesus, this is your day. Don't be stuck in act one anymore. Some of you are hanging on to your sin. Like, I'm just gonna live in this place where I'm battling all the time, and I'm always covered in shame. I wanna say, quit hanging on to act one. I remember my, man, my kid once was complaining about not having money. Oh, I don't have any money, I don't have enough money. You know, I'm like, there's a real easy solution to that.

What is it, church? Get a job. I wanna be like some of y'all are battling sin all the time. You feel beat down by the spiritual death that is real, and what I wanna say is, put your trust in Jesus, all right? That's what act two makes possible. Amen. So act one, creation and fall. Act two, first coming of Jesus. Act three, verse 23. It says, but each in turn. Christ, the firstfruits. Then, when he comes. Everybody say, when he comes. When he comes. Then when he comes, those who belong to him. That little phrase, then when he comes, is important. Now we're introduced to act three in the story of all of creation. Act three is the second coming of Jesus Christ. I don't know if you realize this. As much as Jesus taught and did great miracles back in the day, he talked all the time about when he was coming back. Do you realize that, church? And like some people, they're not so sure about this, but I'm gonna tell you, there's example after example after example where Jesus is like, I'm here right now, I'm gonna be with the Father,

but I'm coming back to y'all someday. I'm gonna give you one example, Matthew 24. These are Jesus' own words. He says, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come. Not might come, not could come, not should come, will come, everybody, on an hour you do not expect him. Can I tell you, church, Jesus is coming back. And sometimes people are like, oh man, Jesus was a brilliant teacher, but he was clearly delusional about the future of his life. I mean, so come, listen, here's how I put it. Jesus was a brilliant teacher. He did all kinds of powerful miracles, including the resurrection. There is no one who has a life and legacy in history around the globe compared to Jesus. So watch this, church. When Jesus Christ says he is coming back, I believe him. I believe Jesus is coming back. I believe Jesus isn't done. I believe Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and is gonna return to this place. And I don't know when, which is why this conversation of how you respond to Jesus is so urgent. He could respond today, he could respond tomorrow. You don't know how much time you've been given. Two things are gonna happen when Jesus returns. Number one, the text says that anyone who is in Christ

is going to receive a resurrected body. This is verse 23, Christ's the firstfruits, then when he comes, those who belong to him. In other words, Jesus comes back resurrected, and we will too. Now I'm gonna talk about this whole, if you're like resurrected body, what's he talking about? I'm gonna spend next week, we're gonna talk about that a lot so come back next week, all right? I'm just gonna ask you one question today though. How many of you are sick of disease and diet plans? Anybody on that? Anybody like I'm done with the keto, all right, I'm done. Good news, a better day is coming, all right? If you're in Jesus, I'm done with keto, I'm done with Atkins, I'm done with intermittent fasting, well you know, done with all of that stuff, a new body's coming. Talk about that next week, now. Here's the other thing that happens when Jesus returns. Watch this, verse 25. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. The second thing that's gonna happen when Jesus Christ returns is he is going to fully and finally defeat everything and every person who has rebelled against his reign. What that means is that when Jesus returns,

sin is gonna be finally defeated. When Jesus returns, pride will be fully defeated. When Jesus returns, rebellion will be fully defeated. When Jesus returns, Ohio State will be fully defeated. Friends, this is just too far, too far? When Jesus returns, sickness will be defeated. When Jesus returns, the devil will be defeated. And finally, when Jesus returns, death itself will die. That's what's gonna happen when Jesus comes back, friends. It is full and final victory for Jesus. Everything that would push back against his reign, gone. All evil and wickedness, gone. All sickness and disease, gone. Jesus is king. I love looking forward to when Jesus returns and said all things right. But can I tell you something right now? Even though that day is in the future, Jesus is working on it right now. He's not just chilling in heaven waiting for the magic day when he comes back. First John chapter three, verse eight. It says, the reason the Son of God appeared. We're talking about his first coming now. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. I'm gonna ask you in a second to say destroy. Now, how many of you know, no matter how churchy you are, you can't be like, destroy. That's not gonna be okay.

