These are notes on the sermon, Unleash His Resurrection Life, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 11 July 2021, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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When Jesus came, His primary purpose was to give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Many think that He came to make bad people good, but He came to make dead people live. The reason death came in was man’s sin, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).
God wants us to experience life in our spirits, souls, and especially our bodies. In these last days, Scripture needs to be unveiled even more. We need to study His Word and receive revelations in context.
Every time we feel depressed or our feelings start spiraling into the negative realm, it shows that death has set in in the area of our emotions. God wants our spirit to be full of His zóé life (His eternal, abundant life) to permeate our souls and then our bodies.
When His life touches your body, health and wholeness spring forth! When Jesus touched the man with leprosy, death (in the form of leprosy) immediately departed. In the same way, when God’s life touches you, healing is manifested.
Plants, insects, animals, and humans all have varying degrees of life, but the life of God Himself is the highest form of life—zóé life, which is eternal life. You and I have this eternal life that comes through Jesus, who came to give us life more abundantly (John 10:10)!
“Eternal life,” which translated in the Greek as “zóé aiónios,” refers to the quality of life that God Himself lives by. Eternal life is not simply about “living forever,” for those who live in the place of Sheol (hell) also live forever. Eternal life is the quality of life that you and I live by through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. The moment you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are born again, and eternal life is infused into your spirit which then comes alive!
When Jesus rose again, He had resurrection life in His body. And that same resurrection life now fills our mortal bodies too. Today, we are in Christ, and that is how God sees us.
In this season, God is emphasizing His zóé life—His eternal, abundant, resurrection life—for it will be “health to all our flesh” (Prov. 4:22).
When you experience His zóé life in your relationships, you will relate to people in a different way. You will become more loving and forgiving, and you will deal with people and view them more positively.
Young children are an example of what possessing the abundance of life looks like. When we observe them, we see their legs constantly moving, and it’s not because they’re bored but because they have an abundance of life in them. While the child will need to receive Christ later on in their life, there is an “aliveness” in him when he is young. Even if the child passes on, he is immediately with the Lord. However, as we grow up and we reach the age of accountability, sin comes into effect and causes us to grow old too early and lose the ability to enjoy life.
“I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”
— Romans 7:9 NKJV
“alive once without the law” — Paul was referring to the time of his childhood.
“sin revived and I died” — Sin brings death in all its forms. It first brings death spiritually, then physically. As a believer, once you receive Christ, you will never die spiritually again because God’s zóé life swallows up death. Even your actions or sins cannot remove that life in you, so you can be secure in Christ’s promise of eternal life (John 10:28). Be assured that when Jesus says no one can pluck you out of His hands, nothing and no one ever can!
God’s eternal life in you produces godly character, holiness, and the fruits of the Spirit, which come not by your own good or bad works. That is why our focus should not be on behavior modification but on experiencing more of God’s zóé life.
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
— Hebrews 2:14–15 NKJV
“through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” — This fear of death puts people in bondage. This is the root of all other fears. The devil is the one who uses the fear of death to keep people in bondage to death.
In this COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest fear is that catching the virus will result in death. The devil has caused the whole world to be gripped with fear during this time. But our heavenly Father already foresaw all this happening. All the plagues (e.g. the Spanish flu, COVID-19) that grip the world are signs of Jesus’ coming. Know that these plagues are not from God, but they are happening because the devil is sensing that Jesus is returning. The devil is trying to wipe out entire generations, and also using fear to keep them in servitude and bondage.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He went around “healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38). Sickness and disease are forms of bondage (oppression). This is what the world is experiencing right now. As believers, we can take heart because Jesus wants to heal us today!
Back to Hebrews 2:14:
“through death He might destroy him who had the power of death” — As God, Jesus could not die. That is why Jesus had to take on human flesh—so that He could die in our place. God never meant for man to die, but when sin came into the picture, it brought forth death.
