HE IS RISEN

INTRODUCTION

-While I was reading a book about preaching, it brought forth a conviction about preaching that I have to admit I am guilty of at times----the conviction that is raised is that we give out only half of the gospel for most of the year

-What do I mean by that? Well, for 51 or so weeks out of the year, we preachers pound on the fact that Christ died on the cross to cure us of the sin-sickness we all have—Christ shed His blood to pay the penalty for sins {and no doubt He did..}

-But then for 1 Sunday out of the year, or at most for 1 season of the year, we mention at Easter time in an almost nonchalant way: OH YEAH, and BY THE WAY, JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD TOO

-we relegate the resurrection of Jesus Christ to an almost secondary status, but the problem is, without the resurrection the gospel is incomplete----you see, if Jesus died but wasn’t raised from the dead, there is no payment for sins, there is no eternal life, death has not been defeated, we are still in the same shape as we were before

-I think about how now we daily hear about the numbers of those who died from this virus we are dealing with. What if one day we came up with the cure for that virus. The cure for that virus won’t do any good for those who have already passed away. What they would need is not only the cure for the disease, but they would need life supernaturally breathed back into them.

-To me, that illustrates the gospel without the resurrection. Jesus cured the disease of sin, but that doesn’t do a dead person any good. Dead people need life, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ shows us that God has the power to make dead things live again. God can take a dead physical body and give it life (which He did for Jesus 2000 years ago and will do for believers in the future), and by implication that means He also has the power to take spiritually dead people and make them spiritually alive in Him

-the whole gospel is Jesus died our death in our place, He took our punishment in our stead, so that guilt and wrath would pass over us. But that is the tip of the iceberg because Jesus rose from the dead, proving He is the Savior of the world, and giving life to the dead

-This is not just an Easter thing, this is the bedrock of Christian doctrine, without which there is no Christianity, there is no salvation, and there is no eternal life----or as the apostle Paul had put it, if Christ didn’t raise from the dead we are still in our sins, and we above all other people in the world are to be the most pitied

-But Christ did rise from the dead, and that doesn’t just have implications for our doctrine (the body of faith we hold on to), it has implications for our life in faith even today—so today I want to lead you to live your life of faith in light of the Risen Christ…

Luke 24:36–49 ESV

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them. 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

I) Since Christ is Risen we can trust God’s promises

-several times over His ministry, Jesus had prepared His disciples of His impending death, but He also prepared them for His impending resurrection----the problem is, like most of us, the disciples were pretty thick headed and slow to believe and understand

-During His ministry, the disciples didn’t necessarily get it--and even now, witnessing His death on Friday and seeing Him alive on Sunday, they still couldn’t believe it was true

-But Jesus desires faith and trust in His followers for all things that He promises—so there were two ways in which Jesus proved to them the truth of the Resurrection, because (THIS IS IMPORTANT), if Christ’s resurrection is true, everything else Jesus taught and said is true as well, and we all can live in hope and peace in light of that truth----so first He presents to them:

A) Physical Evidence (vv. 36-43)

-All the disciples are gathered together in one place—earlier in the day Peter and John saw the empty tomb—not long after that two disciples were on the road to Emmaus when Jesus appeared to them—so they hurried back to Jerusalem to tell the others

-So here they are, all gathered together trying to make sense out of everything, when all of a sudden right there in their midst Jesus appears----that freaks them out a little because some of the other gospels make it clear that all the windows and doors were shut and locked out of fear of those who killed Jesus

-So, the disciples think what might come natural, if someone can just appear out of nowhere, getting past locked doors and windows==they have to be a ghost

-But Jesus asks them why they are so troubled by His appearance, and why do they doubt Him--and He begins to show them physical evidence that it is really the Jesus they knew, and that He really is alive again from the dead

-He appeals to their sight—sometimes you might not be able to trust your eyes, but this wasn’t one of those times—He told them to look at His hands and feet—Why?—Because there they could see the scars where the nails were put through for His crucifixion----the Risen Christ will have those scars for eternity as a testament of the price He paid

-Then He appeals to their sense of touch—He tells them to touch Him, because ghosts don’t have flesh and bones—you can’t touch a ghost

-but the disciples were still a little slow, so He demonstrated His own sense of taste because He asked for a meal—so they watched Him eat—ghosts don’t eat

-Jesus is lining up pieces of evidence, one right after another to prove the resurrection. It’s like all the courtroom dramas you’ve ever watched. The prosecution submits their physical evidence, telling the court, “This is people’s exhibit A, then exhibit B, and so on” building their case on solid physical evidence. Here is the gun we found. Here is the fingerprint on the gun we found, and so on. They then ask the court to make a definite conclusion based on what is presented.

-Piece after piece of evidence is placed before the disciples, so He was leading them to conclude the truth, that He truly rose from the dead

-but Jesus didn’t just rely on physical evidence, He also pointed to:

B) Scriptural Evidence (vv. 44-46)

-Jesus tells them that this is exactly what the Scriptures said would happen----Jesus breaks down what we call the OT: Moses’ lawithPentateuch/ First 5 books of the Bible pointed to this—the prophets (which included what we call the Historical books, the Major Prophets, and the Minor Prophets), they prophesy this; the Psalms (which includes all the wisdom literature), it points to this----God’s plan has always been the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior of the World

-and as He did with those disciples He met on the road to Emmaus, v. 45

-The words, as well as all the types and shadows and pictures found in the OT show a Risen Christ

-and this is important, because if the promise of the resurrection is fulfilled by God, all the rest of the promises in Scripture will be as well—there is no reason to doubt any of the great truths of Scripture

