Billy Graham was born November 7th, 1918. He was known as the pastor to the presidents and preached Bible studies from the 1940s to the early 2000s. He spoke in front of more than 200 million people in his life and in more than 185 countries and territories. He passed away on February 21, 2018. If Billy Graham walked in this church today alive, resurrected, what would be your reaction?

What if he had a message for YOU? A message that carried a personal ultimatum. A message that spoke of heaven and hell, life and death, and here he is, as alive as any of us. Would we listen…? Would it interest us?

What about Michael Jackson? Regarded as one of the most significant figures of the 20th century. His televised memorial service in 2009, held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, estimated to have been viewed by more than 2.5 billion people! And you hear the news, he’s back! He’s alive! And he is saying something that is about YOU. Would you listen, or would you beat it!? HA!

You see, we have a ton less respect than we should have for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it rips US off! Jesus says of Himself in Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 8, “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life.” He told Martha in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. He (that’s me…, that’s you) he who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” And then He proved the power to carry this out when He Himself was dead and was able in His own power to lay death aside like a robe, walk out of the grip of death, into life again!

There have been great men and women throughout the ages. With hearts of gold and minds unique to existence. Messages that are unparalleled in wisdom and depth. Capabilities that stun and qualities that cause us to wonder and admire. There have been many throughout human history. But there has been only One, only One that was dead, and came to life. And perhaps the wildest part of it all is that One is asking to speak with you!

What’s the message? You are going to go through what He went through. All of creation, all men and women created in the image of God have a Leader, the First and the Last, whether we acknowledge that or not… And that Leader has cut a path, created a precedence that all of us MUST follow. I’m not just talking about death…, because He conquered death for all mankind, all of us, no matter if you are of the faith or not…, but He wants to speak to each one of us because each one of us must also follow His precedence in terms of resurrection. Watch this…

1 Corinthians 15:46-49, “The spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; (this is the fully man of Jesus Christ); the second Man is the Lord from heaven (this is the fully God of Jesus Christ). As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; (Just like He died, so shall we all); and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those heavenly (just like He rose, so shall we all). And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.”

Jesus as fully Man had and has all authority to cut the path and change the trajectory of all of creation, which He did. And so, everyone will face death, and because He rose, everyone will resurrect. Everyone. Saved and unsaved alike. Believer and unbeliever alike. EVERYONE. This is why Jesus wants to speak with each and every one of us.

Biblically there are two resurrections. Two because the resurrection is comprehensive. It is all encompassing…

John Chapter 5 Verses 28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which ALL who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Perhaps you’ve not been taught this, never heard this, never considered this, that what Jesus did that day on the cross was for the sins of the world, the entire world, and yet the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days later carried with it the notice, the message for you and for me personally, that sin is forgiven, the sin of the world has been dealt with comprehensively, AND there is a coming resurrection as a result, for all men and all women, but resurrection unto life is only through Jesus Christ…

He’s the Leader of all men and women… All of creation, He’s the First and the Last so all in between are enveloped in Jesus…, and because of that fact, the path He went is the only path and therefore the single path that everyone will take. Everyone will face death as He faced death. And everyone will resurrect, everyone will live forever, and this is the personal impetus that is upon us all! Go with Jesus and you will follow Him to life, go without Jesus and you will face the fact that there has been no other in all of history to create an alternate path… Biblically that is known as the resurrection unto condemnation.

So many fail to respect the resurrection. Michael Jackson would be more effective to change your life than Jesus Christ has been… Not only is that not very wise, it’s actually practically ridiculous. The message is in the inbox of every person’s heart, but it’s up to us to thoughtfully consider it and make it important. And let me tell you, there’s no more important subject to tackle than this one…

Now I want to show you one more thing about the resurrection. Because in Jesus is eternal life, absolutely! He saves, has the power to save you and me from eternal life of condemnation. He has the power to save us unto the life that He has provided, and yet the Bible, Jesus Himself gives us a wondrous promise of being saved throughout, over and over again, even within salvation! Not unto eternal life, that’s already secured, but unto exceptional life! I want to show this to you!

Romans 5:8-11, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. MUCH MORE THEN, having now been justified by His blood, we SHALL BE SAVED from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies WE WERE reconciled to God through the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, having BEEN reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED by His life (resurrection)! And NOT ONLY THAT, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”

Much more, much more, not only that, we shall be saved, we shall be saved! This is salvation within salvation. The salvation of my soul, the forgiveness of my sin, came through the cross of Christ. When Jesus died in my place He paid my penalty. Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death.” My wage paid by Jesus my Savior. And yet Paul tells us in Romans 5, NOT ONLY THAT, but WE SHALL BE SAVED by His life!

