The Power of the Resurrection

There have been some great moments in history.

These are moments that shaped the future.

June 6, 1944, the United States of America, stormed the beaches of France, in an all or nothing attack onto European soil to swing the direction of World War II into the Allies favor.

What made that event so great?

It was the victory.

Had the invasion failed … no one would talk about it today.

We’d tuck it away as something we’d rather forget.

A terrible tragedy as opposed to an amazing victory.

October 15, 1988, Los Angeles, California.

Game 1 of the World Series.

Bottom of the 9th.

Man on second.

2 outs.

Full count.

Kirk Gibson up to bat.

Barely able to walk.

You Dodgers fans know what happens.

He hits a bomb to win the game, and set the stage for a great world series.

Every child’s dream.

What if he didn’t hit a homerun?

What if he hit a nubber back up the middle to the pitcher?

Easy out at first.

What if he struck out?

Game over.

That at bat won the game for the Dodgers.

We remember it because it brought a victory.

There are great moments in history that are remembered.

But it’s not necessarily the moment, but the consequences of that moment.

It’s the consequences that give it the power.

The consequences are a victory.

Within Christianity, one of the greatest moments is the Cross of Christ.

We remember it.

We proclaim.

We memorialize it.

But plenty of people have died on Crosses.

One source says that Rome could have crucified as many as 30,000 people a year.

Lots of people were crucified.

So what makes Jesus’ crucifixion any different?

It’s the consequences of His crucifixion.

The forgiveness of sins.

And how do we know this, because of His resurrection.

The resurrection is the victory of the Cross.

The US troops secure the beaches of Normandy.

They invade the mainland.

There is a victory.

Gibson hits one out.

He trots around the bases.

There is a victory.

Christ is crucified.

He raises from the grave.

There is a victory.

So today, we ponder the victory of the Cross, and it is found in the resurrection.

The power of the resurrection.

Let’s open our Bibles to .

Read .

This picks up immediately after where we’ve been the last couple of weeks.

It’s Easter Sunday.

Women have gone to the tomb, and found out that Jesus was resurrected.

They told the disciples, but the disciples rejected the news.

They called it an idle tale.

Make believe.

Then there were the two disciples we saw last week.

One was named Cleopas, the other is unnamed.

They are returning to their home town in Emmaus.

It’s a 7 mile journey, and on the way there, Jesus appears to them.

They don’t initially recognize Him.

Jesus walks them through the Old Testament, showing that it’s really all about Him.

They have a meal together.

Their eyes are opened.

They realize they’ve spent the day with Jesus.

He vanishes.

They turn around and make that same 7 mile journey back to Jerusalem.

These 2 disciples, along with the 10 of the famous 12 disciples are in a room that is completely locked down.

The 10 disciples are hiding out because Jesus’ body is missing.

They are hiding and afraid of what the authorities are going to do.

So, out of fear, they lock the doors.

No one is coming in or going out.

All of a sudden, Jesus appears and is standing among them.

He says, “Peace to you.”

Here we learn that Jesus is Fully Alive.

As we go through these events, let’s have the right frame of mind.

This isn’t a history lesson.

This is real life.

Jesus was fully alive then.

And He remains fully alive today.

Jesus is no less alive today then He was then.

He lives today.

Jesus is fully man and fully God.

But He’s no longer restrained by His human nature.

We are seeing Jesus do things that only God can do.

One of which is He can appear in one place, disappear, and appear in another.

The last time He was seen it was in Emmaus.

Now all of a sudden He appears in Jerusalem, apparently appearing out of thin air..

In verse 37, we see the reaction of the disciples.

They react probably the same way you and I would react.

They are in a locked room.

It’s locked because they don’t want anyone coming in.

And what has happened … someone has come in.

And this someone apparently doesn’t need a door to enter either.

They are scared.

They are frightened.

They think they are seeing a ghost.

Our culture has a gross fascination with the dead.

There is Dracula and his undead army.

There are zombies and the walking dead.

There are stories of ghosts.

Some terrifying and some cute like Casper the friendly ghost.

Still our minds are drawn to these strange thoughts of the occult.

