Getting the Body You've Always Wanted - Part A

Can you imagine having a body that is not susceptible to disease at all, or atrophy or handicaps or aches or pains.

Imagine having a body that never gains weight never loses hair never gets wrinkled, never say never groups imagine noticing that all I can do. Imagine one day will be reality won't have to imagine that we live in a culture obsessed with health fitness dieting is viewed by the hundred billion dollars each year on stuffed tomatoes that are prettier and healthier. But all that spending doesn't seem to be helping. Only 2% of women would say that they think you're beautiful if you're one of those people have a healthy beautiful body is futile good news for you today here and connect with Skip weekend division is Skip Heitzig here is the secret to getting the body you've always wanted. But first we want to let you know about this connect with Skip resource off the Bible makes it clear that Jesus loves the devout and the doubters priests and prostitutes. The disease and the depressed Jesus just loves people all people, no matter what their past or their present. Sadly, sometimes it's the people who need love the most, who feel the most rejected even by the church.

But Jesus loves all people, shouldn't we we want to help you grasp God's relentless love for people by sending you the complete for booklet Jesus loves people collection my Skip I think these booklets look to Scripture to demonstrate Jesus's love for people from every walk of life.

Yet all four Jesus loves people titles including Jesus loves the broken and Jesus loves addicts when you give a gift of $25 or more today to help expand this Bible teaching outreach to give call 800-922-1888, or give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer your Bibles to first Corinthians chapter 15 I would strongly pester scribblers to share some interesting information about America's love now in front of USA Today that have in the left-hand corner fast facts sometimes are on facts and figures.

It said that during this summer, it is projected to go from Memorial Day to Labor Day summer Americans will consume 7 billion HotDocs and that averages out to be. According to the same little piece of information 818 hot dogs every second are consume.

That is not the way to get the body you've always wanted. By the way, but the body the physical body is what motivates people to run to lift weights to bicycle.

In some cases to dip and talk and stretch and do everything they can to preserve the body.

Just the diet industry alone is $33 billion per year. There was a poll that was conducted in a very interesting question was asked in the fall.

If you could change one thing about your life what would it be that said that's a good question. By the way, if you could change one thing about your life what would it be what's interesting is that the results none of them had to do with character, my habits, lifestyle, almost overwhelmingly. It was I would change something about my outward physical appearance, age, hair, weight, body type, face etc. and it seems to even be affecting kids.

There was a mom trying to break her little boy of sucking his thumb and she was so frustrated because he wouldn't stop and finally she said what good is it to suck your thumb and he said well it is not fattening mother one day your dream will come true. One day in your resurrected glorified body. It will be the body you've always dreamed of having. II broke down this week and saw Indiana Jones want to see it and I saw and talk about a resurrection that a guy still kicking bottom.

But at the beginning of the film, and I will give away the beginning of the film Indiana Jones is talking to the dean of the college and is about to go on an adventure and his friend is he looks at Indiana and they're both getting older. He says to Indiana Jones. We seem to have reached the age where life seems to stop giving us things and starts taking things away. That's true isn't it. The older we get, we notice that things that we have been given.

They started leaving people that we love start dying our health starts leaving etc. and so we grown as we said last week somebody in this fellowship graciously gave me a really great illustration I want to share with you. This person writes I want to live my next life backwards all start out dead.

Get that out of the way right off the bat and then I wake up in a nursing home feeling better every day when I'm kicked out of the home for me to healthy all spent several years enjoying my retirement collecting benefit checks when I start work.

I'll get a gold watch on my first day I worked for 40 years or so getting younger every day until pretty soon I'll be too young to work so then I'll go to high school, play sports date party as I get younger, I'll become a kid again. I got elementary school play and have no responsibilities in a few years I'll become a baby and everyone will run themselves ragged. Just try to keep me happy. Finally, I'll spend my last nine months floating peacefully in the luxury and spa light conditions with central heating and wrong room service on Ha ha that's classic life in reverse. Can you imagine having a body that doesn't wear out. Can you imagine having a body that never gets tired, never needs a nap never gets exhausted never grows weary.

Can you imagine having a body that is not susceptible to disease at all, or atrophy or handicaps or aches or pains. Imagine having a body that never gains weight never loses hair never gets wrinkled never sags never groups imagine that now you're saying that's all I can do is imagine that one day will be reality won't have to imagine that the Scripture teaches that we are both body and soul and God's plan for redemption includes both and he includes both of them to be eternally together. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall you know the story nobody could put Humpty back together again after he fell and broke into pieces.

God's plan is to put us back together again in a whole lot better shape than before we continue our little study in this chapter that we began last week, and it's part of a greater series called from the edge of eternity were dealing with the resurrection of the body.

