The Need For The Resurrection

INTRODUCTION

The most impactful event in history takes place in Genesis 3, when Adam chooses to disobey the Lord’s command and eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This brought about God’s curse on all of creation and revealed the ramifications for disobeying the Lord.

From that point forward, mankind would dive deeper and deeper into the quagmire of sin. And the Lord would time and again send judgment onto the people.

Then, when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law so that He might redeem those who were under the Law (Galatians 4:4)

The most important event in history takes place after the awful events of Good Friday. After Jesus suffered and died on the cross, He was laid in a tomb and left (presumably) to be there for good. However, on the first day of the week, the stone was rolled away and the declaration was made:

HE IS RISEN! [wait for response]

So we gather today, almost 2,000 years after that monumental day, to give glory to God for such an amazing act of love and grace, and to look to Scripture to see The Need For The Resurrection.

THE NEED TO FULFILL PROPHECY

Luke 24:44-47 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

For hundreds of years, God left clues through His prophets concerning the coming Messiah. These clues are how the people would know when the Messiah showed up.

Jesus took time after His resurrection to explain it. The unfortunate fact is that these clues were before their eyes for many years

Romans 1:1-4 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Son of God is another way to refer to the Messiah. The gospel was predicted years before Messiah came, but He was powerfully proclaimed the Son of God through the resurrection.

THE NEED TO PROVIDE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

1 Corinthians 15:17 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

Jesus had to rise from the dead in order for our faith to be established and our sins to be fully atoned for. Without a risen Savior, we are left with merely a good man that died.

THE NEED TO PROVIDE JUSTIFICATION

Romans 4:23-25 Now not for his [Abraham’s] sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

Going hand-in-hand with the forgiveness of sin is our justification in the sight of God. This is where we are made righteous in His sight, because of the righteousness of Jesus being applied to our account.

THE NEED TO PROVIDE PURPOSE TO PREACHING

1 Corinthians 15:14 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain.

Preaching that does not have the resurrection at the core is done in vain. The message with substance is a message that is based on the gospel.

CONCLUSION

It is an easy task to spend months looking at the significance and need of the resurrection from Scripture. Without it, we are left without hope and we are left without a message.

It is the message that we are called upon to proclaim to the world, and the message through which God is “declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,” (Acts 17:30).

At the end of the day, we have confidence in our Lord and Savior because He is risen!