We're talking about destroy the devil's work. Could y'all shout out destroy? Destroy! That sounds like what Jesus is gonna do. He is coming to, right now, destroy the devil's work. And could I tell you, he's using the church to do that. He's using the church to push back on evil. Now, we got all kinds of amazing ministries here at Engedi Church. I made a list of just some of them. I can't even, we'd be here all day. We've got people inviting people onto Sundays every single day that they would hear the gospel and the message of Jesus. We've got small group leaders that are building into others, helping them become mature in Christ. We've got a prayer team that prays after every single service, right over here to my left, praying for deliverance and healing in Jesus' name. And man, have we heard stories. We've got folks who are going into the Kent County and Ottawa County jails, ministering and encouraging prisoners. We've got a team of people that are distributing thousands of pounds of food every month to those who are food insecure. We have people who are encouraging, expecting parents to choose life. We have people here who have such a burden

that Jesus' name and salvation would go to the nations that they are leaving friends behind and family behind and getting on a plane and going to places where Jesus is not known, so people can hear him and discover life and forgiveness and be baptized, declare that he's still making people new. Why do we do all these things? Why do we have all these ministry spins? Because what we have come to realize is that Jesus Christ is destroying the devil's work even right now, and he is using the church of Jesus Christ to do that. That's why we do what we do. And this is act three, Jesus' second coming, where he once and for all defeats all that would stand against his reign. And that sets us up for the final act, act four, which I've called Final Victory and New Creation. Paul writes this, "'Then the end will come "'when Jesus hands over the kingdom to God the Father, "'after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. "'When he has done this, "'then the Son himself will be made subject to him, "'God the Father, who put everything under him, "'so that God will be the King of the world.'" So that God may be all in all. This is the final destination of human history, that our God is all in all.

Wickedness, evil, no more. God is all in all. That future is far too beautiful to even come close to get our arms around, but God gave the writer John a vision at the very end of the Bible. We've gone from Genesis chapter one now all the way to the end, Revelation 21. And he describes what final victory, new creation will be like in these words. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will ripe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. Christians, can I tell you, that is the future you were made for. You're not made for a future of sickness and death. You're not made for a future of life without purpose. You were made to enjoy the affection and the glory and the love of God, the Father, God, the Holy Spirit and God, the Son for all eternity. If you're grateful for your good future, can you make some noise and give him praise? This is where your story is headed. This is the destination. And so how do we respond to a story like that?

First, I just wanna say, good job. You got through four acts of the play today, all right? Good job. How do we respond to a story like that? Said it already, if you haven't given your life to Jesus yet, this is your day. You're here because God wants to extend forgiveness to you, wants you to be able to step in a relationship with the one who made you, that your heart might be filled with his love. Don't stay stuck in act one another day longer. It's time for the old to go and the new to come in Jesus' name. What about those of you who have been walking with Jesus? Sometimes I'll have conversations with people who are Christians and it feels like, man, they're always stuck in kind of a depressed and downcast mode, either because of stuff going on in their own lives or stuff going on in the world. Headlines they read, they're always just kind of down. Now listen, I've suffered. Our family's been through cancer. Christina's been through cancer. We've been through all kinds of grief and suffering. I understand that. There's a place for grieving. There's a place for acknowledging real pain,

but I just wanna speak over somebody, friends. You need to know today that if you are in Christ, pain and suffering are not the end of your story. Victory in Jesus Christ is at the end of your story. That's where your life is headed. I don't wanna minimize grieving, but I wanna maybe encourage some Christians, what would it look like to walk with some joy in this world? What do we look like to smile, to say, even if I'm in the midst of suffering, I know my God has got a good plan for me and this suffering is not the end of the story. It's one chapter of the story, but I know the last chapter of the story is victory and flourishing in Jesus' name. He's writing a good story for your life, church. Let's walk. You might've walked in here real heavy. Could somebody dance out of here in joy today? Could somebody dance out of here in joy today? Cause you say, Jesus is written. He's risen. Man, my suffering ain't the end of my story. And then here's the last thing I wanna say. Once you know Acts 1, 2, 3, and 4, and if you're a follower of Jesus, what should it do in your life? Even though Jesus' final victory is yet to come, I wanna say again,

he is working on that victory right now. Our God is active in this world and he is destroying the devil's work and he is using the church to do that. This is why we have so many ministries here in Getty. This is why we got the Sunday teams. This is why we got small groups. This is why we got prayer ministry. Why we got ministry to the jail. Why we got ministry to the hungry. Why we got ministry going global missions. Why? Because listen to me now, we are not just waiting on Jesus to bring his kingdom in the future. We are partnering with Jesus to bring his kingdom right now. we're locking arms with jesus to say we want more of heaven to come to earth listen to the words of christ to you i have given you authority to overcome everybody say overcome i've given you authority to overcome all the power of the enemy how many of you know if you're in christ you've got that kind of authority church evil can't stand up against you if you are standing in jesus name and so i want to say it again man if you're not making a difference in this church if you're not making a difference in your community it is time to step out and it is time to step in and it is time to step into the work that god has for you it's time to declare god i'm not going to just live for myself take my gifts take my talents take my abilities take my treasures god and use it for your kingdom because i want to be one who's used to advance the causes of christ in my generation in jesus name amen church

