Getting an Easter Focus

Merchants have found a way to take advantage of every event on the calendar and Easter is no different. I've not checked the paper yet today but I could assure you there are plenty of sale fires in the paper today some of which probably read something like this after Easter sale everything reduced. You know that slogan could have described a brief period of New Testament history because following the death of Christ everything seemed reduced everything was reduced. Think about some of the main players in the resurrection story Thomas for instance after the death of Christ Thomas's hope is reduced to despondency. He's in the upper room the second Sunday the week after the resurrection. He's not seeing Jesus the week before and he has told the disciples unless I see him unless I can can see the nails prints in his hands and put my hand in his side I will not believe his hope has been reduced to despondency. Then there's Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb on the resurrection morning speaking to a man that she thinks is the gardener and will not find out until a few moments later it is actually Christ and she says they take it to body and I don't know where they have put him her perspective has been reduced to despair and then there is Simon Peter. Peter's purpose in life has been reduced to a lack of direction because Peter at least there's some evidence for the fact that Peter has decided well there's no more being than a possible there's no more being a disciple I'm going to go back to my fishing business and his purpose in life has been reduced to a lack of direction and then those two disciples walking back from Jerusalem to their little hometown outside of Jerusalem called Emmaus on the day Jesus was resurrected from the tomb the Bible says their faces were downcast and as Jesus joined them he joined the couple who's resolve to stay with it to live for Christ to follow him had been reduced to discouragement and I would be sure to say that many of us in this room are no different than those disciples we come to church on Easter Sunday morning we celebrate the fact of the resurrection and then we go home and hit reality hit reality where your hope and your perspective and your purpose and your resolve seem to evaporate into thin air everything is reduced after Easter and life gets back to normal how can we keep that from happening how can we get an Easter focus a focus on what Easter really means for us not just the fact of the resurrection but what Easter really means I would suggest to you this morning that to be able to get an Easter focus to be able to get a resurrection focus in your life that changes the way you live not just the way you do church on Easter Sunday morning but the way you live the rest of your life it requires a focus on the risen Christ it is not just the fact of the resurrection that we celebrate today it is the risen living Christ that we celebrate that's what made the difference for the disciples it was not just oh okay the resurrection happened I'm gonna celebrate that once a year check that off my list of things to do what what revolutionized the lives of the disciples was the resurrected Christ and what that said to them about life beyond the grave life on the other side for you see we live life on this side of the grave we live life with an earthly perspective with our faces down so much of the time to all of our daily duties our work our family obligations mounting financial difficulties physical problems and we're living on this side of the grave with our nose to the grind and our faces down what made a difference for the disciples was being able to see that Jesus was alive and that said something about life on the other side that it was different because they saw him in an other side body and they watched him ascend to the other side place he had promised to go to and to build for them so their life was revolutionized by hope the resurrection said to them about living on other side life living a life that is informed by directed by fueled by ignited by passion by the other side what's there for us it eternity we are so earthbound so time constrained so constrained with the things of this life we need to in these moments not just celebrate a historical fact of the resurrection but gain a historical resurrection Easter focus on life that will help us to live with the perspective of the other side so this morning I want to still look at what the resurrection shows of the other side what does it show about the other side what was it that caught the imagination of those early disciples about the other side seeing the other side Jesus ascend to the other side place well first of all the resurrection teaches us something about personhood on the other side now follow with me for a moment I think you'll see what where we're headed in the resurrection state we can expect to be the same persons we are now recognizable that we are now but much better different in a glorified body we'll get to that in a moment but you're gonna be you you see in his resurrection body Christ was recognizable they could tell who he was by several things they could tell first of all who he was by his voice I do want you to open your Bible this morning we're gonna pull several passages together but we're gonna focus on a few in the gospel of John so if you'd open your Bible please to John chapter 20 John chapter 20 where we find one of the four gospel records of the resurrection and in this account we find several evidences of the fact that Christ was recognizable to those who had seen him before his death burial and resurrection after the resurrection on the other side of the grave he is still recognizable to them as the same person first of all he was recognizable by his voice I mentioned earlier Mary Magdalene who was in the garden and at the garden tomb and the empty tomb and thinking that his body had been stolen and we don't know where it is we don't know where they've taken him and she's quite distraught and she turns to someone who she thinks is the gardener there in the garden verse 15 middle the verse thinking he was the gardener she said sir if you've carried him away tell me where you've put him and I will get him Jesus said to her Mary she turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic Rabbonai which means teacher literally my teacher she could have well said my savior my Lord my God that's who this is she recognized him she had been kept from recognizing him earlier although he had spoken to her but when he speaks her name somehow his voice is now recognizable and she recognizes this is Christ but he's also recognized not only by his voice he's also recognized by bodily features that evening meeting with those frightened disciples in the upper room verse 19 says on the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders Jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you after he said this he showed them his hands and side the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord in other words they recognized it was the Lord because they saw the prince where the males had gone in his hands and the place in his side where the spear had penetrated there were recognizable marks that occurred before his death that were still there in his resurrected body in his glorified body he was recognizable by bodily features down in verse 27 the next week when Thomas is there he said to Thomas put your finger here see my hands reach out your hand and put it into my side stop doubting and believe in other words look at look at me I have recognizable physical characteristics that will show you I am the same person that was on that cross the same person on the other side the the previous side of the grave on the other side I'm the same person I'm the same person but he was also recognized not only by his voice and by bodily features he was recognized by his actions get done to verse chapter 21 and you find not just there too later maybe a couple of weeks later that the disciples some of them seven of them and all have decided to go back to fishing and they're on the sea of Galilee fishing they have fished all night and they haven't caught anything so look at chapter 21 verse 4 early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus he called out to them friends haven't you any fish no they answered he said throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some when they did they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter it is the Lord as soon as Simon Peter heard him say it is the Lord he wrapped his outer garment around him for you taking it off and jumped into the water Peter wasn't going to wait for the boat to turn around he was headed straight for the water he was going to swim in a Olympic record freestyle toward the shore they knew it was the Lord because of what he had done they'd seen this before in fact early on some three and a half years before when Jesus had called Peter and Andrew James and John to be his disciples to leave their fishing business and follow him he had done the very same thing Luke chapter 5 back in the early part of his ministry they've been fishing all night they caught nothing he says throw the net on the other side you'll catch a bunch they did that's how they recognize this is gotta be Jesus they had seen these actions before so Jesus is recognizable he is the same person even though he is in a glorified body now what that tells us about the other side is that we also will be recognizable you will retain your unique personhood you will be you you will be recognized by your voice your bodily features your actions now know what some of you think it John I was hoping for a lot better well it will be better it will be different it will be glorified but you will still be you now I don't profess to know how all of that works we will be different but we will be the same I mean Abraham was recognized by the rich man who died and was in Hades he recognized Abraham he recognized Lazarus who was a contemporary of his in this life on the amount of transfiguration when Jesus took three of his disciples was praying and was transpigared before them transformed to look like he will at his second coming Moses and Elijah appeared and the disciples recognized them they'd never seen them they lived hundreds of years before there weren't any pictures of them so they knew them we will be recognizable on the other side so we will carry the same characteristics that we have now but different because our bodies will be glorified will be like Christ his resurrection body his glorified body will have the same kind of body Paul tells the Philippians that in Philippians chapter three look at these verses he says but our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there the Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body so our lowly bodies that give us so much trouble that ache and hurt and get diseases and get illnesses these lowly bodies will be transformed to be just like his glorified body but he was recognizable as the same person and you will be recognizable as the same person just a lot better no flaws no disease no missing parts you'll have all of your teeth when you get to heaven and there'll be yours Dennis will be out of work in heaven thank the Lord right you'll have all of your hair in heaven now I know a lot of you think bald is beautiful and I'm not going to argue with you but I think God intended you to have hair you're gonna have all your hair when you get to heaven you're gonna have all of your limbs when you get to heaven you'll have all of your eyesight your heart will be perfectly working your mind will be good that's what some of us are looking forward to have our whole mind when we get to heaven there'll be no wheelchairs in heaven some of you're gonna spend a hundred years dancing for joy you see it will be perfect it will be better it will be like Christ glorified body so we will be recognizable we will be able to recognize others others will recognize us but we will be in a perfect body and we will look at each other and say my how you've changed in a great way you've changed I don't know how all of that will work I don't know how our bodies can be changed to be like Christ a glorified body in the resurrection and yet still be the same but that's what the other side resurrection body of Jesus tells us in fact you know there's always been question about how the resurrection will take place how will people be resurrected who whose body is decayed and gone back to dust how will people be resurrected who died at sea and their bodies have been cast into