Back To Life - Easter 2021
Back to Life • Sermon • Submitted
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In the “old” days we used to use real chicken eggs for Easter Egg hunts. There something great about peeling a multi-color hard boiled egg and eating it outside!
Well eggs come from chickens and it reminded me of the worlds smartest church. She was so smart that she could tell the farmer how many eggs were in the chicken coup.
If she there were two eggs you could ask her “how many eggs do you have”? And she would peck the ground twice. People would come from miles around to see this chicken in action. She was so incredibly smart!
You could say she was a real math - a - ma - chicken.
For the last few weeks we have been studying out of 2 Corinthians 4 and 5. What a great passage of scripture. It reminds us that our lives here on earth are temporary and that we can have hope for an eternal home with God in heaven. Believers have come BACK TO LIFE through Christ.
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
How did He accomplish this great reconciliation? Well, if you back up a couple of verses we see exactly how salvation became possible.
14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
Christ died for us to redeem us for the curse of sin and death. He proved that the work was finished when is ROSE from the grave.
He was resurrected! Today is the day we remember that Christ was resurrected. This is resurrection Sunday. Jesus was brought BACK TO LIFE.
This is the most critical part of the Gospel. We are told that we can only be saved if we BELIEVE that Christ is Alive. That He has been brought back to life from the dead.
Now, here’s the big question. Do you believe that Christ really came back from the dead?
It’s easy to imagine that He was a real person.
It’s easy to trust that He was crucified.
But how easy is it for you to believe that He was raised from the dead? I don’t know about you, but I’ve certainly never seen someone come back from the grave!
Was there a man two-thousand years ago that really came back from the dead? Boy, that sure seems like a big question. Especially for Christians, I mean everything we believe is based on that fact.
Even though Jesus Himself doesn't need me to defend Him, there is a lot on the line as to whether or not He was raised from the dead.
Many people call Jesus a great man, some call Him a great teacher, others call Him a great philosopher and almost everyone agrees He was a great moral example.
But these attributes are true only if Jesus died and came back from the grave because that’s what He promised He would do. He promised it over and over throughout the gospels. If it didn’t happen the way he promised then we could easily disprove Him as the Saviour. It would have made Him a liar.
Here’s some of the things He promised:
21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
22 After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies.
23 He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
18 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die.
19 Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
32 But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”
He made some pretty big promises regarding His death, burial, and resurrection.
Because of these promises, His integrity and His character is on the line.
Luke was very interested in the law and in legally defending the
resurrection, because he says in
3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
"convincing proofs" literally means "a sure sign." It comes from a legal term that refers to conclusive evidence that would hold up in a court of law. Something that would take away all doubt!
The first part of my sermon today I want to explore the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I believe this is a subject worthy of the most detailed scrutiny and examination for this reason: The resurrection is either the greatest fact or the greatest lie in human history.
Billions of people in the world today have staked their eternal destiny and their entire lives on this one truth that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. I’d say it’s a very important topic.
Even Paul thought this was important:
17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.
18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!
Today, I want you to decide whether or not you believe in the Resurrection of Jesus from the grave, and if He was have you given all of you to Him as your only hope and salvation.
Why Should I Believe In The resurrection Of Jesus?
Why Should I Believe In The resurrection Of Jesus?
I want to give you three, in my mind, incontrovertible, absolute, conclusive reasons why Jesus was raised from the dead.
1 - Jesus Died and was Buried
1 - Jesus Died and was Buried
Obviously, before Jesus Christ could come back from the dead, He had to be actually dead.
Did you know that there are people who say that Jesus really didn't die on the cross. They don’t deny that witnesses saw Christ after the third day, they just can’t believe that He was dead and came back to life.
They believe that either Jesus Christ fainted on the cross or went into shock and fell unconscious, but He didn't really die, it is just that everybody thought He was dead.
This might seem to make sense, right? Jesus fainted but, when He was taken to the tomb, the cool air revived Him and somehow He got out alive. In other words, He wasn't resurrected, He was just resuscitated.
There a a few tiny details that prove this couldn’t have happened and that Jesus really did die on the cross.
First of all, we have to read what happened. These are undisputed facts from the day of crucifixion.
34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
Jesus had been beaten beyond recognition and was nailed through His hands and feet to a wooden cross. In order to breathe he would have to push up on the spikes in His feet to fill His lungs with air. He was on the cross for more than 6 hours before He cried out and died.
