Because He Lives

Introduction

➟ ➟ ➟ Lucretius (d. 55 BC) was a Roman poet & philosopher, most famous for having written on the existence of mankind.

His most noted work we still have is called The Nature of Things.

In it, he argues humans should not live in fear of divine punishment or do things in order to receive rewards from the gods.

He asserted the universe consists of atoms and nothing else.

He said the atoms were always moving, but in no fixed pattern.

They have no overarching intention, no trace of intelligent design. Instead, he maintained, over a boundless expanse of time and space there are only ceaseless, random mutations. Old forms are constantly dying - new forms are constantly surging up.

He believed one should focus attention on this world, … one he felt is the only one humans will experience, and calmly enhance pleasure for oneself and those around you.

His writing - 174 pages - ends abruptly and darkly, detailing a great plague that swept Athens after the Peloponnesian War. ➟ ➟ ➟ Here’s an excerpt:

In wild alarm, each and everyone would bury his own dead with monstrous screaming they would, on frames of alien funeral pyres place their own kin and thrust the torch beneath. Of brawling with much bloodshed round about — rather than quit dead bodies loved in life.

And that’s it. Nothing else exists of his writing after this.

Hopelessness. Death. Defeat. No point to anything. Everything is just swirling out of control toward its inevitable end.

➟ ➟ ➟ Life without hope is bleak. This is why Paul writes 1 Corinthians 15.19:

It is a terrible thing to have all your hope in this world.

And yet, as we look around … so many living during our time only have their sight set here.

Let that not be said about God’s people.

How much has our time of isolation, loneliness, and fear sharpened our focus on the world to come?

We’re being tested. We’re:

➟ ➟ ➟ Measuring our values - what’s really important? Is all the time I was spending away from my family before worth it?

➟ ➟ ➟ What assumptions have we been operating under that may need to be changed? Think of the paradigms and assumptions we’ve accepted that we have to have things / go places / continual stimulation

➟ ➟ ➟ How much does politics really matter? Have we been removed from it long enough to see its emptiness and vanity? Can we, with a little more clarity, see how it has become the manmade religion of our day? We’d do well to remember this, especially later this year.

More than ever, we’ve been reminded of the need for a strong spiritual foundation & the hope it provides.

➟ ➟ ➟ Hope is a shot of light in the darkness.

It brings us joy. It brings life to death.

It brightens and lifts our feelings.

➟ ➟ ➟ See it in Romans 8.18: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

We have a salvation in which the greatest part has yet to be revealed! There is so much more to come!

➟ ➟ ➟ 8.23 - we await eagerly...

We’ve been made new on the inside - but still have our flesh. We can’t wait for the transformation of our bodies.

➟ ➟ ➟ 1 John 3.1-2 - this is what Christianity is all about.

It’s one thing to have forgiveness of sin … which we presently do.

Right now we get to experience

the fruit of our relationship with God springing forth

seeing and knowing about answered prayer

the satisfaction of walking in the works God has prepared for us beforehand.

None of that will compare however, to when we actually get to experience the redemption of our bodies.

To a new, higher experience totally free from sin.

Completely and totally renewed to never experience pain, crying, disease, or death again.

➟ ➟ ➟ Romans 8.24- for in this hope we were saved.

➟ ➟ ➟ Today … is a day where our thoughts center on the resurrection of Christ. We actually do this all the time… but it is times like this where we can especially remind ourselves of the core historical event upon which we base our faith.

Here we are going through dark times. People are hurting emotionally, mentally, and financially.

How powerful the resurrection message is during these dark times.

This is not the day to lecture the rest of the religious world … its a day to draw closer to God, grow in our faith, and embrace the hope we’ve been given.

Now, on days like today, when the world is listening more than it usually does...

Now in times like this, where people in the world are shaken to their core and looking … we need to be proclaiming the positive and life changing message of hope Christianity provides.

Here’s our game plan over the next few moments

First we’re going to look at Romans 15 and understand the basis of our hope.

Then we’ll examine Romans 10 and learn how the hope of salvation is tied to Jesus’ resurrection.

Finally, we’ll make things practical. Ephesians 2.1-10 tells us what Jesus’ resurrection should mean to you and me on a very personal level.

Romans 15 - The Basis of Our Hope

We learn a lot about God in Romans 15.

15.5 - He is the God of endurance and encouragement.

15.13a - He is the God of hope.

15.13b - He wants to fill you up with this knowledge - to the point where we’re overflowing with it.

15.8-9 - Everyone is in view here.

➟ ➟ ➟ 15.8 - To the Jews, Jesus demonstrated God’s faithfulness by confirming all the promises to the patriarchs came true.

➟ ➟ ➟ 15.9 - To the Gentiles, Jesus came to bring mercy.

To this, everyone can rejoice, especially the Gentiles.

➟ ➟ ➟ 15.13 - What does God want to fill you with?