As we mentioned last week, chapter 15 of first Corinthians is the most exhaustive treatment on bodily resurrection and all of the Bible. So we begin in verse 35 and here's the layout in this paragraph Paul begins by introducing two questions he goes from questions that are asked two illustrations to answer the question. So we asked two questions he gives three illustrations and he follows that summing it all up by four declarations so questions illustrations and declarations. Let's look at verse 35 for the questions but someone will say how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come. These are two good questions the how question and the what?

How does this all work and if it does work. What will we look like when it does work last week there were our Saturday night service. A lot of people will sit in the cool of evening out in the amphitheater for overflow. Couple guys were sitting there one turned to his friend and said isn't this amazing. Can you figure this out. Can you get your mind around our resurrected body and I guy when I can't even pay my rent, let alone think about paying my resurrected body insists so in the enormous a thing to imagine the resurrection is bewildering. It does prompt questions and the questions that Paul introduces seem to of been questions that were being asked by people in Corinth in a mocking kind of a way of sneering kind of way. These were sarcastic taunts out with the dead right raise. Here's why Corinth was a Greek city was permeated with Greek philosophy and as you may know the Greeks thought very ill of any idea of a resurrection. It was abhorrent to them. The body they said is a prison.

The goal is to escape the body not come back with the body. Who on earth would want to be resurrected. They would think since the goal is to escape the body. Why get trapped again.

That's one segment that brought these questions. Another segment came from within the church itself. There were a group of people in the church known as Gnostics he never heard that term Gnostic it spelled GN OSTIC Gnostic, and it was a group of people who said they were Christians.

But their belief system was the whole material world is evil.

Everything material tangible is evil and only that which is spiritual, intangible, immaterial is good, so they said a good God would not of created a material universe. Also, they said, Jesus must not have been physical. He must've been a phantom. He looked like he was real, but he really wasn't because everything material is evil so they had a problem with the physical resurrection as well.

They denied the resurrection, bring something up that sorta helps interface with this.

Maybe you've caught a couple of the articles in National Geographic on this discovered book known as the gospel of Judas. Anybody ever heard of the gospel of Judas and the idea of the gospel, Judas, it's the real story to story Jewish Christians haven't been told it's a Gnostic Gospel and in the gospel of Judas are supposed in conversations with Judas Iscariot. He is identified in the book as the 13th spirit sent to liberate Jesus Christ from his body. He's been trapped by the incarnation so he actually did Jesus the service by betraying him to the Romans, who would kill him to release his spirit from his body. The trapped and so Judas is now the hero of the story. All of that reflects Gnostic thinking Gnostic antipathy toward physical resurrection that's going on in Corinth, as Paul is writing this I would say things really haven't changed much these days. I would say that if you were to go out on the street and asked the average person. What do you believe happens when a person dies get a few different responses. The most overwhelming responses.

Absolutely nothing there annihilation us.

They believe that you live you die. Your body decays. It's gone. Nothing happens after that you to cease to exist. There's another group of column spiritualists. They think well you live forever in your soul in some form of fashion doing something more. Another we don't exactly know what you sorta continue to drift out there is a spirit still another group a growing group I would say in our country believes in reincarnation. 25% of Americans now believe in reincarnation. The transmigration of the soul from one body to another is even past life therapists who will tell you what you used to be in that previous body before you got into this body now here's the point.

Once you die and leave this corpse's discarded no use for it all.

You get a new form. All of that is the complete opposite to what Paul is teaching but it forms the mindset of these questions. How are the dead raised what will they look like, well, we asked some of the same questions only with a different motivation we ask questions like how how is God to raise the dead. If let's say the guy gets cremated and now his ashes are over four different mountain ranges have got to pull out one off or what if a guy gets killed at sea and is eaten by sharks sharks go 100 miles away from each other or out in the wilderness. A lion gets one limb wildebeest gets another. The line gets eaten by wildebeest wildebeest conceived by a gorilla, and other in all these different species all over the jungle. What about an amputee woman amputee be an amputee forever stroke victim be incapacitated forever.

These are very real questions that we have, so let's move from questions to answering the questions by three illustrations verse 36. Very interesting how Paul begins his answer he says it's foolish one. What you sow is not made alive, unless it dies, and what you so you do not.

So that body that shall be, but mere grain perhaps wheat or some other grain.

God gives it a body as he pleases into each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals.

Another efficient, another of birds. There are also celestial bodies up in the sky and terrestrial bodies down on the earth, the glory of the celestial is one, the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun.

Another glory of the moon.