“For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:25–26 NKJV
“last enemy . . . death” — Today, because of Jesus’ finished work, we are all seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand. COVID-19 and all sicknesses are an enemy of God, and with every passing day, another enemy is put under His feet. Every enemy was already defeated at the cross, but experientially (in our daily lives) we are seeing them being put under Jesus’ feet. The last enemy that will be put under His feet is physical death. Because more and more enemies are being put under Jesus’ feet with every passing day, we can be assured that we have a bright future to look forward to!
The Bible tells us that there will be a generation that will be alive and remain when the rapture happens.
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
— 1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 NKJV
“alive and remain” — This phrase is mentioned twice in these verses. This is referring to the rapture when Jesus comes again: there are those who are alive, and then those who are alive and remain. One can be alive simply because he/she is young. But remaining alive denotes power, for it means you are able to go through all illnesses and disease and remain alive. There is an aspect of surviving and thriving when it comes to remaining alive.
“by the word of the Lord” — Prior to the rapture, God will reveal revelations from His Word so as to cause His people to remain alive—to survive all death and darkness in the world and thrive with life more abundantly.
The Lord’s desire is for us to experience His resurrection life in all areas of our lives—right now here on earth. That means physical health, youthfulness, energy, and strength. That means in your relationships, people will be able to sense life overflowing out of you. His eternal life will mold your character and produce fruitfulness in whatever it touches!
Life produces after itself. For example, dogs produce dog life and humans produce human life. When God made man, He specially created man in His image. He created us after Himself.
“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
— Psalm 139:14 NKJV
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made” — When God made our bodies, He designed us “fearfully and wonderfully.” Today, science is still slowly coming to understand the wonders of the human body. The most brilliant minds cannot invent or recreate human body parts in the way that the Lord has done it.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground (‘adamah’), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
— Genesis 2:7 NKJV
“ground” — The word “ground” is the Hebrew word “adamah,” and it is the name that God called man: Adam.
There are two parts to how God created man:
“the breath of life” — The breath of God forms our spirit. Our spirit is the real us. We are a spirit, we have a soul (our thoughts and emotions), and we reside in a body.
Notice how for the rest of God’s creation—the land, waters, animal life, plant life—God only spoke to cause them to come into being. But for man, God was personally involved. He fashioned man with His own hands. God has designed each of us with grace, tender care, and skillfulness in a personal way! Man is the most dearly loved of all His creation, and the devil (who is a fallen archangel) knows that.
When God made angels, He did not make them from the dust of the ground. When God created man as the most loved of all His creation, there had already been a rebellion among the angels. Lucifer the archangel had rebelled against God in pride, become Satan, and one-third of the angels had followed him. This rebellion happened even before God created man.
A reason God could have chosen to create man from the dust of the ground and name him Adam (which means “ground”) is to remind man of the importance of humility. To remind him that God was his creator, God was his Father who would always watch over him, God would supply all he needed and he should not depend on himself.
Humility is seeing God in the way He wants to be seen. Worship is declaring who God is. Worshiping God is one of the greatest forms of humility we can ever do.
Pride made an archangel become a devil, and it is pride that transforms people and brings death into your relationships. In fact, self-righteousness is a form of pride. It is pride in action because it is man’s thought that there is no need for God because he can produce his own righteousness.
Even as believers, we still have the flesh in us and the flesh always wants to perform. The flesh pushes away having a relationship with God. The flesh wants to push the relationship to someone else—for example, the flesh will say to the pastor, “You get close to God then just tell me what to do.”
But this is not what God wants. He wants us to see Him as our Father. Because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross, we have equal standing before God. While we do not have the same callings, assignments, and ministries, we are all close to God. God hears your prayers as much as He hears the pastor you believe is most holy.
When you are not prideful, you are able to come near to God, and He will listen to your every prayer.
