Bill Johnson - How Your Life Manifests the Resurrected Christ
Happy, happy Easter! Happy Easter! Can’t beat it! Does anybody like sarcastic humor? I don’t. But this is for you; I’m just here to serve. I can only please one person per day. Today’s not your day; tomorrow isn’t looking good either. I don’t have an attitude problem; you have a perception problem. Last night, I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself, «Where’s the ceiling?» They’re all dumb, so they don’t get any better; they’re just… my reality check bounced. I don’t suffer from stress; I’m merely a carrier. I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous. They’re all bad; I didn’t make them up, though. I’m just the delivery boy. Don’t shoot the delivery man! Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked up into jet engines. Oh goodness!
All right, and we’ll end with this one: a local priest and a pastor were fishing on the side of the road. They thoughtfully made a sign saying, «The end is near; turn yourself around now before it’s too late.» They showed it to each passing car. One driver that drove by, who didn’t appreciate the sign, shouted at them, «Leave us alone, you religious nuts!» All of a sudden, they heard a big splash. They looked at each other, and the priest said to the pastor, «You think we should have just put up a sign that said 'Bridge out' instead?» That’s dumb. That’s just… that’s not mine! I’m just John, chapter 17.
I actually was going to continue this series that I started here a couple of weeks ago, but I’m going to have to delay it now. It’s a series on obstacles to healing, and it’s just too long. It’s too lengthy of a message. I have to figure out a way to make it more reasonably short. I realized this morning that it’s not going to work. Not going to work. So anyway, it’s Easter, so let’s just do Easter! It was Easter, too, because anything to do with the life in Christ is Easter. But you know what I’m saying? We’re going to read a great portion of scripture here about the resurrection, and I really don’t have a message as much as just some scripture to read, and I’ll talk in between a few verses.
In Acts chapter 14, I’ll just read a passage to you in Acts 13. Excuse me, Luke, who writes Acts, quotes this passage out of Psalms 2, and he says this: God has fulfilled this for us their children, referring to Israel, in that he raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, «You are my son, today I have begotten you.» And that he raised… and then, uh, that was the verse, and that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption. He has spoken thus: «I will give you the sure mercies of David.» The point I want to make here is that when Jesus was raised from the dead, it was prophesied in Psalms 2 that it would be as a birth. In fact, in Psalms 2, God looks at his son, whom he just raised from the dead, and says, «Today I have begotten you.»
My emphasis on this particular thought has got me into a lot of trouble, and a lot of wonderful comments have been made. I don’t ever like to speak in defense, instead what I want to do is I want to just throw it out there again and see if it causes any more flack. Here’s the point: Jesus was born of a virgin. Yes, yes! More of you should pass this quiz! Okay, this is kind of 101. All right, Jesus was born of a virgin. Yes! All right, according to the scripture prophesied in Psalms 2, quoted in Acts 13, quoted as well in the book of Hebrews, the resurrection of Christ is a birth, the firstborn from the dead. He is called. So if he was born of a virgin and he was born raised from the dead, that’s, again… now the problem has been when I’ve used the term «born again,» because Jesus was not a sinner. He didn’t need to be born again like you and me.
We’re lost without faith in Christ, without him taking our place in death so we could receive what he earned in life. None of us have a chance. In fact, the scripture calls us dead, and dead people can’t do anything to find God. None of us found Jesus. It’d be like running through the woods, away from somebody, tripping, and falling, and looking up, and there is that person, and we look at him and say, «I’m so glad I found you!» That’s how most of us found Jesus. He was the one chasing after us in pursuit, and we finally woke up and said, «Yes, I’ll cooperate. I’m yielding.» But here’s this great miracle of conversion: it came because Jesus took our place in death, but he was born again in the sense that he was raised from the dead, and the Bible calls that a birth.
Now, the complaint has been that I would do anything to liken Jesus to a human in need of conversion. He doesn’t fit that; he’s eternally God without sin, except for one little point—the Bible says he became sin. He became sin that you and I could become the righteousness of God in Christ. In his spotless condition, he is the eternal Lamb of God. Easter is not about the bunny; it’s about the Lamb! I don’t mind the bunnies. Just make sure it stays with the Lamb, and I don’t even care about the eggs, as long as you have chocolate eggs, it’s okay. Just got to make some compromises here; just give me chocolate. That’s all. It’s about the Lamb of God, who, as a spotless Lamb, means he was without blemish, without any fault—not even a fault of intention, not even a fault of consideration. He was tempted in every way like we are, except without sin. He was perfectly faultless before God the Father, who required a perfect offering. Jesus became that offering, but in becoming that offering, he became sin, and he did so that you and I would become the righteousness of God in Christ. It’s a great mystery! I don’t understand it; I just read it and quote it to you. It’s a great mystery, but it’s true.