the ocean and sharks have devoured their bodies what will happen in the resurrection I don't profess to understand all of that or know exactly how it will happen but I know that Jesus is able to pull all of the elements together whatever they've become one of my interesting observations and questions would be what about Roger Williams when he is resurrected Roger Williams was a Baptist preacher in the colonies in the Massachusetts colony and because Massachusetts had set up kind of a state church the congregational church he said man I came here to this country for religious freedom and separation of church and state so he went across the bay and started a new colony we know it today as the state of Rhode Island well Roger Williams was a preacher who started a colony we know in both as a great one of the original colonists and founders of our country but also a preacher he was buried in a wooden box under an apple tree and the day came when people felt like you should have a more honorable burial site and so they were going to exume his body and transfer him to another tomb when they exhumed his body they found that the roots of that apple tree had not only penetrated that wooden box they'd also penetrated the body of Roger Williams which raises some interesting questions about what all nutrients did those apples have that grew on that tree and what all happened to Roger Williams body when you think of all those who ate those apples from that tree I don't understand everything that will happen it also raises another question is that where we got granny Smith apples from everybody let that one go I don't understand everything is going to happen in the resurrection house all gonna take place but I know that Jesus is capable of bringing from whatever elements our bodies have turned into fully recognizable and yet changed glorified bodies Jesus resurrection body tells us something about the personhood we will enjoy on the other side but there's more on the other side there is also a place not only will we be the same but different people on the other side there is a place waiting for us and Jesus resurrection shows us that we can expect a place in fact Jesus ascension to that place affirms and assures us that there is a place for us as well now if you're in John 21 just flip the page to Acts chapter one where we find the ascension of Jesus Acts chapter one after Jesus that spent 40 days after his resurrection appearing occasionally to his disciples teaching them training them preparing them for their ministry he has some last words for them the very last words of which were they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them they would be witnesses both in their local area throughout Judea throughout Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth and then after this verse nine of Acts one after he said this he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight they were looking intently up into the sky as he was going when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them men of Galilee they asked where they said why do you stand here looking into the sky this same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven I love this this scene and trying to imagine the scene Jesus is talking with them and all of a sudden he starts to rise slowly starts to rise and they watch him the word looking means to gaze intently like a space shuttle launch like a rocket that Cape Canaveral watching watching it go ever so slowly climbing toward the heavens and they're watching Jesus disappear into the clouds he is going to a place and no doubt they remembered those words that Jesus had promised them and spoken to them just a few weeks prior in the upper room before he died let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions I go to prepare a place for you that we're not so I would have told you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also Jesus went to that place heaven and he has promised he's preparing a place for us there and he will come back and take us to that place so what I would like to know is what kind of place what kind of place does the other side resurrection body and activity of Jesus his ascension show us what kind of place are we going to well typically when we think about descriptions of heaven we turn to the last couple chapters chapters of the Bible Revelation 21 and 22 and we read about the streets of gold and the gates of pearl and the foundations of precious stones and the river of water of life and the tree of life and all of that that's not really description of heaven now although it may look like that that's really a description of the new heaven the New Jerusalem actually that comes down to the earth is described in Revelation 21 verse 1 as the New Jerusalem new city coming down to earth that's the eternal dwelling place of us as believers I I would suspect heaven is somewhat like that but I really don't know when it really comes down to it we don't have much description about heaven now and what it's like I think there is one just in fact Paul Paul was caught up to the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12 third heaven what's that about there evidently are three kind of as Jewish people saw this three layers of heavens or three categories of heavens the first heaven is the atmosphere the heavens where the birds fly that's spoken of in the book of Psalms is the heavens the second heaven is the stellar universe the heavens declare the glory of God the firmament shows his handy work that's the second heaven the third heaven is the presence of God that's where God dwells and Paul says he was caught up to the third heaven and he saw things and heard things which were not he was not permitted to speak about so we're thinking oh shucks I would love to heard about that you know I would love to see what you saw and then have you describe what you saw up there and he says I can't do it sorry so there's really not much information about what heaven is like but there is a two-word description in the Bible that covers it all just two simple words Paul uses them in his description of going to be with the Lord if he were to die and we know he's talking about where I'd go right now to heaven what heaven is like right now in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 23 says