The Resurrection and the New Creation: Hope Beyond the Grave

Introduction and Bible Reading

Last year, my brother, John Musyimi, did take us through the Kingdom, and he spoke about the inbreaking of the Kingdom. He tried to make us picture—um, for those of us who love apples and fruits—what it would be like to eat a glorified apple.
And as he was speaking, I thought he had been to Uganda with his glorious pineapples!

But I’ve been asked and tasked today to speak about the resurrection and the new creation. It’s a pleasure for me to be here.
Our text this morning will be Romans chapter 8, verse 9 to 25.

I’ll be reading from the ESV.

Romans 8:9–25 (ESV)
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
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 dwells in you.

So then, brothers, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly wait for adoption as sons—the redemption of our bodies.

For in this hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s pray.

Lord, this morning we reflect on the glorious hope of the resurrection—
how You rose from the dead, and how Your resurrection is the very basis of our hope:
that one day, in the future, we will rise again.

That in You we have victory over death, and the reminder that the resurrection is the basis of the new creation, when all things will be made new.
And so, Lord, we pray—
We pray that You may speak to us this morning of this glorious hope, and also enable us to see how this glorious hope transforms us and reforms the Church even today.

In Jesus’s name we pray,
Amen.

Death and Immortality

Modern science seeks to eliminate death. There are big projects that are aimed at that. And although it has not yet succeeded, there is progress that has been made in slowing aging and delaying death.

Now, these efforts reveal to us our deep and desperate desire to defeat death. We long for immortality. We don’t want to die.
Similarly, there are campaigns for environmental protection—you know, those ones that tell you not to cut down your trees, not to litter the environment. And these campaigns show a strong awareness that creation is harmed by human sin. Even non-believers—the people who don’t know God—understand that creation is not as it should be.

But while humanity and creation long for freedom from decay, science and these environmental campaigns fall short as lasting and ultimate solutions.

Why? Because they don’t deal with the root issue—the root cause of death and decay. That is sin.
So science cannot grant immortality because it does not deal with our immorality.

We need a death that defeats death for all.
We need a resurrection that brings life.

Romans chapter 8, verse 9 to 25, proclaims this good news: that there is a resurrection that leads to a new creation.
The death of God the Son has dealt with our sin, while His resurrection has secured our victory over death and decay—both for us and within us.
But this victory is not just for us; it’s for the rest of creation.
And that’s the good news—that the resurrection of Christ restores all creation.

It’s God’s means to bring about the new creation.

This good news, indeed, is for us even today because it transforms us in the moment. It revives and reforms the Church, so that the resurrection is a past victory, a present power, and a promised hope for all creation.
The resurrection, friends, is the foundation of the new creation and God’s ordained means to bring about reform and revival in the Church today.

But to explore how this happens—to explore how the resurrection serves as our hope both now and forever, in this world and in the world to come—let us consider first how Christ’s resurrection secures our own resurrection.

Let us learn that in Christ we have victory over death.
In Christ, we have victory over death.

Victory Over Death in Christ

The resurrection is the greatest hope for Africans. It’s—it’s—it’s just our hope, the hope that we have longed for as Africans always.
Traditionally, in Africa, death has been our big—our biggest—enemy, our greatest enemy. We’ve never succeeded in defeating death.
Africans had no hope beyond the grave. We didn’t believe in the resurrection. Why? Because no one had ever entered the grave dead and come out alive. We’d never experienced that.

And so we mourned our loved ones hopelessly, and we grieved and buried them helplessly. We were without hope.
Now, individually, we knew that death defeated us. And so what did we do? We tried to defeat it communally—as a community.

One of those ways was to give birth to as many children as we could, right?
As Kenyan theologian John Mbiti reminds us, Africans looked to children as a way of ensuring that they were not cut off from immortality. We longed to live on through our offspring.

That’s partly why polygamy was rampant—for other reasons, but that was one of them—because the more children you had, the greater the possibility that you would survive on through them.

But that’s also why childlessness was a curse in our context—because to be without a child was to be without a future, to be without hope, to be defeated even while you live.

