Jesus changed it all

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 ESV

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 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, 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. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

we are here today to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, that changed it all.

Christians all over the world are gathering today and worshiping the same Lord and Savior, knowing and believing that Jesus didn’t just live and die, but rose from the grave.

You and I here today, stand with so many in the truth of God.

and you and I know that it is true..... but some don’t believe what you and I believe. Does that make it not true to them? Does it make the resurrection not true? or even a lie because they don’t believe? It needs to be one or the other, it can’t be both.

A fascinating thing in this world is that so many things in this world can be thought of but they can’t all be true.

So what makes the truth?

Reality. the reality if something happened or not. we can look at the reality about everything.

looking at the resurrection in particular.

as we read, we saw Paul giving an account of appearances of Jesus, after Jesus had died!

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.

1 Cor 15:

1 Corinthians 15:5–7 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.

A person that had died doesn’t just show up to over 500 people!

And this person that spoke about Himself in this way,

John 2:19 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Speaking to the leaders of the Jewish faith, Jesus spoke about His resurrection but they thought He was speaking about the physical temple. Jesus always knew what He was going to do. and He knew why!

And when we know why, it answers the question..... it tells us what salvation is all about.

Sure, we can hear the gospel like Paul preached to the Corinthians and to so many others, but what affect did it have? We look at Paul's life and we certainly see an incredible transformation. all the disciples were changed forever. Did it change everything for you?

Did it create a BC and AD in your timeline in life? Jesus did it in the physical world with our calendar, but the question comes down to this.....has He done it in your life? if so, you know that Jesus changed it all.

Remember what your life was like before Christ? Did you have any idea about God, sin and redemption? Did you even care? After you believed the gospel, you cared!

We know, Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. and it is humanity that was lost! us, our families, friends, neighbors, lost without hope, except Christ.

Paul stated Jesus died for our sins in accordance with scripture. this would be The old testament. listen to some of the prophecies that are found and remember, these are all speaking about a single person that is to live on this earth.

it speaks of one coming to be born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah, the seed of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, a first born!

listen to this,

Kings will bring Him gifts and fall down before Him, called out of Egypt.

and there is more,

It said He would be rejected by His brethren, rulers would conspire against Him....

it keeps going!

the prophecy says He will ride in on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. we talked about that just last week with the triumphant entry!

All these prophecies and many more Jesus fulfilled completely. How could this be? No one else could do it. but one.

Just a few more about His death and resurrection....

He was to be the Passover sacrifice with no broken bones, hung on a tree as a curse for us, thirst during His execution, accused by false witnesses, struck on the head, have His hands and feet pierced, soldiers cast lots for his clothing, be given gall and vinegar, and beaten up and spat upon.

but through it all He would establish a new priesthood, be a light to the Gentiles, and make a new covenant that would last forever!

All these are prophecies about One person and One person only. Jesus fulfilled them all.

scripture tells us his disciples remembered after.....

John 2:22 ESV

When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

John 2:21 ESV

But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

the disciples were quite a motley crew. lived with Jesus for a few years to see their leader die on a cross. But then, Jesus reveals Himself to the 12, and their lives change forever.

think about this..... these fearful men after Jesus death step out in boldness that the world could not understand! they all went to their deaths proclaiming the good news, not wavering on who Jesus was and how the gospel saves.

what about you and I? If Jesus has risen, He has defeated sin and death for us. Does that change it all? Does that bring you comfort?

knowing Jesus is the Son of God, perfect in all ways means He never sinned Himself. but since sin brings about death, it can only be another’s sin that caused His death. If Jesus stayed in the grave, we would conclude that He had sinned. but Jesus rising from the dead proves that He died for someone else’s sin.

Jesus resurrection proves that He died for someone else’s sin.

If He has died for your sin, everything has changed in your life. it comes down to accepting the truth.