Raised to Life

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever had a moment that changed your life forever? I have. I’ve actually had SEVERAL of these moments in my life.

Last January Audra and I celebrated 11 years of marriage.

I remember it like it was yesterday when we gathered together with hundreds of our family and friends at Pioneer Drive and we committed ourselves to each other in marriage for the rest of our lives.

I remember standing there, wishing David would hurry up and finish his Bible reading so we could exchange those vows and start our new life together.

My life was never the same after that moment. In fact, It’s actually difficult to even REMEMBER much about my life after that moment. It’s like everything changed.

Another moment like that was the birth of our first child Blaise.

The whole labor and delivery process was very interesting and I was very much caught up in the moment. But When Blaise came into this world and I held him in my arms a love exploded in my heart that was unlike anything else I’d ever experienced before.

It’s a love I now share with all three of my children but the point is my life was utterly changed. Forever.

In March of 2013 I became the lead pastor of Broadview Baptist Church.

The day I became the senior pastor was a day my life changed forever. I inherited a weight of pastoral responsibility that hasn’t left my shoulders since.

(David came in a week or so after and said something along the lines of “how does it feel?” And I said my shoulders feel a lot heavier. And he said - I figured.... b/c mine are feeling much much lighter.

This church has changed my life forever. I’ll never be the same because of my experiences here.

Resurrection Power

Well just like your wedding date or your child’s birth date or a date significant in your career can change your life forever , there was also a historical event that changed human history forever.

That event is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It’s what we’re celebrating today.

The resurrection of Jesus is a historical event that changes everything and everyone it touches.

And when I say everything I mean EVERYTHING and EVERYONE I mean it.

We’re not the only ones celebrating the resurrection today. We’re joining with 2.2 billion other people around the word who are doing the same thing. Is that no amazing?

1 out of every 4 people on this planet are giving thanks to God because Jesus is alive. And because Jesus walked about of that tomb we can have newness of life too.

The resurrection of Jesus literally split history in half: BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini).

The resurrection of Jesus changed the world; it has changed my life, it has changed our church and - if you allow it - it can change YOU too.

Where We’re Going

So with today’s message I want to do something a little bit different.

We usually preach through books of the Bible in our church (Genesis right now) but today we’re taking a break from that story to explore the ultimate story: the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.

We’re going to look at TWO passages of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 15 and Luke 24.

The first establishes the historical FACT of the resurrection and the second will help bring the resurrection of Jesus into FOCUS.

Or, to say it another way - first we’ll establish THAT it happened then we’ll explore WHY it matters.

Of First Importance

Paul begins our passage in 1 Corinthians 15:3 with the phrase “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received...”

Pauls says the death and resurrection of Jesus is of “first importance.” What does he mean by that?

He means it’s the most important thing. It’s the foundational thing. Everything else flows from and builds on top of this.

There are all sorts of differences between Christians. There are theological differences, cultural differences, preferential differences of all sorts.

Baptists disagree with many Methodists and Lutherans on the need for baptism by immersion after conversion.

Protestants disagree with Catholics on the authority of the Pope.

Catholics disagree with Eastern Orthodox on the Doctrine of hell.

There are all sorts of areas where these different faith traditions disagree.

But if you put all of the Catholics on one side of the room and all of the protestants on the other side of the room and all of the eastern orthodox on the front side and all of the other non-denoms and evangelicals on the back side of the room and you had to find ONE THING on which they could all agree.

This is what it would be:

1 Corinthians 15:3–5 (ESV)

3 that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

4 that he was buried,

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Incredible Claims / Evidence

1 out of every 4 people on the planet identify - to some degree - with those four pillars of the Christian faith.

From the most casual to the most ardent believer - these truths act as a foundation for their understanding of God and the afterlife. From West Texas to Istanbul.

From Indiana West Bengal there are people who build their lives on those four words: died, buried, raised, appeared.

Why? Why do so many people follow Jesus? How has Christianity been able to unite people around a person even though they disagree on so many other things?

The resurrection vindicates the radical claims of Jesus.

There are many religions in the world and many religious leaders who made particular claims. But Jesus was unique.