I'm torn between the two I desire to depart and be with Christ which is better by far two words far better it is far better that's all you need to know it's far better think about it everything good and blessed and holy and Godly that has ever happened to you in this life heaven is far better remember the greatest worship experience you've ever had maybe you can recall a time when you disseemed in worship to be transported into the very presence of God in your heart your heart was just overwhelmed with the grandeur of all that he had done for you and his glory and his holiness and you just seemed to catch a glimpse of him if you will heaven's worship will be far better think of a time in your life I hope maybe it's right now when you've never been closer to Christ when you were walking in fellowship with him and it was sweet and it was good and you could see his hand at work in your life fellowship with Christ in heaven will be far better far better think about the most enjoyable blessed times you've ever had with your family heaven will be far better think about the most exciting experiences you've ever had in this life heaven will be far better think about the most amazing house you've ever seen maybe you were in it maybe you saw it somewhere maybe you saw it on one of those TV programs about homes what did the home and garden deal something like that anyway maybe and you're thinking most amazing home I've ever seen your home in heaven will be far better far better think about the most enjoyable time of rest you've ever had when you really needed it and it just felt so good the rest of heaven will be far better think about the things you enjoy most here on this earth the activities people events that you bring you most enjoyment in your life heaven will be far better I mean that describes it for me that's enough that's enough whatever this life holds heaven will be far better you know it used to be that most people died in their homes in their own beds with their family gathered around them medical technology as wonderful as it is and we're grateful for every bit of it but medical technology when it did not exist there were lots of bad things about that I wouldn't want to go back to those days but there were times when people were able to die at home not surrounded by the worrying machines and kept alive by artificial means and sedated so that they could not really interact with their families there was a day when people died at home surrounded by their families in their own beds and one of the things that I think we miss sometimes with that is being able to hear loved ones give their final words and that that still happens some I've heard that some of you had to if the body is not so racked by pain or disease or lack of consciousness to where someone is in their right mind and can speak it is said that DL Moody just before he died was talking to his family as they were gathered around his bed he was in and out of consciousness but his family recorded his comments this is what he said he awoke from being asleep apparently his eyes had been closed and he said earth recedes heaven opens before me if this is death it is sweet there is no valley here God is calling me and I must go and his sons said dad you're just dreaming and Moody responded after a moment no I am not dreaming I've been within the gates I've seen the children's faces he struggled a little bit more and then just before he died said this is my triumph this is my coronation day it is glorious I don't know what all awaits us on the other side but it is a place and I know it is far better than anything we have ever known here Jesus resurrection body and ascension back to heaven assures us of a place but there's something else about the other side that Jesus resurrection shows and that is resurrection and a promise there are several promises that Jesus assures us of due to his resurrection and that his resurrection makes sure for us I just want to focus on a couple of them one of them is the promise of reward for everyone who knows Jesus is Savior Jesus resurrection and going back to heaven promises for us reward someday when we join him there in heaven a recognition for faithfulness faithful living faithful serving for our Savior Paul talks about it just before he died some of his last words in print to Timothy in second Timothy 4 he says now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing there is reward to be given for those who have lived for Christ for faithful living for him Paul speaks of it very clearly earlier in another letter in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 when he says for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid which is Jesus Christ now that's explaining your salvation no other foundation to build your life on but Christ but then once you receive Christ as your Savior you start building your life as a believer you can use two different kinds of building materials notice Paul says if anyone builds on this foundation using gold silver precious stones costly stuff that's that's enduring solid building materials that will last many mentions three other kinds of building materials that are easily consumed would hey or straw two different kinds of building materials you can use in living your life and building your life he says this is all happened their work will be shown for what it is because the day notice capital D speaking of the judgment day will bring it to light it will be revealed with fire and the fire will test notice the quality not quantity the quality of each person's work in building your life if what has been built survives the builder will receive a reward now with that building motif that building figure of speech Paul communicates something very important about life and the afterlife in heaven it's important to realize first of all that he says there's only one foundation to build your life on that will last and that's Christ that's the only way to build a life of meaning purpose fulfillment and eternal destiny with him is through Christ Christ is the only foundation Jesus Christ came to this earth for the purpose of dying for your sins in mind being God he did not have any of these sins of his own to die for to be punished for knowing the wages or the punishment for sin is death all of us die because of sin