The Greatest Event in Human History

Resurrection "The Greatest Event In Human History"

1 Corinthians 15

By Dr. Ken Rathbun

Strap in, because we have got a lot to do today, and I'm very glad to be here. I'm very glad that Jordan, Pastor Jordan is here. And we're all going to be very glad when we come out here for the installation, because that is going to be a special time for Altoona regular Baptist church and Northridge Baptist church.

And I just want to say I've got all kinds of great plans that you can do with Jordan. You know, I mean, there's a really good seminary not very far away, you know, and I don't want to put too much on him right away, but let me tell you, that's a great idea. I mean, I think it is.

Okay. Well, I just can't spend a whole lot more time with that. But anyway, not that I wouldn't want to.

Let's take our book bibles and turn to first Corinthians 15. Lots and lots of stuff here. And I just want to tell you, Northridge Baptist church, I've got good news for each and every one of you.

It doesn't matter your age, your wealth, the size of your home, your health, what people, group you belong to, or who you voted for in the last election. This news is for everyone. What do you do when you get good news? You know, I was surprised when my daughter was born, how excited I was about that.

You know, little baby girls are just amazing. I just think they're just great. I only got one, and she prefers it that way because she's six now, and she realizes if there was another baby girl around here, maybe I wouldn't get so much attention.

And I said, yep, that's probably true because the littler ones are more cute. So she just likes being the only one. And I remember in those days, early days, that she just was.

I mean, I remember walking down the street and calling out across the street to someone I didn't even know. Hey, I just got a baby daughter. I mean, I actually said that I'm not really all that outgoing and extroverted, but maybe I am.

But in any case, that was really exciting to me. I told everybody about it, even people I didn't know. I want you to think about this.

And I'm a history guy, too, so you know that I believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest event in all of human history. Now, that's got a lot to account for, and especially in places that we're not really all that familiar with, especially in the eastern hemisphere of the world. However, I.

I would still say this is the greatest event in human history. And I hope you ask, why. Now, a couple weeks ago when I was here, Lynn was saying, hey, it would be good if we could get the outline ahead of time and somebody was traveling or whatever.

So I did that. And I've got some more good news for you today because I gave them that outline, I think, a week and a half ago. But I've got two more points here, too.

So it's not just seven, it's nine. There's more good news here because there's more than I even expected at that point. So we're going to look in first Corinthians, chapter 15, why is the resurrection the greatest event in human history? And let's keep reading our text.

We're going to read some of this text several times because it relates to the various points, but it says in verses one and following, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand by which ye also are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I declare unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and was buried. And he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

Now, this is the gospel, and Christ's resurrection conveys the gospel. Lots of people think that the gospel includes works, sacramentalism, that is, the things that they do or the things that are done by some holy person or whatever, either manipulating the elements in such a way that the gods will be happy. It's very pagan, honestly, when you're talking about a straight sacramental view of things.

And in fact, the Council of Trent in from the Catholics would say that it's anathema to believe that faith alone saves you. Is that a crazy thing or what? But that's in the canons of their sediments from the council of Trent in the 16th century. It's actually anathema to believe.

That is, it's literally your soul goes to hell for believing this, that faith alone can save you. And some people just think the desire to be saved is all it takes. You know, hey, I really want this.

Well, good. I must have it. Many people could not explain the gospel, actually, no matter how hard they tried.

And you know what? We need to be careful about this. I get really kind of unglued with two things. First, when someone preaches and doesn't use the Bible, and secondly, when someone gets the gospel wrong.

And I've been surprised a couple of times when I've heard that. But the gospel is what saves us and we have to get it right. The gospel is that Christ died on the cross for our sins.

And perhaps the most important word in that phrase is the little preposition for prepositions are hard to master when you're learning another language, not just in Greek or whatever, but my wife learning English from Portuguese, same thing. And me learning Portuguese from English. The prepositions are small and sometimes they mean more than one thing based on context.

