Easter 2021

I Co 15:12-34

The Resurrection is the last and most convincing proof of who Jesus said he was.

I wonder how many times someone has said, “I wish that God would just come down to earth and walk among us then I would believe. Most people have a way of believing what they see easier than what they are told. How many times has someone said, “I have to see this for myself.” Or one person has said to another, “you will have to see this to believe it.”

Of course, the more important the topic the more proof that we want that something is true. If I told that the Lake Ponderous has purple water, you might be curious and you would want to see it. Now if I told you that your eternal destiny was dependent upon you believing that the water at Lake Ponderous is purple, you would be more than curious. You would want to everything that was possible to confirm that the water was truly purple. Now if you lived on the other side of the world and could not physically get here to see the purple water you would have to believe that testimony of someone who has actually seen it. You would want as much proof that what the person was saying was true.

The same is true with Jesus and his claim that he was the messiah. The people wanted proof. Even John the Baptist when in jail wanted to know if Jesus was really the messiah. The guy that boldly proclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes way the sins earth.” What proof that Jesus was who he said he was…we see this in Matthew 11:2-5

Matthew 11:2–5 ESV

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

The blind receiving their sight. The lame walking, the dead raised up, the poor having good news, those are all wonder things, but how do we know that you are the messiah. Jesus would tell the people of the time, you will destroy this temple and in three day I will rise it back up. The resurrection was going to be the last proof that Jesus was who he said he was. In fact, the last proof is now a cardinal belief. To be a Christian, you have to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. If a person does not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus they are not a Christian in the historical, orthodox sense of the word. People might call to be Christians even though they don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus.

Take for example the Gnostic of the first century. They did not believe that Jesus rose bodily from the grave. It was debated and decided that the Gnostic Christians, as the called themselves, were actually heretics. They were not true Christians.

You want proof that Jesus is the Messiah? You have to look no farther than the empty tomb at Calvary. It is the the last and most convincing proof of who Jesus said he was.

The Resurrection gives us hope that our bodies will be raised from the dead also.

There is one thing that every ex-president thinks about in their last days in office and even after their time in the White House is over. It is there legacy. What is history going to say about me? Did I do any good while I sat behind the big stately desk in the Oval Office? Did I accomplish something bigger than myself?

Now before we get to harsh with our ex-presidents, realize that we as “normal” people also have these same desires. We want to know what history will say about us? You’re probably thinking…History won’t even know who I am. On the world stage your probably right, and the same probably holds true for that national level as well but what about the state level? Or the local level? None of these places either? Okay about on a personal level? What do I mean by personal level? I mean what your family history say about you? He was a great father? She was a terrible mother? He was my favorite uncle? My aunt as the best? Will they say, “Grandpa broke the long chain of child abuse in the family and because of that my child are growing up without that in their lives?

So we all want history to say something about us, but why? The reason is that we were created that way. Each one us has an eternal spark in us. There is something that knows some how that we are eternal beings. Even though we know we are going to die someday we also sense the eternal beings we are. Those eternal beings that knows they are going to die wonder how their legacy will live when they die. They believe that is the only way they can live on after they die.

But the resurrection changed all that! Charles Wesley wrote about it and we will sing about it in a few minutes, Made Like Him, Like Him We Rise,

Because of birth of Christ, life of Christ, because of Jesus’ dying on the Cross, being bodily resurrected, and promising do to the same for us, we can be sure that we will live on for all eternity. There will be some form of each one of us that will life on for eternity. We are after all eternal beings. The question becomes if I am going to be in eternity what will my “forever life” going to look like? Well that is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. It tells us how God has provide for us a great gift through Jesus Christ if we will simply believe in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. When we do that our eternal destiny changes from one of death to one of life.

The Resurrection reminds us of all these truths. There is also the promise Jesus gives his disciples in

John 14:1–8 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

The resurrection is the theological foundation for all of our Christian beliefs. Take away the resurrection and everything else comes down like a house of cards.

The Resurrection gives Life Purpose.

The death and resurrection of Jesus tells us that our life is important to God!

The poor and the rich can have the same hope and purpose in life if Jesus is raised from the dead. The poor has eternal purpose in this life because they serve King Jesus. The rich person has eternal purpose, not because they are rich, but because they too are serving King Jesus.

What gives the average person meaning to life? For some it is there job, what they do for a living gives the purpose. They have purpose because they go to work every day ready and able to save a life. The doctor operates to repair a heart. The firefighter goes into a burning building to save a trapped person. The soldier serve the United States of America so that you and I might have the worship ever this morning. Their jobs give the purpose.

For others it is their family relationships that give them purpose.

There is one problem in finding your purpose outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ. What is the problem? They all can change. The doctor is not able to repair the heart. The firefight can’t save the family. The soldier is not able to complete their mission.

If we are eternal beings, and we care about our legacy then life should have a purpose. But if we are not eternal beings, then we have no reason to worry about a legacy and life has no purpose. Life becomes like Salmon proclaims, Vanity Vanity , it is all Vanity. Or a more modern translation would be Point less, pointless, all of life is pointless.

It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that gives life a purpose whether we know it our not. Whether we believe it or not. Without the resurrection we would have not way of know what our eternal destiny would be and therefore no purpose in life.

Do you have purpose in life? Do you care about your legacy, what history will say about you? Do you need some or all of your answers to life’s important questions to change? To be transformed? That is what the empty tomb is for; for you to have the power of the Holy Spirit and the guide of the Son to transform your life for the glory and honor of God the Father. Do you need to believe in Jesus Christ and his resurrecting power today?