The Claims

The claims made by Jesus in the days and months leading up to his crucifixion were unbelievable.

Let’s think about them.

He didn’t just claim to KNOW the truth, he claimed to BE the truth. (John 14:6)

He didn’t just claim to KNOW about God the Father, he claimed to be ONE WITH God the Father. (John 10:30)

Jesus didn’t say “Follow my teachings and you will live.” (Buddha / Confucius / Mohamed) He said, “deny yourself, take up your cross and FOLLOW ME.” (Luke 9:23; Mark 8:34)

He said to be his disciple you had to love him more that your father, mother, brother sister, spouse, friend or self. (Luke 14:25-26)

The claims of Jesus went further and the demands of Jesus went higher than any other religious leader before or after.

Jesus didn’t claim to show the way, the truth and the life. He claimed to BE the way, the truth and the life.

The resurrection vindicated those claims so that people no longer saw them as the ravings of a mad man or failed messiah. They saw Jesus as who he described himself to be.

The Evidence

You might say, “I’d be a Christian if I really thought there were any evidence. They were eyewitnesses so no wonder they believed.”

Well you’re in luck. Because the historical evidence hasn’t changed and it’s as compelling today as it was in the first century.

We don’t have time to look at them in detail but we can hit the highlights.

FULFILLED PROPHECY:

Jesus fulfilled 322 direct Messianic prophecies that uniquely identified him as God’s anointed.

These were not vague descriptions like on your horoscope. They were specific things like

the city of his birth,

virginity of his mother,

cost of his betrayal,

manner and exact hour of his death,

style of burial,

and 300 plus more things just like that. Jesus fulfilled them to a T.

Why else would you have these traditional, conservative, monotheistic Jewish disciples begin to worship Jesus as God even though it was a violation of religious laws and traditions?

You might say “maybe they were just lying. Maybe they made it all up.” Well that might carry some water if it wasn’t for this other layer of evidence.

PREACHING & MARTYRDOM OF DISCIPLES:

Outside of Jusdas (who commited suicide) - every other disciple of Jesus willingly preached, suffered and were martyred for advancing the idea that Jesus was the Messiah and God raised him from the dead. Every. Single. One. Not one denier. Not one.

People will lie for all sorts of reasons. Social advantage, covering up a weakness, pressure from one side or another. But liars make POOR martyrs.

People will NOT DIE for something they KNOW to be false. (don’t believe me research the watergate scandal!)

And yet there were hundreds - according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:6 up to 500 people who died as unrelenting eye-witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.

1 Cor 15:6 “Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.”

Witnesses who are willing to have their throat cut are suddenly much more believable. And that’s the evidence we have for the resurrection of Jesus.

APPEARANCES TO & CONVERSION OF FOLLOWERS, FAMILY & FOES:

But it wasn’t just Jesus’ followers who saw him raised from the dead and became willing to preach that message in the face of persecution and death...

Even JAMES - Jesus’ brother became an eye-witness to the resurrection. How many of you have a brother? If he came up to you and said, “Behold… I am the Son of God.” What would you say? (you’re the son of something but it ain’t God).

And yet 1 Corinthians 15:7 says “he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” This is James the brother of Jesus who would become a leader in the Jerusalem church and writer of a book in the NT. He went from unbeliever to believer, hostile skepticism to humble faith.

Finally you have PAUL - an enemy of Christ and chief persecutor of Christ’s church who becomes an eyewitness to the resurrection and confident disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:8 “8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” He goes on to say, “I am the least of the apostles, because I persecuted the church of God.

So it’s not just people who were loyal to Jesus who became eyewitnesses to his resurrection. It was skeptics like James and enemies like Paul. And yet even THEY become willing to die a torturous martyrs death proclaiming the truth of the resurrection.

(1) The fulfillment of Messianic prophecies, (2) the preaching and martyrdom of the apostles, (3) the appearances to and conversion of family, followers and foes.

The last line of evidence I’ll mention is where we’ll spend the rest of our time and that’s (4) the reality of the empty tomb.