John tell us that just to make sure that Jesus Christ was dead, a Roman soldier thrust his spear into His side between His ribs that punctured the sac around His heart, as well as His heart itself, causing a clear water-like fluid and blood to come out.
This was medical proof in and of itself that Jesus Christ died, because the blood had already begun to clot and separate from the water. This only happens after a person is dead. It’s a medical fact Jesus was dead on the cross.
The graveclothes also provide proof. Once they took Jesus off the cross He was taken by Roman guard to the tomb where He was wrapped in traditional graveclothes.
The Jews would wrap dead bodies in grave clothes and use 100 pounds of spice between the layers. They would then seal those clothes around the corpse like a mummy.
The head would be wrapped. The mouth and nose would be filled with spices and cloth.
The body would have been placed in a air-tight tomb with no fresh air available to Breathe.
Now just for skeptics sake, let's suppose that He got through the process of being wrapped like a mummy without letting anyone know He was alive.
We’d have to believe that He was resuscitated in that cold tomb, took off the grave clothes, left them folded neatly on the seat, took those hands which had been pierced with those large Roman spikes, placed them on the side of a stone that weighed several tons, rolled it away, then became Chuck Norris and took out the Roman guards who were fully armed, and then walked 14 miles back to the disciples on heels that had been pierced with a Roman spike.
I just don’t think that’s what’s happened. The logical position was that Jesus died. History records that fact that He was beaten beyond recognition, He was brutally nailed to a cross, and they confirmed He was dead before He was taken down.
Jesus did die just like He said he was going to...
This takes us to the next point of why we believe in the resurrection. Not only did He physically die, but...
2 - The Tomb Was Empty
Remember we saw that Luke proudly said there were many "convincing proofs" of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
One thing that has never been disputed in 2000 years is this - on that Easter Sunday morning, the tomb was empty. From the very first time the tomb was reported as empty it was not denied.
Those Roman guards who were put in charge of guarding the tomb reported to the chief priest that the body was missing. This was what the chief priest wanted to do:
12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,
13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’
Immediately, the response was to try and explain the resurrection away. They didn’t deny the resurrection they wanted to cover it up!
Now think about how absurd this cover-up was. The guards were told to spread the story that the body of Jesus had been stolen by His disciples while they were asleep.
I don't know of any court in the world that would allow a witness to testify what happened while he was asleep. If the soldiers were asleep how did they know that His disciples came and stole the body away?
We have to ask the question, "Why would the chief priest come up with this kind of a story?" It is very simple.
If the tomb was empty, if Jesus Christ was not in that grave after three days, then either man took Him out of that grave or God took Him out.
Because we are looking at this from all angles today, let's says that a group of people took Jesus out of the tomb. The way I see it, only two groups would want to take Jesus out of the tomb.
It either had to be His friends or it had to be His enemies.
So, what is the possibility that His friends stole the body?
There are three obstacles to that possibility.
First of all, there were the soldiers guarding the tomb. These soldiers were the best the Roman army had to offer. They were the "special forces" if you will. Sixteen well trained and highly disciplined men each carrying a 6 foot spear, a 3 foot sword, a dagger on one side and a shield on the other side.
It is a far stretch to think that these disciples, who just three days earlier with yellow streaks down their backs a mile wide, ran from Jesus like cowards, would now come back and attempt to overpower these Roman guards to take the body of Jesus.
Secondly, beyond the soldiers, there was the stone. A stone was rolled in front of that tomb that weighed many tons, sat in a groove and rolled downward in front of the door.
People much smarter than me have figured out that it would have taken up to 20 men to move such a stone a few feet. Yet, the New Testament tells us this stone was picked up and moved away with a tremendous force at a good distance.
Thirdly, there was also the seal. We are told that when the stone was rolled in front of the tomb, it was given a Roman seal. Once that stone was in place, it was sealed with sealing wax and stamped with the Roman sign.
Those Roman soldiers knew that if they went to sleep on their watch or if that seal was broken, they would be burned alive, because the penalty of going to sleep or allowing a Roman seal to be broken was death.
It’s highly unlikely that Jesus’ friends took His dead body from the tomb.
What’s the possibility that His enemy’s stole His body?
To me this is even more nuts!
His enemies were doing everything possible to keep Him in the tomb, not get Him out of it, and if they did take the body all they had to do was produce the body to show that Jesus hadn't been raised from the dead.