It's a mess. That's why I think I've mentioned before, my wife would say, oh, I just put the milk on the fridge. I'm thinking, why did you put the milk on the fridge? That's not where it goes.

Oh, yeah. I mean in. Yeah, right, right.

Well, that's the thing. But Christ died for our sins. That's the key word there, the most important word in the phrase, because we understand this as a substitutionary death.

He died in our place, not just as a good example of someone who believed in whatever and they carried through with that even to death, but actually he died in our place. And it was not because we were worth saving either. In fact, we're very much by our lives show that we're ungrateful for his death on the cross.

But it's actually just the opposite. It's because we were not worth saving and we couldn't save ourselves. That's why he did it.

So Christ's resurrection conveys that gospel to us, but it also not just conveys us. This is what the gospel is, but it provides the gospel. Looking in the next.

Well, let's look in verse three and four again. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. By the way, I don't think this is redundant at all.

I think we could read this a bunch of more times and it's just as good as the first, and that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day. According to the scriptures, the Christ's resurrection provides that which we needed. That is, he said he was going to die.

He said, as Jonah was in the body of the whale for three days, he will be so in the earth. But he's going to raise again, arise again, and that provides the gospel we needed. Because the Bible says, Adam sinned and we're all sinners.

That's why it makes sense. I think Romans five is the most help for me to understand that I can be saved and why can I still sin. How does that work together? Well, Adam sinned and everybody is a sinner.

And now Christ died on the cross for our sins to forgive us. So one person created all the sin and another person forgave all the sin. It's that one to one transfer ratio there.

And because we have that, we can understand that the gospel is provided. If Christ hadn't died for our sins, we'd still be in a heap of trouble. That's why resurrection Sunday is more important theologically than Christmas.

Not that one's. Well, I mean, both are necessary. Christ coming to earth.

Yes, it had to happen, and that was great, but it's not enough. If all he did was come, if he only came and he. Even if he died, but if he never resurrected, we'd still be all dead in our sins.

It's that simple. The gospel needed to provide for our salvation, and Christ was that salvation. Have you ever seen an animal die? Have you ever seen one ritually sacrificed? I have, and it's actually in a place you probably wouldn't guess.

I mean, it wasn't. I mean, there are people in Israel today that once a year will do the sacrificial system, and the Samaritans and some others are up there and they're pretty famous for that. You can go film that and it's pretty gruesome experience.

But anyway, I was in India and I saw it on two different occasions. In India they have what's called the Kali temple in Calcutta, India. And apparently the tradition is that it was sort of next to a mosque at one point, and so they would smell the meats and stuff that's cooking because most, you know, Hindus were vegetarians, so.

But anyway, they developed an opportunity, a situation where they would sacrifice animals and it would be lambs. And I watched it. It was gruesome watching the life ebb out of the little lamb.

It suffered greatly when its legs were tied behind its back and you could hear the shoulders dislocating. When that happened, it was in pain and all that stuff. But its a sobering thing, even though I didn't have much stake in it.

But it certainly wasn't holy or reverent or anything. In fact, when I was there, the two priests that were Hindu priests, they were actually fighting. I mean, here you're seeing adult people fighting in front of you.

It was just very, very strange. However, what was interesting about it, they were fighting because whoever got to do the sacrifice got the money for the sacrifice, so that's why they were fighting. So it wasn't something that was some sort of holy thing like that.

But it was just kind of sobering, just watching the animal die. But you know what? Christ was our sacrificial lamb, and he sacrificed himself for us. We should have all deserved that.

We should have been on the cross. But the resurrection is the greatest event in human history because it provides the gospel that we can believe in. Now, here's a bonus, because this isn't on the notes.

Here's my new extra point here. Let's look in verse ten and eleven. I'm going to go back a bit, too, but it says in verse ten and eleven, but by the grace of God I am what I am.

And his grace was bestowed upon me. And his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored abundantly, more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of Christ which was with me. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest event in human history.

