Audio recording Sermon manuscript: There is a man named Elon Musk who is very busy. He owns and oversees several companies. Tesla and Space X are the most famous. For a brief time this year he surpassed Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, as the richest person in the world when his stock prices went way up. The reason why Elon Musk is so thoroughly believed in that people are prepared to throw their money at him is because he is so forward looking. He is looking for the next big thing. There is one project of his that seems to be more along the lines of science fiction than what is actually possible. He’d like to make a direct connection between our brains and computer systems by implanting wires into our skulls. This would mean that we could control computers just by thinking. We wouldn’t have to use our fingers (which Elon Musk likes to call “meat sticks.”) This would give human beings even more power than they already have with our current, slow, keystroke by keystroke communication with computer systems. It also opens up one more possibility that is relevant to Easter. This is where it seems to be really far out. If this project works as well as Elon Musk is hoping it will work, then human beings might be able to save their consciousness on machines. It would be like how we save documents and pictures on our computer or on the cloud. Perhaps it would eventually be possible to download consciousness to another body after this body wears out. A person could perhaps extend his or her consciousness indefinitely. The goal is eternal life. This goal is an old one, and its predecessors have not worked out very well. About thirty years ago there were people who were very excited about cryogenics. This is where a body is put into a deep freeze in the hopes that eventually technology will advance to the point where they can be resurrected. Thus there are a few dozen bodies moldering away in freezers in a warehouse in California. The ancient Egyptians also believed that they could preserve a person’s body. They began the practice of embalming bodies several thousand years ago. Despite Hollywood, those mummies have never yet come back to life. But even if these things could work and would work, the resurrection that they promise is still a far cry from the resurrection of Easter, and Jesus’s resurrection that is promised to those who are his. Those like Elon Musk, who are searching for eternal life, are looking for a mere continuation of this present life. There is no fundamental change that takes place. Things just continue on like they always have. The hope, even for those whose lives might be extended in this way, is to just make the most of it. With Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, there are most certainly fundamental changes that make post-resurrection life very different from pre-resurrection life. Jesus’s resurrection was not just a return to “normal.” When you are resurrected, it also won’t be a return to “normal.” So today let’s explore what Jesus’s resurrection means and the way that it changes our life. First of all, when Jesus died the devil was defeated. When Jesus rose, we were able to know that and make use of it. To speak about Jesus defeating the devil is about as fundamental as we can get when we are speaking about our life. The bible speaks of the devil as the prince of this world. He has many powers and authorities. Since we are born in sin, we naturally belong to him, and we serve him as we carry out his will. The change that took place in Adam and Eve with their fall into sin makes us all subject to the devil. And even when we have been converted and baptized, we find it all too easy to return to our submission to him. But while we are weak, Jesus is strong. His death broke the devil’s power completely. The devil no longer has any real power. He has no rights over anyone. The only way that he has any power whatsoever is by lying. He has to steal people away from Jesus with his lies, falsely convincing them of wh