Easter - Because He Lives
Easter -- Because He Lives 4/8/07
1 Cor. 15:3-8
Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection
Why celebrate Easter?
The experience of sins forgiven
The assurance of eternal life
1Co 15:17. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
Resurrection. several key truths.
First, the resurrection of Jesus was a historic, not “spiritual” or “mythic” event. Second, resurrection is a critical element in God’s eternal plan to establish His kingdom rule.
Third, our resurrection involves a transformation from mortality to immortality, from sinner to sinless, from Adamlikeness to Christlikeness.
Fourth, the hope of resurrection gives our life on earth new focus and meaning. We dedicate ourselves to live for God, confident that our “labor in the Lord is not in vain” (15:58).
Believe in vain (15:2). “Vain” is eike, and focuses on result or outcome. Thus to believe “in vain” means Christian faith apart from resurrection means to believe without prospect of any reward.
Death to be destroyed (15:26). The word is katargeo, used in theologically significant passages with the meaning of “abolish” or “nullify.” Paul’s point is that death, which has exercised such power over the human race, will become totally irrelevant. Our destiny is life and immortality in our Lord.[1]
1 Cor. 6:1414 And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.
But our focus today is the reasons why we have faith in the resurrection
From 1 Cor. 15:3-8 we learn that faith in the resurrection was based not on the empty tomb, which Paul does not mention, but on the appearances of the Lord. The word used for ‘appeared’ is the same Greek word used elsewhere for visionary experiences. [2]
We have faith in the resurrection because He lives
1 Cor. 15:3-8 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, 5 and that He was seen by 1Cephas, then by the twelve. 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. 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.
The empty tomb did not convince them that Jesus was alive!
It was at first frustrating to the disciples and “seemed to them like idle tales”
Luke 24:11 11 And their words seemed to them like 3idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
But the appearances of Jesus clearly convince them that Jesus was alive and at the heart of early Christian faith.
For 40 days after the Resurrection, Christ flits in and out of space and time, appearing occasionally to a few followers. Then he ascends into heaven.
What is striking is how his followers consistently fail to recognize him, and, more importantly,
the variety of ways in which God makes it possible for them to apprehend him.
We know He lives because;
He calls us by name
1. Mary Magdalene, weeping outside the empty tomb, has to be called by name before she recognizes Christ. Before that, she thought he was a gardener.
John 20:14 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
Times when we swimming in pain and grief and need comfort, He calls us by name
John 10:3 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
He will speak directly to our heart and spirit
We know He lives because;
He gives us peace
2. Ten disciples, gathered in a room in sorrow and fear, need Christ to breathe his peace on them before they recognize him. Before that, they thought he was a ghost.
John 20:19-2219 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
In times of fear & distress we need peace, and He gives us His peace
We know He lives because;
He gives us vision, a revelation
3. Two travelers from Emmaus walked with Christ and talked with him about salvation history all the way to their city, but recognized him only when he held up some bread and blessed it. Before that, they thought he was simply a learned traveler. Luke 24:13-32
Luke 24:13-32
V27 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He 7expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
V30-31 30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him;
Sometimes we talk idly about divine matters but see God only in the sublime simplicity of the sacrament we observe
This represents the times we are told, taught the scriptures but Christ is revealed in the simple ordinances of the faith;
The Lord’s supper – the sacrifice Christ was, what He did for us, what He was
Broken bread=broken body, juice poured in cups=His blood poured out
Baptism – being buried in water as being buried with Him in death to sin
-- As he was raised from the grave we are raised up out of the water
He died & was buried – we die to sin & are buried in water
He was raised w/new body-we w/new heart & life
We know He lives because;
He gives us a touch
4. Thomas, the great doubter, wanted to put his fingers in the nail holes of the Cross and his hand in the pierced side of Christ before accepting him. Prior to that, he thought Christ was a fraud.
John 20:24 24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Sometimes we are so overcome by doubt and skepticism that we need God's touch to assure and anchor us. A physical encounter
We know He lives because;
He gives us a miracle and speaks with us
5. Peter recognized Christ only after he performed the miracle of filling Peter's nets with fish. Then Peter had to sit through a threefold cross-examination as to whether he really believed in the resurrected Lord whom he had just denied: "Simon Barjona, do you love me?" "Do you love me?" "Do you love me?"
John 21:3-7 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”
They answered Him, “No.”
6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.
Sometimes when we deny and betray our Lord we need a miracle to remind us of God's majesty or a divine conversation to move us to confess our faith unflinchingly.
In these Gospel accounts, we see five ways in which Christ is experienced and understood after the Resurrection:
A calling by name.
A delivery of peace.
A sacramental vision.
A physical encounter.
A miracle and conversation with God
We know He lives because Christ Meets Us Personally
The Gospels record these stories and encounters of the newly resurrected Christ, in part, for our spiritual comfort.
The resurrected Christ meets us at different stages in life and assures us that God comes to us in various ways,
Accommodating our pain,
Fear,
Doubt,
Abstraction,
And pride as needed.
Do you know Christ as Lord and savior?
Do you recognize Christ at those times He comes to you?
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[1]Richards, Lawrence O.: The Bible Readers Companion. electronic ed. Wheaton : Victor Books, 1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996, S. 771
[2]Achtemeier, Paul J. ; Harper & Row, Publishers ; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco : Harper & Row, 1985, S. 864
1 Peter
3 nonsense
7 explained