Why? Because Christ's resurrection demonstrates his grace. And it's the resurrection that's the key idea here for Paul. Now, what's he talking about? Well, you go back in verses six and seven after, well, you know, after we just read verse four, he was buried on the third day, rose again according to scriptures, and then it says, and that he was seen of Cephas, and then of the twelve.

And after that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto the present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, and then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also as one born out of due time.

For I am the least of all apostles and am not meet or not appropriate, not even worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. That's what he's saying here when you take that as the background of what he's talking about with grace here. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.

And his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. And that grace came upon Paul because he saw the resurrected Christ and realized the horribleness. All the more so here.

The church he had persecuted is now the church he came, he works to build. And so we see Paul's discussion of where he fits into the spectrum of apostleship. He doesn't even consider himself worthy to be called one.

His point was that he deserved not at all any of the recognition or any worthiness, because he was the least of all of them. He never forgot the fact that he had persecuted the church. Sometimes we forget how bad we are and, or we were and still are.

Paul never did. His past was a testament to God's grace working itself out in his life. He could have said, hey, I've worked harder than any of the other apostles.

The commentary says, as he traveled more, suffered more persecution, wrote more of the New Testament epistles, and founded more churches. Yet Paul knew and ministered with the recognition that it was not his power but God's, which produces the results. And what was the main thing that got Paul turned around? He saw a vision of the resurrected Christ, and he was never the same again.

And that resulted in grace evident in his life. And don't, the application, I think, for us is don't forget to demonstrate that grace in your own life to others. Let them see how you really are and let, and give the glory to God.

The thing is, I think you see this with kids a lot. At least I see this with my son when I tell him, hey, look, you can't do this. Oh, daddy, I'm sorry, I won't do that.

That's, sorry. I'm at, well, he'll see my daughter, who's younger than him, which means in his mind, he has all authority, right, because he's three years older. I mean, you know, that's, that's enormous, from a nine year old to a six year old.

So when he sees her go out of line, he really jumps on her. I say, wait a minute, wait a minute. You're not the daddy here, but also, you were just in trouble yourself.

And don't you want to be showing grace to others? Now, that's so foreign to us, isn't it? It makes sense when you say it like that, but it's so foreign to us to actually practice it. How about it's not just the fact of turning the other cheek, it's that you turn in grace to the other person, not that they deserve it. No one said anything about deserving.

Why? Because you don't deserve it either? I don't deserve it either. But the grace of God can be transformative in our lives when we let it. And Christ's resurrection, at least Paul's testimony to us is here, demonstrates his grace to us.

And we ought never to forget that. Never to forget that. You might say, well, I didn't persecute the church of God.

Maybe you don't even need to there. We can all sin well enough on our own, and only one sin is what it takes to condemn us. We need to understand that God's grace is an evidence of his.

As Paul saw that in his vision of the resurrection, Christ, he was never the same again. Let's keep reading in our text. And I think this next one's in.

Your point here is that was my number three. Now it's number four. But anyway, Christ's resurrection guarantees our own resurrection.

See, he's not saying, hey, I'm going to raise you from the dead. I've never been able to do it myself. But you know what? I'm going to try to work it out for you.

He hasn't done that. He actually rose from the dead. And let's see in our verses, verse twelve.

Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some of you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Now, there was some in Judaism, Sadducees, that didn't believe in a resurrection. They didn't actually believe in Daniel, chapter twelve then. But in any case, how can you say that? He's saying, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

Cause if there isn't any, then Christ wasn't risen. And your faith also. Sorry.

Then our preaching is vain, and your faith also is vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God. And that would include those he mentioned in verses five through, through eight or seven.

And we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up. If so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then Christ is not raised.

And if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain, and yet ye are yet in your sins. Then they that also are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. See, this all just goes further and further and further.

The logical ramifications here. If only in this life we have hope in Christ, then we are of all men most miserable. However, I've got good news for you.

But now Christ is risen from the dead. And all of those constructs that he had just postulated are no longer valid, because Christ is resurrected. So we can have assurance that we will be resurrected.