In the condition of being made sin, Jesus did not raise himself from the dead when he died in our place. It was the most profound act of trust imaginable in that he died to be raised. He trusted he would be raised, so he became sin. The Father turned his face from his son because the very thing that he became was the thing that scarred and marred all of creation. He bore the penalty of death, and then the Father came and brought him to life. The life that you live as a disciple of Jesus, a follower—one who does what he says—every expression that you and I give in life, whether it’s helping somebody who’s hurting, whether it’s enduring opposition in a conversation where you are mocked or accused, and yet you hold your tongue, you stay confident in the grace of God to show kindness and patience, to show love to someone who doesn’t deserve it… none of us did! None of us earned it! We all got it as a gift! Whenever you illustrate the kindness of God by loving someone who can’t pay you back, whenever we do any of those kinds of things—as well as sharing the gospel, praying for the sick, casting out devils—all those things illustrate and, in measure, release the reality of his resurrection.
The Christian life is the resurrection manifested. The true authentic Christian life is the resurrected life of Christ manifested in actions, in words, personal behavior— the way we carry ourselves just in life, confident not in anything we’ve done, but confident in what he’s done for us. So this whole picture of Jesus being raised from the dead—he was raised; he did not raise himself. And in the same way, there was nothing any one of us could do. No one in this room—there’s nothing you could ever do! You could give away every possession; you could give your way to serve humanity the rest of your life. None of it is sufficient to pay for the penalty of sin against you. The only possible payment to wipe out the power of sin in your life and in mine is what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary, and then he rose so that you and I would know what eternal life is starting now. So this is available for every person.
As we read this story, I just wanted you to keep that in mind—that Jesus experienced a birth that was a virgin birth and then a birth that was a resurrection, and both were for us. We’ll look at a little bit more in a moment. Verse… uh, chapter—did I say 17? I mean 20. I mean 20! I’m not sure why I thought 17, although it’s probably a good one. Chapter 20, verse 1: «Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark, and he saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. And she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved.»
That’s the author of the book, John. «And he said to them, 'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.' Peter went out, and the other disciple went… and they were going to the tomb. They both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down, looked in and saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then, Simon Peter came following him, went into the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there and the handkerchief which had been around his head, not lying with the cloth but folded together in a place by itself. The other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also, and he saw and believed, for as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. And the disciples went away to their own homes.»
Verse 11: «But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? ' She said, 'Because they’ve taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.' When she had said this, she turned and saw Jesus standing there but didn’t know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? ' She supposing him to be the gardener said, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' And she turned and said to him, 'Rabboni, ' meaning teacher.»
Interesting! She didn’t recognize his appearance. Jesus constantly shows up different than we’re used to. What’s the one thing we can anchor our souls into? It’s the voice! It’s the voice! I’ve been in meetings where it’s very hard to discern what was happening, but I can always remember the presence. And you say, «I thought you said the word.» His presence is the word because he is the word. His presence is the voice. Amen, Bill! It’s a very good point! Amen! All right, all right! You can always be confident of what’s happening if you stay close to the voice. He said, «My sheep will know my voice. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word.» Our life is literally connected to the voice, to the word of God.
So this emphasis that we make on knowing the voice, being attracted to the presence, giving him place to speak, and doing whatever he says—that is the essence of the Christian life! All right, this is an interesting picture here because the disciples stick their heads in; they finally leave. Mary Magdalene was the woman out of whom Jesus cast seven devils. Some have taught that she was the harlot; there’s no evidence of that because there are several Marys in scripture. She may or may not have been, but we do know this: that she had issues, and she had a powerful deliverance when Jesus ministered to her. And so here she comes. She is in the story. She sticks her head into the tomb, and she saw something different from what Peter and John saw. And it’s interesting that the Lord has a habit of revealing different things to different people, and then he holds us accountable to recognize truth when we hear it, even though it’s not our experience—it’s the experience of another person. In fact, in Mark 16, you see the disciples had—oh, I forget now, forgive me—I think three witnesses that came to them saying, «Jesus is alive!» and they rejected him! «Jesus is alive!» They rejected him! «Jesus is alive!» And finally, Jesus shows up, and he rebukes them for not believing the report of the other disciples that came to him. What’s the point? It wasn’t their experience, but they were recognized to realize the life released on a true testimony.
