A Resurrected Hope

Without Sunday, Friday would be utter hostility and depravity. Granted, Friday was indeed those qualities, but it had Sunday to make sense of it. You see, Sunday, the day of resurrection and hope, gave sense and reason to Friday. On its own, without intent, without purpose, and most importantly, without hope, Friday would be glum. Friday would be sadistic. Friday would be the end of the matter, and what a wretched end it would be too.

But work backwards, if Sunday is coming, then Friday, the day of death; it has life to come. It has hope. If Sunday is coming, then Friday, the day of loneliness; it has reason. It has a purpose. If Sunday is coming, then Friday, the day of suffering; has a strategy behind it. It has intent.

Ravi Zacharias, in his book Can Man Live Without God? (P. 39-54), takes the time to articulate why hope and purpose are needed in life. Without hope and purpose, suffering would be ugly, loneliness would be worthless, and dying would be (tragically) final. But because of hope, because of Christ’s Sunday, even the ugliest qualities can be viewed in hindsight as commendable, graceful, and oddly, beautiful.

Consider Friday. On Friday, He spoke up (or remained silent) strategically in judgment in order to bring about His own torture, so that this same judgment would not be ours. On Friday, He remained shackled and allowed whips and objects to be dragged across His body, when release could have very well been his, so that release would be ours instead. On Friday, He sat nailed and strapped to a tree for hours on end, and instead of hurling curses on those who depended on His remaining on the tree, he spoke forgiveness and blessing on them.

Without Sunday, suffering, loneliness, and death has no purpose and it has no admiration. But because Sunday is coming, and is quite near, Friday can be the most beautiful day of all.

We have hope because Jesus is alive and our faith is not in vain & worthless. (v. 14)

We can count on it thru thick and thru thin. it is not vain and useless. This hope will not let us down because Jesus is not in the grave he is risen. Unlike the famous graves we visit today like Benjamin Franklin John Lennon Taj Mihal, Arlington cemetery etc. these places are famous for who are in these graves but Jesus tomb is famous because he is not in there. Its because he suffered and died that he was crowned with glory and in so doing rendered powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil, and he freed us from the fear of death. Heb. 2:14-15.

1 Pet. 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

John 20:18 NASB95

Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Acts 2:32 ““This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”

Rev. 1:14ff he is walking among the lampstands the church. How is that he is walking??? HE is alive.

our hope is sure it is steadfast, it is valuable because of what comes with the resurrection of Jesus. Think about what we have because of the resurrection. salvation, no condemnation, fellowship and protection, escape from the wrath of God, life, spiritual and bodily resurrection just to name a few.

We have hope because Jesus is alive & we have forgiveness of sins. (v. 17)

think about this for a moment, if we have all sinned and God has to hold our sins against us, and Jesus has not risen there is no hope.

Romans 4:25 NASB95

He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

He paid the penalty that purchased our justification.

Romans 6:23 NASB95

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

the wrath of God was barreling down on us

1 Thessalonians 1:10 NASB95

and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Romans 5:9 NASB95

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Romans 8:1 NASB95

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:34 NASB95

who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Think about it this way

Hebrews 9:11–12 NASB95

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

no resurrection - no blood offered for us no redemption

Hebrews 9:13–15 NASB95

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

I don’t have to worry about the wrath of God if I’m in Christ Jesus, I don’t have to make 1,000’s of bloody animal sacrifices. Jesus is my one time for all time sacrifice. I can now receive justification - made is if I did not sin. I will not have no one to condemn me. Jesus my mediator 1 Tim. 2:5 speaks for me.

If I have forgiveness of sins and there is no one who can condemn me, and the wrath of God has been satisfied in the offering that jesus made on my behalf then what have I to fear.

Romans 8:35–37 NASB95

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

Notice that passage in Heb. 9 ends talking about eternal inheritance

1 Peter 1:3–4 NASB95

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

we have hope because Jesus is alive and we too will be resurrected. (v. 18)

Our lives just don’t come to an end, we don’t become nothing, we don’t just become zeros and vanish into thin air or just decompose in the ground, we will live forever. What a hopeless condition it must be to believe that life just ends and that's it.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NASB95

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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

What is there to fear. When we die in this life there is life after. The last word is not death. The bible makes it clear that we too will be risen up

1 Corinthians 6:14 NASB95

Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.

2 Corinthians 4:14 NASB95

knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.

John 11:23–25 NASB95

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,

I want all of us to hear this. Whats the worst thing that can happen to us during this pandemic. Death. Jesus by his death and resurrection freed us from the fear of death.

Paul goes on later in our

1 Corinthians 15:42–43 NASB95

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

1 Corinthians 15:55–58 NASB95

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

You can have hope regardless of whats going on in your life, why because Jesus is Alive and because he is alive you have faith that is more precious and valuable than anything this earth can offer. Because Jesus is alive you have forgiveness and there is no condemnation for you, no one can condemn you. Because Jesus is alive you too will be resurrected to life, a new body, and you will receive an inheritance that will not perish or fade away and you will live eternally in the presence of God.

None of this based on circumstances, emotions, or anything else. It is based on the fact that Jesus is resurrected, He Is Alive. You do not have to go to bed one night being scared, worried, and hopeless because if you are in jesus Christ

Hebrews 6:19 NASB95

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,

This morning if we can help you to have that anchor of hope in your life please reach out to us on our website or Facebook page. my contact info both email and phone number are on there and I would love to share with you what the bible says concerning salvation and having that steadfast and sure hope that is in Jesus Christ.