As the Lord lives, so shall I find life in Him. You say, “I am alive…” So are the cockroaches in yo momma’s basement, buddy! I’m talking about the life that was on the perfect perception of God when He created mankind life in the first place. Salvation unto wisdom. Salvation unto discernment. Salvation unto victory. Salvation unto full function. Salvation unto maturity! Salvation unto mercy, grace, forgiveness, newness of life…, connection and communion with the perfect King of kings and Lords of lords!

The desire and will and want of God who loves you so entirely much is to see you strong, joyous, mighty, capable, vigorous and undefeated by decay and malevolence, even though you and I, EVERYONE, has decay and malevolence in our lives, in our pasts, EVEN in our futures!! This is the salvation promised by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and described for us by Paul in Romans 5.

This is the MUCH MORE. This is the NOT ONLY THAT. That from even death, God can bring life. So, He teaches. And He guides. And He reveals. AND He restores! He creates something more beautiful than ever before from something that has become such a mess through mistake and human error! He presents hidden truths about you, them, the world, your life and the eternal. That’s mentioned for us, hidden truths, in Matthew 13:35 and 1 Peter 1:20-21, and all of a sudden, you’re the one that your marriage doesn’t fail but it thrives…, even if it’s your third marriage! This is the salvation within salvation because even Christians go through things like divorce! And the enemy comes and says, “That’s it for you, loser.” But Jesus says no, no, no, I have MUCH MORE yet for you! And you merge into the will of God for your life! To know Him, to be near to Him, to serve Him and serve others…

And check this out, you do all those things not because you’re obedient for obedience sake but because you are communing with God, walking with God and He is revealing to you in your heart of hearts wisdom and joy and goodness and self-control and self-respect and how serving Him and others energizes the best of you and the best of results and all of a sudden, following the Lord, you aren’t unequally yoked, she speaks your love language of respect, admiration and appreciation and you speak her love language of securing her heart with unconditional, unrestrained and unmerited love! Just as the Bible says…, and its heaven on earth. Not because you have to but the Spirit of life in you actually making you want to do those things… Salvation within salvation…

All of a sudden you’re the one everyone wants to work with and you’re the one that gets the recognition, the promotion, the bonus incentive plan, the stock options, the additional PTO, because you’re not working for the man but you’re working for the Lord, Colossians 3:23 running through your veins pumping from your heart filled with the Spirit of God, “Whatever you are doing, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” Because you are proving out what Paul wrote in Romans 12:10, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”

You’re the only one in the life of your co-workers actually walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and out of you is coming what Paul said (a complete impossibility in our flesh) in Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And something crazy particular is happening to everyone who walks into your company, they are experiencing life as Jesus said in John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water!” This is the MUCH MORE, the daily salvation within salvation, the power of the resurrection of eternal, above the not-eternal, life flowing through your heart, mind, soul and strength!

AND all of this, let me overstate this and be clear, because I am the least religious man in this ROOM, all of this not because you are some obedient religious Christian but because the Spirit of the Living God, the Spirit of the One who resurrected Himself out of death, is now living within YOU and you are maturing, growing, strengthening in Him, yes through His purity and power but man THROUGH HIS GRACE, MERCY AND LOVE. Because no matter what you’ve done, what has been done to you, how you have failed and who you have failed, God has MUCH MORE for you! None of this you have to do, all of this you get to do. This is salvation within salvation and this is the promise manifested by the resurrection. Life as it was designed…, check this out, life without death!

Look at this incredible example! In His first birth, the first person to cling to Him was the Virgin Mary. And in His second birth, His resurrection, the first one to cling to Him was Mary Magdalene, out of which seven demons had been cast out by Jesus! The first birth was a picture of the Law, of His perfection and purity…, the second birth is a picture of full-on redemption! His first birth being to fulfill the law, salvation the whole world needed. His second birth being to overcome death and all the decay included therein…, salvation within salvation that God wants YOU to consider, YOU to get, YOU to have, and YOU to trust for today and for your future!

What’s the message? You are going to go through what He went through. All of creation, all men and women created in the image of God have a Leader, the First and the Last, whether we acknowledge that or not… And that Leader has cut a path, created a precedence that all of us must follow. Because He conquered death for all mankind, all of us, no matter if you are of the faith or not…

But wait, there’s more…, SO MUCH MORE…, for those that follow Him into His resurrection and lay down their lives for and unto Jesus Christ! No matter what yesterday looked like for you, SO MUCH MORE is God’s plan, shown in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, IF you decide to trust Him!