All Joy.

Peace in believing.

For the purpose of what? Abounding in hope.

Who does all this go back to? Who is at the center? Jesus? He is the basis for our hope.

Romans 10 - The Hope of Your Salvation is Tied to the Resurrection

➟ ➟ ➟ Romans 10.9-10 - Salvation comes by believing in the resurrection. We trust that Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and God validated that sacrifice by raising him from the dead.

10.11-13 - What does Scripture affirm?

➟ ➟ ➟ 10.11 - Everyone who believes will not be put to shame. You’re not going to get to the end and come up short.

➟ ➟ ➟ 10.12 - God can’t wait to bestow His riches on all who call on Him.

➟ ➟ ➟ 10.13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

➟ ➟ ➟ Now, back to 10.9.

Why does God place faith in the resurrection as a basic requirement for salvation?

Because the resurrection once and for all proved the validity of Jesus’ earthly mission.

What did we say in our confession?

That we believe in the God who came into this world in human flesh, lived a perfect life, died the death we all should have, went into the grave, and then conquered death.

We are stating our believe in His resurrection — having purchased our salvation on the cross.

We affirm He is the Son of God. Our Messiah. Our Savior.

We declare He has the power to carry us through death to the life that is to come.

Far from the hopeless godless void of men like Lucretius, we live in forgiveness, stand in grace, and are filled with hope.

We know, just like Paul said in Ephesians 1, the immeasurable greatness of God’s power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is in us.

It’s by this power that we are more than conquerers, Romans 8.37.

➟ ➟ ➟ John 16.33 - victory is our because Jesus secured it for us. He has overcome the world.

➟ ➟ ➟ 1 Corinthians 15.57 - Paul says, thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2 - What Jesus’ Resurrection Means to You Personally

➟ ➟ ➟ Ephesians 2.4-5 - This is the transformation of living death to dying life.

Ephesians 2.1-3 - before we came to Christ … we were alive physically but dead spiritually.

2.5 - even when we were death in our trespasses, (he) made us alive together with Christ.

This is the meaning of the resurrection.

This is the basis for Christian faith. This is the distinction of Christianity. This is the truth of God.

Praise be to God!

There are six things in Ephesians 2.4-6 describing what has happened to us personally because of Jesus’ resurrection.

➟ ➟ ➟ 2.4 - we’ve been given mercy.

What we deserved to receive … God withheld.

If only we could see the heinousness of sin more clearly and better understand the affront it is to God.

Then and only then will we come to appreciate God’s removal of the penalty we deserved.

➟ ➟ ➟ 2.5 - we’ve received grace.

A giving of something we do not deserve, … something so great and glorious … something we could never achieve on our own.

What a wonderful gift we’ve recieved! A fresh new start. Redeemed. Forgiven. Holiness. Blameless. Above reproach.

➟ ➟ ➟ 2.4 - It’s all because of love.

It’s inexplicable and indescribable.

It’s beyond compare.

2.5-6 - Resurrection.

2.5 - ➟ ➟ ➟ God made us alive.

2.6 - ➟ ➟ ➟ God raised us up.

God has literally infused life into our spirit. We are possessors of spiritual life. Eternal life.

➟ ➟ ➟ 2.5 - Christ.

This tells us how God made us alive. We were raised with Him.

➟ ➟ ➟ John 11.25 - right now, dear Christian friend, you are spiritually experiencing Jesus’ promise. One day, you’ll experience the physical part of this.

When were you raised with Him?

➟ ➟ ➟ Romans 6.3-5 - For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

His death was applied to us.

His resurrection was applied to us. Now are together with Christ.

6.5 - see the certainty of it all.

➟ ➟ ➟ 2.6 - Heavenly places.

When we were baptized into Christ, we became alive to God.

Heavenly places describes the place where God lives. We are in the realm of His presence.

He has taken you and seated you right in the middle of it.

Our whole life is up there.

God didn’t raise you and leave you to wander in the graveyard. (MacArthur)

He lifted you up to a different world all together. Now you are a citizen of heaven.

You may be dying physically here, but you are alive spiritually and will be forever! No matter what happens here. No matter how you die.

Conclusion

Four centuries before Lucretius, noted Greek philosopher ➟ ➟ ➟ Diogenes the Cynic said,

I rejoice, I play in my youth, long enough beneath the earth shall I lie, bereft of life, voiceless as a stone and shall leave the sunlight which I loved. Good man though I am, then shall I see nothing more.

Instead of approaching this life with a fatalistic and pessimistic worldview, Christians have been given a mission and purpose.

You have been promised an abundant life, one to be lived with confident expectation of eternal salvation in heaven.

➟ ➟ ➟ Romans 15.13 - Is this the present experience of your life?

Are you abounding in hope?

➟ ➟ ➟ Let that hope transform you into the kind of person God has designed.