The Tomb Was Empty

It’s the empty tomb, I believe that brings the resurrection of Jesus into FOCUS.

One of my favorite passages about the resurrection is Luke 24. Let’s begin reading in verse 1 and see how the Bible puts things into focus.

Luke 24:1 (ESV)

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.

The first question we need to answer is “who are the THEY in this passage?”

The answer is in Luke 24:10:

Mary Magdalene (Reformed Prostitute),

Joanna (wife of Chuza, servant of Herod),

Mary the mother of James

and some other women who were with them (

Mary wife of Clopas/Salome?;

Mary the wife of Zebedee;

and a few more)

The status of women was low in that culture, their testimony not even valid in a court of law. If you were making up a resurrection legend you wouldn’t have women be the first eyewitnesses to the empty tomb. But they are because they WERE.

Why the men are not there is curious. Maybe the women are doing a clean up of the clean up? Or maybe they were hiding in fear of being identified as Jesus’ disciples and suffer the same fate. We’re not sure.

Why They Came

Why did they come to the tomb of Jesus? To take care of the body. They had prepared spices. They were coming to take care of and clean up the body.

Remember, Jesus had been tortured and beaten to a bloody pulp and so they were likely trying to restore some degree of dignity and honor to his body.

The point is - they didn’t EXPECT to see the tomb empty. They expected to see and treat a dead body.

What They Heard

So the rebuke they hear from the angels is not surprising. It is, however, very instructive.

Luke 24:2–5 (ESV)

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

What a great question! “Why are you looking for life in a place that cannot provide it?”

True life will never be found through money, sex or status in the here and now. It’s a fools errand and will only lead to brokenness.

True life - eternal life - can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ who didn’t stay dead but is ALIVE forevermore.

What They Forgot

Here’s my favorite part of their response.

Luke 24:6–7 (ESV)

6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

I can’t know this for sure but I think the gist of this question was essentially,

“Seriously? Why are you here? How did you NOT REMEMBER ANY OF THE TIMES Jesus told you he was going to die and rise again?!”

It wasn’t like Jesus was unclear. Jesus had been telling his disciples about this moment over and over and over again leading up to Luke 24.

Their problem is they failed to grasp what they should’ve remember.

Here’s just a couple of examples.

Luke 9:22 (#1 after feeding multitudes)

22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Luke 9:44 (#2 after transfiguration)

44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

Luke 18:31–33 (#3 Passover in Jerusalem)

31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Why This Matters

Here’s why this matters. You can be close to and know about ALL the things and still miss the MAIN THING.

Here’s how the resurrection of Jesus brings things into FOCUS. Here’s why it matters.

If it could happen to them. It can happen to you. You can know about ALL the things and still miss the main thing.

Especially in Abilene, Texas.

Our church will go out knocking on doors and the vast majority of people we talk to “already have a church home… have a relative who is a pastor or a deacon.... or has been Christian or going to church their entire life.”

Gospel Inoculation

Sometimes I wonder if we’ve been spiritually inoculated with the truth about Christ.

An inoculation is vaccination where you introduce ineffective material (of the disease) into the host to prevent the effective version from ever taking hold should they be personally exposed.

Many of you have grown up around church, heard the “gospel” all of your life and you’ve never really had the reality of the resurrection penetrate your heart of change the way you live.

It’s almost a worse state than being a total skeptic because at least then you’d have the opportunity to receive the Gospel should you really be exposed.

But with a Gospel Inoculation it doesn’t matter how many times you’re exposed it never really takes hold in your life.

Remember This

The most important thing that can happen to you this morning is that you walk away remembering the MAIN THING.

Luke 24:8 “8 And they remembered his words,”

Remember these words:

Jesus was delivered into the hands of men,

he was crucified (in your place for your sins),

and on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead!

If God can raise Jesus from the dead that means he can give you NEW LIFE too.

Don’t you forget those words. If you take away nothing else, take that.

Forget about the band.

Forget about the amazing preschool and kids ministry programming.

Forget about the cool gift in the guest packet.

Forget about the preacher.

Don’t walk away from here thinking, “what an amazing this or what an amazing that.