that's what we do that's how we respond to the resurrection of jesus let's pray together father i just want to say thank you for the story that we have studied in your word today thank you father that you would love us enough to not let creation and fall be the final act but just be the first act thank you jesus that you came into this world lived a perfect life died a cross on a cross for us and was raised to life three days later thank you that as much joy as we receive by being baptized and by by acknowledging that you have made us new even now we have a great future in front of us new creation where everything that stands against you will be no more and god where you will be all in all now staying in this place of prayer i know there's somebody here who needs to give her life their life to jesus today probably a lot of us and so i want to say this is your time this is why god brought you to church today listen the only thing you need to do to become a child of god to be somebody whose sins are forgiven is to say jesus would you forgive my sins and be the leader of my life just going to church doesn't mean you're christian you're christian when you say i'm giving my life to jesus christ and so in just a moment i'm gonna count to three and when i say three i'm gonna ask you to put your hand up high in the air if you're today here and you want to say before god you're giving your life to christ i'm not going to call you out or embarrass you but i am giving you a chance to say with raised hand god today is the day i want to surrender my life to jesus and so one i want you to know god loves you so much that he sent his son jesus to die on a cross for your sins to that same jesus who would die on a cross for your sins would be raised to

life three days later so that as you would put your trust in him you too could be raised to new life and three if you want to give your life to jesus then just shoot that hand up in the air right now as a way of saying yes this is my time oh yeah i see your hand god bless you god bless you god bless you who else is here who's saying today is my day awesome right up here in front good job i see you awesome good job all the way on the edge good job who else is here saying today is the day i need to give my life to jesus today is the day i need to relinquish my pride and my stubbornness i need to ask jesus to forgive my sins to be the leader of my life anybody else you can put your hands down father i just want to say thank you for each person who had their hand raised thank you that this is the beginning of their journey with you would you forgive their sins in this very moment as they would choose to follow you for the rest of their days and now i pray for those who know and love and have been following jesus god would you give us the ability to live with joy despite our circumstances would we be able to go even in the midst of suffering and struggle go into our jobs into our schools and say i might be hurting but i know i've got a good story and so i will live with joy in jesus name would our joy be a witness would the people around us say how could you be so happy in the midst of what you're going through and we say i might be suffering but i know i've got victory in jesus christ and father we pray as a church family that we would join you on this side of the grave in defeating the devil's works you've given us every authority we need to overcome the enemy and so we pray god we don't want to stay on the sidelines any longer we want to work for the kingdom of god in our day and in our generation i pray that every christian here would declare god my time is yours my money is yours, my talents are yours, God would you use, would you use us to walk out your kingdom

in your name, pushing back against the devil's work, pushing back against evil, pushing for the kingdom of God, that your name would be famous, that many more would come home to you, we pray it in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen. Let's celebrate some new life in the house, oh let's celebrate those who just came home to Jesus, put their trust in him. Now listen, if you just gave your life to Jesus, we've got a book for you here, we've got a bible and a little book that says, I have decided, all right and so as these guys, they're kind of looking around and if you just want to wave to them real quick, you just made a decision, I want you to wave to them and they're going to put a book in your hands, just going to get you started in your relationship with Jesus and that book's got a little card and it looks like this, it says, I have decided and do me a favor and fill this out and turn it in the drop spots before you leave because I just want to text you this week and I want to say good job and I want to personally say I'm proud of you, I want to give you some resources to follow up on, so you just wave, wave to those guys that are walking down the aisles, can we all stand to our feet, we're going to end this day in worship and I really thought it'd be cool if we could end today singing into the mission that God has given us, singing into the commission that God has called us to and so listen, if you're somebody here who wants to destroy the devil's work, if you're somebody here who wants to use the authority that God gave you to overcome the evil one, then here is my invitation to you right now, let us not sing this final song simply as a church song, let us sing it as a battle cry, let us not sing this final song as a church anthem, let us sing it as a call to arms to overcome the evil and establish the kingdom of God in our generation and in Jesus name.