The truth is - His friends could not remove the body and His enemies would not remove the body.
We believe in the resurrection because Jesus really did die and was buried, the tomb was miraculously empty, and because...
3 - Witnesses Saw Him
There were a massive number of different people who were willing to bear witness they had seen Jesus Christ alive.
In fact, when you put all the scriptures together, we are told that Jesus appeared on 10 different occasions over a period of 6 weeks to at least 516 witnesses. He appeared in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. He appeared indoors. He appeared outdoors.
These witnesses are important in our trust that Jesus was resurrected. It would be one thing if only a handful of people testified that they saw Jesus resurrected, but 516 people all saying the same thing? That’s incredible.
You should also know that many these witnesses sealed their testimony with their own blood. They suffered torture. They were beheaded. They were imprisoned. They were crucified. Yet, because they had an encounter with the risen Christ they were willing to pay the ultimate price.
Just think about what happened to the disciples. History says that before Easter they were depressed because they thought Jesus was dead. They were hiding behind closed doors.
They were scared for their lives and yet after Easter these same disciples went out boldly proclaiming that Jesus Christ was alive. All but one of these disciples suffered violent deaths, yet none of them ever disavowed their testimony that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who literally and bodily appeared to them after He had died.
I just can’t imagine why anyone would willingly give his life for what he KNOWS to be a lie.
Many people will die for what they think is true, but no one will ever die for something they know is not true.
We believe in the resurrection because Jesus really did die and was buried, the tomb was miraculously empty, and because of the testimony of those who saw Him.
These people who saw Jesus after the resurrection became the church. People who
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
You see, you have to understand that Jesus is Lord and also BELIEVE that He was resurrected!
You might tell me you refuse to believe in the resurrection - I’d say, OK, but you must deny overwhelming evidence that proves it happened!
For me, I’d take the more logical approach and say, “I see your point of view, and I actually agree with the evidence, but here’s my question: So what?"
What does it matter that Jesus died, was buried, and raised back to life?
This is the second part of my sermon today...
Why Should We Receive The Jesus Of The resurrection?
Why Should We Receive The Jesus Of The resurrection?
Everyone on this planet that dies, will die either having rejected Jesus Christ or having received Jesus Christ. I want to share with you four simple reasons why you should receive Him.
1 - So My Sins Can Be Forgiven
25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Don't miss what that verse says. Anybody can claim to die for the sins of the world and anybody can claim that Jesus died for the sins of the world, but think about this.
Jesus died on the cross, supposedly as the payment for the sins of the world, but how do I know that God accepted His sacrifice?
How do I know the check didn't bounce?
How do I know He really was the Son of God, who could pull that off?
The empty tomb is proof that God accepted that payment.
4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.
We should receive Christ so we can be forgiven of our sin,
2 - So we Can Live A Life Of Purpose
The vast majority of people in this world, including the vast majority of people that live right here in this county are not living; they are just existing.
I hope you understand that you were not put here on this earth to get up in the morning, go to work, come home, watch tv, go to bed, retire and die.
There is something more to life than just physical existence. God put you here for a purpose. He has a plan for your life and it starts with you living a real life, the life that can only be found in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
You can't even understand or experience what real life is all about until you find it in the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
We should receive Christ so we can be forgiven of our sin, so we can live with purpose...
3 - So we Can Conquer Death
You see the fact that Jesus Christ came back from the grave and that Jesus Christ came out of that tomb tells me that death does not have to have the final say in my life. Death does not have to conquer us.
We can conquer death.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that when our life is coming to an end and are about to breath our last, when we have seen our last sunrise and enjoyed our last sunset we can say,
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
We should receive Christ so we can be forgiven of our sin, so we can live with purpose, so we can conquer death...
4 - So we Can Receive Eternal Life
You cannot receive eternal life and you cannot go to heaven unless (a) Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and (b) You believe He is Lord and receive Him as your Lord.
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
This Easter, you have to make a decision.
Who are you going to invest your hope in for eternal life?
The evidence screams out at us that Jesus Christ told the truth when He said in
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,
Now you need to decide not only whether or not the evidence is true, but what are you going to do about it?
I end with the words we started this sermon with. Paul wrote:
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
Do you need lay down your old life today? Are you ready to be forgiven, live with purpose, and have hope for the life to come? Today you have to decide if you believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Will you trust Him as your Lord and Saviour today?
Today you can be brought BACK TO LIFE.