And though we are separated by 2000 years, these legends were alive even then.

Those disciples in the locked room feared ghosts.

And people today still fear ghosts.

It’s strange that we think that.

Because there aren’t ghosts.

There is no middle land.

You are either in paradise or you are in Hell receiving judgment.

No one gets lost or stuck in the middle.

But Jesus is going to prove:

He is not a zombie.

He is not the undead.

And He certainly is no ghost.

Luke is writing something very important here.

By the end of the 1st century there was a heresy that was developing called gnosticism.

The gnostics thought that matter was evil.

Flesh and blood was evil.

What you could touch was evil.

The physical was evil.

And they rejected the idea that God could come in the flesh.

God is good.

Matter is evil.

Therefore, God could never be in the flesh.

And even today there are some groups that still hate the idea of Jesus either being God in flesh, or raising from the dead physically.

Islam finds the idea of Jesus being fully god and fully man intensely offensive.

Because how could God dwell with little old us.

And you know what, they’re partly right.

That thought should strike us.

That’s what makes the incarnation, so amazing.

Jesus dwelt with sinful man.

That should cause us to be amazed at the love of God and the extent He would go to to save sinful man.

The love of God is so great, that Jesus would put on flesh and dwell with us.

Grow up with us.

Receive harm from us.

Then die for us.

Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the idea of a physical resurrection.

They claim that Jesus rose as a spirit creature, but not as a living physical person.

As strange as it may sound, for us to be saved, we needed God in the flesh.

We needed Jesus to live in the flesh, and to die in the flesh.

says that life is in the blood.

In order for atonement to happen, there must be the shedding of blood.

So whatever sacrifice is going to be given to God for the forgiveness of our sins, it needs to be a physical sacrifice.

In the famous Christmas passage from , it says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

And Immanuel means, God with us.

So the Old Testament was looking forward to a physical sacrifice and that physical sacrifice being Immanuel, God with us.

explains the importance of this, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

What that is saying is Jesus had to become like us in order to die for us.

He didn’t come as an angel … or else He couldn’t redeem us.

He came as a human.

And it’s only humans that He redeems.

Jesus lived a physical life.

He was born as a human is born.

He entered the world from the womb of a woman.

He grew and developed as a man.

says that He grew in wisdom and stature.

And Jesus died a physical death.

Bleeding.

Suffering.

It involved death.

And then to prove that God accepted His death … He rose from the grave.

But not as a ghost.

Physically from the grave.

And not as some half dead creature like a zombie.

Completely alive.

Jesus gave 3 signs or 3 proofs to prove that He was the real Jesus and really alive.

First He identified Himself.

Verse 39, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.”

3 Days earlier, on the day that we call Good Friday, Jesus was nailed to a Cross.

2 nails went through His wrists.

1 nail went through both feet.

The disciples know all about these scars.

You can’t fake them.

They are the fingerprint that identifies Him to them.

And the scars from those wounds

They’ll never go away.

God gives signs.

He gives signs to mark occasions and people.

He gives signs to show ownership.

He gives signs to remember.

The rainbow - that is a sign.

Circumcision - that was a sign.

In Revelation, there is a famous mark of the beast.

Some mark, some sign that will identify people who do not belong to Christ.

There is a mark, there is a sign for believers.

This is the Holy Spirit.

He is a seal, a stamp, that marks us as belonging to Christ.

And even Christ has a sign, has a mark, these scars.

describes the throne room of God.

And there is a Lamb.

The Lamb isn’t lying down.

The Lamb is standing.

The Lamb is alive.

But the Lamb always looks as if it had been slain.

In heaven is singing to this Lamb, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

We will always be singing and praising the Lamb who was slain.

The message of the Cross of Christ is the central part of our worship.

By the way, I hear of churches that try to hide this message.

I heard of one church recently that was going to talk about the death of Jesus, and they didn’t want children there to hear about Jesus’ death.

As if it’s something to hide.

The death of Christ is central to our religion.

And it is something that we will sing into eternity.

And this tradition began on the very first night of Jesus’ resurrection.