Now, our rituals and traditions tried to help us cope, but they made things even worse, right?

You know, in our cultures, the funeral rites and rituals that we performed—you know, things like when you wash your hands when you come from the grave because you want to leave some spirits there, you want to leave those death spirits behind and overcome.

In my culture, at a funeral, we used to gather in the village and light a fire. And I’m told that in some cultures, the lighting of the fire itself is meant to scare away those spirits.
But we would take the burning stick and put it at a junction. And the philosophy behind that was that we might confuse death—like, death loses its GPS, right? Yeah! We didn’t want death to come back home. So we thought we’d leave it there and secretly sneak back home.

But before we knew it, it had followed us back.

Right? Our rituals reminded us constantly of our dread, our disappointment, and our defeat.
And so, we were without hope. We had no victory over death.

Now, for some of us, the dread of death still drives our daily decisions, doesn’t it?
Like the purchase of life insurance—I mean, it’s ironic that you purchase life insurance for when you die!
Or the rushing to get married, or desperately trying to have children out of wedlock.

Others are so afraid of death that they won’t even speak about it. They won’t even write their own wills, because apparently, it attracts death.
Others are busy binding the spirit of premature death.

And I thought these things happened in Uganda only—until I had a conversation with my brother, Mpumele, and he described South Africans as if they are Ugandans with a different passport!

You know—buying cars and blessing them with a sticker that says, “This car is covered by the blood of Jesus.”
It’s a different kind of atonement, you know?

And Kenyans too, I think, fear death, don’t they?

Yesterday, when my brother Chopo talked about us taking a trip through the graveyard, this room was dead silent, right?
So, we fear death. We all fear death.

And because we do, Romans 8 proclaims the gospel to a fearful, hopeless, and helpless African:
In Christ, we have victory over death.
In Christ, we have victory over death.

Romans 8, verses 9 to 11, specifically emphasize that Christ Jesus experienced death for us, defeated it in His body, and conquered the grave on our behalf.

Paul explains that Christ’s historical resurrection secures our future resurrection.

Why? Because, having condemned sin in His flesh, He banished death from that same body.
In Christ, we have victory over death.

Look at verse 11, if you may, of chapter 8:
“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 living in you.”

We have victory!

Paul’s point is that Christ’s resurrection guarantees future victory over death for those who trust in Christ. Why? Because the same God who raised up Christ from the dead is at work presently, through His Spirit, in you. He’s at work in those who believe.

Our victory over death is secure because God condemned sin in the body of His Son. And the resurrection is proof that God has accepted His Son’s sacrifice—and, on that account, we are accepted as God’s children.

Our union with Christ is the means through which we share His victory over death.
The resurrection of Christ is our only hope.
Christ died our death, that we might live His life.
In Christ, we have victory over death.

Right. Now, of course, I’ll speak a bit more later about the implications of this for our ongoing renewal and revival.
But let’s think about this: because Christ rose from the dead, we do not grieve as those without hope. We don’t mourn as those without hope.
The God who raised Jesus from the dead by His Spirit also gives—and will give—life to our mortal bodies by the same Spirit.

And in the face of death, therefore, we have hope. We grieve, but we hope.
We battle cancer, yes—but we look to Him who rose from the dead and hope in our coming resurrection, remembering that inside us dwells the Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead.

And that Spirit is the guarantee that our resurrection will one day happen.
Friends, our hope is not in how many children we have.
It’s not in the legacy we leave behind.
Because Christ rose, the grave has no final say.
In Christ, we have victory over death.

And so, let me ask, Pastors in the room, when was the last time you preached about the resurrection, or at least mentioned the hope of the resurrection in your preaching?

How often do you encourage your congregation to lift their eyes from this mortal flesh and body, and from this perishing world, to see the glory that is to come?

Because the resurrection is the only hope for the members in your church grieving the death of their loved ones. It is the only hope that they have. For those who feel the sting of death, the resurrection is the only hope.

And as Mpumelelo, my brother, reminded us yesterday, life is filled with too much pain and trials and suffering—so we must help our people appreciate the fact that the grave has no final say.