It isn’t God’s will for you to live life and expect to experience fatigue, aging, sickness, and then death. Death is God’s enemy (1 Cor. 15:26)! God’s will is for you to live healthy and whole in every part and every life season! In our present-day challenges, we may be seeing death, but God wants us to see His abundant life. Jesus has already delivered us from the fear of death, for His resurrection has defeated death.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
— Philippians 3:20–21 NKJV
“eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” — Our Christian posture is to wait for the Savior from heaven instead of looking to the grave. There is a generation that won't die but will be caught away to be with the Lord. Let us have this godly attitude of awaiting the rapture.
“transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” — Of all the things the Holy Spirit could have chosen to tell us about the rapture, He chose to tell us about the transformation of our bodies. Our bodies that are subject to sickness, weakness, and aging will be transformed into a glorious body like the one Jesus has. It is a body that can be touched and felt but won’t be like our physical bodies on earth that are subject to decay and death. When you have your new body, you will feel so alive!
We know that our new bodies will be physical, for Jesus’ glorious and resurrected body was made of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). In our glorious bodies, we will be able to appear and disappear in an instant and travel the universe because our bodies will no longer be subject to time and space or bound by the natural laws of the earth.
In the beginning, God created everything for man’s delight and pleasure. God created man with the ability to appreciate His creation, and in response we worship Him. For example, man can find a beautiful flower and worship God for he has been delighted, whereas animals don’t have that appreciation (a horse can be in a field of flowers and just be concerned with grazing). We find our fulfillment when we worship and glorify God out of a sense of appreciation for all He’s given us (Gen. 1:31).
We see in the gospels how when Jesus healed the sick, the people glorified God. People glorify God when something good or beautiful happens. When we realize who Jesus is, the result is worship.
“And release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.”
— Hebrews 2:15–16 NKJV
“the seed of Abraham” — This refers to believers. Jesus did not come to rescue angels—those who went with Satan. Jesus died for the dearly loved creation of God, which is man. The devil is jealous of the fact that the Son of God gave His life to redeem you.
Know that the rapture can happen at any time, for there are many signs that we are living in the last days. But when it happens, our bodies shall be transformed into His glorious body (Phil. 3:21).
Jesus died to redeem your spirit, soul, and body. There is redemption by the blood, and then there is redemption by power, which comes later.
Redemption by blood:
At the cross, Jesus destroyed death. That’s why as believers, we are to see death behind us.
Redemption by power:
Even though death has already been destroyed at the cross, we are waiting for the experiential redemption of our bodies. All creation is groaning for the manifestation of the sons of God.
We are to look forward to the blessed hope that is found in Christ and be secure in Him (Rom. 8:19)!
Despite what is happening in the world, you can learn how to walk in divine health and be alive and remain till Jesus comes for us.
When God made us, He made us like Him—a tripartite being. In our case, He gave us a spirit, soul, and body. In the innermost part of our beings, we are a spirit that has the breath of life from God. We have a soul, and we live in a body. But the spirit is the real “us.”
“And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit (Holy Spirit) of Him (Father) who raised Jesus (Son) from the dead dwells in you, He (Father) who raised Christ (Son) from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit (Holy Spirit) who dwells in you.”
— Romans 8:10–11 NKJV
“the Spirit is life because of righteousness” — When you receive Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit which is life (eternal, abundant, zóé life). The Spirit dwells in you because you are now the righteousness of God in Christ.
“give life to your mortal bodies” — This means that in the here and now, our earthly bodies are subject to death, but the life of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us will give life to our mortal bodies. This is not talking about the time of rapture, for by then we would have received our incorruptible bodies. This is talking about right now!
“But if the Spirit (Holy Spirit) of Him (Father) who raised Jesus (Son) from the dead dwells in you, He (Father) who raised Christ (Son) from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit (Holy Spirit) who dwells in you.” — Notice how we see the triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) mentioned twice in this verse? In the same way that the triune God first created man in Genesis, the triune God is giving life to your mortal body today.