And also I want you to notice verse 18, that those who are fallen asleep in Christ are not perished. That is, loved ones that we know about. Because Christ is risen from the dead and became the firstfruits of them that slept.

That is, he's the forerunner. He's the one who actually proved it. Now, other people have been risen from the dead, but eventually they died.

But Christ is not like that. In fact, he ascended. In the gospel, Christ does not offer us something that he himself was not able to attain.

He conquered death as a human man, and he can conquer it for you, too. He was the first to rise, and he will not be the last. He is offering that to all of us.

One of our professors at the Bible college and seminary, actually, his father in law just passed away a day or two ago, and it's very sad. And his father was grandfather in law. Sorry, father in law.

That's what it would be. He was 95 years old and from a different cultural group than they were immigrants. So there are additional things that in their particular culture group, that's how they mark this event.

But in any case, the truth is, it's not a desperate despair that the family feels. They are troubled by it, yes, but they're not in despair. They have the hope of eternal life, that they will see their father, grandfather, great great grandfather, whichever he will, one he is to each one of his progeny.

Why? Because Christ's resurrection guarantees our own, and we can take that literally to the bank. Now, there are not really that many guarantees in the world. There was a man in the 1990s who was chosen out of an NBA arena.

He was chosen out of the entire arena to attempt an 80 foot shot for a million dollars. The main reason why he was chosen, because they thought the shoes he was wearing wouldn't scuff the floor. So, you know, it wasn't like they had a lot of hope in him.

In fact, the company was. An insurance company was putting the money up, would say, you know, this is. They'll take their chances.

It's a less than 1% chance that anybody could do it. So he had to shoot from the free throw line to the opposite one. It was actually at a Chicago Bulls game, and by miracle or whatever else you want to call it, he made it.

He made the shot. But the insurance company found a loophole and refused to pay. The players heard about it and forced their ownership to pay the man over the next 20 years, and they did that.

And it seems like that was just as much as a miracle as that the man actually got paid when the insurance company refused to as the shot that he actually made. But the point is, is that there's not many guarantees in life, and even the ones that are. Can fall through for whatever reason that it's out there.

But we have an assurance here. Christ was actually rose from the dead. There could have been people that say, okay, yeah, Christ really rose from the dead.

How that's just a ridiculous thing. It could never happen. There were witnesses.

That was not the argument used in the early church and in the first century there after his death. Why? Because there was too many witnesses to it that could not be explained away. And there's other reasons there, too.

But the point is the inspired holy writings that we have make that claim. And that's really what Christianity is. The entire christian faith is built on.

And Paul realizes it. It's based on a historical event. Now that's a very risky thing to base an entire religious system on.

Why? Because if you can prove that historical event wrong, you got nothing. And Paul realizes it. And he's the one who's actually bringing out the logic for us, because he says, if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we're, of all men, most miserable.

We have nothing. But that's not the truth because he actually has risen. So all of those negatives I just said are actually positive.

So that's key for us. We have a resurrection guarantee. Let's keep going in our text.

I'm just looking here at what the time is. My goodness. Christ's resurrection demonstrated his self sacrifice.

And I see that there in verse 20 and 21. For now Christ has risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that sleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

That's that Romans chapter five that I was talking about. How much have you sacrificed for anyone? I think of my mother, my father. My mother was mostly raised in foster care and institutional care as she was growing up.

That was her life. And yet she's one of the most self sacrificing, loving people I ever knew. Also think of my wife.

My mom didn't grow up with her dad. My wife didn't grow up with her dad either. She left her family, her cultural background, her home, her prestigious job.

Why? To marry me and to have to put up with me on a daily basis. And I'm still a whole lot more selfish. Still.

I tell my kids, hey, look. Look at your mom. That.

What an example she is to us when there's only one left. She gives whatever it is, gives it to you. Why? She.

She, she disadvantages herself before, before others. And they have that great example. In fact, I have it too.

