Throughout the Christian world, “Resurrection Day” is usually thought of as the day Christ Jesus was resurrected after being crucified.  But today I’d like to touch on a part of Resurrection Day that perhaps you have never considered: the day of YOUR resurrection from the dead.

It is written in Hebrews 9:24-28:
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Let us pay close attention to verses 27 and 28.  After the physical death of this earthly body, we will one day be resurrected back to life to give account for what we have done in this life.  ALL will face the judgment seat of Christ Jesus, and there will be no exceptions.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

But what about Hebrews 9:28?  It’s pretty obvious if we will take time to look at it closely: Christ Jesus was offered up for US to pay the debt for OUR sins.  He had no sin of His own to account for, but rather, He took OUR place, facing the wrath of God for the sins WE committed.  Did you get that?  Let me explain it more clearly if I may.

Suppose you had committed a crime and you were being tried in court for it, and it would go something like this: Court is now in session, all rise!  The Righteous Judge God Almighty presiding. You may now be seated.  Now you (put YOUR name here) are being charged with sin against God, how do you plead?  (And of course, you plead NOT GUILTY, right?)  So the prosecution begins, and the prosecuting attorney is none other but Satan himself, and boy, he is sure good at his job.  He proceeds to bring up everything you ever did wrong your whole life, including the time you got your Grandma’s favorite teacup out of the china cabinet just to look at it, and you accidently dropped it on the floor and it broke in a dozen pieces.

Well, knowing Grandma would NOT be pleased, you cleaned up the mess and threw it in the trash and went about your business.  The next time you visited, Grandma said,” My favorite teacup is missing from its place in the china cabinet.  Now YOU wouldn’t happen to know what happened to it, would you?  Hmmm?” ” Uh, NO Grandma, I don’t know anything about it, honest!” But what you don’t know is Grandma found the pieces in the trash can and put two and two together.  She loves you, but she isn’t happy you lied.  Why did you lie? You were afraid she would be mad and you would get punished, so you lied about it.   Wow, you had completely forgotten about that one, but Satan didn’t.  No, he keeps record of EVERYTHING you ever did or spoke wrong, just so he can have the pleasure of accusing you before God in the judgment.  And believe me, he enjoys his job!

And the court session was LONG because you were the poster child for, shall we say for lack of better, not exactly blameless in life.  The prosecuting attorney had done his homework, and brought up every infraction since the day you were old enough to know what you were doing.  So finally, you had a chance to answer for yourself.  The Judge said, “What do you have to say in your defense?” Your defense attorney stood up and wiped his brow.  Boy, does HE ever have a job to do now to get you off the hook.  By the way, your defense attorney is none other than Christ Jesus himself.  Your attorney had heard all the evidence against you, every tiny detail, and said to the Judge, “Well Your Honor, it’s plain to see my client is guilty, even though he said he isn’t.” You say,” I don’t want to die!  I asked YOU to be my defense attorney, what am I going to do NOW?” Your defense attorney says to the Judge, “The evidence presented clearly shows he is guilty.  But this is what I will do: I have never done anything wrong, but I will accept his punishment in his place.”

The prosecution and the defense have presented their case and now rest, and the jury will decide the verdict.  The jury leaves the room to consider the evidence and returns with their verdict.  The Judge asks the jury to read their verdict, and they say they find you guilty, and the punishment for your offense is DEATH. The Judge says to the defense attorney, “Do you realize if you take the punishment for your client, that YOU will die in his place?” He says, “Yes, Your Honor, I will take his place and I will die for him.”
The Judge says, “SO BE IT! The defense attorney is hereby condemned to death, and the defendant is free to go!  Case closed, court is adjourned.” And the hammer of the Judge falls.  It’s all over now.  For YOU, that is, but not for your attorney, you won, He lost.

So you walk away free and unpunished while another takes the rap for you.  This is EXACTLY what happens to you after having received Christ Jesus as your LORD and SAVIOR.  Going back to Hebrews 9:28, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Here is the amazing fact of the love of Christ Jesus: He bore your sins so you will not have to fear His judgment seat when you are resurrected from the dead.  Check this out: the FIRST time you appeared to Him, you were full of sin and condemned to death.  But He took your punishment, so when you stand before Him in the judgment?  He will say, “I remember you, I took your punishment in your place, so YOU are NOT GUILTY. You are granted Salvation.  Enter into the joy of your LORD!”

Well, that’s how your case will go if Christ Jesus is your Lord and Savior.  But if He isn’t, then you will bear your own punishment in the judgment.  Now, the evidence and verdict against you is sure, but you get to pick your own defense attorney.  You may even decide to defend yourself, and that’s your choice.  But there’s only ONE defense attorney you can choose that can get you off free, and it’s Christ Jesus.

I hope you have the right attorney defending you, for you only have one chance to make your plea before the court of heaven.  There is too much at stake for you to make the wrong choice.  And you never know when your court date will be, so you must prepare NOW, RIGHT NOW!

Your future is in your own hands.  Time is short and getting shorter by the day, and the prosecuting attorney of your soul is telling you that you have plenty of time to get ready for court, take it easy, don’t get all excited, the Judge is easy on crime, but don’t you believe him, for he is the biggest liar in the universe.  And he wins EVERY case, except for the ones Christ Jesus himself defends.  The prosecuting attorney is looking to better his record, to win more and more cases.  The Bible says NOT MANY will be saved, so the devil wins WAY too many cases.  But he doesn’t have to win YOUR CASE.  What will you do to make your salvation sure?  You know what to do, to call upon Christ Jesus: the question now is, WILL YOU right now?  Don’t do it for Pastor Jerry, do it for YOU!   Then you can look forward to YOUR resurrection day with JOY and not dread.  Do it now!  Jesus is waiting for your call to represent you in the Court of Heaven.