-If the resurrection, the most miraculous showing of God’s power, is true, then surely everything else must be true as well

-and that means you can live your life without doubt and fear based on God’s Word, all because Jesus is alive

-Because He is Risen, we know we shall also rise from the dead:

Romans 6:5 (ESV)

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

~What a great promise for those who have lost loved ones recently

-But also, because He is Risen, we can now live our present life in light of a living hope:

1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

~As Adrian Rogers used to say, we now have a know-so hope—a hope that is alive, not dead

-And also, because He is risen we are spiritually alive and able to respond to God:

1 Peter 3:21 (ESV)

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

-and so much more—if you see a promise in the Bible, you know it’s true because He is Risen, so you are able to live out your Christian life in power and boldness, without fear or doubt

-there is one other way to live in light of the Risen Christ:

II) Since Christ is Risen we can fulfill our calling

-As much as there are definite benefits and blessings for us garnered from the resurrection, there is also responsibilities that come with it:

A) The Message (vv. 47-48)

-He tells the disciples that they are witnesses of all the things Christ has done, so it is now on them to go to all the nations in His name and preach

-The message is very simple: repentance and remission/forgiveness of sins

-because Christ is alive, and we are made alive in Him, so we are to go to the other spiritually dead people and tell them how to be made alive

-We tell them of repentance=a change of direction and attitude toward sin; a desire to turn from a self-centered life to a Christ-centered life—this has been the message throughout His ministry

-Jesus’ 1st recorded sermon is : REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND—the message hasn’t changed much—in order to have saving faith, you need to have repentance, they are opposite sides of the same coin (so to speak)—if there is no turning, there is no faith

-but coupled with it is the forgiveness of sins that is available to all by grace alone through that type of faith alone in Christ alone

~We have broken the law and standards of a Holy God. This incurs a debt—but that debt has been paid in full by another. So, on the merit of that other our sin is forgiven.

-So with the simple message: Jesus died for your sins and rose for your life, repent and believe for the forgiveness of your sins, dead people are brought to life—that is the message we all proclaim—but we don’t need to go do it alone, for He also speaks abt:

B) The Power (v. 49)

-v. 49—Jesus is speaking abt the indwelling Holy Spirit—He referred to this elsewhere:

John 16:7–11 ESV

7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

-And now that the HS is in you, you are gifted with power from on high—but we’re not given just any power by the Holy Spirit, we are given resurrection power to be able to go out, be witnesses, proclaim Christ, minister in His name, make His name known thru words and deeds

-Imagine it, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in us if we would just get out of the way and let Him work—the power that raised Christ is an eternal, limitless power because it comes from an eternal limitless God—wouldn’t it be easier to tap into that power rather than try to do it on your own?

-Several years ago there was an interview on the CBS Morning Show with a guy who got struck by lightning, not once, not twice, but 4 times in his life. In 1978 as he grabbed the handle of his pickup truck, he got struck by lightning. In 1996 while repairing a streetlight lightning struck a tree next to him, shot him a ways and knocked him unconscious. In 1999 he was holding the chain of a swing set when it got him. Then in 2005 while operating a backhoe it hit and sent him flying again. He is definitely not a guy to hang around when there are clouds in the sky. But let me give you an idea about the power with which he was hit. The National Weather Service says that each bolt of lightning can reach 5 miles, get up to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit and contain up to 100 million electrical volts. That is some pretty powerful stuff that this guy got smacked with

-But that is nothing compared to the power that is ours thru the Holy Spirit who gifts us with power to live life pleasing to him…power that we need to minister in His name, and we have it because Christ rose from the dead so that we are able to tell others abt this resurrection life that can be theirs as well----if that power is available, why in the world would we try to do it on our own

-As theologian put it so simply: We are not to be surprised if living as Christians brings us to the place where we find we are at the end of our own resources, and that we are called to rely on the God who raises the dead.

CONCLUSION

-So, you can see that the resurrection is not just some gloss or appendix to the gospel story—it is the gospel story

-and the fact that He is risen doesn’t only secure our future eternal life, it means something to us in the here and now----we can live trusting every promise that He has given to us, and we know we are empowered to go forth and make His resurrection life known

-Do you have this life? I invite you if you have never trusted Christ to do so today…

-and for the Christian, I invite you to live a life of power and victory----if you have been living a life of doubt and fear, that is miserable; have a time of prayer and study today, and ask God to show you what resurrection life is all about

Tim Keller told the following story about the power of Christ's resurrection:

A minister was in Italy, and there he saw the grave of a man who had died centuries before who was an unbeliever and completely against Christianity, but a little afraid of it too. So, the man had a huge stone slab put over his grave so he would not have to be raised from the dead in case there is a resurrection from the dead. He had insignias put all over the slab saying, "I do not want to be raised from the dead. I don't believe in it." Evidently, when he was buried, an acorn must have fallen into the grave. So, a hundred or so years later the acorn had grown up through the grave and split that slab. It was now a tall towering oak tree. The minister looked at it and asked, "If an acorn, which has power of biological life in it, can split a slab of that magnitude, what can the acorn of God's resurrection power do in a person's life?"

Keller comments:

The minute you decide to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit comes into your life. It's the power of the resurrection—the same thing that raised Jesus from the dead …. Think of the things you see as immovable slabs in your life—your bitterness, your insecurity, your fears, your self-doubts. Those things can be split and rolled off. The more you know him, the more you grow into the power of the resurrection.

-My prayer is that through this crisis you are able to know more of Him and that you do grow in the power of the resurrection that will confront fears and doubts and anxieties and sins. The power that gives life can be at work in you today if you seek Him with your whole heart…because He is Risen