Another glory of the stars. One star differs from another star in the glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead. He answers the questions by three illustrations when illustration from botany. The seed when illustration from zoology, the species of different kinds of flesh and illustration from astronomy to different kind of stars. The first illustration is particularly helpful. It helps us understand what it's going to be like in our bodies see a seed gets put into the ground it dies, it decomposes and the seed ceases to exist in that form. It is transformed though.

It's the it's the seed gets changed into something completely different and beautiful. I was there watching YouTube this week. Try to find seeds that grow for this illustration ever seen.

The time lapse photography shots of how plants grow very rapidly when they showed radish seeds put in the ground decomposing dying and then after period of time little roots start to check out toward the bottom root themselves in the soil and more roots in the root system and a little stamina and a little plant and then the plant grows and finally, radishes, fabulous transformation, nothing you're gonna be a radish in the resurrection were anywhere near that. But the amazing transformation. That's what Paul is getting at with this illustration and this simple illustration brings out three important truths about our resurrection. Three important truth mystery number one continuity number two and improvement. Number three the following here. First is mystery seed going into the ground and dying up comes a plant illustrates the mystery of one of the greatest principles in all of the Scripture.

And here's the principle life comes from death, the product of death is life is a great mystery. It's a great truth.

Jesus uses the same illustration to speak about his death and resurrection.

John chapter 12. He says unless a grain of wheat goes into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. Speaking about his death and resurrection, Jesus could not offer salvation. He could not offer eternal life unless he first died on the cross out of death comes like that's the mystery of a great principal second truth.

This illustration gives us his continuity. There is a continuity between the seed and the planters DNA inside the seed that is so program that will determine the that seed once dad will produce something great inside of an acorn is the DNA to produce an oak the seeds. The organists fit over your fence this summer those watermelons and there's genetic coding in each one of those seeds that will produce roots plant and fruit watermelon.

There is a continuity just as there is continuity between seeds and plants is also continuity between these bodies that are decaying in the body that will come out.

Just think, someday will really have the perfect body without changing our diet or having your exercise.

The only thing you'll need is relationship with Jesus to if you will live forever and have more abundant life. Now Jesus Christ is the only way to obtain that wraps things up for today. But before we go skipping when you're in studio today to assure a few more insights on this linear title. Today's message getting the body you've always wanted is that even possible. Eventually, yeah the new en banc.

Long-term I like you suppose the human body and physical fitness are so important to people in the great physique and and when does our focus on our health. Become a problem. I mean, because it can Nina be to external and that, thank goodness. Why does God want to resurrect our bodies when there's a lot of good questions. In fact, we could spend a program just on on those items but I think that we are first of all, we all want to be liked. So we have a we have an image of ourselves with the self-image and we's band in front of the mirror and we do our hair and we we get ourselves ready because we want to be appealing and it's it's part of who we are and so that in and of itself, isn't wrong to want to present yourself in a way that's you could be so disheveled that your distracting. I know that you have no idea how hard it is stress that are tall like you hopefully have such an advantage. You can eat so much more is going and hide. It is all you say yes but then also let me just add the keep is normally little bit is that I think it's good to be healthy. There's nothing wrong with having a healthy body God gave you one shot at life give you one body, one backbone so posture is important. One physique and so you know we want to stay with the years. The Lord will give us the best quality of life. We can can you overdo it. Yes, you can overdo it.

When physical health becomes the priority over spiritual health.

Healthy versus holy there you go, because holiness is spiritual health.

So when it becomes out of balance then it's wrong and I'll and if we were to spend as much time is spiritual inner spiritual environment as we do in our boy we we will be looking good before God. That's right – so he's going to resurrect these bodies so I'm like at the plaintiff who cares to resurrect it anyway right it's all going south.

Well it is all eventually going south and we are all prone to corruption, but there is a day when this this corruption puts on and corruption and the body that we so is the body that is raised that is amenable look the same. It will look markedly different. But it's it's a necessity because God wants to reverse the effects of Original Sin and the only way to do that is through resurrection. The second reason that I would do propose is is to make ourselves fit for let's call it level a or part a of heaven, which is I believe a millennial kingdom that will last a thousand years in a reconstituted earth were going to need the kind of physicality that goes along with the environment. So for those two reasons, and I think there are more for those sure are good start as to why there is a coming resurrection and Jesus was physically resurrected it with his body right and and it says that what happened to him is going to happen to us exciting. Thanks guys head if you'd like a copy of today's message getting the body you've always wanted. Just call 1-800-922-1888. I will send you a copy on CD for just six dollars plus shipping.

And don't forget we got the entire series from the edge of eternity on CD for you 17 messages for only $39 plus shipping.

Find out more. Order today and connect to SCIF.com will talk more about that perfect body you've always wanted. Next time here and connect Skip weekend division. The presentation of connection communication is ever-changing, true and ever-changing time