Even when we age, even when the wrinkles appear on our faces, we have the resurrection to hope in.
Preach the resurrection—often, and with conviction. And then watch as the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead breathes new life into your congregation.

A joyful and flourishing church is the one whose eyes are fixed on the glory to come.
Always—always—remind your people that in Christ, we have victory over death.
But having seen how Christ’s resurrection secures ours, let us now see how the resurrection—both Christ’s and our own—is the ground for the new creation. Let us see how the resurrection is the basis of the new creation. And that’s my second point.

Resurrection For The New Creation

So, after assuring us that Christ’s resurrection is the basis for our hope beyond the grave, Paul begins to show us how the hope for all creation is based on the resurrection.

All of creation is longing for our resurrection and rejoices, in a sense, at Christ’s resurrection. Indeed, the restoration of all things depends on Christ’s resurrection—and on our future resurrection. And so, in that sense, the resurrection is the basis of the new creation.
And we will turn to Romans 8:18–25 in that regard.

Romans 8:18–25 urges us to look forward to our very own resurrection, and it highlights the glory, the greatness of the glory to be revealed.
Specifically, verse 18 says that the present suffering is incomparable. Paul says the glory that is yet to be revealed in us.
That word glory refers to our resurrection—the redemption of our bodies, as he puts it in verse 23.
So Paul says that the glory of our resurrection is so great and so immense that we should not be discouraged when we go through trials and troubles. We should not be discouraged. We should hope.

And to support his point, Paul begins verse 19 of chapter 8 with that conjunction—or that word—for or because, if you see that.
That word because is Paul’s way of encouraging us to endure, and to show us the glorious nature of our resurrection.
Our future glory is so incredible because all creation longs for it. Creation is looking forward.

I don’t know how many of us are anticipating that day. We live through life without fixing our gaze—or even our thoughts—on that future glory.
But creation, every single moment, is yearning, longing, groaning inwardly for that day.
Why? Because there is a sense in which our resurrection is God’s instrument to bring about the new creation.
You see what he says—creation’s future is very inseparable from ours. And Creation’s hope is tightly knit, tightly connected, tightly linked to our resurrection.

So, in Romans 8:19–22, Paul uses two images to explain creation’s longing—two images, right?
The first image, Paul asks us to see creation as a prisoner—a prisoner in great pain, in bondage, who is longing for eventual release, liberty, freedom.

And Paul asks us to see creation’s desire as even greater than that of any liberationist, right?

Creation’s desire for liberty surpasses Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom—a journey that was truly marked by wrongful imprisonment and suffering.

But Paul’s image depicts creation in such unimaginable agony, longing for final freedom—freedom which, for Paul, is tied to our resurrection. That’s verse 21.

Creation is subjected to futility. It’s in bondage. It’s a prisoner. And it’s longing for its eventual release. And that eventually is the day we are glorified.

But the second image depicts the pain of childbirth—of a woman in labor.
Now, mothers might understand this image better—as would the husbands who do not flee from the labor ward!
When we were sharing during the pre-conference with the brothers, you could hear them talking about how many children they have:
“We have three children, and there’s another on the way.”
“I have two children, and there’s another on the way.”
And I was like, there’s a lesson coming as well!
It looks like they’re being fruitful indeed!

But Paul uses this labor metaphor to speak of creation’s longing for restoration, for renewal—for a new life to emerge from the old.
And he references Genesis, especially Genesis 3:16. You remember the pronouncement God made upon Eve when He said:
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children.”

So, for Paul, the labor pains of our wives and our mothers are an image—they are a lesson, so to speak—to show us and symbolize the longing that creation has.
So every time you visit the labor ward, just think about this: creation is groaning in labor pains for childbirth. It is yearning for a new creation.

And this creation is subjected to futility, of course, because of our sin and consequently, that’s also why, as well, Paul emphasizes that the new life for creation comes through the resurrection of God’s people. Because human sin caused creation’s suffering, God will use our resurrection to restore all things.