The cross of Christ is to forever remain a fixture in the Christian worship, even into eternity.

Jesus is our King who we anticipate returning.

The wounds of Christ serve as His royal jewels, the proof of His kingly position.

Spurgeon said, “Jesus finds such beauties in His wounds that He will not renounce them. He will wear the court dress in which He wooed our souls and He will wear the royal purple of his atonement throughout eternity.”

Jesus doesn’t remove the scars of His death.

He embraces them for eternity.

Jesus doesn’t forget them, and neither do we.

We are always reminded of them.

In fact, communion, serves as a reminder of the death of Christ.

says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Christian worship must always have a reminder of the Lamb slain in it.

That’s the Gospel.

Our worship is centered around the Gospel.

Then Jesus gives His second proof, He’s physical.

The disciples think they are seeing a ghost, a spirit.

The word for spirit is pneuma.

It also means breath.

A breath shouldn’t be physical.

You put your hand in front of your mouth and blow through your fingers.

The air goes through your finger tips.

Blow through your fingers. They think he is a ghost, a breath, a spirit, a vapor.

But that’s not what Jesus is.

He’s not a vision.

He’s not a dream.

He’s real.

And the proof is found in verse 39, “Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

He’s not like the JW’s say, He’s not a spirit creature.

He’s real.

So He says, “Touch me.”

And it’s kind of funny, because at this point the disciples don’t know what to do.

They see Him.

They recognize the wounds.

They can touch Him.

In verse 41 it says “they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling ...”

Another way to say that is it’s too good to be true.

“Pinch me I must be dreaming.”

They don’t believe what they’re seeing.

I love Jesus’ response.

“Have you anything here to eat?”

That makes me laugh.

I’m sure eating is the last thing on everyone’s minds.

But they do have something for him to eat.

They hand him some broiled fish.

He took it and he ate it before them.

This is a funny scene.

You have the 2 disciples that went on their hike to Emmaus.

You have 10 of the disciples.

We learn from John’s account that Thomas wasn’t there.

So there’s at least 12 people.

And what are they doing?

They are watching Jesus eat fish.

12 people watching one person eat.

As if to say, “Can a ghost do this?”

A ghost can’t be touched.

A ghost can’t eat.

A ghost can’t consume food.

Jesus is doing all of that.

Jesus is fully alive.

I told you at the start, this isn’t a history lesson.

Because this is true now.

Jesus is alive now.

And the day is coming when we will meet the resurrected Christ as well.

That physical body will be present.

He will stand upon this earth.

And He will rule over it.

Jesus isn’t just convincing the disciples that He’s alive, this is recorded to convince you as well.

Jesus is alive.

And if Jesus is alive, then we serve a Living God.

He’s not a lifestyle.

He’s not a way of thinking.

He’s your King.

You fear and obey kings.

Maybe if you struggle with obedience and you struggle with sin:

Maybe the reason why you struggle is because Jesus is more of a idea, but not living.

Jesus, always the teacher, then goes on to show them that Scripture is Fully True.

And this is our second point, Scripture is fully true.

Have you ever watched a mystery movie with a huge twist at the end?

You sit through the 2 hours of the movie enjoying the film, asking yourself “Who done it?”

And then at the end, you find out, it’s not at all what you thought it was.

The movie The Sixth Sense was one of the first movies to do that to me.

I watched that movie, thought it was good.

Then at the end there’s this massive twist.

After I watched it, I had to start it all over again, and watch it again.

Because suddenly every little scene had more to it.

The Bible is that way.

Jesus says in verse 44, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

The first time you read through it there are a bunch of individual scenes.

You learn unique stories that seem isolated from each other.

Kind of how we learn in Sunday School.

We learn bits and pieces from the Bible, but never connecting the dots.

Some people talk about a scarlet thread that flows through the Bible.

They begin to pick up on how some of these stories seem to foreshadow something much larger.

But it isn’t just a few verses that talk about Jesus.

It’s the entire message of the Bible.

It’s not just that reveals Jesus to us, it’s the beginning and the end of that prophecy.

It’s not just one Psalm like , but it’s every Psalm that points us to Jesus.

