Resurrection Sunday Life

Introduction

[READING - Mark 16:1-8]

Mark 16:1–8 NASB95

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. 5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ” 8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

[PRAYER]

[CONTEXT] On Sunday a week earlier He arrived in triumph.

That Monday He cursed a barren fig tree and cleared the Temple.

On Tuesday the fig tree was withered and Jesus quarreled with the withered souls of the religious leaders.

On Wednesday perhaps the religious leaders plotted and Judas agreed to give them the opportunity they were looking for.

On Thursday Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples, prayed in the garden, and was betrayed into the hands of His enemies.

On Friday Jesus was crucified and laid in a borrowed tomb.

On Saturday His followers hid and mourned and waited.

But on Resurrection Sunday Jesus rose from the dead and walked out of tomb!

When the women came to the tomb early in the morning to finish anointing Jesus’ body for burial, they found the stone rolled away.

The angels announced to the them the resurrection of Jesus, saying, “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen,” (Mk. 16:6)!

After seeing the glorious angels and examining the empty tomb, the women were at first trembling, astonished, and afraid—so afraid in fact that they didn’t say anything to anyone at first (Mk. 16:8), but soon ran to report the good news to Jesus’ disciples (Mt. 28:8).

When they first heard the news of Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostles thought it was nonsense and didn’t believe it (Lk. 24:11).

But Peter and John ran to see the empty tomb (Lk. 24:12) and over a period of 40 days the risen Jesus repeatedly appeared to Peter and all the Apostles!

He even appeared to James, His brother, and to Paul, the former persecutor of the church!

In fact, at point He appeared to more than five hundred of His followers at one time (1 Cor. 15:5-8)!

The clear testimony of all those people and the clear testimony of the NT is this: HE HAS RISEN!

[INTER] But to say Jesus has risen from the dead is just to state a fact. And to state that fact doesn’t explain it’s significance.

The question I want us to think about this morning is: Why does it matter that Jesus has been raised from the dead?

[TS] To answer that question I want to talk to you about What If, What Is, and What Will Be.

[AIM] When I’m done, I hope we will all have a greater appreciation for the significance of Jesus’ resurrection.

Let’s look fist at What If - What if Jesus isn’t raised from the dead?

Look with me at 1 Corinthians 15:12-19…

Major Ideas

What If - What if Jesus isn’t raised from the dead?

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 NASB95

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

[ILLUS] A college Sunday school teacher once said to us students something like, “And if Christianity turns out not to be true, what does it really matter? You still had fun at church! You still met some great people in the church! So, what does it matter?”

It matters a great deal.

The Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God says that if it turns out not to be true, then we Christians are most to be pitied.

[EXP/APP] The Corinthian church had many problems, and one was denying the resurrection of the dead. This was a general denial, but Paul pointed out that a general denial of resurrection would include a denial of Jesus’ resurrection specifically.

And if Jesus is not raised from the dead then there are big problems for those who have called on Him as Savior, as the Christ.

The first big problem (1 Cor. 15:14a) is that, if Christ is not raised, our preaching, our witnessing, our sharing Christ with others—it’s all empty, all meaningless.

In other words, if Christ is not raised, the message we’ve been proclaiming can’t save anyone from the wrath of God to come.

The second big problem (1 Cor. 15:14b, 17) is that, if Christ is not raised, our faith in Christ is also empty and meaningless.

In other words, if Christ is not raised, we are still in our sins, and we are not safe from the wrath of God ourselves.

The third big problem (1 Cor. 15:15) is that, if Christ is not raised then we’ve been lying about God because we’ve been saying that He raised Christ from the dead.

And if we’ve been lying about God, then we’ve actually been storing up more wrath for ourselves on the day of His wrath.

The fourth big problem (1 Cor. 15:18) is that, if Christ is not raised then those who died hoping in the risen Christ have perished.

In other words, those people are in the place of torment.

For all these reasons, the Word of God says we Christians are of all people most to pitied if Christ is not raised.

[TS] That’s What If—That’s the reality if Jesus hasn’t been raised from the dead.

But here’s What Is…

What Is - The fact is Jesus has been raised from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:20 NASB95

20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

[EXP/APP] Paul states the resurrection of Jesus as fact because it is a fact. Paul saw the risen Jesus, so He knows that Jesus lives!

And because He lives, our preaching, our witnessing, our sharing is not in vain!

Because He lives, our faith is not empty and meaningless but really is a saving faith!

Because He lives, we are safe from the wrath of God—the wrath we deserved because of our sins!

Because He lives, we’ve not been lying about God and storing up wrath for ourselves; no, as we told others about the resurrection of Jesus we’ve been telling the truth about God and storing up treasure in Heaven!

And because He lives, those who died hoping in a risen Jesus are now at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8)!

[ILLUS] I recently listened to the audio-book, Everything Sad Is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri.

Daniel, whose given-name was Hoshroe, was maybe five-years-old when his mother, Sima, believed on the risen Jesus for salvation.