And that’s what Paul states in chapter 8:21 — that creation itself will be freed from its bondage to decay and share in the freedom of the children of God. You notice that? That the freedom creation will share is the freedom that God has granted us. It is our freedom in that regard. We share the same freedom with creation. We are united. We are one.

And Africans knew that. By the way, if you do remember — at least in the ATR and the traditional African society — whenever there were calamities or epidemics, whenever anything happened to creation, Africans would sacrifice. Now, they would sacrifice to the gods, yes, but they had an awareness that there is a connection between humanity and creation, and consequently the health of humanity — or the health of creation — depends on the salvation or the health of the people and the Africans.

Now Paul is sort of making the same point, but at a heightened level — that indeed there is a connection between our future resurrection, our future glory, our future health, with the future health of creation. The freedom that creation enjoys is our freedom.
But now let me — let’s even take it a bit, maybe a step, back. We saw that our own resurrection is grounded in whose resurrection? Christ’s. Because Christ rose from the dead, we will too rise. And so, if our resurrection grounds the new creation in a way, and Christ’s resurrection grounds our resurrection, then Christ’s resurrection is at the heart of creation’s hope. Christ’s resurrection secures the new creation.

And that means that when Christ rose from the dead, not only was my future, your future, the future of the church secured, but the future of everything — every creation — was secured. The renewal of all things really is grounded in Christ’s resurrection.

And that’s why Paul says in Colossians 1:20 that through the Son, God the Father also reconciled all things to himself — whether things on earth or in heaven — thereby making peace through the blood of his cross. Because Christ shed his blood for all creation, he became the cornerstone of all creation’s hope.

In a sense then, your relationship with creation speaks volumes, for this is creation that Christ died for. Right? But we could even argue that before Christ drew even his first breath, the very moment he was conceived in Mary’s womb, he had drawn all creation to himself. He did not just unite himself to humanity, he united himself to creation.

And when he united himself to creation, he began healing creation of its pains and decays. His resurrection becomes the seal, so to speak. So Christ became man and died not just for us, but for our salvation. And his resurrection defeated death and decay not just for us, but for all creation.

So then, creation’s hope is not just in environmental campaigns, right? But in the Christ who died and rose again. Through Christ’s resurrection, creation receives new life. And in this way, the resurrection of Christ and his people is the basis for the new creation.
Now, a key implication for this is again creation care. The church should lead the charge for creation care. It should. Many of us have been influenced by the idea that this creation will just burn up in smoke and disappear.

We do not see how dearly our Father loves the things he has created. We do not. We tend to believe that God will destroy creation in judgment, so we hardly pay attention to what happens to the environment even now. We don’t care about how plastic waste harms soil health and plant growth, changes soil structure, changes water retention, soil fertility, or even how it causes injury to the animals in the sea and the oceans.

We disinterestedly watch as the wealthy among us drain swamps to build malls and factories. And in fact, some of our churches are planted and built in swamps.

Now, of course, I first checked to make sure EBC is not in a swamp.
I want to keep the connection I have with this church! Right?

But brothers and sisters, we are not among those who despise creation.
This is our Father’s world. He made it—and He said, it is good. His Son died for it.
And if all creation longs for our freedom, if creation seeks for the day of our resurrection, for its redemption, we—who have that freedom in the gospel—must begin acting like we understand that.

We need to understand that creation will be freed from its decay to share in our freedom, we read. So as the church, we must take the lead in creation care. We must steward creation well.
And I’m not talking about the Al Gore campaigns of climate change and stuff like that. I’m not talking about that. I’m asking, are you really cognizant of how your activity impacts your environment? And we need to be aware of that.

So, so far we’ve seen that Christ has won us victory over death, and that’s great news. Christ’s resurrection secures our own resurrection. And we’ve also seen that both Christ’s and our resurrection will secure the new creation.

Resurrection for Revival and Renewal

But now is the time to examine the implications of the resurrection for the church, especially today as well. And let us see how the resurrection indeed is God’s ordained means to bring about revival and renewal within the church, even today.
And for that we will look specifically at verses 9 to 17 more so. And in this text Paul explains why the resurrection matters to us now. The resurrection matters to us now.