He’s the singer and the one sung about.

Proverbs is not just a book about human wisdom and how to apply it to our lives to have a happy life.

Proverbs introduces us to the wisdom of God, the logos, the one through which God made the heavens and the earth.

Paul tells us that the treasures of wisdom and the glory are found in Jesus Christ.

Ecclesiastes is not just a book that tells us of the vanity of life.

It points us to Jesus and says that life only makes sense when Christ as our Lord.

What happened to Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses.

His death isn’t something to be sad about.

His death was the victory of God.

The Law of Moses told us about God’s high standard, and the sacrifice that would take away our sin.

Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s high standard, and He was the sacrifice that bore our sins away.

What happened to Jesus fulfills the eternal plan of God.

The theme of the book of Psalms is worship.

The Psalms served as the worship hymnal for Israel.

And now they serve as the foundation for our songs to Christ.

Scripture is fully true because it is about the one who is fully alive.

Jesus teaches them, and then in verse 45, He opens their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Jesus is convincing them of truth, and now it gets personal, If you are in Christ you are Fully Forgiven.

How do we know when we are forgiven?

It begins with having your minds opened.

Verse 45, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

That is knowing truth, embracing truth.

Beginning to see life the way God wants you to see life.

My conversion isn’t one of those ones that people think of as cool.

I never did drugs.

I never woke up in a pool of my own vomit.

But I did have a mind that was in rebellion to God.

I had my ideas that were not godly.

I had my desires that were sinful.

These evil thoughts were the product of a dead mind, that was opposed to God.

Part of conversion is that God gives us a new heart and a new mind.

He causes us to love truth.

At my conversion, my repentance wasn’t to stop drinking or stop doing drugs, it was to change the way I think.

I had to reject my old way of thinking.

And this only happens when God opens our minds to understand the truth.”

These disciples needed to embrace truth.

Because till this point they didn’t think right.

Do you remember that time Jesus called Peter Satan?

Yea, Jesus did that.

I can’t think of a stronger rebuke than for Jesus to call someone Satan.

But it comes from .

Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me Satan!”

Do you know why Jesus called Peter Satan?

Because Jesus began “show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

He said these things, and Peter said, “Far be it from you Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me Satan!”

They needed to embrace truth.

So back to Luke, Jesus opens their minds and what does he say?

Verse 46, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,”

At the moment of conversion this is believed.

What is it we believe?

Not just the crucifixion, but His resurrection.

The resurrection proves that God accepted the sacrifice that was given, and your sins are forgiven.

The resurrection is the home run trot around the bases.

It’s the victory.

The result of this new understanding is that there must be repentance.

Repentance doesn’t forgive yours sins.

This isn’t a formula on how to have your sins forgiven.

Sins are forgiven on the Cross of Christ.

Repentance doesn’t activate forgiveness of sins.

It’s a product of having your sins forgiven.

The Spirit regenerates your heart.

Changes your way of thinking.

Changes your desires.

And if there is no repentance then

And the product of this change is you live differently.

You repent.

This is essential.

Jesus is laying out for us the Gospel here.

We believe Christ died.

We believe He rose again.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins.

And we must repent.

You change.

Your life changes.

Repentance is the reality of Christ being Lord of your life.

Today when we talk about repentance some people think it’s legalism.

It’s fine to talk about forgiveness, but don’t you dare tell me how to live.

But understand it’s not me telling you how to live.

This is Christ.

Repentance is the product of God changing your heart and elevating Christ in your eyes.

Repentance is the result of the power of the resurrection.

The fourth victory of the resurrection is you are Fully Empowered.

Jesus then says that this message “should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Jesus is commissioning the disciples to become the mode, the method for this Gospel to go out.

But there’s a catch.

Do you see the catch?

It’s there at the end of verse 49.

“But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus is going to use His followers to proclaim the Gospel.

But wait until they clothed with power from on high.

We read in the book of Acts that they are to stay in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost.

On that day the Holy Spirit was unleashed upon the believers and the church was founded.

Being clothed with power is the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit empowers the believer.

He empowers them by teaching, by convicting, by reminding us of truth, and by gifting.

