RESURRECTION: MORE THAN AN EMPTY TOMB

RESURRECTION: MORE THAN AN EMPTY TOMB Romans 6:1-14, Ephesians 1:18-23, 3:16-23 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; George Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom of God; Stanley Grenz, What Christians Really Believe & Why; Charles Gresham, What the Bible Says About the Resurrection; George Ladd, I Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus March 13, 2005 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] The central doctrine of the Christian faith is the truth of the gospel. That gospel is outlined by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 in this way: "What I received I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve." He then lists the others to whom Jesus appeared alive bodily, including more than 500 of the brothers, James, all the other apostles and then, by a special appearance, Paul. The greatest event in all of history happened early on a Sunday morning when Jesus, the God-man, who had predicted His own resurrection, was raised again to life after being declared dead 3 days earlier. And it happened just as He said it would. The stone was miraculously rolled away, and the incarnate Son of God, physically recognizable by the scars from His torture and death, started a six-week tour of visitations and proofs that He was bodily alive, including eating boiled fish and being physically touched by others. He was alive. And He is alive. C.S. Lewis said of the resurrection, Christ “has met, fought and beaten the King of Death…Everything is different because He has done so…This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.” The Bible’s teaching on the resurrection goes much further than the empty tomb and the post resurrection appearances, though. The scriptures teach that the fact of the resurrection impacted not only the disciples of Christ who saw Him during those 40 days before His ascension into heaven. We are told that all those who believe in Christ from then on throughout human history are directly affected by the resurrection.  We Christians are affected in at least two ways. First, because Christ was raised, we will also be raised after we die. We will look at this magnificent promise, this blessed hope, in the next two weeks of our study. The second way the resurrection affects us directly is that while we live in this life, from the moment we accept Christ’s resurrection until we rise from the dead incorruptible for eternity, we experience His resurrection power in a spiritual way. Here and now, we know His resurrection power, before and until we die. Let’s visit a couple of New Testament passages to see how that is true. The first is at Romans 6 We will actually begin with 5:20 in order to capture the context. "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then,? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." In this passage Paul corrects some wrong thinking on the part of some of the Romans. That wrong thinking is the error of antinomianism (against the Law). Yes, he says, it’s true that even if a person sins great and many sins, he can be forgiven in Christ because, where there is much sin, there is much grace. But, that does not mean we who have trusted Christ should go on sinning in order to get more grace. Antinomianism takes the grace of Christ for granted and it is wrong. He reasons with the Romans, that kind of thinking is totally inappropriate because when you gave your life to Christ, epitomized and demonstrated in your baptism, at that moment you died to your old sin life—gave it up, crucified it. You buried the old man. Your baptism was your "pledge of a good conscience" toward God, 1 Peter 3:21 says. Watch this, then, in verse 4: you were not only buried with Christ into death, but you were raised to live a new life, just like Christ was raised from the dead! So your baptism was a passageway to new life, through a watery grave! So, what happened in the process? You received your first benefits of the resurrection of Christ in your life. His resurrection is will not only benefit you when you one day are raised immortal and fully redeemed, but the benefits of the resurrection of Jesus begin in your life as soon as you come through your initiation rite, baptism! Your new life is characterized by resurrection power! Colossians 2:12 says, "…having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." Let’s look now at Romans 6:5-7. In these verses he reemphasizes that believers are crucified with Christ (wherein our sins are forgiven and our condemnation are erased), so they are freed from sin’s guilt. And they are also raised to life, freeing them from sin’s power for the rest of their lives on earth. “Be of sin the double cure—save me from its guilt and power!” Now, verses 8:11 – "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." That we will also live with Him applies, again, BOTH to the future, final resurrection AND in the NOW in that we have access to resurrection-power living. Go with me for a moment to Ephesians, chapter 1 (verses 18-23), and let’s consider how that resurrection power applies to our lives here and now. Back to Romans 6 (verses 12-14). "Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." The practical results of our new life of resurrection power are that we are delivered from sin’s guilt and power. This happened when we were transformed from death to life. So, we Christians have available to us power for a life of victory over sin. How does that happen? We are given four new things that empower us for the victorious life. The first is a NEW PERSPECTIVE. When we are born again we are blessed in our new life with a whole new way of looking at life. Now that we are delivered from the condemnation of our sins we are enabled to do what verse 13 says: to "offer ourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life." There is a transformation of our thinking, and we have an entirely new perspective on life. This happens because God makes all things NEW to us. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17) How can I tell you the difference God has made in my life? My daughter Allison was 5 years old when I became a follower of Jesus, and all she had known in those five years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came home one night and kicked a hole in the living room wall just out of anger with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to get away from me.  Five months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my wife and said, "Mommy, I want God to do for me what he's done for Daddy." At age 5! What was she saying? She'd never studied the archeological evidence [regarding the truth of the Bible]. All she knew was her dad used to be this way: hard to live with. But more and more her dad is becoming this way. And if that is what God does to people, then sign her up. At age 5 she gave her life to Jesus. God changed my family. He changed my world. He changed my eternity When we come to Christ we have a new master. Sin WAS our master, and we were slaves to sin. But now we have a new master, righteousness. We used to live under a burden of guilt and impending judgment, but now we live under the benevolent atmosphere of God’s grace. We all want to live for God, but as long as we are slaves of sin we are unable to do so. Once we are saved, we can begin to live under this righteousness by resurrection power.  You used to be enslaved and no matter how you tried to live the righteous life, you couldn’t. You had no choice—you HAD to submit to sin’s rule; but now, in Christ, you are free NOT to sin! You now have new power to live for God and His righteousness. Romans 6:18 – "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." That is a life-changing new perspective. And it comes through the Holy Spirit whom God puts into the heart of every Christian. The role of the Holy Spirit is to revivify us, to give us new life, new power. The new man in Christ is therefore actually living a holy life in Christ and in the power of the Spirit. The old man he once was in Adam has ceased to be.  An incident in Augustine's early Christian life illustrates this. Before his conversion he had a mistress named Claudia. Shortly after he found Christ, Claudia saw him on the street in the city. "Augustine! Augustine!" she cried after her old paramour [lover]. Augustine paid no heed. "Augustine! Augustine!" she cried out again. "It is Claudia!"  "But it is no longer Augustine," he replied, as he continued on his way. Romans 8:8-11 – "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. [And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ….[but] your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." Now, instead of being led around and dominated by our sinful nature, we Christians can be led by God’s own Spirit living within us. Paul says that when we are led by God’s Spirit, we have new power for living. Tony Evans wrote: One day I was in an airport rushing to catch a plane. I was sweating and puffing when I looked to my right and saw a man walking half as fast as I was, but going faster. He was walking on a moving sidewalk.  When we walk in the Spirit, he comes underneath us and bears us along. We're still walking, but we walk dependent on him. New life in Christ is marked by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls that power “resurrection power.” When the Spirit of Christ is in us, we are empowered to live for Him. Corrie ten Boom used to illustrate this truth with a glove. “I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger is filled.” When I was a young man, even though I had rebelled against God and ignored Him, I can remember to this day the yearning I had to live for Him. I wanted to be a man of righteousness, but, because I had failed so many times, I quit trying. And I drifted farther and farther away from Him. The farther I drifted, the more I hurt. And the more I hurt, the less I felt I could ever please Him. I was longing for something and I didn’t even know what it was, but I was sure I had to get it from God. And that made me even sadder, because of this huge distance between us. Then, by His awesome grace, I heard His preached Word and began to understand something I never knew before. I heard that the distance between me and my God was exactly whey Jesus came to die and rise again. I heard Him say I want to forgive you and save you. I did not walk, I ran to Him. I didn’t want anything but relief from the misery of my godless life. The closer I got to Him, the more I began to feel sorrow, real heartfelt sorrow over my sin. I repented and said, I am a failure at pleasing you, all the while hoping that His forgiveness would still be available. He met me, and assured me that His sacrifice was more than enough to pay the price of reconciliation with Him. Gratefully I received His gift. And I felt His peace. I knew then that was what I had been longing for.  But I soon realized that I was getting more than forgiveness and peace. I was now receiving Him—HIM!—in my life, and I began to experience a new perspective, and, as unbelievable as it seemed, I was beginning to live for Him the way I always wanted to live for Him. Sin was no longer my master—the desire to live in His righteousness now controlled me. I was actually living for God! But it wasn’t by my power, I knew—it was HIS power at work in me. I know now I was getting my first taste of the resurrection life. All I wanted to do, from then on, was to grow in the pursuit of His righteousness. The Spirit of God was reassuring me from deep within me that it was possible to keep growing in this grace, and it felt so good, so right.  I want to close our study with a look at two prayers, both prayed by the apostle Paul, and both written down by the providence of God in the scriptures for our understanding.  Ephesians 1:18-23 Ephesians 3:18-23 This is the Resurrection Life! [Back to Top]