Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Read the account of the resurrection from Matthew 27:62-28:20

Matthew 27:62–28:20 ESV

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He has risen

Into

This morning we gather to celebrate the greatest miracle in history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Notice the word, resurrection, we don’t celebrate Jesus coming back to life, or merely being raised from the dead. We’ve seen that already in our study of Luke, The widow’s son in Luke 7, Jairus’s daughter in Luke 8, Lazarus in John 11. But all of these people were raised to one day taste death again. Jesus wasn’t just raised from the dead, He was resurrected, He was raised for good, he will never taste death again, and if true, this has major implications.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:14

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain…

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Some may say that the Bible is just a good book of morals

It doesn’t matter if Jesus was born of a virgin.

It doesn’t matter if he wasn’t God in the flesh,

It doesn’t matter if he was raised from the dead or not.

Mohammed, Buddha, Gandhi, they’re all dead and the religions they founded are still around so why does Christianity need a living savior? Aren’t all religions the same?

No, in fact religion without a risen Christ is meaningless, all other religions, even Christianity without Jesus is a frivolous pursuit to make ourselves feel better about the maze of life.

Even by Paul, right here in the scripture we are told that if these things are not true, we should quit wasting our time…

But if it is true…

If Jesus did beat the grave

It has major implication for our lives. It means He IS who he said he was, and we must live our lives in light of the fact that we are our not our own but belong to God.

Like Paul said, if it’s not true, we should quit wasting out time.

If it is true, we should quit wasting our time.

Wasting our time worrying about things that don’t matter.

Waisting our time on frivolous pursuits.

Waisting our lives on things that have no heavenly significance.

Waisting out lives on things that are not focused on glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

If Jesus is alive, then to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

So two questions we must ask,

Did Jesus raise from the dead? - which will corroborate all of his claims.

And

What are the implications?

If you continue reading in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says:

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

He states it as fact, what is he basing this on?

Paul was an eyewitness of the risen Christ:

In Acts 9 we read about Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Now remember, up to this point Paul was an enemy of the gospel, he would have no incentive to abandon his cushy job as a religious leader to purse a life of hardship, unless he had a real encounter.

We are not eyewitness, but can we trust the scriptures?

6 quick facts about the resurrection - if we take the Bible as uninspired, just a collection of ancient documents

1. Jesus died by crucifixion

7 accounts, the Bible is not one book, its a collection of books

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, Hebrews, Early historians, Josephus and Tacitus

2. His disciples had experiences of him being raised

1 Corinthians 15:5–8 ESV

and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

3. These experiences lead them to stand up for him unto death

Died for their eyewitness account

1. Stephen - Acts 7:54-60

2. Paul who consented to Stephens death was later executed in Rome for sharing the gospel

3. Peter Died upside down on a cross John 21:18-19 (fulfilled prophecy)

John 21:18–19 (ESV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

4. John was exiled to Patmos

4. It was proclaimed very early

within 5 years, with in 1 year - (AD 50s)

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Conversion on the Road to Damascus

Galatians 1:18 - Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Galatians 2:1-2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain

Galatians 2:6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me

5. James and Paul become Christians

Mark 3:21 - And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Galatians 1:12 - For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.

6. Ladies find the tomb empty - embarrassing but recorded it accurately

Bonus

The claims of scripture

Fulfilled prophecy

The explosion of the christian church

False religions that have some claim on Jesus

Your own personal experience, or that of Christinas you know

That’s a lot of evidence, how do we make sense of the evidence?

Well for me it means Jesus is alive!

But here are the seven best explanations, you can decide for your self.

7 Alternate Explanations

The Swoon Theory

Twin Theory

Mass Hallucination Theory

Spiritual Resurrection Theory

Wrong Tomb Theory

Missing Body Theory

Conspiracy Theory

Just like the Pharisees “we don’t know” and that’s better than believing.

They can’t admit it’s true because if they do it mean God has a claim on their lives. It means there are implications.

What are the implications?

1. Jesus is alive and he is king

1. Matthew 27:37 - And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

2 Sam 7:12 - When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

2. If he is king we are subject to his Rule

Philippians 2:10-11 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

3. He is a good ruler

Romans 8:34 - Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

2. Jesus died for a reason

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 ESV

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

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

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Through Faith He restores us so we can live in his Kingdom

Rule in and through his people

3. The resurrection gives us hope and freedom from sin

Romans 6:1–14 ESV

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Colossians 3:1 ESV

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

4. The resurrection gives us power to live for Him

Acts 1:8 - You will receive power

Acts 1:8 ESV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Romans 8:11 ESV

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Does it matter?

Life

Death

Resurrection-victory over death (abundant life)

The enemy

John 10:10 - Life

John 10:10 ESV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Humble yourself before Christ

Confess your sins and Be forgiven by Christ

Be conformed to Christ

Live your life in Christ

Do all things through Christ

Building the kingdom of Christ

To spend eternity with Christ