Do you understand that when something true is spoken, even though it comes from a friend, it comes as the voice of God when it’s right, when it’s from the heart of God? Well, we’ll leave that right there. So here’s this interesting picture: she sticks her head in, and she sees an angel at the head of where Jesus was laid out in the tomb and at the tail. Here’s what I find interesting. In the Old Testament, one of the central… not figures, uh, features, um, pieces of furniture, if you will, is the Ark of the Covenant. It’s where the presence of God literally rested, manifested. It’s where the glory—this pillar of fire—in Israel’s Exodus, in their time in the wilderness, a pillar of fire would be over that thing by day and a cloud by night, and it didn’t represent the presence of God; it’s literally where God made a covenant with Israel to meet with them at this location called the Ark of the Covenant.
Another name for the Ark of the Covenant was the ark of the testimony. The reason it was called the Ark of the Testimony is inside this golden box were three items that Israel was to keep in front of them, a continuous remembrance— a record before their thinking on God’s history with them. The first item was the tablets of stone, the Ten Commandments. The second item was an almond branch. There was a big conflict at one time of who thought they should be in charge of the priests, and we hear, «God is good as you do!» and there was this big stupid thing that some of the folks in Israel did. So God displayed himself strong once again—and he… there was a branch that was set aside, all dead branches, 12 of them, representing each tribe. Aaron had a branch there, and when God was with that branch the next morning, it had sprouts, buds, blossoms, and ripe almonds. Notice that resurrection life is the mark of leadership—not maturity. Not always going to be mature in every area; there just needs to be life in every area! That’s good, that’s good! Wow!
So God marked his man with resurrection life because he took a dead almond branch, and he said, «This is my man.» That almond branch was in there, as well as a jar of manna! So that’s inside this box; it’s a gold-covered box. And at one side of this box is an angel sitting right here, and then there’s another angel at this side, facing inward, and right in the middle is this thing called the mercy seat. An angel at each end, a mercy seat in the middle. The empty tomb had an angel at each end and a mercy seat in the middle! Now here’s the deal: the Ark of the Covenant is also called the Ark of the Testimony. Whenever you share a testimony of God’s goodness, you usher in the mercy seat of God into another person’s life! You usher in—literally, we’re not going to take the time to establish this—but literally, you usher in the empty tomb into somebody’s life when you share of his goodness, where the mercy seat of God is extended.
So here we have this great story! It continues! If we can, uh, get back to verse 16, um, uh, it says Jesus says to her, «Mary!» She turned and said to him, «Raboni,» which is to say teacher. Jesus said to her, «Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God! '» This is such an amazing story! In the Gospel of Matthew, it says that at the death of Christ, the graves of many saints were opened, and they were seen walking around Jerusalem. That’s weird! That’s weird!
Here’s how it appears to me: Jesus dies; the Bible says he goes into the lower parts of the earth. He releases those who have been held captive. The scripture describes two compartments: a place of faith (Abraham’s bosom) and a place of torment. He comes and releases those who, even though the blood of Jesus hadn’t been shed yet, the Old Testament believer was still marked by faith, just as the new. It’s more of a level playing field than you might realize theologically. He releases the captives, and it says he takes captivity captive. So what does he do? He takes the prize—that’s all the Old Testament believers—and he takes them, and he begins to ascend to go to the Father. But he’s moved by a woman crying in a garden, and he stops to have a conversation! I don’t know how it went. My imagination just says he turns to the team and he says, «I’ll be back in a moment.» And David says, «I’d like to see a few sights.» I’m not sure if that’s how it happened, but that’s how it happened to me! He comes, and he appears to this woman, and she grabs hold of him. He says, «Don’t cling to me; I’ve not yet ascended to the Father.»
So he’s on his way to the Father to present the prize—the redeemed! Mary Magdalene is the one out of whom seven demons had been cast. But how was Jesus brought into the world? He was brought into the world through the Virgin Mary—the ultimate picture of holiness in birth. So here she’s brought into the world; he is brought into the world through this Virgin Mary. She’s the first one to embrace him on his first birth. But when he was raised from the dead, he was embraced again, but this time by the woman out of whom seven demons had been cast, because it’s a different season. The law had to be fulfilled; there, now mercy has to be fulfilled. Now mercy has to be undisputed! He says, «I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and to your God.»
