The Promise of the Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Sermons leading up to the Resurrection - Title of Today’s Message
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone.. these devices have changed our lives.. we don’t just use and direct it for our benefit, it now also directs us.. the bigtech companies behind these smartphones actually collect data about us, it knows what we like, our interests, uses all that data to sell us something.. you notice that by what comes through your feed..
Now if you look at your feed.. you will see..
The biggest headlines this week
Here are some headlines..
'Why Us?': A Year After Being Laid Off, Millions Are Still Unemployed
'Why Us?': A Year After Being Laid Off, Millions Are Still Unemployed
How Is The COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Going In Your State?
How Is The COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Going In Your State?
Asylum-Seekers Are Entering The U.S. Again — But Many More Migrants Are Left Behind
Asylum-Seekers Are Entering The U.S. Again — But Many More Migrants Are Left Behind
WHile these headlines tell us the signs of the times.. they also leave us with more questions than answers..
The challenge is ..
Making sense of it all.
What do these all mean?
How do I respond? How do I live?
Why am I alive in these weird times?
Let me submit to you today…
Three Foundational Ideas For Life.
Creation is Real
The Crucifixion is Central.
The Resurrection is Essential.
Creation is Real
We were created. Which means we created by someone. And if we were created by someone then we were created for a purpose.
We believe that we were created by Almighty God.
You are not a mere collection of molecules joined together by a random process of mutations.. there is intelligent design involved in your making, you were created.
Then if we are created, then we have been created for a purpose..
I am reading a book entitled Making Sense of God by Timothy Keller, the book tells of stories from hardened atheists of personal encounters with the divine..
There is a reason why we were created and alive today.
I will always go back to the first Spiritual Law:
God Loves You and Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life.
This is bedrock truth
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
If we were not created, if everything in the universe came by chance.... then what happens when we die, we just cease to exist..
As Christians, we are to be the most pitied because we have put our hope in something totally FALSE.
Existentialism - Philosophy that Man is nothing else than what he makes of himself.
It essentially says that life is meaningless and that it is your responsibility to create meaning out of this meaningless.
Seems to be a tough and hopeless proposition. This is the reason people take their own life. It is because of the failure to find meaning.
But their is hope..
2. The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is Central to Human Existence.
central point in history past, present and future all point back to the cross of Jesus Christ.
If God has a plan for our lives, why does man seem to be at a loss in trying to identify that plan?
This takes us to the Second Spiritual Law:
Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life.
While God created man for a purpose, to have a relationship with Him. Sin entered the world through the sin of the first man, Adam. Therefore mankind fell and that fallen nature was passed down to all of humanity.
This is why Jesus had to come in the form of a man and die...
Let us look at the first part of verse 21 of today’s text:
For as in Adam all die (1 Corinthians 15:22a)
There is a nature in human beings that seeks meaning in life, and people do that by his own efforts at philosophy or even religion.. but all of these inevitably fails.
There has to be a Provision from God in order for us to be joined to Him once again.
Which brings us to the third spiritual law:
Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Now we come to the really exciting part...
3. The Resurrection is Essential
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The resurrection is essential because of the hope that it offers to us.
The resurrection is God’s stamp of approval that Jesus’ sacrifice is accepted by God and is enough.
First Promise of the Resurrection is:
Since Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God through the resurrection, you have been accepted by God through Jesus Christ.
How we want that feeling of being accepted.. there is a natural tendency to be desired to be accepted...
As children, we want that acceptance from our parents..
You may have experienced rejection time and again but remember through Jesus you have received the acceptance that matters the most. You have been accepted by Almighty God.
That is powerful, in fact it is liberating.. to know that you have been accepted and beloved by God!
This is the abundant life that Jesus promised.
The full verse 22.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
The resurrection gives us hope.
There is a saying that goes “Faith builds a house of hope on the hill of despair”
If the Golgotha, or Calvary, the hill where Jesus was crucified was the hill of despair, Jesus built a house of hope through His resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope.
Actually Jesus Himself hoped in the resurrection.
He knew that He would be mocked, tortured and killed but He also knew that He would rise again on the third day.
The second promise of the Resurrection is this:
The Resurrection of Jesus secured Our Eternal Future in God’s presence.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
Christ is called the firstfruits of the Resurrection, which means someday those who belong to Him will come next. We will also be resurrected.
There are a lot of perks to that:
We will have brand new bodies, which we call glorified bodies. We will not have the same mortal, weak, limited bodies actually in this same chapter in 1 Corinthians Paul also said that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
We cannot enter the Kingdom of God with this… (body) we will be translated..
With that means there will be no weeping, no more pain, no more suffering, no more COVID-19, no more sin and no more death..
And the joy of being reunited with our loved ones who’ve gone home to be with the Lord.. it will be a glorious reunion.
The Bible says “God will wipe every tear from our eyes”.
Isaiah prophesied about the resurrection:
8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
I believe that all these perks, wonderful as they are, are just bonuses, when compared to the greatest promise of the resurrection - we will be with the Lord worshipping Him forever and ever..
24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
Where are you in your life today? Are you trying to make sense of it all? …
A wise man once said:
“The Resurrection of Jesus makes sense - it makes sense of it all”
i want all of these…how do I become a recipient of this promise?
What do I do?
That question leads to the last spiritual law:
We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.