The Resurrection & Hope
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 13 viewsNotes
Transcript
1
I read or heard recently that “...as a human body is dependent on oxygen to live, so is humanity dependent on hope!”
I want us to let that statement sink in for a minute. What are they saying. They are saying that humanity as whole is dependent on hope. Humanity cannot live without hope. Without hope life crumbles, it deteriorates, it crashes to the ground. Think about when people lose hope they riot, steal, and resort to crime. Its when people loose hope that deal with sever depression, anxiety and contemplate suicide. Right now we are living in some really scary times. A lot of people and I mean a lot of people are uncertain about their future. Maybe one of those is you this morning. Maybe you’ve lost a job, maybe you have loved ones who are dealing with this virus. Maybe you feel alone in all this, maybe just maybe you are losing your hope or maybe you have lost your hope. This morning this message is for you and for all of us to remind us that there is hope in every circumstance and every situation. And, it is found in Jesus Christ and Him Alone. Hope that is solid and sure and that can be counted on is found in Jesus and only Jesus and the reason that, that hope is so concrete and sure is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Before we get into why we have hope and what we have hope in? We need to understand the true biblical definition of hope. Hope is not some wish or some pipe dream. I like the way one person put it hope is not a hope-so but a know-so. It isn’t wishing for the best. It isn’t waiting to see what happens and hope that it turns out well. Hope is not a feeling or an emotion. Hope is not like the weather forecaster who says there is a 50% chance of rain today and it may go either way. The Hebrew writer helps us understand this by telling us...
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
Heb. 6:140
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,
so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
Heb. 4:
This hope, this anchor is grounded in the fact that God cannot lie. That it why it so concrete and sure, and steadfast. The Hebrew writer writes again to us in
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
faith gives reality to things not yet seen so that they are treated as virtually present
reality to things not yet seen so that they are treated as virtually present
Evidence (KJV) (conviction - NAS, ASV) - full persuasion
by demonstration; a thing is
shown to be true or false of things not seen (- evidence - proof).
Hope is not based on circumstances…it is not even based on what is seen but it is based on the faithfulness of God.
,
For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So what is the bible telling us. Biblical hope is not based on circumstances, it is not even based on what is seen, it is not a wish, it is not something that may come to fruition or it may not. Hope is an anchor that is both sure and steadfast and the reason that is so sure and steadfast is because it is based on the promises from Almighty God who can lie. To be even more specific I believe that our hope is wrapped and tied up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even Paul says in
Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised;
and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
The reason we have hope is because is because Jesus IS RISEN! HE IS ALIVE!
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?
“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,
Luke 24:
Brothers and sisters HE IS ALIVE! We do not serve someone who was alive a long long time ago and then died. We don’t serve a corpse, we don’t serve someone who is gone. We serve and have hope because we have a living savior.
Maybe thats why Peter says in
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Pet.
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Heb. 4:12-13
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God
Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
he is walking among the lampstands the church. How is that he is walking??? HE is alive.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
We have hope because Jesus is alive and our faith is not in vain & worthless. (v. 14)
We have hope because Jesus is alive and our faith is not in vain & worthless. (v. 14)
We can count on it thru thick and thru thin. it is not vain and useless. This hope will not let us down because Jesus is not in the grave he is risen. Its because he suffered and died that he was crowned with glory and in so doing rendered powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil, and he freed us from the fear of death. .
our hope is sure it is steadfast, it is valuable because of what comes with the resurrection of Jesus. Think about waht we have because of the resurrection. salvation, no condemnation, fellowship and protection, escape from the wrath of God, life, spiritual and bodily resurrection just to name a few.
We have hope because Jesus is alive & we have forgiveness of sins. (v. 17)
We have hope because Jesus is alive & we have forgiveness of sins. (v. 17)
think about this for a moment, if we have all sinned and God has to hold our sins against us, and Jesus has not risen there is no hope.
He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
He paid the penalty that purchased our justification.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
the wrath of God was barreling down on us
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Think about it this way
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
no resurrection - no blood offered for us no redemption
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
I don’t have to worry about the wrath of God if I’m in Christ Jesus, I don’t have to make 1,000’s of bloody animal sacrifices. Jesus is my one time for all time sacrifice. I can now receive justification - made is if I did not sin. I will not have no one to condemn me. Jesus my mediator speaks for me.
If I have forgiveness of sins and there is no one who can condemn me, and the wrath of God has been satisfied in the offering that jesus made on my behalf then what have I to fear.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
Rom. 8:35-39
Notice that passage in ends talking about eternal inheritance
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
we have hope because Jesus is alive and we too will be resurrected. (v. 18)
we have hope because Jesus is alive and we too will be resurrected. (v. 18)
Our lives just don’t come to an end, we don’t become nothing, we don’t just become zeros and vanish into thin air or just decompose in the ground, we will live forever. What a hopeless condition it must be to believe that life just ends and that's it.
“As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Because Jesus is alive our hope
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thess. 4:13
What is there to fear about this virus. When we die in this life there is life after. The last word is not death. The bible makes it clear that we too will be risen up
Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.
knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.
2 COr. 4:14
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
John 11
I want all of us to hear this. Whats the worst thing that can happen to us during this pandemic. Death. Jesus by his death and resurrection freed us from the fear of death.
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
John 5:
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Paul goes on later in our
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Cor. 15:
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
You can have hope regardless of whats going on in your life, why because Jesus is Alive and because he is alive you have faith that is more precious and valuable than anything this earth can offer. Because Jesus is alive you have forgiveness and there is no condemnation for you, no one can condemn you. Because Jesus is alive you too will be resurrected to life, a new body, and you will receive an inheritance that will not perish or fade away and you will live eternally in the presence of God.
None of this based on circumstances, emotions, or anything else. It is based on the fact that Jesus is resurrected, He Is Alive. You do not have to go to bed one night being scared, worried, and hopeless because if you are in jesus Christ
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
This morning if we can help you to have that anchor of hope in your life please reach out to us on our website or Facebook page. my contact info both email and phone number are on there and I would love to share with you what the bible says concerning salvation and having that steadfast and sure hope that is in Jesus Christ.