I want you to leave remembering these words: Jesus is alive and there is new life in his name.

Our church doesn’t exist so that you’ll walk away saying “what an amazing church.” We exist so you’ll walk away saying, “What an amazing savior.”

What They Said

The text continues with what the women say to the apostles once they discover the empty tomb.

Luke 24:8–11 (ESV)

8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Notice that last sentence. “They told these things to the apostles but they did not believe them.” Why? Because they seemed to them an idle tale.

That word translated “idle tale” could be translated, “Girl, you crazy!”

This is important because many modern people dismiss Christianity thinking that people who lived in the 1st century were some how more gullible or naive about believing in God.

To a degree that’s true. Their culture was not our culture.

But it has NEVER been easy to be a follower of Jesus.

Why This Matters: Okay to Doubt

Here’s why this matters. Here’s how the empty tomb brings things into focus.

It’s okay to be a follower of Jesus and still struggle with doubts. You are not alone and it’s been true of Jesus followers from the very beginning.

Even at the end of Matthew’s Gospel after Jesus had been raised and spent 40 days interacting with his disciples and giving them the blueprint for carrying on his mission.

Matthew says, “many worshipped him but some doubted.” (Matthew 28:17)

Can I be honest? I’m a Jesus follower who has committed my life and career to preaching the Gospel and I still struggle with doubts.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve found amazing answers and evidences to so many of my early questions and skepticism about Christianity but getting good answers to those questions just created new doubts about some other questions.

Dealing with Doubt

Having doubt doesn’t undermine your faith. Doubt can actually be a friend and tool to strengthen your faith.

Here’s why. Jesus never ignores our doubts. He addresses our doubts with facts and evidence.

I could show you this over and over again in the Gospels but let’s just consider our text for a moment.

Why did Jesus have the stone rolled away? He didn’t need to roll away the stone because a little later he straight up walks through walls.

He doesn’t roll away the stone so that he could get out. He rolled away the stone so that the disciples could look IN.

That’s exactly what Peter and John do after hearing this news in John’s Gospel. They go to the tomb. They look in for themselves. The see the evidence. (John 20:6-7)

Jesus left clues and evidence to help the doubting hearts of Peter and John.

A little later in this chapter Thomas is struggling to believe the claims of Jesus’ resurrection and says, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” (John 20:25)

Then, eight days later Jesus says to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe!” (John 20:27)

The way to deal with your doubts is to keep them in perspective (remain open to the evidence) and then let them push you towards an answer.

There is plenty of evidence out there to help you find answers to your questions. We just looked at some of them. But you’ve got to do the hard work of keeping your mind open and your heart in the search for truth.

Why The Resurrection Matters

So we’ve seen that the resurrection happened. We’ve seen how our response to the resurrection helps to bring things into focus.

But we can’t end there. There’s one more thing in Luke 24 that answers the most important question. It’s the question WHY.

WHY does the resurrection really matter?

We’ve already read the answer to that question but we glanced right over it. It’s in the announcement of the angels to the women at the tomb.

Luke 24:6–7 (ESV)

6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

Do you see that little word “must?”

It’s the same word Jesus uses when he describes the necessity of his death, burial and resurrection earlier in the Gospels and the same word he uses later with the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:25.

Here’s what Jesus means by this word. There was a spiritual reality in place so that it HAD TO HAPPEN THIS WAY.

The Universal Problem

In other words, there was a universal problem that had to be solved and the only way that problem could be solved was through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection didn’t just happen. It HAD to happen. It was necessary in order for God to accomplish his purpose in our life.

We live in a culture where we don’t talk about sin anymore and when people talk about the brokenness in their life they shift the blame and point the finger to show how they’re a victim instead of personally responsible.

Certainly there are instances where you might be a victim and not all brokenness in your life is a result of your personal decisions but it is not EVERY instance.

The Bible says “ALL HAVE SINNED and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)

That’s our problem. We have a sin problem. You may say, “no I don’t” but if you think that you just haven’t thought about it long enough.

If we just covered the top 10 in Exodus 20 everyone of us would be 0 for 10 at the heart level.