The Lord wants you healthy, young, and strong!
Romans 8 begins by mentioning that there is no more condemnation for those in Christ (Rom. 8:1 NASB), and Paul mentions that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed him from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). When we set our minds on the Spirit and not on things of the flesh, we will become spiritually-minded and not carnally-minded (Rom. 8:5). And when we are spiritually-minded, we will have life and shalom peace (Rom. 8:6 ESV).
The Spirit comes alive because of righteousness and produces life. There is power in confessing that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. It is important to set your mind on Christ’s righteousness, to really believe it, because only then can you experience the effects of it. The more you set your mind on this, the Spirit in you produces zóé life (the highest quality of life that God Himself lives by).
When you set your mind on the fact that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, the zóé life of the Spirit will permeate your soul (mind and emotional realm), and that is how you will overcome negative emotions and strongholds like depression.
The soul is the bridge between the spirit (the part of you where God’s zóé life is) and your physical body. So the key to experiencing zóé life in your physical body is to set your mind on the truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ! For this is the truth that releases resurrection life throughout your entire being.
Jesus came to give you the gift of righteousness. It is not something you achieve, but something you receive as a gift. When you focus your mind on that so that you are conscious and aware of it, the Holy Spirit that dwells in your spirit can quicken and touch your body with His divine life (Rom. 8:11).
“And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.”
— Philippians 3:9–10 NKJV
“not having my own righteousness . . . righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” — The word “that” here means “in order.” Righteousness by faith must be received, understood, and be in one’s consciousness. The more you receive, believe, and confess it, the more you will get to know God intimately.
The New Covenant
“I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know (‘eidó’) Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
— Hebrews 8:10–12 NKJV
“I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts” — You will no longer need to be told outwardly what God wants, but you will know it on the inside. This happens not from wanting godly character and holiness, but in knowing that God is merciful to our unrighteousness, and He remembers our sins no more. He will be the one who leads and guides us from the inside.
“I will be their God, and they shall be My people” — When you know God, He will be your God and do miracles in your life, making a way where there is no way.
“know” — The word “know” is the Greek word “eidó,” which means an inside knowing that comes by intuition and not experience.
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness” — The more we preach about the forgiveness of sins, the more people get to know God, from the least to the greatest. The more forgiveness-conscious you are, the more you will know God. The more you desire to be found in Christ, you will know Him and the power of His resurrection.
Back to Philippians 3:10:
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection” — All of us as believers have received resurrection life in our spirit, but Paul is talking about knowing God and the power of His resurrection that will affect your physical body. What precedes that is knowing you are righteous by faith.
When you are conscious of your righteousness in Christ by faith, you will start knowing God more intimately and experience His miracle-working power and resurrection life.
While waiting for Jesus to come, God doesn't want you to suffer in your physical body. We may experience physical or mental infirmities, but we don't have to feel condemned. We are all learning from Scripture about what Jesus did at the cross for us and how we can experience those blood-bought benefits more and more.
Remember that the last enemy to be put under Jesus’ feet is death (1 Cor. 15:26). That means that every disease and even aging must be put under His feet first. The final enemy is death, and we look forward to that bright future and believe God for a revelation to overcome death in time to come.
If someone comes and tells you they heard a word or revelation from God, ensure that it came from the Bible. God Himself will give us personal revelations found in His Word so that His people will be alive and remain till the coming of the Lord.
Many times, we think that healing comes from the outside in. When Jesus walked on earth, this was indeed the case. He touched the sick and His life came from the outside and touched their bodies, making them whole. In Jesus’ time, healing was from the outside in. This is because back then, Jesus had not gone to the cross yet and no one was saved. No one had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. It was only after Jesus died and rose again that the Holy Spirit filled the disciples in the upper room and they became baptized in the Spirit.