I don’t want anyone to ever think I question the absolute divinity of Jesus. Some have started little rumors and stuff. He’s the eternal Son of God, never took a vacation from being God. All right, well, how did he become? I don’t know; I don’t get all that. All I’m doing is reading what he said! That’s all I’m doing! He’s eternally God! But here, in this incredible moment, he stands before Mary, who is now going to give report of what’s not just for her but is for everyone. And he says, «Now my Father is your Father, and my God is your God.» It’s stunning that Jesus could do something in that unseen realm that would qualify everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord to be saved, to actually instantly be drafted out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, out of a lost condition into a found condition, out of an eternal death sentence into a sentence of eternal life, to receive the same Father, the same Father!
See, when somebody says yes to Jesus, they are born again! They’re brought into the kingdom! I know when my children are born—I… when my grandchildren are born, it’s the most moving thing in the world to sit there and see someone born that now becomes a part of your life forever. I never knew how deep the love of a dad could be till I became a dad. And I’ll never forget it! And when anybody in this room says yes to Jesus, the Father becomes Father again, receiving into the family this precious one, this one who simply called upon the name of the Lord, and they were saved. Amen!
When he calls you, there’s this thing called conviction. There’s this unsettled feeling that happens in the heart. Most every person in this room knows exactly what I’m talking about. There’s that conviction, there’s that dealing of God that just causes you to realize, «I’m not right with God, but I want to be!» Something’s not right, but I’ve got to make a decision here. There’s that anguish of the heart that people go through, and then they realize that maybe it’s actually true what Jesus did! Maybe it’s not just a fairy tale. Maybe it’s not just some historical books that claim certain infatuating truths, but it’s actually a present reality that this resurrected Christ would actually whisper my name.
Because of that, I’m coming from death to life because he found me, and in his finding me and calling me, I said yes! Dead people can’t save themselves, but you can say yes to the one who calls your name! In this day of celebration for the resurrection of Jesus, it’s just the greatest story ever told. And it’s also the greatest story never told; that’s the story that somehow keeps muted and silent. Your life as a believer is to demonstrate the resurrection. It was never meant to remain in story form! It was never meant to be a three-point sermon! It was never meant to be scriptures that you read to somebody who has no value for the Bible! It doesn’t convince people! I’m not saying don’t do it; I’m just saying there has got to be more!
There’s got to be the ability to display the kindness of God when you’re criticized; there’s got to be the ability to endure difficulty where your faith is still in God even though the answer hasn’t come as you’ve claimed it would! There’s the ability to go beyond what’s comfortable and easy, and you step outside of what’s convenient, and you pray for that friend who’s dying—or you don’t know what to say. They’ve experienced a crisis, and sometimes we don’t visit people that are in pain because we don’t know what to say. Sometimes they don’t need someone to say anything; they just need someone to be present! And sometimes the resurrection of Jesus is seen there. Sometimes the resurrection of Jesus is seen in the miracles of healing! Conversion is the greatest demonstration of resurrection!
But your job—this is mission possible! Your job, if you care to receive it, and if you don’t, we have a team that can minister to you! I’m joking! Our job as believers is to continuously manifest he’s alive! Yes! Everything about the Christian life is to illustrate he lives! He lives! He lives! People have wondered why at times Jesus doesn’t just show himself! Wonderful time of worship this morning! So good! Why doesn’t Jesus just stand up here in all of his glory? There’s probably a lot of reasons, but I get one because once he does that, all the worship is involuntary! Even stones cry out in that environment! There’s such a demand that he doesn’t require—it’s just when you’ve seen the glory, there are no other options. He would rather have a people whose wills are shaped by the passion to love him well!
So you and I have this great privilege! Amazing privilege! Just to love people and to demonstrate the kindness of God, the mercy of God, the power of God! I’m here to testify there’s an increase in the wind of the displays of the power of God! The testimonies that we receive are almost daily, if not daily! I’m about to make a book available to you that’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever read! It just messed me up big time! Of our friends from Norway whose son was dying, hadn’t eaten in 10 years, muscles were deteriorating; they thought he might die on the trip over from Norway—300 pounds of medical supplies! And he sat right over there, and Jesus healed him! Was completely… several—I have a picture in my phone! I was in Norway last year, and I have a picture in my phone. Now he’s put on about… I don’t know, goodness, quite a bit of weight! Because here is this guy who hasn’t eaten in 10 years, just all the intravenous feeding—and here’s this story, and they, in the book, it gives the glory to Jesus, not to Bethel, because if we could make that happen, we’d make it happen a lot more often. We’re just learning to be tools in his hand; that’s all!