And we don’t even have to talk about God’s rules. You have your own rules and if you’re honest you can’t even live up to them either. Why? Something is broken in us and we don’t have what we need to fix it.

We know that the seriousness of a sin isn’t just in what we do but who we do it to. The biggest problem about our sin isn’t even in the things that we do wrong but in who offend in committing those wrongs (God himself.)

Jesus is saying the only way to take care of your sin problem was for me to die on the cross in your place for your sin.

The Unique Solution

Jesus’ death and resurrection is God’s unique solution to our universal problem.

Sinning against a God who is infinite in holiness and perfection requires (1) an eternally just punishment or (2) an eternal and perfect sacrifice.

THAT is exactly what happened at the cross of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that “God made him who knew no sin to be sin FOR US so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)

The cross is showing us that God infinitely just so a payment for sin had to be made. But God is also infinite in love so he made that payment at a cost to himself. It’s a exchange in which he gets our worst and we get his best.

Jesus was being beaten and tortured within an inch of his life, and spit on, humiliated, mocked and scorned - and crucified with nails in his hands and his feet and dying a tortured death at the hands of the Romans - He wasn’t just doing that FOR US. He was dying INSTEAD of US.

It was OUR DEATH he died.

And the resurrection of Jesus was God’s way of saying to YOU and to everybody else (spiritual, physical, past, present and future) Jesus’ sacrifice was SUFFICIENT to forgive you of sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

The death of Jesus on the cross wipes away your sinful past and the resurrection of Jesus gives you a hope and a future.

The Ultimate Question

It’s no wonder that Christians celebrate this truth every single Sunday that we gather together.

The resurrection life of Jesus isn’t just something to celebrate. It’s something to be received.

Have you received the gift of new life in Jesus name?

You might be sitting there thinking, “I don’t deserve that gift and I’d never fit in with these people.” And you’re half right. None of us deserve that gift.

That’s why the Bible calls it grace.

But it ISN’T true you wouldn’t fit in with these people. If you think that, it’s just because you don’t know them well enough. If you knew what I knew you wouldn’t say that or think it.

You’re surrounded by people who used to be school drop outs, serial adulterers, liars and cheats.

People who’ve experienced parenting failures, pornography addictions, prison sentences, substance abuse and so much more.

We once were lost but now we’re found. We’ve found a home in the Lord Jesus Christ.

If the resurrection power of Jesus can change us, it can change YOU too. But you must receive it.

Conclusion

New information won’t change your life. You need a personal encounter with the risen Christ.

It’s an earthly decision that changes your eternal destiny. And some of you are going to make that decision right now as God leads.

You are not here on accident. You were created by a God who loves you and has a plan for your life, to give you a living hope and a better future through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Will you receive it? John 3:16 says “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whosoever believes in him wouldn’t perish but have ever lasting life.”

Only a fool goes through life unprepared for what’s inevitable. It’s inevitable that one of these days you’re going to die and stand before your creator in judgment.

Where are you in your relationship with Jesus? Don’t leave this place without answering that question.

Connection Card

To help you answer that question and get some help with the next steps I want you to take out the connection card you received when you walked in.

You’ll see four letters: A, B, C, D. Here’s how I want you to check those boxes and then when you have we’re going to collect these cards and receive your response.

A. I already have a relationship with Jesus

B. I need to begin a REAL relationship with Jesus as Lord.

C. I need to consider this more but I’m interested in learning.

D. I don’t ever intend on making that decision.

Time of Response

Go ahead and check that box right now. If you don’t have a pen/pencil we’ve got ushers who will hand you one.

If you checked letter B I want you to pray with me right now a prayer of faith in Jesus as Lord.

PRAYER:

Those of you who prayed that prayer I want you to now publically profess that faith through the ordinance of baptism.

Some of you prayed this prayer many years ago but you’ve never been biblically baptized. If that’s you this morning I want you to join in as well.

The band will come up and lead our church through a song. You come to the door and someone will show you how to get to the baptistery.

On the count of three we’re going to get up and respond: 1. 2. 3!