entering the world it's corrupted the whole human race and all of us are part of that but Jesus comes from without side he comes down from heaven takes it on a human body he's God he's perfect he's never sined so he's qualified to die for your sin and my sin to take our place to bear our punishment to take all of the wrath of God for your sin and my sin when he dies on the cross that's what Jesus was doing so in order to go to heaven and in order to have a life here that has purpose and meaning fulfillment the only foundation you can build on is Christ you can't have any other foundations in that but watch it once you get saved once you trust Jesus as your Savior you start building your Christian life the kind of life you're going to live that someday is going to be presented to the Lord when you stand before him in judgment and Paul says it's very important the kind of building materials you use you can focus your life on earthly things me centered my ambition my drive what I want to become and do and be known for in life I want to climb the ladder success and want to make something of myself all me centered self-centered you can build your life that's wood hay and straw and when Jesus turns the searching gaze of his fiery eyes on that it will burn to a crisp immediately but if you have built your life with solid building materials that last gold silver costly jewels those things are not affected by the fire they just come out looking better purified and so when Jesus turns his gaze upon whatever in your life has been good and godly and for his glory and serving him and serving others and your motivations being faithful to please him when he looks at that that's going to be rewarded in heaven so if you will have a reward in heaven that reward my friend is for faithfulness to him don't confuse greatness with faithfulness there are people we look at and think man they're great they're great Christians the real question is Jesus looks at the heart and he knows whether or not they're faithful whether or not we are faithful to him it's faithfulness not greatness that will be rewarded on the other side but I would be remiss if I did not say there will also be some shame and loss on the other side there's another verse in that first Corinthians 3 description about the building materials and it's verse 15 if if the life you've built well those building materials if it is burned up indicating it was built with flimsy materials self-centered life if it's burned up the builder will suffer loss loss of reward there's nothing to be rewarded for but yet will be saved even though only as one escaping through the flames you know the question is not that the judgment seat of Christ will you go to heaven or hell that's already decided by virtue that fact you've trusted Jesus as your Savior you're already in heaven at the judgment seat of Christ there's another judgment later on for unbelievers this judgment is for believers you're already there in heaven that's settled that's secure but the question of this judgment is how much of your life was lived for you and how much of it was lived for Christ will you be rewarded or will suffer shame and loss and John reminds us of that awesome and daunting possibility of loss of reward in 1 John 2 and verse 28 when he says and now do children continue in him stay faithful to him continue to live for him so that when he appears when he comes back at the rapture we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming which implies that it is possible to be shamed ashamed when he comes back because we've not really lived for him and we lose the capacity of reward at the judgment seat of Christ there's a promise of reward and it is for faithfulness I love this story it reminds me of the reward that awaits us in heaven an old missionary couple been working in Africa for years this was over a century ago they were returning to New York to retire back in those days mission boards had no pension plans no retirement plans and so they had no no money nothing to retire on their health was broken they were defeated discouraged and afraid of what the future held they discovered they were booked on the same ship coming across the Atlantic Ocean as president Teddy Roosevelt who was returning from one of his big game hunting expeditions expeditions in Africa no one paid any attention to them they watched on the voyage across the Atlantic the fanfare that accompanied the president's entourage passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man as the ship moved across the ocean the old missionary said to his wife something is wrong we should why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes over him much over him nobody gives two hoots about us dear you shouldn't feel that way his wife said I can't help it it just doesn't seem right when the ship docked in New York a band was waiting to greet the president the mayor other dignitaries were there to welcome the president back to the states the papers were full of the president's arrival no one even noticed this missionary couple they slipped off the ship found a cheap flat on the east side of New York hoping praying the next day they would be able with their limited resources and failing health to find some way to support themselves that night the man spirit broke he said to his wife I can't take this God is not treating us fairly his wife replied why don't you go into the bedroom and talk to the Lord about that short time later he came out from the bedroom but now his face was completely different his wife asked him what happened his response was this the Lord settled it with me he said I told him how bitter I was that the president should receive this tremendous homecoming when no one met us as we return home and when I finished it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said but you're not home yet you're not home yet you're not home yet I'm not home yet and we will not be home until we see our Savior the rewards for living faithfully don't necessarily come here there will be things that you will do in your life that people will never see you'll never have any opportunity to be awarded rewarded congratulated pat on the back for them God saw every one of them and when you stand before him there is the promise of reward for faithful living for him but there's