And he says, for Paul, that our adoption as God’s children emboldens us, enables us to be bold in upholding gospel integrity both personally and corporately. Our adoption as God’s children is the very power and motivation for us to live fearlessly and faithfully.

So let me clarify Paul’s logic further. Paul says there is a future glory—a day when God will officially announce us as his sons and daughters, and he will adopt us as his own. He will grant us an inheritance in him and free creation and our bodies from bondage. That’s chapter 8, verses 17 to 24.

So there is a future glory coming: our adoption.
But as a guarantee, as a foretaste of that glory that is coming, the Father who raised Jesus from the dead has given us his Spirit, who dwells in us. And this Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God—children whom God has freed from their bondage to sin and fear.
That’s verse 15 to verse 16.

However, only those led by the Spirit can truly call God their Father — that’s verse 12 to 14.
And the evidence of being led by the Spirit is putting to death the deeds of the body — that’s verse 9 to 11.

So let me play that back again.
In verse 17 to 24, there is a resurrection and adoption — when we will officially be announced as children of God.
In verses 15 to 16, that future glory — we have a foretaste of it, because the Father has given us His Spirit, who dwells within us and testifies with our spirits that we are children of God.

In verses 12 to 14, only those who are led by this Spirit of adoption can call God “Father.”
But the evidence that the Spirit is leading them — verse 9 to 11 — is that they are putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
So it’s sort of like a logical flow, so to speak, in a sense.

Then, if you were to gaze at the resurrection, you would have the strength, the power, and the motivation to live fearlessly and faithfully.
You see, because we have such a secure and glorious future as God’s children, we presently forsake sin and boldly pursue gospel integrity — living and operating as those shaped by the resurrection.

The resurrection serves as both our motivation and power to pursue purity.
On the one hand, the promise of the future glory motivates us to live boldly for the gospel.
And on the other hand, the Spirit of the resurrection empowers us to live boldly for the gospel.
It’s both a motivation and a power.

And in that sense, the resurrection is God’s ordained means for ongoing renewal within the church.
So, let me break that a bit more — on an individual level. Let’s start there.
We guard against sin by fixing our eyes on the glory to come.
We sin when we take our eyes off that coming glory.

And you may be here, and you haven’t thought about that glory to come. You may be, as a brother, living for what? — girls, gold, and glory. Or earthly glory, as Ernest Wambuyi would put it. Girls, gold, glory.

Yes, you are pursuing glory, yes— but in things that fade. You will not find satisfaction, because nothing in this world was meant to satisfy your heart.

As Blaise Pascal, one French philosopher and physicist, mentioned, “We have a God-shaped hole inside us, which cannot be filled by anything this world can offer.”

Or as St. Augustine would say, “You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.”
And so, if you don’t know Christ, now is the moment. Now is the time. You must believe the gospel.

But that doesn’t mean that those of us who know the gospel have ceased our pursuit of these things. Sometimes, even unknown, in the background, we are pursuing earthly glory.

As brothers, we might let the bank balances define us, right?

You feel big when your wallet is fat, right?

We forget that the glory and fame we are pursuing is like a mirage. You know, when you’re on those long, straight roads, and you see that shimmer in the distance? You’re thirsty, and you think there’s water — but you notice that actually it escapes your grasp before you even reach it.

That’s what earthly glory does. You can’t grab it. You can’t hold onto it. It just keeps escaping you. The reality of earthly glory is a mirage.
We must be content to fix our eyes on the glory to come — and hope — rather than on our earthly wealth, our earthly health, our earthly possessions.

We must even use our wealth to advance the gospel.

And sisters — keep your eyes on the glory to come, and not on your biological clock.
Your identity as God’s daughter is more important than your boyfriend.
Don’t seek children out of marriage just because you’re 35. God knows you’re 35.

And there is a glory that is coming when your age won’t matter. Don’t let fibroids dictate your decisions now — or the fear of childlessness.
You are a daughter of the Most High.
Your adoption is secured.
And that’s enough. That’s enough.