And the truth is, it's so easy still to be selfish. Those comparisons, though, are not even to be considered to what Christ sacrificed for us, knowing that we would not be worthy of it, that we would fail over and over again. And that most of humanity would reject his gracious offer that took so much effort for him to provide for us.

But Christ's resurrection demonstrates his self sacrifice. And then Christ's resurrection also conquered death for us. Let's look in verse 21.

For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, he was the first.

Afterward they that are Christ at his coming, then cometh the end, when the. When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Christ's death. Christ's resurrection conquered death.

It said that two things you can count on in life is death and taxes. Well, the scripture has great news for us today. It's not free taxes for the rest of your life, as good as that might be.

This is so much better. It's much better than that. It's a victory over death that none of us can earn and that none of us ever deserved.

One commentary says that Paul was not concerned to detail all the future resurrection, since he was addressing the church and was primarily interested here in fixing their place in the scheme of things. But he promised, as he promised, Christ will return for those who compose his church, and the dead in Christ will be raised first. Thessalonians four.

No time frame was indicated, but it's still going where almost 2000 years have elapsed. So Paul is talking about the end times. But we need to keep in mind that when the dust settles and all those events have panned out, death is still conquered once and for all.

And Christ's resurrection brought that victory, that conquering of death. Christ's resurrection also gives us a new body. I'm not sure if that's in your notes.

Yep, that's in your notes. He gives. It is.

Now. I'm well into my fifties, and I was warned that the decade of your fifties you get more reminders of how old you are than any other decade of your life. I suppose.

I suppose that might be right. Because maybe by the time I get 60, I'll be so used to things wearing out that it's not that big a deal anymore. But in any case, just a week ago I saw a doctor about my knee.

I've had about eleven years of warehouse work, some of it lifting heavy boxes up to 90 pounds and all that. So they say, lift with your knees, not your back. So I did.

Guess what happens now? Everything hurts. And I'm not sure what's next, but the knees especially. There was a retired pastor in our church growing up, when I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, he was a very beloved man.

He wrote a gospel tract for those who he would share, especially those he interacted with, which, no surprise, were older people, because he was quite an elderly man himself. And I think he lived in an assisted living center. And so most of his people he interacted with were older people.

So. And this is in the 1980s. The title he gave to the gospel tract was quite inspiring, considering who he was witnessing to, especially in his target audience.

Do you know what it was? Is how to get a new body. Wouldn't you like that? Now, if you're in your, you know, sixties, seventies, eighties, I bet that has a lot of appeal. You know, I thought, you know, you know, playing basketball in high school, I could sprain my ankle on a Friday night, and by Monday, I was in practice again.

You know, it just. You just sort of bounce back from stuff like that. No, not so much.

I want to have that new body, but Christ. Because of Christ's resurrection, everyone who has believed in Christ's sacrificial death, burial and resurrection will get one. And that's what these verses provide for us.

Let's keep reading our text. I'm going to skip ahead a little bit further now, maybe a lot in regard to another reason, I'm going to skip all the way to verse 50 and remind us number eight here in my notes. Christ's resurrection provides us eternal life.

And I'm not saying that as a redundancy. I think that's impurposeful. Now, this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.

For the Trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed. Now, I wrote my senior, when I was a senior in high school, I wrote a paper on Handel's Messiah. And as I read through parts of chapter 15 here, I can just hear that music in my mind now.

It's just written by a human person and all that stuff. Handel. But.

And actually, I've been in the room that he wrote it in, in London. But. But it's just glorious to think about it.

He's explaining here, how can this body, which is going to rot and turn to ashes, how can that then result in an incorruptible body? And I haven't even read all the verses. For the incorruptible must put on corruption, for the corruptible must put on incorruption, and the mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same which is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

And actually here he's going to sort of antagonize death. If you could see if he putting that into sort of a challenge here. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Quoting there, the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And here, keep in mind, the body we now have is not designed to last us in the glory. And I think we all know that.

Why? Because stuff stops working. Or sometimes I need to take my glasses off to read, and sometimes I can't see anything without them, you know? I mean, it depends on how close I have this here. So, in fact, if I have it like this, I can't read it.