And here’s this story! So I have a picture of me standing; he presented me with a hunting knife that he picked out and bought to give to me as a gift. It’s one of my most treasured possessions! Here’s a young man who I think three years ago was dying—no hope, no hope whatsoever. And then Jesus! And then Jesus! They have verified creative miracles! Muscles began to appear out of nowhere—muscles he did not have! His physical therapist said, «What has happened? It’s only just begun!» But what is it for? It’s not for identity as believers! So that we know who we are in Christ! The miracles are not for you; they’re not for me! In the sense of identity, they’re to reveal he has risen! He’s risen indeed!
He is resurrected from the grave! That’s the reason—it’s the love of God demonstrated to illustrate he is alive! There’s always a chance anytime we come together like this that there are people that would join us—that you just, you don’t have that peace with God! You don’t have that personal relationship! Even though the term born again has been so abused and misused in present culture, it’s still a biblical phrase! And what it means is you’re made alive on the inside because you’ve said yes to Jesus! And I believe there are… the odds are quite high that there are people here today that have never, never said yes! Never responded to the opportunity to give your life to the only one who has the right to rule it! And he’s the one who became sin on your behalf that you could become free, that you could become an example of his life, his righteousness, his purity, his beauty, his wonder! He did that with you in mind; he did that with me in mind!
So I’m going to ask all of you to stand! The most important moment of this day is actually right now! I have loved worshiping together; I love just celebrating Easter; I love… I don’t know… I just like hanging out as much as we can before and after meetings! I like all of it, but this is the moment! There are some of you that are here—you don’t have a personal relationship with God, you don’t know what it is to actually have peace with God, you don’t know what it is to turn from your life as you know it and put everything into the hands of the only one with the right to rule your life!
And so I’m going to give a real simple and brief invitation: if you’ve never said yes to Jesus, but you want to, you would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave; I don’t want to go out on my own! I want to know what it is to actually have the same Father as Jesus! Come on! To have the same God as Jesus! I want to be brought into that family!» Then I want you just, right where you are, put your hand up real quick! I’m just going to see who you are! Right here, just make that agreement with you! Anybody else? Put your hand up real quick; I want to see where you are! Wave it at me if I don’t see you! Got one up front here! Anybody else? All right! Yep! Only… wait a moment; I don’t push these things along! You know Jesus hung on a cross naked with you in mind, willing to suffer shame, abuse, beating, just because he wanted you to know what life was! Yeah!
And that’s your opportunity! About 10 more seconds! Anybody else? Just wave your hand at me! Okay! All right! Beautiful! I think I was five seconds, but it’s close enough! All right? You guys minister to her, pray with her, and introduce her to Jesus! This is wonderful! This entire day is worth one! This entire day is worth one! I know! I know we have over four rooms; we’ve got the great room and we got the dining room full, and we’ve got a ton of people at home! And just for all of you, you know where you are—the Bible just says it this way: whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved! There isn’t another name! It’s not «Oh, cosmic being!» It’s not «Oh, God up there somewhere!» It is the Lord Jesus Christ! The only name by which a person must be saved! He was the only one that was capable of paying a price that would free you and me from eternal death into eternal life!
So if that’s you, I just encourage you, where you are, just call upon the name of the Lord Jesus! Forgive me… one of my favorite stories that happened here several years ago—a guy was driving from Seattle to San Diego, and he was heavily demonized. He was a drug addict; he was driving to be with family down in San Diego because he wanted to get free! He wanted to get deliverance! He wanted to get out of the drug thing, and he just wanted to get free! So he’s driving from Seattle.
The only reason I know the story is because I know his family in San Diego where he was driving! And he is driving down I-5, driving to San Diego, and when he hit the city limits of Redding, the demons in him began to manifest, and he feared he couldn’t drive the car! He actually pulled the car to the side of the road! He got out of the car and began to run along the side of the freeway, crying out to God for help! Well, guess who helped him? Jesus did! That’s who he was crying out to! Jesus! Listen; this is a bizarre story! Jesus showed up, delivered him from drugs, delivered him from all demons! He was completely set free! Completely set free! So by the time he got to San Diego, he was already healed, saved, delivered! He just… he drove into the zone! Drove into the zone!
Yeah, we have some others from overflow! In fact, let me just include any of the others from overflow that want to receive the Lord. Just come on up here, and we’ll have a banner up here to my right, to the left side of the auditorium, called the freedom banner! We want to give you the opportunity to come to know Jesus! I just want you to know the love of God; that’s all we want you to know!