Daniel’s mother was a descendent of the founder of Islam, Muhammed, and while it was not safe for any Christian in Iran, it was especially not safe for a descendent of Muhammed who turned to follow the risen Christ, the Jewish Messiah, Jesus.

Even so, Daniel’s mom joined a secret church in Iran, which was led by a missionary from the United States. In the book Daniel calls him, Pastor Pike.

Daniel’s mom received repeated threats, and when the danger seemed imminent not only for her but for her family as well, she immediately left everything behind and fled with her two young children—Daniel and his sister.

Daniel, his mom, and sister, secretly stowed away on a plan to the United Arab Emirates where a prince offered to wed his eight-year-old sister so that they would be family; it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to live in the safety of his palace unless they were family, the prince said.

When Daniel’s mom declined and told the prince they were Christians, they were back on the street.

At one point, because Daniel had accident in his pants after eating all the food at the prince’s palace, he, his mom, and sister ended up in a bathroom, his mom with their one suitcase on her knees, stuff falling out as she realized they didn’t have a plastic bag to put the pants in and were so poor they couldn’t afford to just throw away his soiled pants.

As his mother tried to washout Daniel pants in the sink, she cried and butt her head against the mirror, saying, “I can’t.”

But she did. They made it to Italy where they waited on asylum in the United States. A Christina couple in Oklahoma vouched for them, so Daniel, his mom, and sister became Oklahomans.

But life didn’t get easier for Daniel’s mother. She had been a doctor in Iran but couldn’t practice medicine in the United States.

She was forced to work low paying jobs and go to school at night in order to provide a better future for her children.

She remarried to an abusive man who claimed to be a Christian but often acted like the devil.

But listen to what Daniel writes…

“She had all that wealth, the love of all those people she helped in her clinic. They treated her like a queen. She was a sayyed (i.e., a descendent of Muhammed). And she’s poor now. People spit on her on buses. She’s a refugee in places people hate refugees, with a husband who hits harder than a second-degree black belt because he’s a third-degree black belt. And she’ll tell you—it’s worth it. Jesus is better.

“It’s true. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. … Sima (Daniel’s mom)—who was such a fierce Muslim that she marched for the Revolution, who studied the Quran the way very few people do—read the Bible and knew in her hear that it was true.”

Daniel’s mom gave up everything hoping in the risen Jesus, and because He lives, her hope will not be disappointed.

The risen Jesus is worth it.

Three years after Daniel, his mom, and sister fled, Pastor Pike, the leader of the secret church in their city back in Iran, had his throat cut in the street.

Pastor Pike gave up his life hoping in the risen Jesus, and because He lives, his hope was not disappointed. He’s at home with the Lord even as we speak.

The risen Jesus is worth it.

[TS] Do you know that we shall see just how worth it the risen Jesus is when He comes again?

We’ve talked about What If—We are facing some very big problems if Jesus isn’t raised from the dead.

We’ve talked about What Is—The fact is Jesus is raised from the dead, and that makes everything we suffer for Him here on earth worth it.

But let’s talk about What Will Be…

What Will Be - Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, He will come again.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 NASB95

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

[EXP] When Paul preached the Gospel in Thessalonica, people believed and a church was born. After leaving to preach the Gospel and plant churches elsewhere, Paul sent his son in the faith, Timothy, back to the Thessalonian church to see how they were. The Thessalonians were doing well, but they did have a concern.

Some of the believers had died, and because the Thessalonians were not fully taught on the second coming of Christ, they thought the believers who died would miss out on the second coming of Jesus.

But Paul wrote…

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 NASB95

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

Then Paul wrote in that passage we’ve already read but need to hear again and again…

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 NASB95

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Brothers and Sisters, that is what will be because He lives!

[APP] One day a shout will come from Heaven, and we’ll all look up and see the Lord Jesus returning in His glory and all His angels with Him! Every eye will see Him when He comes!

And then the voice of an archangel and the blast of the trumpet of God will call the dead in Christ to rise from the dead; and then those believers in Christ who were just raised and those who never died will all be raptured to meet the Lord in the air!

And then—and this is the best part—we shall always be with the risen Lord Jesus!

Perhaps this all sounds crazy to you, but it is exactly what Jesus promised us before His death on the cross.

John 14:2–3 NASB95

2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

If you have trusted in the Jesus, the Son of God, crucified on the cross to pay the price for your sins and raised from the dead for your justification (i.e., your right-standing) before the Father, then you will have a home in Heaven!

You will always be with the Lord!

That’s will be!

[TS]…

Conclusion

Have you trusted in Jesus?

Have you trusted in His sacrificial death as the payment for your sins?

Have you trusted in His resurrection life as the guarantee of your justification before God the Father?

If you haven’t, now is the time to trust Him.

Today is the day of salvation!

If you have trusted Him, now is the time to rejoice!

Now is the time to sing!

Now is the time tell the world that Jesus is worth it because He lives!

[PRAYER]