Sermon (17-Apr): "The Hope of the Resurrection: Christ Has Been Raised"

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Big Idea:

The objective of this message today is that our hope lies in Christ’s resurrection

Introduction:

- If there is one thing that the Resurrection Sunday and the Resurrection of Christ teaches us,

- It is that there is hope

- Many of us have had situations in life;

- Situations where we have been troubled and hope seemed far-fetched at best

- Often times, we all need a glimpse or glimmer of hope

- I’ve found that hope has been the thing that lifts my spirit

- It allows me to refocus on what I’ve committed myself for my future

- Hope is more than a goal; I put it in line with my expectations

- If there is one thing that I don’t want to be doused or extinguished,

- It’s my hope and more specifically my eternal hope

- So, when we look at the Resurrection story

- That’s exactly what we see

- We see the hope of Christ—

- The expectation and reality that His death and resurrection serves the ultimate purpose—for us

- His suffering and death can help to shape our outlook and perspective

- What do I mean when I say shape our perspective?

- It’s about changing our vantage point

- That is something that will advance and morph, if you will, the more we stay connected with Christ

- The focus will always be Who Christ is to us at each and every moment

- But the way that plays out throughout our lives molds the context in a greater way

- In other words, we each can say that we believe in Christ and be completely sincere

- Yet, when we have that consistency and longstanding quality in our relationship with Him—it plays out differently

- Or rather, it should play out differently

- How I live my life at 10 years as a believer should look different than the 2nd year?

- I’m hoping that there will be more substance and more fruit for others to grasp from my life

- I’m hoping that my life will better reflect my words than sound like a clanging cymbal or resounding gong

- I want my life to echo Christ’s forgiveness and love for others—for you

- Whether you are at your worst or your best

- Christ said it best and there will be times when we have to say,

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

- Christ’s love for us on the cross reflects just how much God loves you

- After all, His Son paid the ultimate price so that we will eternally be in God’s family if we choose to accept it

Transition: So, our focus this Easter Resurrection Sunday is the hope of the resurrection

- It’s About More Than What You See

- It’s More About What We Didn’t See

Message:

- It’s About More Than What You See

19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. (NLT)

19 If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. (MSG)

- The Apostle Paul over time has become my all-time favorite apostle

- Think about his word choice is on point here

- He talks about the emphasis of our hope

- Back in Paul's day and it hasn’t changed much in ours, people were ridiculed for their beliefs

- Christians in particular were laughed at and looked at as naïve or delusional in many ways for their hope

- So, when it's written that Paul and his companions are most to be pitied; let me translate it this way

- Paul is sharing that they can be looked at as miserable

- First off, no one wants that feeling or to be looked at as miserable

- Misery may love company but that doesn't mean that it's always welcomed or invited

- And, Paul identifies with this in this opening verse

- As He writes to the Corinthian church—He writes to us

- Our sights need to be fixed on something—Someone—greater than improving our current situation

- In each of our lives, we can envision something that we want changed

- In diverse ways, our lives as we know it can use some adjustment whether something minor or major

- There’s nothing wrong with wanting something to change/improve in our lives

- The issue is that we don’t have the complete picture—as God sees it

- We can be in a situation that God is using to transform us into who He is calling us to be

- Though it may not look like how we think it should look,

- God can indeed use it for our advantage more than for our desired comfort level that we seek

- Scripture says that Christ became the “firstfruit” of the resurrection becoming our forerunner

- That word “firstfruit” simply means that He was the first but most assuredly He will not be the last

- Someone had to pave the way, set the tone for what God was establishing

- If not for Jesus, where would we be?

- What we tend to concentrate on most times is what we see in front of us and around us

- The idea is for us to get beyond that

- To go beyond our squabbles with our neighbors, coworkers and relatives

- To focus on the eternal rather than what’s temporal

- Persecution and similar things—not seeing eye to eye or not being on the same page—is sure to come

- That’s why, in so many situations/circumstances, we are called to not center ourselves ONLY on what we do see

- We won’t deny or neglect it but it will not have the final say

- Our drive is geared in a different direction

- In light of who and how we believe, our focus is now shifting

Transition: We’ve learned and grown from our old way of thinking to the mindset that It’s More About What We Didn’t or Don’t See

It’s More About What We Didn’t See

- Paul goes on to talk about what’s most important

- Rather than our everyday dealings that we all have to address anyways

- The focus needs to be on what is to come for those that have trusted in Christ

- Paul transitions from the hopes that are on the ground level

- And what does he do—he escalates them to a heavenly level

- Listen, he writes,

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

- I mentioned how it all must begin with Christ

- Not only is He the example but He is the indisputable forerunner—the unblemished Lamb of God

- Earlier in this chapter which I suggest that everyone reads,

- If Christ has not been raised, then what we preach and believe is useless

- And to put it another way, our faith is without merit

- If that is the case, we are no where near the right position to receive what God has for us

- There’s no way for us to receive an eternity with God without an acceptance of His Son

- A.W. Tozer once said this,

“I cannot give in to the devil's principal, deceitful tactic which makes so many Christians satisfied with an "Easter celebration" instead of experiencing the power of Christ's resurrection. It is the devil's business to keep Christians mourning and weeping with pity beside the cross instead of demonstrating that Jesus Christ is risen, indeed.” – A. W. Tozer in Renewed Day by Day (Vol. 2). Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 4.