There are spiritual gifts, and these gifts are used for the building of the church.

So for the disciples they would need to wait.

But the Holy Spirit hasn’t been sent yet, so the disciples need to wait.

We read in the book of Acts that they are to stay in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost.

On that day the Holy Spirit was unleashed upon the believers and the church was founded.

Here’s what’s amazing, it’s not just the disciples who are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

It’s all believers who receive the Holy Spirit.

At that moment of conversion, the Christian is indwelt with the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit invades the believer’s life.

He gives faith.

He grants repentance.

He empowers with spiritual gifts.

This means that what Jesus is saying to the disciples here, it’s not just for them.

It’s for all of us.

This applies to each and every Christian.

If you are a Christian you:

Know that Christ suffered..

You know He rose from the dead.

You repent.

You have had your sins forgiven.

Look at verse 48, “You are witnesses to these things.”

That’s not just saying they are witnesses to what has happened to Christ.

They are witnesses of the affects of the Gospel upon a person’s life.

You too are witnesses.

You know the Gospel.

You know what Christ expects.

You are a witness to these things.

And God is entrusting you with this message.

God isn’t giving this message to angels.

Nor is He writing it in the clouds above.

He’s given it to you.

Your reason for living is to proclaim it.

says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

That is our mission.

We exist to be witnesses to the work of Christ.

We exist to share this Gospel and to help people be reconciled to God.

Southwest Christian Church can I give you my biggest and gravest concern for us.

We need to do this.

In every relationship that we are in.

We need to be proclaimers of truth.

This is similar to what Jesus said in the Great Commission in .

Go and make disciples.

This isn’t a matter of gifting.

There is no gift of discipleship.

We are all called to be disciple makers.

So in every relationship, let’s think about helping people to follow Christ more.

Parents - make disciples.

Who are your main pupils?

Your children.

Peers - make disciples.

Who are your main pupils?

Each other.

And we encourage one another on.

Older Christians - make disciples.

Who are you main pupils?

Younger believers.

Older women take on younger women.

Older men take on younger men.

And if I could give you all an assignment, it’d be find one person that you can shepherd.

Take someone on in an intentional relationship for the purpose of building him or her up in Christ.

In your relationships with non Christians - make disciples.

Speak of the blessings of Christ.

Talk about your church family.

Talk about Christ whom you worship.

Talk about sin and repentance of it.

Talk about Christ and His resurrection.

I’m tired of us just existing.

This is from the very depth of my heart.

Southwest Christian Church you want to grow right?

We want to see more people here.

Why?

We don’t ask that question much do we.

It shouldn’t be:

To have numbers or bigger offerings.

Why?

Because we want to see Christ glorified by more people.

We want to see more people come to truth.

If more people were here, then that would require more work in the sense of more people to take care of.

Southwest Christian Church we must become obedient to this call from Christ.

Some of us evangelize in Gospel to the Valley or the Mall evangelism.

But that’s not all discipleship is.

Discipleship is more than just evangelizing.

The mission of Christ is to proclaim Christ to all nations, to all people.

Discipleship is helping people become closer to Christ.

I’ve got some ideas of what this looks like.

It means training our men and our women to know the Word and prepare them for ministry.

It means becoming very intentional and strategic in our relationships.

Unlike the disciples who were told to wait in Jerusalem till the Spirit was sent, you have the Spirit.

You are clothed with power from on high.

So now live that way.

Walk in the Spirit.

Live by the Spirit.

Use the gifts of the Spirit.

The Cross was an amazing moment in history.

But if nothing changed after the cross we have to ask if there was any sort of victory.

How do we know D-Day was a success?

Because the beaches were secured.

How do we know Kirk Gibson’s at bat was a success?

Because he trotted around the bases winning the game.

The victory is won.

It’s time to trot around the bases.

How do we know if the Cross was a victory?

Because Jesus rose from the grave as a conquering King.

He lives.

He opens your minds to truth.

He forgives sins.

And sending you in power to be witnesses proclaiming these truths.

The victory is won.

It’s time to trot around the bases, living under the reality of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.