Now I can read it. Why is that like that? It didn't used to be this way. But the body that we have is not designed to go into glory.

Naturally, it will continue to wear out and break down, and we need to change, and we will get it, and we will have eternal life. And Paul explains it here. The corruptible will become incorruptible, and death is finally defeated.

I have mourned the loss of my Jamaica mom. I went to her funeral. I think I mentioned this already, January 22 in Jamaica.

And I now really can't imagine going to Jamaica and not seeing her. She was. God used her in my life.

You know, I was a single guy in Jamaica for six, eight years, whatever it was, before I got married. And she was a tremendous part of my life. We'll be visiting my parents.

We're going to be leaving there. My mom's birthday is today, and they live in Indiana, and we're going to try to get there before her birthday ends tonight. However.

And you can imagine, you know, being single for 20 years and three months after I graduating from high school, before I got married, I was. I am very close to my parents. I can't imagine not being able to pick up the phone and call my mom or my dad.

Now my mom turns 80 today, and it gets me sad just thinking about it. But this promise is so near and dear to me, more than I can even express here. I called her this morning already to miss her happy birthday.

But I have promised this. I have this promise that because Christ rose from the dead, my mom will have eternal life and I will have eternal life and I will see her again. I'm not saying that she's having any kind of health problems right now, but I just can't imagine what that's going to be like.

It's a reality I can't relate to and I don't want to, but I have hope that in the future I can still see her. Christ's resurrection lastly here demonstrates that our labor is not in vain. Verse 58.

It says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, Christ's resurrection demonstrates that our labor is not in vain. I don't know how many junior high Sunday school lessons you've ever taught, but those don't always go well.

Not because you didn't prepare well, but because the kids don't care or whatever, you know, stuff's happening or whatever. I don't know if you've ever just felt discouraged in your work for the Lord. No, probably not.

No one probably gets that, do they? Well, the truth is all we have, and it's. And it's not because of the truth that we're trying to convey is the problem. It's due to those who we minister to and not always that those we minister to are always easy to minister.

You might be thinking in your mind, I'm not a pastor anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me. Well, you don't have to be a pastor. In fact, all of us need to be active for the Lord in the ministry setting he has called us to, which is the local church that's right here, right now.

Every one of us should be able to say, this is what I do for the Lord at my local church. Everyone. And that's how Christ created the church in order to function, that every part is necessary.

And if one part isn't there, then the whole body suffers. And in any case, all of us, no doubt have had our challenging times in ministry that way. And we can ask if it's all worth it.

But Christ's resurrection shows not only that it can happen, but that it is worth it. Don't be discouraged, because you know what? When no one else notices, you know, you came into Sunday school and the classroom was a complete mess, and you had to clean everything up and even physically wipe down every chair because it was so filthy or whatever. Nobody noticed.

But God did. And you know what? This is what makes it worth it. Christ says here, through the apostle Paul, his resurrection demonstrates that our labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Don't we have good news today? We do have good news, and we need to not keep it to ourselves. I bought an air filter this morning, and I wish the guy, when he was checking me out, I said, well, hey, have a great resurrection Sunday, because I want to tell him about the good news that's out there, and you should do it, too. Hey, guess what we just did at church? We celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That was awesome. Why? Because it provides so much for us. And you can testify of that.

And you should testify of that. Tell somebody about it. You know, everybody has different views of what they think this is all about, whether it's bunnies or whatever else it is.

But the truth is, you know what it's about. And I encourage you to convey that to someone today. Let's close in prayer.

Father, thank you for the opportunity you've given us to renew our minds in the benefits of the resurrection. Thank you that you sent Christ to die on the cross for our sins. We didn't deserve it.

Thank you that he was buried and that he rose again. And thank you that that resurrection guarantees us so many benefits that we don't. That we don't own, that we were bought with a price, and that we can be encouraged with.

Father, I pray that you would help us even now. And for this, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.