He is Risen (SonRise Service 2016)

He is Risen

March 27, 2016

Charles Darwin, famed with mainstreaming the evolutionary theory said this in his autobiography…

“...Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers... for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality... But I had gradually come by this time, i.e., 1836 to 1839, to see that the Old Testament from its manifestly false history of the world, with the Tower of Babel, the rainbow at sign, &c., &c., and from its attributing to God the feelings of a revengeful tyrant, was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindoos, or the beliefs of any barbarian.

...By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles by which Christianity is supported, (and that the more we know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do miracles become), that the men at that time were ignorant and credulous to a degree almost uncomprehensible by us, that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written simultaneously with the events, that they differ in many important details, far too important, as it seemed to me, to be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eyewitnesses; by such reflections as these, which I give not as having the least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. The fact that many false religions have spread over large portions of the earth like wild-fire had some weight with me. Beautiful as is the morality of the New Testament, it can be hardly denied that its perfection depends in part on the interpretation which we now put on metaphors and allegories.

But I was very unwilling to give up my belief... Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct. I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and almost all of my friends, will be everlastingly punished.

And this is a damnable doctrine.”

― Charles Darwin, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809–82

· For Darwin, it would seem, that the final nail in the coffin was the truth of everlasting punishment for those who fail to repent and believe.

· For that damnable doctrine…for the reality of condemnation for sin. He could not get his mind past the justice and holiness of God and how that demands recompense for sin. God would not be just if he did not punish wrong doing. Darwin apparently struggled with this.

· His is a sad tale of a man who went from firm conviction in the truth of God’s word to a complete rejection of it.

· Reality is, Darwin missed the greatest beauty of scripture that there is!

· He missed the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the answer to His need for justice and holiness to be satisfied.

· Listen to Paul in Romans 3

· Romans 3

The Righteousness of God Through Faith

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus[1]

· God is just…but he is also the justifier

· God is just…but he is also loving and gracious and provided the means necessary to satisfy His just demands without making us do so.

· He sent Jesus, His son, to be the propitiation.

· He goes on in Romans 5

· Romans 5

Peace with God Through Faith

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

· Darwin missed the hope and grace, the peace and justification

· Not all about judgment and condemnation

· God is not a revengeful God, but a Just judge who must deal righteously with sin.

· He made a way to do this in His Son.

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [2]

· The beauty of the gospel is that God made a way to satisfy His own wrath against sin by giving His own Son to be the substitute payment in our place.

· Judgment and condemnation are not the only end! Darwin missed the beauty of the gospel.

· Redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness…these are a free gift, Paul declares!

· Jesus resurrection, his defeat over death has made it possible so that you and I do not have to face the eternal damnation that Darwin so feared and detested.

· All that then is required is our repentance and faith.

· God as just judge must punish sin. If we repent and trust Jesus, he bears that punishment for us and God’s justice is satisfied. If we do not, we must bear it ourselves and that means eternal condemnation and punishment. But that is our choice.

· The glorious truth is that Jesus did come and die and rose three days later so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God!

· And if Jesus rose from the dead, we can trust this truth without doubt!

· “If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” ― Timothy Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

· But because He did rise, we have all the evidence we need to trust and believe the message of the Bible, of scripture, of the gospel and we can trust in the message of God’s word when it proclaims to us the message of condemnation for sin BUT MORE the message of hope through the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and the satisfying of God’s wrath against our sins so that we have the hope (confident expectation) of forgiveness and new life.

· “Optimism hopes for the best without any guarantee of its arriving and is often no more than whistling in the dark. Christian hope, by contrast, is faith looking ahead to the fulfillment of the promises of God, as when the Anglican burial service inters the corpse 'in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Optimism is a wish without warrant; Christian hope is a certainty, guaranteed by God himself. Optimism reflects ignorance as to whether good things will ever actually come. Christian hope expresses knowledge that every day of his life, and every moment beyond it, the believer can say with truth, on the basis of God's own commitment, that the best is yet to come.” ― J.I. Packer

· We have HOPE, not optimism and it is all because of what we stand outside celebrating and remembering today!

· We can live everyday with HOPE and confidence because we have placed our hope in Jesus, whom God sent forth to be our propitiation. We have placed our HOPE in him, we have repented, and trust in God, accepting from His hand the payment needed for sin so that we can accept the just punishment for those sins and find forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus.

· This is what we celebrate early on a Sunday morning

· Pray

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ro 3:21–26). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society. [2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ro 5:1–21). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.