Let the glory that awaits you be the anchor that keeps you from spending fortunes on IVF or surrogacy.
Yes — those things are coming here in Africa as well.
Fertility clinics are everywhere, and people are spending fortunes.

You are an heir of God.
You are an heir of God.

And pastors — don’t pursue personal glory through your ministry, like your vision is to build the biggest church in your city. Right?
No. Your identity cannot be in your achievements.
Neither should ministry hardships define you.

Don’t throw in the towel because things are not going as you planned.
You’re working for a glory that does not fade.
You’re working for a glory that does not fade.

Our identity as children of God must motivate us today to always live for the gospel. For this is how the resurrection becomes God’s ordained means to bring about renewal in our personal lives.

But corporately — let’s think about corporately, as a church.
How does the resurrection reform us?
How does it revive us today?

There are many ways it could — and I’ll let my brothers share more. The field of money. I think I’ll be looking forward to Pastor John taking us through that.

But let me talk about gospel partnerships — gospel partnerships, and the empowerment to truly be bold in proclaiming the gospel in hostile environments.

A church shaped by the resurrection aims for healthy gospel partnerships and avoids self-focus.
A church shaped by the glory to come aims at building and sustaining healthy gospel partnerships and avoids self-focus.
It’s the awareness and understanding that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

That was Christ’s prayer: “Pray for the owner of the harvest that He might send more laborers.” (Matthew 9:35ff)
Our new church plant in Kampala has faced significant backlash and opposition from those who view it as a threat — an encroachment on their territory. Right?

We don’t have many healthy church plants, at least in Kampala and in Uganda.

But we do have churches that feel threatened — and that are mapping out their geographical territories, and daring to plant there…you know?
These churches are more focused on numbers and building projects than on gospel integrity and discipleship.

And Pastor Conrad Mbewe — I remember a conversation I had with him last year too, when he was narrating how he felt and they faced the same opposition as they were planting their first churches in Lusaka, Zambia. There was a lot of opposition.
And I know, I suspect most of you could tell similar stories — of conflict, of denominational politics, so to speak, that hinder the advancement of the gospel.

You see, churches that fight over numbers and which member goes to which church are pushing the glory of the resurrection out of view.
They’ve become businesses competing for earthly greatness.
You know, we can be tempted to be business empires — we find our joy in our giving, like how much we give and how many properties we own — rather than really making sure that every man, woman, and child in our communities has repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the gospel of Christ.

Our budgets can tell a lot about our priorities.

But the resurrection unites the church on mission. It brings us together. Why? Because we are looking at a glory that does not fade. We’re not looking at maintaining geographical territories — we are looking at taking the world for Christ, in that sense.
The resurrection, which shapes and forms us as a body, unites churches in partnerships as outposts of the “already but not yet” kingdom — tasked with giving every person repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the gospel.

Resurrection-shaped churches find no satisfaction in any glory other than the one to be revealed on the last day. And churches that value their shared inheritance in Christ share resources to carry out the mission of making Christ known.

That’s how it works. That’s how it works — because you’re looking at the glory that will be glorious, that Paul has painted. You use the resources God has given to make sure that in every community on the earth, the name of God is glorified.

So that means that the resurrection is God’s means to strengthen gospel partnerships across the global church.
You look to the future, and you see the work that needs to be done now — and you see who needs help, and what can we do — and you work together to see that cities, villages, countries, continents, the globe is reached. And in that sense, in fact, filled with the glory of God.
The resurrection is God’s way for ongoing renewal within the church — moving churches from self-focus to partnerships that promote the gospel and uphold gospel integrity.

But secondly, the resurrection is God’s way to empower the church’s witness in hostile environments and cultures that pressure the church to compromise on her convictions.
The resurrection is God’s means to empower the church to stand for the gospel in hostile places — in cultures that would force her to compromise her convictions.

Now, I’m not sure about the state of the church in your country, but in Uganda, the church often sacrifices gospel fidelity and integrity for government privileges — exchanging the imperishable glory for perishable gold.

