House of Hope Online

April 27, 2025

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Last time we discussed the fragrance of the Resurrection, and how the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Jesus is to manifest through us.  We also talked about how we are to be a fragrance of Christ to God among those being saved and among those who are perishing.  We are to love the unbeliever as Jesus does, and we are to be a sweet witness to them, teaching them the truth of God’s word.

Today, I want to follow up last week’s message with more about the many blessings that accrue to us as believers as a result of the Resurrection of our precious Lord and Savior.  My son Will’s birthday fell during the Easter Season this year, and I wrote in his birthday card that Will’s birth made me realize what a sacrifice Father God made when He gave up His only begotten Son for us.  The Father would not have done that unless it would bring us great blessings.  Here are just a few things from the scriptures that should bring joy to your heart post-Easter.

Eternal Life to Our Mortal Bodies

Of course, we know that His death and resurrection bring us eternal life, but it is comforting to review the scriptures which definitively promise eternal life, and especially the promise of life to our bodies.  Let’s start with the direct promise from Jesus’ mouth:

John 11:

 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,

 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

I don’t know what your concept of eternal life is, but the Bible promises that the Spirit who raised Jesus will also give life to our mortal bodies.

Romans 8:

 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.

This verse is significant because it indicates that our bodies will be resurrected and be reconstituted, just as Jesus’ body was reconstituted.  The Bible documents that Jesus appeared to His disciples, He ate with them, and He disappeared in the clouds at His Ascension into Heaven. 

Think about that – He just appeared to them.  He did not walk through the doorway, He just appeared in the room where the disciple were.  That is supernatural, then He ate with them, which is natural, and later He ascended to Heaven, again supernatural.  Thus, He had a reconstituted body post-Resurrection that He did not have pre-Resurrection.  Before His death on the cross, His bodily existence was the same as ours, but after He rose, His body was changed, and He was able to transport Himself in a miraculous way.

Paul writes in Romans 8:11 that the same Spirit that raised Jesus dwells in us and will also give life to our mortal bodies.  This means we all will receive a reconstituted body, whether we are raised from the dead or alive at the Rapture.  Look at what Paul says:

1^st Corinthians 15:

 51 ¶ Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

Paul is saying our bodies will be changed at the Rapture – all of us, whether alive at the Rapture or raised from our sleep.  We will be changed because our bodies will be reconstituted, ready for eternity, with no more decay of our bones, muscles, and joints.  No more pain.  Built to last forever.

That, my friends, is a blessing of the Resurrection.

Healing of Our Bodies

Let us also realize that His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead, allow us to receive healing in our bodies in the meantime as we await the Rapture.

Isaiah 53:

 4 ¶ Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

If He had just died and not been raised, none of this would have happened, or mattered.  But, because He was raised, He overcame all these things for us.  Our griefs are now overcome; our sorrows have been carried by Him.  He was stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted so that we would not be.  Verse 5 says:

• He was pierced through for our transgressions,
• He was crushed for our iniquities,
• The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him,
• And by His scourging we are healed.

He took our punishment for sin, and for our tendency toward sin.  The word chastening means correction by punishment or suffering in order to purify.  Those are bills we no longer must pay.  He paid the price for our behavior.  He was chastened so we would be purified.  And by His stripes and scourging, we are healed.

Again, these are benefits that come from the Resurrection.  His Resurrection overcame the death of His physical body, which brings healing to us physically.

The Escape from Wrath

No discussion of Resurrection benefits would be complete without emphasizing that Jesus provides our escape from the wrath of God that comes during the tribulation.  Some argue we will face the terror of the Tribulation, but those arguments are not based on scripture.  The Bible promises we are not destined for wrath.

1^st Thessalonians 5:

 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

 10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

 11 ¶ Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Jesus also said that we will escape the things that are about to take place if we do not get weighed down by worldly pursuits.

Luke 21:

 34 “Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap;

 35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.

 36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Jesus, in describing the last days, warns us not to be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life.  The word “dissipation” is interesting.  It means excessive and wasteful living and self-indulgence.  It includes corrupt living, decadence, and perversion, which are things we are seeing on the increase in our world today.

Jesus is saying: don’t be caught up in the worries and darkness of this world but instead pray for strength to escape the wrath to come.  The point is: there is an escape from wrath available to us.

In Revelation 6, John foresaw the breaking of the seven seals which will unleash the wrath that is coming upon the earth post-Rapture.

Revelation 6:

 12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [made] of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;

 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

 14 And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

 15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;

 16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;

 17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

In Revelation 19, we see that we, the Church, are not suffering the wrath.  Instead, we are going to a wedding feast to marry Jesus.

Revelation 19:

 5 ¶ And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”

 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

 7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”

 8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright [and] clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

 9 And he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.”

So, we are provided escape from the wrath of God, and not only that, but the remainder of Revelation 19 is a prophetic vision of we, the Church, riding on white horses behind Jesus, as He descends to the earth to defeat the kings of this world and their armies, which are assembled against Him.  He will also defeat the antichrist and the false prophet and will cast them into the lake of fire to burn.

These are blessings that follow us as a direct consequence of the Resurrection.  None of these things happen if there were no Resurrection.  Resurrection is the victory that provides all of these blessings to us.

Take some time to ponder these truths and give thanks to Jesus for these blessings.

Let us pray.

Father God, we thank You for the blessings that flow to us from the Resurrection of Your beloved Son, Jesus.  Thank You for loving us so much that You sent Him to do Your will in the earth.  We praise You for bringing eternal life and healing to our mortal bodies, and for providing an escape from the wrath that is to come.  Quicken us to share this wonderful truth with others as we walk among those who are perishing.

If anyone reading this blog or listening to the podcast does not know Jesus, please pray this prayer with me:

“Jesus, I repent of my sins, and I ask you into my heart, that you might change me, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, guide me in the way I should walk from this day forward.  Thank You for Your death and resurrection.  I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord of my life, and I believe in my heart that Father God raised Him from the dead on Resurrection Day!  Amen.”