BECAUSE HE LIVES

Introduction

THE LORD IS RISEN…HE IS RISEN INDEED

-That is something to celebrate—we have a risen Savior, not a dead prophet or teacher

~This makes all the difference in the world, because a dead person can’t do much for you—a dead person cannot significantly change your life

-Sure, the teachings left behind by men and women of old can give inspiration or set you on some sort of journey, but only someone who is both God and man and is alive can change you from the inside out, and change you for eternity

-It makes me think about the testimony of Christian philosopher and apologist Ravi Zacharias—born and raised in India, although very much influenced by the Hindu culture within which He was raised, he grew up in a home that was nominally Christian (meaning, they claimed a form of Christianity that did not make much of a life impact)

~He grew up in a home where the dad was often quite absent, but when he was home he would beat the family mercilessly.

~In a culture where school was important, Ravi only wanted to play cricket and tennis, and received a lot of grief from his dad because of it.

~Living a seemingly meaningless life and receiving a lot of harsh treatment, Ravi no longer saw the point in living. He went to the university lab and picked up some chemicals marked "Poison" and took them home.

~He put all the packages together in a glass of water and gulped it down in order to end it all. He obviously became very sick and was dying. He was found by a family servant and sent to a hospital where they did all they could to save his life—which they did by God’s grace

~By God’s providence a Gideon brought a Bible to Ravi’s mom and told her to read a particular verse (part of our passage today).

~When his mom read the words of Jesus “BECAUSE I LIVE, YOU ALSO WILL LIVE” it changed his life. As he put it, he thought “This may be my only hope: A new way of living. Life as defined by the Author of Life.” He committed his life to Christ.

-You see, if Christ had not risen from the dead, what hope could have been offered a young man laying in a bed of suicide? What would any dead author or prophet or politician have to give him to choose life.

-In fact, without a Risen Savior, what point is there to life? You see, that’s something that Buddhism, Islam, and all other philosophies and religions cannot answer—why choose life if there is no promise of life to be chosen?

-But you see, there is a Risen Savior, and it is exactly because He live that we have hope and peace and joy available to us.

-And so, what we find out today is that because Jesus lives we receive several spiritual promises that affect, not only our present lives, but also our eternal destinies. I hope these promises are an encouragement to you.

John 14:18–21 ESV

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

I) Because He lives we have the promise of Christ’s presence

-To understand why Jesus says what He says, we need to understand the context of the conversation—Jesus had predicted His death and Peter’s denial, so the apostles were distraught

-They didn’t fully grasp all that Jesus was saying—all that they knew is that Jesus was saying he was going to die and go away, so they were wondering what was going to happen to them

-So, Jesus gives them this promise in v. 18—He was not going to leave them as orphans, but He was going to come to them and be with them

-An orphan is someone who has been deprived of care and compassion due to the death or abandonment of their parents or caretaker—you know, when you see pictures that come from around the world from war-torn nations, some of the hardest pictures to look at are pictures of children who are distraught having lost family and home in the violence.

-And after hearing that Jesus would be leaving them, that’s how the apostles were seeing things; they felt as if Jesus was abandoning them and they would be all alone in this spiritually-war-torn world.

-But Jesus says they will not be left as orphans, because Jesus was coming to them and giving them His presence—and when you look at the full context within which Jesus says this, I believe there are three ways of taking this, all dependent upon Him raising from the dead

-First, even though Jesus would die, He would be raised to life (being present physically); second, even though Jesus would ascend to heaven, He would send the Spirit (being present spiritually); and third, even though Jesus would reign from heaven, He would return to earth (being present eternally).

-So first, Jesus said that even though the apostles would see Him die on the cross, He would not remain in the grave—on the third day He would be raised and come to them physically so that they could take comfort.

~Jesus’ death was not a permanent abandonment—He would demonstrate to them His power over death

-Then after that Jesus would seemingly abandon them again in that He would ascend into heaven—but right before this passage He gave this promise in vv. 16-17:

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

~By going to heaven, Jesus wasn’t just going to leave His disciples to fend for themselves—Jesus would come to them through the Spirit and actually indwell His people

-And finally, even though Jesus has ascended into heaven, He will return again some day and bring His people into permanent, perfect fellowship with Him—He is preparing a new heaven and a new earth and Jesus will come to bring His people into their eternal dwelling place

-So Jesus does not leave His followers as orphans

~Some of you, though, are going through a tough time and it seems like God is silent—but Jesus has not abandoned you; because He lives He is able to come and minister to you in your time of need; as you go through the valley, He comes and is present with you now through the Spirit, and later through eternal fellowship

