From Death To Life
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 10 viewsNotes
Transcript
Luke 24:1-12
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Intro: Are any of you familiar with the old reality, TV show, Cops? [Sing the theme song: “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?” Repeat]
The song emphasized that law enforcement officers would come and punish law breakers. And, that these lawbreakers would not be able to hide or get away with their crimes.
In a very real sense, death sings this song. Death has been singing this song for a very long time, since the day sin entered the world. Death, from the shadows of life, taunts humanity singing, “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when I come for you?”
But why does death come for us? It’s simple. He come’s for us because we are born as law-breakers. We are born with a spiritual condition called, sin. 1 John 3:4 says, “Sin is lawlessness.” That is, sin is breaking God’s law.
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
And our sinful nature is what separates us from God, it’s what makes relationships with other people difficult. Sin leads to separation, confusion, destruction and finally, death.
The moment we’re born into this world, death being his pursuit of us, singing along the way, “Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when I come for you?” He knows that our sinful nature leads us to break God’s law.
Death understands these things. Our sinful condition means he has power over us. And he can’t wait for his moment to violently snatch the breath from our lungs and separate our souls from our bodies. Leaving our bodies lifeless, finalizing the corruption of the image of God in us…turning our bodies to dust and dry bones.
This is what death wants for all of us and he is never satisfied. Proverbs 30:15b-16 says this, “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’”
Death and the grave are never satisfied and he comes for us. And it was no different for Jesus Christ as He hung on that Roman cross. Death eagerly awaited for the moment when he would conquer the Son of God. And for 3 days, it looked as if death had won. The women in the story saw death delivering the final knockout blow as Jesus took his last breath and died on the cross.
For 3 days, the entire world was convinced that death had claimed victory over Christ. And for 3 days, the courtroom in heaven held its trial. And Death, the prosecutor, pleaded his case. He opened the Law of God and thought to himself, surely this man is like every other man, guilty of breaking God’s perfect law. So Death made his case beginning with the first commandment all the way to the last commandment.
And as Jesus, innocently, stood accused, the Spirit of God rose up with great passion to His defense. His reply, “Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty.” And the Father agreed! Death had no claim over Him because He had kept the perfect law perfectly. And not only that, but with His righteous blood, He purchased new life for everyone who trusts in Him.
And in a flash of lighting, the heavenly trial was over, and life quickly returned to the once lifeless body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, today, Christ sings His song in the presence of our enemy, Death. Now, today, Christ sings: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55)
And everyone who puts their trust in Christ is not to fear death. Why? Because Jesus Christ overcame death and will lead us in His victory. “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor 15:25-26)
This is why Mary Magdalen and Joanna found an empty tomb. Death could not keep him. The stone was rolled away!
Romans 8:11 says if the Spirit that raised Him from the dead dwells in you, then He will give life to your mortal bodies.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
And here is the key for you and I today. “Transformation from death to life begins when we trust Christ.”
And when we place our trust in Christ, we will come to see that “the stone has been rolled away!” The stone represents a barrier between the dead and the living. It kept the dead things inside and the living outside. Sin has created an enormous, stone barrier between us and God. The Lord must roll the stone away if we are to be transformed from death to life.
From the passage, I see 3 clues that help us to know if the stone has been rolled away.
We learn to set apart Christ as Lord. (1 Peter 3:15)
We are abiding in His word. (John 8:31)
We are putting our faith into action. (James 2:17)
Let us begin with the first clue: of the “setting apart Christ as Lord.”
The angels ask Mary & Joanna a question, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
This is an interesting question. Clearly God had prepped theses angels with knowledge that Mary and Joanna were coming to the tomb that day. The question they asked was intended to help them reevaluate their own thoughts about Jesus.
They once believed that Jesus was different from any other man, but then they watched him die like every other man around them. And their thoughts about him changed.
When the hurts of life surround you, be sure to watch your heart. A byproduct of sin is that we think God owes us something. Additionally, when we encounter pain in life, the last thing human nature wants to do is humble ourselves before God. We would much rather stand as judge over God.
Feeling the disappointment of watching Christ die on the cross, these women, like many other followers at the time, simply judged Jesus to be only a good man, a holy man, but nothing more. But, the empty tomb says so much more!!!
If you put your trust in Christ, he will transform you from death to life. And the first clue that shows the stone has been rolled away is that you joyfully embrace Jesus as Lord over your life.
Now to the second clue: “abiding in His word.”
The angels say to Mary & Joanna: Luke 24:6–7 (ESV): Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
If he was just another man, then we have no obligation to remain in His word. But if he is the Son of God, then we must be diligent to abide in His Word, to know His word, to trust His word. Indeed, we must trust His word over all other words and ideas in life.
Diligent abiding looks like faithful reading, praying, studying, and receiving the preached word, and then sharing the word with others.
And now to the last clue to knowing if the stone has been rolled away, taking action!!! In Luke 24:8–9 (ESV): 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Mary & Joanna chose to place their trust in Christ again. They returned to the words of Christ which they had previously neglected in the short days since His death. And they immediately put their newly revived faith into action.
Today, many do not see the transforming power of Christ in their lives because of a failure to put their faith into action. Mary & Joanna acted on their faith. They did not allow complacency or fear to rob them of the opportunity to act in faith and be transformed. They arrived at the tomb discouraged and struggling to believe, they left with joy and excitement!!
God removes the stone and we put our trust in Christ, the result is transformation from death to life. Trust in Christ begins with setting Him apart as Lord over your life, being diligent to abide in His word and by putting your faith into action.
This is the process by which we come to know the power of Christ’s resurrection. Let me leave you with some parting words from the apostle Paul, which has been the hope of Christians everywhere for centuries. [Read Phil 3:8-11]
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Because of this hope we no longer fear death and are made to walk in the power of Christ right now. Let us pray.
