The Resurrection Changes Everything

open He is Risen

Pray

Matthew 28:1–7 ESV

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

Your Stone is your Stage

Your Stone is your Stage, now what do I mean by that, I want to go to Matt 28:2 this morning and I want us to see something important

Matthew 28:2 ESV

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Then we’re going to skip verses 3 and 4 and go to verse 5

Matthew 28:5 ESV

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

What I want you to see here is that once the stone was rolled away, the angel that was proclaimimg the truth of Jesus’ resurrection sat on that stone to have a vantage point from which to tell the good news.

Let me put it another way for you this morning.......the stone that the Romans had put in front of the tomb as a means to keep Christ in was used by God as the vehicle to tell the truth that He had Risen!!!

Body of Chirst I don’t care what it is that you are going through right now, it may be dealing with this corona virus, it may be financial, it may be emotional, but God will use the stone that the devil meant to weigh you down is what God wants to use to proclaim the truth of His love for the World because the resurrection changes Evrything!

So the first thing that changes because of the resurrection is that Your Stone becomes your Stage

Put Off your Old Clothes

Put off your old clothes.....I want to take a minute and turn to a different account of the same event. Here in this account we see Mary having gone to the disciples and come back after initially visiting the tomb.

John 20:6 ESV

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,

Now here we see Peter and Mary having looked in the tomb and they see the tomb empty, but John here makes a point that the clothes remained. Now I want to stop fpr a minute here and go over some detail to help make this next point. Before being placed in the tomb a body would be prepared with a number of steps. They would wash the body and so forth, and they would wrap the body in strips of cloth. Now I want you to realize that these strips of cloth, among other things, would soak up some of the things that happen as a body would decompose. So as the body would decompose the grave clothes would tend to get....let’s call it messy. They are dirty, they are nasty, they stink.

Now watch this........At the time of the resurrection, Jesus left behind the grave clothes that had been associated with His death. He left behind all the things that tied Him to death and took on His new state.

Now, why am I making this point this morning. See I’ve been telling you that the resurrection changes everything. One of the things that is changed because of the resurrection is YOU!!!

You are not the same person that you were

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV 1900

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

You are not the old person that you used to be, you are new in Christ, so why is it that so many of you are still wearing the grave clothes?

So often I hear people talking about situations and circumstances of their old life and using that as an excuse for their life now.

Tell the World

We need to tell the world. Let’s turn back to our main text this morning in Matthew

Matthew 28:7 ESV

Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

See when the resurrection changes things, it doesn’t just stop with us. Mary and Mary went to the tomb to care for Jesus body, they had no idea that they would be encountering His resurrection. But once the truth of the resurrection was known, their plans changed. Once they realized the fact that Jesus Christ was risen, their business changed.

Body of Christ I want you to know that once we realize the truth of the resurrection, our plans and business change. Once we know that He is Risen, the things that we thought were important don’t seem quite so important anymore.

See the truth is that the resurrection changes you, and it should. It changes your thoughts, it changes your actions, it changes your priorities. Once you know the truth of the risen savior and the truth of that empty tomb, you can’t wait to go tell somebody.

The Resurrection Changes Everything

conclude and pray