another promise Jesus resurrection life and showing us the other side also gives us the promise of a reunion and what a blessed reunion it will be first of all the reunion with family I love what Paul says in 1st Thessalonians 4 when he's talking to the Thessalonians about their trouble their their troubled about you know Paul you talk about the rapture we believe Jesus could come back at any time and we'll be caught up to be with the Lord but we've had some loved ones die what about them are they going to be left out what's going to happen with them and Paul affirms them this way in 1st Thessalonians 4 he says for the Lord Himself she'll come down from heaven with a loud command with the voice of the archangel with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ your loved ones who've already died who are believers will rise first after that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever what a reunion that will be to be together with our loved ones once again whatever union Bonnie Brecht bill of Chambersburg Pennsylvania recently wrote this in a blog after our two-year-old son Jamie died I was comforted by the thought he was well cared for in heaven but I worried that he had forgotten the mommy and daddy who loved him since there's no sadness in heaven I reasoned he can't miss us finally I asked my husband Dwayne do you think Jamie just forgot us or does he wonder why we're not there along with him Dwayne was thoughtful and then he said remember when we used to leave him with his grandma for a few hours he'd kiss us goodbye then run to the toy shelf when we returned he'd run toward us without stretched arms happy to see us again I nodded remembering our sturdy boy flinging himself at me Dwayne continued but grandma said he never cried while we were gone he knew we would come back for him my husband put his arm around me well I think that's how it is now don't you imagine gods surpasses even grandma's at keeping little boys happy and secure what a reunion it will be though to have our loved ones our family who have passed on before us our children our siblings our parents and grandparents run up to us and embrace us and welcome us to heaven what a reunion that will be that's promised us on the other side but there's also a reunion with others people you don't even know I love what Jesus said in Luke chapter 16 he's using an earthly illustration to get across a spiritual point and he says I tell you use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself so that when it the worldly wealth is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings there's a whole story here that I'm just drawing this one verse from but the point is this to those who were concerned about preparing for their future Jesus said the best way to prepare for your futures think about the other side invest who you are and what you have in eternal things in reaching out to meet the needs of people in serving Christ and when you get to heaven when all your earthly wealth is gone and this life is over you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings and I think he's talking there about maybe people whose life you touched maybe folks that you had an impact on some of whom you may not even know about maybe you witnessed to them and you never knew that another series of events happened in their life and they came to Christ and you lost contact with them and in heaven you'll be reunited and they'll come up to you and welcome you and say thank you for sharing Jesus with me maybe someone whom you gave toward their ministry or their life or their mission trip or whatever and God radically changed their lives and used them to reach other people and they'll welcome you in heaven they'll welcome you in heaven maybe a word of encouragement just a deed to help someone that you've forgotten about a long time ago maybe a lesson you taught someone even by your example that you never knew you were teaching someone and in heaven all of those will be brought back what a great reunion heaven is going to be that's what the other side is like that's what Jesus resurrection shows us what the other side life is like when you look at what the resurrection shows about the other side it gives focus and reorders everything on this side that's what it should do for us when we really see what the other side body of Christ means the other side place that he went to the other side promises he makes to us when we see the resurrection the impact it means the window it opens up to the other side it should change everything it should change our focus it was true with the disciples after the resurrection after seeing the living Christ their lives were changed forever nothing was reduced anymore their hope zoomed back up their perspective zoomed back up everything about their life was right again and with a different focus they went out to spread the gospel and give their lives for Jesus I believe getting an Easter focus really a resurrection focus on the other side would change the way we live our hope our perspective our purpose our resolve we would refocus on living for Christ and living for the other side where we will be rewarded for all that we've done for his glory there's far more to live for on the other side than there is on this side so live that life live that life live the other side life and not with your head down and your face downcast so overcome with this life that you lose sight of the vigor and passion and enthusiasm for the other side live ignited with that flame of the other side life that Jesus promises would you bow with me in prayer father thank you for the resurrection of our Savior not only for the fact of it and not only for what it means for our salvation as the capstone of the gospel but thank you for what it reveals to us the window it opens up for us to the other side thank you for what it shows us about the other side personhood and place and promise that we have in you may we take that which we know of the other side bring it back into our experience and live by that hope and made that hope see us through the difficulties of this life that are so hard the physical financial relational challenges that we all face I pray father that you would help us to live with our hope firmly rooted in the resurrection of our Savior it's in his name we pray amen