- That does not mean that simply believing will allow all of our questions to be answered

- It doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we are without doubt for all time

- What it does mean is this—

- We identify the uniqueness of the mission, gospel and atonement of Christ on the cross

-We don’t neglect that God the Father “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10)

- Christ is at the core of everything we believe—the very reason we are here today and hope for tomorrow

- I believe that if we can truly focus on that truth then other dominoes will begin to fall in line

- That core belief should help provoke us to love differently and deeper,

- Treat others better—magnify our devotion to God

- All because of how one man has impacted our lives

- One man—Adam—started us on the wrong course

- So, it only makes sense that one man—Jesus—can set us back on the right course

- The essence of the Law in the Old Testament could only show us are wrongs

- But it took Christ and takes the power of the Holy Spirit to correct those wrongs

- And, the resurrection helps to bring it full circle for us

- Paul rightly shares that our natural association with Adam naturally condemns us to death in God’s eyes

- We come into this world set against God

- From the womb, we come into this world—in many ways defiant and disobedient and every parent can attest to that

- All of us included—born in the church, outside the church…it makes no difference

- It may be levels to this but no one is in a better position with God than another

- Paul poses it this way,

22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

- So, while it seems like we may not have had the best start…

- The opportunity is there for us to prepare ourselves for the best predicament that God allows

- It’s been said, “The resurrection is not only the Good News, it is the best news imaginable” Ray C. Stedman in God's Loving Word. Christianity Today

- From the beginning of time, no one would have imagined the connection available to us

- Now that we can remember and celebrate the resurrection—in the vernacular of our young adults today…

- Christ has changed the game for the “whosoever” willing to accept, believe and confess His lordship over our lives

- Look at it as the score has been settled—God required a perfect sacrifice which Christ fulfilled

- One of the key points that I look at is how the temple veil was torn in two (veil picture shown)

- That may seem simple enough but think about this…

- Imagine a 60 foot high curtain roughly around several inches thick that’s torn in two

- For those of us that try to picture it and reason it away,

- I for one become confused and can’t even begin to understand it

- But the bottom line is that not only was the veil rent in two

- But now we see that God—in essence—was putting the world on notice…

- That there will no longer be a separation between Him and us

- Jesus has made it so that there is no longer enmity between us and God—

- The dividing wall of hostility formerly in place has been broken down

- Ephesians 2:14-16 put it this way,

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

- The temple veil that signified the separation between God’s holiness and man’s sins was abolished on the cross

-And, it just wasn’t just something that was amazing thousands of years ago

- It still eternally affects us to this day

- That’s something that we can’t fully imagine

- That’s why it’s more about what we don’t see—namely,

- Christ’s suffering for our eternal joy

- So, when Scripture says (Heb 12:2) He “endured the cross for the joy set before Him”

- That alone means the world to me

- It’s not too many people that are willing to die for another

- And even more impressive is that He died for many that will never accept Him

- Then to consider that although we naturally inherited our sin state from Adam

- It only takes one sin to separate us from God’s holiness

- Many of us can’t go a single day without a sin much less a lifetime

- So, where does that leave us this Easter Sunday morning?

- Do we just hope and pray that God is graceful to us enough to let us into heaven?

- And, even more so, how can we combat the effects of not accepting/denying the resurrection?

- All good questions…

- I believe that Paul speaks personally on the matter to the Corinthian church but also to us later on in this chapter

- This chapter has so much goodness in it—like all of Scripture

- Paul says a few things that I want to point out:

-- I die daily (v.31)

31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you. (NLT)

- Paul knew that as much as he believed in Christ and the resurrection that He still had to face the world

- And, he had to deal with Himself

- In that, all that the world through at him day after day, He had to make up his mind to trust Christ

- His self and inner battles were just as challenging

- The Corinthian church encouraged him as we can do each other

-- Do not be deceived (v.33)

33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

- As much as Paul had the Corinthian church in his sights to influence him by their faith,

- He knew that the wrong company would slow and hinder him

- We each have a level of influence towards another—believer or unbeliever

- But when the bulk of that influence comes or we are overwhelmingly impacted by evil company

- We need to reexamine and take action to establish boundaries in our lives

-- Awake to righteousness and do not sin (v.34)

34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. (NKJV; Read This Version)

34 Be sober-minded [be sensible, wake up from your spiritual stupor] as you ought, and stop sinning; for some [of you] have no knowledge of God [you are disgracefully ignorant of Him, and ignore His truths]. I say this to your shame.

- Paul implores us to “snap out of any stupor that we are in and choose what is right”

- He concludes that how they are behaving; it’s as if they do not know God

- So, does that say that same about us?

- Many times in the New Testament; God gives us direction on how to change/how to repent

- The decision starts with us and in us

- Yet, it’s God that provides His Spirit that’ll work to cement God’s desire for and in you

Closing:

- As I close, I love the way St. Thomas Aquinas (Italian Roman Catholic priest, philosopher, and theologian) thinks,

“God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason.”

- So, this Resurrection – Easter Sunday, don’t focus merely on what you can see

- You have this opportunity—Don’t miss it—Place your hope on the Resurrection and the One who has been resurrected

- And, now sits at the right hand of God

- Let’s close out in prayer

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!