The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

The glory of the Christian faith is that it does not view life as ending with death, and that view is reality because of the factual resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ came out of that tomb, Christians have hope of eternity.

Compare that with what a Hindu thinks. A good Hindu might come back as a cow, but a bad one might come back as a skunk, but when Jesus comes back, I am going to be made perfect. AMEN!!!!I am going to be made like Jesus.

The most important part of the Gospel is the Resurrection. Without the Resurrection, everything else is meaningless. Look at Romans 4 : 23 - 25.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,25 who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification.

Do you see it?

Jesus died for our offenses or our sins, but it is His Resurrection that justifies us. His Resurrection proves to us that God was satisfied with what Jesus did for us. He erased our sins with His death, but His Resurrection opened the way to Heaven for us. We stand in His righteousness.

Now, I know this is going to sound elementary, but do you know the definition of the term Resurrection?

The Resurrection is not spiritual; it is physical.

In the original Greek, it literally means the standing up of a corpse. It is not just a spiritual Resurrection which is a heresy taught still today. Paul is not talking about a spiritual resurrection. The soul never dies. The minute a person dies, the soul goes somewhere.

2 Corinthians 5 : 6 – 8 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

That’s just the bottom line. When we die, on this side of the Rapture, we are going to one of two places, and it is the Resurrection of Christ that opened the door to Heaven for you and me if we will only believe on Jesus. This morning, briefly, I have two points to make:

· THE PROMINENCE OF THE RESURRECTION IN THE GOSPEL

· THE PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION

I. THE PROMINENCE OF THE RESURRECTION IN THE GOSPEL

There would be no gospel without the Resurrection. Christianity is not a creed; Christianity is based on facts. The gospel is not the Ten Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount. The gospel is a series of facts concerning a person, and that person is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15 : 1 – 4 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Paul says he declares the gospel to them.

What is the gospel? The gospel is that Christ died for our sins according to Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.

That is the gospel. AS Sgt Joe Friday says, “Those are the facts.” Jesus Christ died for you and me; He was buried; He rose again.

The gospel does not tell us something that we must do. The gospel tells us what Jesus Christ has already done for us. He died for our sins; He was buried, He rose again the third day. Jesus Christ died is a historical fact. There is no way to deny that.

John 19 : 38 – 40 38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

Not only did Jesus die, but He was also buried. His burial is a significant detail because it shows that His body just did not disappear. Joseph had to request the Roman authority, Pilate, for permission to take the dead body Christ so that Joseph and Nicodemus could prepare His body for burial.

This is included in each of the gospel accounts in some form as factual verification that it was Jesus who died, and His death was confirmed by Him being buried.

Being buried, however, was not the end of Jesus. He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The Resurrection is part of the factual evidence of the gospel. The empty tomb is the fact that proves that Jesus died, buried, and rose again.

The experience of the Corinthians and every born-again Christian since that time verifies the Resurrection as fact. Look at 1 Corinthians 15 : 1 – 2 again.

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.

Do you have an empty faith? You do if Jesus Christ did not come out of that tomb. Born-again believers make up the true church, and every member of the true church factually knows that Jesus Christ came out of that tomb.

Think of the 11 remaining disciples. After the events surrounding the death of Jesus, they had hidden themselves in Jerusalem, discouraged and fearful that they might be next. They were ready to go back fishing. They had been through enough. They were not going to break the Roman seal attached to the stone covering the tomb, and they were not going to steal the body because that would only bring more trouble.

Word started coming to them that Jesus Christ was gone. His body was no longer in the tomb. That fact transformed these 11 men as the realities of what Jesus had taught them began to sink in. The revolutionary fact of the Resurrection brought the church into existence. Through almost 2,000 years, there have been millions upon millions who have said that Jesus Christ is alive. You simply cannot explain or have the church without the Resurrection. I am saved by the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If any of those were removed from the formula, there would be no gospel. There would be no living Christ, no Savior. The true church consisting of true believers verifies the Resurrection.

But there is even more. Look at 1 Corinthians 15 : 3 – 4 again.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

What Scriptures? The Old Testament Scriptures. Can you imagine being with the Apostle Paul when he arrived in Europe and went to Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and over to Corinth?

I can imagine him having a parchment containing the Old Testament. I can see him as he goes into a synagogue mentioning the death of the Lord Jesus, and I can hear some pious Jew saying, “His death is not in our Scripture.” I can hear Paul as he reminds them of the story of Abraham and Isaac. Paul would tell them that Abraham was ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice, but he received him back from the dead because God did not spare His Son.

Romans 8 : 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Then I can see Paul turning to the Mosaic system of sacrifice, to the five offerings of Leviticus, and show how they pictured Christ, then to the great Day of Atonement and the two goats which pictured the death and Resurrection of Christ. He would point them to the Book of Jonah which symbolizes resurrection. Then he would turn to Psalm 22 and Psalm 16 which were written almost 1,000 years before the death of Christ. He would show them Isaiah 25 and Isaiah 53 and point out that Christ was wounded for our transgressions, and He was buried for our sins.

Isaiah 53 : 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The Scripture tells us, Old and New, that Jesus Christ had to die and rise again. The Old Testament expectation was not just for this life but also for the life to come. There are some people who want a here-and-now religion. Well, in Jesus Christ, I have a here-and-now religion, and because of His Resurrection, I have a here-to-come religion.

II. THE PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION

Witnesses in a court of law usually seal the deal, especially eyewitnesses. Knowing this and being led by the Holy Spirit, Paul lists a number of witnesses that saw the resurrected Christ, and Paul uses these witnesses as proofs of the Resurrection.

A. SIMON PETER AND THE OTHER 11

I Corinthians 15 : 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

Jesus first appeared to Simon Peter.

The Bible does not say what happened when this meeting took place, but my theory is that since Peter denied Him, Peter had to get some things straightened out, so the Lord appeared to him first. After all, the Lord is still in the foot washing business.

Then He was seen by the body of disciples. That is what the twelve means because as you know Judas was dead by the time of the Resurrection.

B. 500 AT ONCE

1 Corinthians 15 : 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

Jesus was seen by 500 people at one time.

Acts 1:2–3 “Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:”

Acts 1:4–5 “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”

Jesus had told His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Ghost, so I believe His true followers went there to meet Him. Can you imagine the conversations as they waited? 500 of His faithful followers saw Him after His Resurrection.

C. JAMES, PAUL, AND THE APOSTLES

1 Corinthians 15 : 7 – 8 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

He appeared to James and all the apostles, and then He appeared to Paul, and dear friend, it is hard to argue with someone who has personally witnessed something. It is impossible to change that person’s mind, and it mattered not what they did to Paul, he would have never denounced Christ or His Resurrection because not only had Christ saved Paul, but Paul had seen Jesus.

Conclusion:

You cannot deny the facts of the gospel. As a matter of fact, if you deny the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, you are not a Christian. Christ died, was buried, and rose again. He did not vanish or disappear. He rose again. The tomb is empty. Jesus Christ is alive today.

These are historical facts. The gospel is not a theory, not an idea, and not a religion. The gospel is a set of objective facts about one man, Jesus Christ. This is the gospel which Paul preached. It is not simply a subjective experience which Paul had; it is fact.

To experience the reality of Christ, you must first receive Him as your Savior. Now, you might ask, what does it mean to receive Christ?

John 1 : 11 – 13 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

TO receive Christ is to believe on His name. If you believe and accept the gospel facts, you enter into a living relationship with a living Lord Jesus Christ. Where do you stand today?