The Reason for the Resurrection
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Intro
Intro
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Start by building of the importance of the resurrection:
Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no Christianity...
Christ would’ve been an imposter instead of God...
Henry Morris - The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.”
I venture to take the next few moments this morning and explain to you The Reason for the Resurrection in 3 simple points:
The Method of the Resurrection
The Fact of the Resurrection
The Reason for the Resurrection
1. The Method of the Resurrection
1. The Method of the Resurrection
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome went to the tomb just before daylight to anoint Jesus’ body
They asked themselves as they walked to the cemetery, “Who will roll the stone away from us?”
When they got there the stone was already rolled away from the tomb...
No doubt this was for the witnesses to see the empty tomb...
As they looked into that new tomb, it was empty...
They saw at least two angels sitting on the stone near the empty tomb...
The angels stated:
6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
They also asked:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
The resurrection brought on many feelings by the witnesses to the empty tomb...
The ladies at the tomb were afraid and much perplexed...
When they left the empty tomb to tell the disciples what they had seen, they left with “fear and great joy.”
The soldiers shook and became as dead men...
Peter and the other disciples assumed the ladies were lying when they said the tomb was empty...
Thomas was coined “Doubting Thomas” because he would not believe lest he felt the nail prints in his hands and side...
The disciples on the road to Emmaus were “astonished”...
When the disciples saw the Lord, they were glad...
When Jesus met the women near the tomb, they fell on their faces and worshipped Jesus...
2. The Fact of the Resurrection
2. The Fact of the Resurrection
Every person must come face to face with the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ...
The very people who lied, forced an illegal trial, beat and bruised Jesus and eventually crucified Him on a cross, sealed the fact of the resurrection:
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
Illustration: I read about a muslim in Africa who had become a believer in Christ. When asked why he converted from the faith he had known all his life, he replied, “Imagine that you have come to a fork in the road. It is extremely important that you choose the right way, but you have no knowledge as to which way is better. Two men are there from whom you could ask directions. One of them is living and one is dead. To whom would you go for advice?”
Muhammad’s dead body can be located in the green dome of the prophet’s mosque in Saudi Arabia
Buddha’s dead body can be located in stupas across Asia
Roman Catholic’s place heavy emphasis on Peter, but his dead body is supposedly held in the Vatican
Martin Luther’s dead body can be found in Germany
Joseph Smith is apparently buried in Illinois
Charles Taze Russell is buried in Pennsylvania
However, Jesus Christ had a tomb that was only borrowed...
Illustration:
When Sir Michael Faraday (scientist from the 1800s), was dying, some journalists questioned him about his speculations for a life after death. “Speculations!” he said, “I know nothing about speculations. I’m resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and because He lives, I shall live also.”
Evidences to the resurrection:
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best proven historical event in all of history...
Over 500 firsthand witnesses were recorded seeing Jesus AFTER His resurrection...
If just 500 firsthand witnesses testified in a courtroom for only 5 minutes each - that would be over 41 hours of ongoing testimony...
That’s about 6 days of continuous testimony by firsthand witnesses to an event if testifying for 7 hours a day...
The Bible says there are “many infallible proofs” for who Jesus is...
Quote:
A woman wrote J. Vernon McGee, “Our preacher said that on Easter Jesus just swooned on the cross, and the disciples nursed him back to health. What do you think?”
McGee replied, “Dear Sister, beat your preacher with a leather whip for thirty-nine heavy strokes. Nail him to a cross. Hang him in the sun for six hours. Run a spear through his heart. Embalm him. Put him in an airless tomb for three days. Then see what happens.”—Source Unknown
Whether you believe in Jesus Christ and the resurrection or not doesn’t change the fact that it happened any less...
It also doesn’t change the fact that you will give an account for your belief in His resurrection or not...
3. The Reason for the Resurrection
3. The Reason for the Resurrection
In His resurrection, the work of salvation is completed and people everywhere can believe on Christ and be saved...
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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:
Why did Jesus die and rise again the third day?
For our sins
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
2. So we could go to Heaven
I Thought Christ died for our sins, not resurrected?
The resurrection is the third and final part of the Gospel… Without the resurrection you have nothing else...
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Do you know what else going to Heaven does?
It saves you from hell!
God created a perfect world and created Adam and Eve
He gave them free will with a very specific command not to eat of one tree
They chose to disobey and eat of the fruit of the tree God said not too
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
With 1 man - sin and death passed on to all mankind
With 1 man - life and Heaven can be attained by all mankind
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Story:
A little boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly out of nowhere a bumblebee flew in the car window. Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings he became petrified. His father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic once again as it buzzed by the little boy.
The father sensed his son’s terror. Once again he reached out his hand, but this time he pointed to his hand. There, stuck in the skin was the stinger of the bee. “You see this?” he asked. “You don’t need to be afraid anymore. I’ve taken the sting for you.”
We need not fear death because Jesus has taken the sting out of death for us...
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
If there was no resurrection (according to I Cor. 15):
All faith is vain
You are in your sins and there’s nothing you can do about it
Death means “perished”; which means “to destroy fully”
It means there is no hope for heaven
We are in pure misery
But because Jesus rose again the third day and conquered death, we place our faith in Jesus and be saved from our sins...
He paid the penalty for us...
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In Acts 17 when Paul preached in Athens (a very educated place) about the resurrection, there were 3 responses to the truth: 1. Some mocked, 2. Some said they will hear him again of this matter, and 3. Some clave and believed
How will you respond?