-All the leaders of every religion there has ever been (other than Christianity) are dead and will never be able to help their adherents with anything; but Jesus is alive and is ever-present with those who follow

II) Because He lives we have the promise of eternal life

-In v. 19 Jesus tells his followers that because He lives they also will live

-When Jesus says “He lives” He uses the present tense, meaning that it is the permanent state of things—Jesus didn’t say “because I have lived” and He didn’t say “because I will live”, rather, because He was raised from the dead He lives—Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever is alive and it is a permanent fact

-And He says that because of the present reality of the fact that HE LIVES, we then shall live—His life gives us life in two ways:

-First, because He lives we are given eternal spiritual life:

~This is the gospel

~The Bible says in Ephesians 2:1—

You were dead in the trespasses and sins

~That is the natural state of man—born with a sin nature that causes you to sin, you are spiritually dead

~The Bible then tells us in Ephesians 2:4-6—

4 God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved--

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

-You see, Jesus on the cross became sin for us and died in our place—but if He had just died and did nothing else it wouldn’t have done us any good—if we were to be raised into spiritual life, He had to be raised in His physical life—our new life in Christ is dependent on His resurrection

-And now through Christ God offers the gift of spiritual life purely by grace to those who trust that Jesus died for them:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9 ESV)

-If Jesus didn’t raise from the dead, there could be no offer for life for us—all His teachings would amount to nothing because the teachings of a dead man can’t change your eternal destination

~Which means the teachings of Buddha, Krishna, Muhammed, and others will do you no permanent, eternal good

~We have spiritual life because a living Savior is able to grant that

-But not only does He offer eternal spiritual life, but because He lives He offers us the hope of eternal physical life

~Before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus told Martha:

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. (Jn. 11:25-26 ESV)

-Paul declares:

in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20 ESV)

~That means that just as Christ bodily rose from the dead, so also all who have believed in Him will bodily raise from the dead to live with Him forever in a New Heaven and New Earth

-Not only is that a great promise of our own eternal state, but it reminds us that for all of our family and friends who have believed in Jesus and who have died, they too shall live and we shall be reunited with them

-The pain of death in this earth is temporary—because He lives all who are in Christ shall live, that gives us peace and security for eternity

III) Because He lives we have the promise of loving revelation

-In vv. 20-21 Jesus says that all who believe in the risen Savior will have a spiritual union with Him and the Father in a loving relationship

-That loving relationship consists of us demonstrating our love for Christ through obedience—when we obey His commands we show Him that we love Him, and those who love Jesus are loved by the Father and the Lord

-But Jesus also says that for those who love Him He will manifest Himself to them—that is, Jesus will reveal Himself and His plans and His ways and His character and His will to those who love Him

-Jesus will make Himself known to believers in ways that He will not make Himself known to unbelievers—sure, unbelievers might believe the historical facts about Jesus (that He lived and died and rose), but they have not committed themselves to Him in love

-But for those of us who commit our lives in love to Him, who have trusted in Him, we will get to know Him very intimately as He reveals Himself

-That’s relationship—what’s true for human relationships is true for our spiritual relationships

~The closest earthly relationship is that of husband and wife—because of the loving relationship between my wife and I, I have manifested myself / revealed myself to her in ways I don’t and can’t to anyone else, and she has manifested herself / revealed herself to me in ways she doesn’t and can’t to others

-Believers are the bride of Christ—He manifests Himself / reveals Himself in special ways to us that He won’t and can’t to others—if you truly want to know Jesus, you must believe He is Lord and that He was raised from the dead. As Paul said:

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

(Rom. 10:9-10 ESV)

-You can’t get to intimately know a dead person—a dead person cannot reveal himself to you. But someone who is alive is able to make Himself known and you are able to have relationship with Him—true intimacy…

Conclusion

-All this and more, only because He lives

-As the song says:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living,

Just because He lives!

-Ravi Zacharias found out that because Jesus lives, he also shall live—and you can know that too if you come to trust Him

~Eternal life and security and intimacy with God can be yours when you commit yourself to Jesus Christ, and believe He was raised from the dead

~Without that belief you will not have eternal life, and you will not truly know Him

-Christian, is the risen Savior making an impact in your life today—if not, come and seek Him—God says in Scripture:

13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (Jer. 29:13 ESV)

~Or maybe there is someone you want to come and pray for who doesn’t know the risen Savior…