Today, when anyone is born again, they immediately have the Holy Spirit in them. So now as a believer, healing flows from the inside out—from your spirit, to your soul, to your physical body.
Today, we still pray for people to receive their healing and we still lay hands for those who are sick. But we need to know that God wants us to live in the realm where life on the inside of us permeates our soul and then touches our body. He wants us to walk in His resurrection life from the inside out!
If there is any hindrance, it is because of the soul (the bridge between the spirit and every other part of life). This means the mind needs renewing. If the soul is ruled by its senses, it will become conscious of its sins, failures, bodily ailments, and darkness in this world. However, when you preach Jesus’ resurrection life and what it means, people’s minds will be set free.
Pastor Prince closes the service by emphasizing the importance of setting our minds on the Spirit and being conscious of our righteousness of God in Christ by faith, for that is what will unleash Jesus’ resurrection life in every part of our being—spirit, soul, and body.
Pastor Prince also prays for people with:
Every healing can stand the test of medical science. Please go back to your doctor to verify your healing. Only stop taking your medicine when your healing has been confirmed by medical reports. Then write in to share your testimony!
“Heavenly Father, I thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ. I thank You, Christ died for my sins on that cross, He was buried and on the third day, You raised Him from the dead. And that same life is now released inside of me because Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. I thank You, Father God, that life that raised Jesus from the dead is now inside me, and it’s permeating my spirit, soul, and body. I thank You, Father God, in the name of Jesus, Amen.”
“This coming week, wherever you go, the Lord Jesus Christ watches over you and protects you, and keeps you like a Shepherd watches over His sheep. He protects you and your family from the COVID-19 virus, from every infection, from every disease. He guards and keeps you and your loved ones throughout this week from every danger and harm and from the evil day. The Lord protects you and guards you from all the power of the evil one. He is your good Shepherd and throughout this week, surely—not maybe—His goodness and hesed grace and mercies will follow you. Praise the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Is there an area in your life where you’re not seeing God’s blessings and promises manifest? Perhaps your thoughts and feelings are constantly overwhelmed with negativity and anxiety. Perhaps your relationships are bringing you more pain than joy. Perhaps your body is suffering from a sickness or chronic condition. Friend, these are all forms of death that the enemy has tried to bring into your life.
The Lord wants you to know He has provided a way for you to experience His resurrection life that will eradicate every kind of death you may be experiencing.
Many times, when we’re going through a challenge and praying for a breakthrough, we are hoping to receive a miracle from the outside in. We are hoping God will send us a miracle from heaven, or we are hoping that when a church leader lays hands on us, we will receive healing. While these things do happen, our norm as believers is to experience the Lord’s resurrection life—in the form of physical healing, restoration of relationships, emotional wellbeing, good success at work—from the inside out.
Wherever the revelation of righteousness goes, resurrection life springs forth. The extent we believe we are righteous in Christ by faith is the extent we will see resurrection life flowing into every area of our lives—from our spirits, to our souls, to our physical bodies.
Many times, the trouble lies with the soul (our thoughts and emotions), which is the bridge between the spirit and the body. Is your soul overwhelmed by your senses, having become more conscious of your failures and your circumstances than of your righteous standing in Christ?
Don't feel condemned about it. Instead, simply start fixing your mind on the fact that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. This week, start your day with a grace-based daily devotional that reminds you of how loved you are by the Lord. On your commute or in your free time at home, listen to sermons that remind you of the perfect work of Jesus’ at the cross that has made you righteous in Him. Spend time in the Word of God to behold the beauty of Jesus and see how as He is righteous, favored, successful, healthy, and whole—so are you in this world.
As you fill your mind with the truth of your righteous standing in Christ, you are allowing the resurrection life in your spirit to permeate your soul (the mind and emotional realm). Then you will start seeing that resurrection life also flow into your physical body, bringing healing, strength, and wholeness. This is what it means to experience the blessing in 3 John 2—“that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”!
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2021
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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