You find pastors and denominations looking for recognition from the government — looking for envelopes and cars.
And what that tends to do is that it numbs the church to its convictions, to its mission, to even the suffering of the ordinary person. Right? We are so much concerned with what we can get from our government that we have lost the conviction to speak truth to power.

And in some other churches, the fear of censorship causes some churches to overlook the gospel’s implications for all life. Right? We are led to cower in the face of cancel culture, and rather conform to the spirit of the age, rather than confront the lies that harm lives and communities.
We fear to boldly proclaim God’s beautiful design, for example, for human flourishing — whether it comes to human sexuality, whether it comes to male and female complementarity, whether it comes to the exclusivity of Christ for salvation.

We don’t want to appear in a negative light to the public, and so we begin to tone down our convictions.
As Casting Crowns sings, “It’s a slow fade.” It’s a slow fade. Before you know it, you cannot even describe what the gospel is. You’ve become a social club — “Rotaries” as such.

But look at Romans 5:15.
Romans 5:15” “We have not received a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but the spirit of adoption. It says, “And through the Spirit we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

What is Paul saying? What is Paul saying?
Our resurrection — the assurance of our future adoption — reminds us that the sufferings of this world are not to be compared with the glory that is to come.
We are emboldened to uphold gospel integrity because even though we die proclaiming the gospel, we will rise. What do we lose?
I remember reading — one second-century document, the Letter to Diognetus, where this gentlemen, the writer, speaks about the sufferings and persecutions the early church faced in the second century — about 150 years after Christ. And he says, “You can kill us, but you can’t harm us.”
You can kill us, but you can’t harm us.

Without the hope of the resurrection, this is all the life that you have. Why would I want to be killed? But with a glorious resurrection promised, why would I want to live for anything this world offers?
Churches should stand for the gospel because of the resurrection. It emboldens the church to maintain gospel integrity even under unjust systems that threaten the gospel.

Persecution may threaten the church, but the resurrection renews and strengthens her to truly be the salt of the earth.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, let’s review what we’ve seen so far. Let’s review what we’ve seen.
There are three points that I made:

We have victory over death in Christ. We have victory over death in Christ. Christ’s resurrection secures our own — and that is a cause for us to rejoice. So you can write your will — it’s okay. You don’t have to put a sticker on your car: “This car is covered by the blood of Jesus.” You are covered. Right? So we can rejoice in Christ’s victory.

Because Christ rose, because we will rise, all creation will be renewed and restored. And that’s good news. It’s good news that whatever God has created, God will redeem — and it will be glorious on that last day. And that should shape how we interact with our environment even today.

Thirdly, and lastly, the resurrection is God’s ordained means to bring about reformation, renewal, and restoration within the church. It motivates and empowers us to personally forsake sin, pursue holiness, and uphold gospel integrity. But it also promotes gospel-centered, gospel-advancing partnerships among churches, and then empowers the church to be bold witnesses in hostile environments and cultures that pressure us to compromise on our convictions.

And so I ask you individually: How often do you think about the resurrection? How often do you leave your hope amid historical trials? How often do you look to the glory that is to come, and praise God, and find the strength to live purely and righteously?
And pastors — how often do you preach the resurrection? Because the resurrection is the basis for the new creation, and God’s ordained means for bringing about renewal in the church.

Let’s pray.

Lord, we truly, truly are grateful for the victory that You’ve acquired for us — first for dying for our sins, and rising for our justification and our glory.
We are in a world that is filled with much bad news, with death, with brokenness, and the only hope that we have is the hope of the resurrection that You’ve spoken to us.
We pray that our eyes may be lifted from our circumstances, from the things we go through today, to see the glory that awaits us — and may that be an empowerment for us to uphold gospel integrity, to live purely, to live righteously.
But we pray that the glory to come may be a motivation and a means for the church to think about unity — unity in mission and partnerships, glorious partnerships that bring about the advancement of the gospel.
And may that hope of the glory to come also embolden us — embolden us to proclaim the gospel, to be witnesses at our workplaces, in the world where we are, in the government, wherever You’ve placed us.
May we truly be the salt of the earth.
May all things be done to the glory of Your name.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.