04-17-2022 - He Got Up!

A lot can happen in three days!

OPENING

Easter is such a wonderful time of the year! When I was growing up, I would usually get one of those chocolate bunnies for Easter. Most of the time it was one of the hallow ones. Those were great. But every once in a while I would get one of the solid ones and it would take me all week to gnaw my way through that thing! But my absolute favorite Easter candy of all time is the Cadbury Creme Egg! If you don’t know what a Cadbury Creme Egg is, it is a chocolate egg that is filled with the Holy Ghost! If you’ve never had one I promise you it will change your life. It will also change your glucose levels!

But we know that Easter is about more than candy, eggs, and bunnies. Easter is a wonderful time of the year when we emphasize the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and we celebrate the empty tomb! Jesus fully surrendered Himself to the will of God the Father and willingly laid down His life for us and died on an old rugged cross. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. But the good news of Easter is He didn’t stay buried! HE GOT UP!

SCRIPTURE

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

MESSAGE

Easter is all about Jesus! It is about proclaiming the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The word gospel means “good news.” So the Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. At the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul defines the Gospel message as:

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and

He was buried, and

He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

So the Gospel, or the good news, of Jesus Christ revolves around His death, burial, and resurrection.

Christ Died for Our Sins

The death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary is central to the Gospel. As we talked about last week, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey on Palm Sunday knowing full well that He would be crucified on a cross by the end of the week. During that week He had a passover meal with His 12 disciples and then went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He prayed in agony in the Garden until His sweat became as great drops of blood. He asked the Father to let the cup of suffering pass from Him, but said, “Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done.” He was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver, the average cost for a slave in that day. He was arrested and falsely accused. He was betrayed by some in the crowd that had shouted, “Hosanna!” just a few days earlier. The crowds now shouted, “Crucify Him!” He was abandoned by His closest disciples. He was scourged. He was beaten. He was ridiculed. He was condemned to die. He walked up Calvary’s hill and was nailed to an old rugged cross. He cried out, “It is finished!” Then He said, “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit” and He gave up the ghost and died.

Jesus suffered and died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. God the Father laid on Jesus the guilt and wrath that our sins deserved and Jesus bore it in Himself perfectly, totally satisfying the wrath of God in our place!

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus was lifted up on the cross. He was suspended between Heaven and earth. He had said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” As Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness and all those who looked upon it were healed of the plague, now all who look upon Jesus and the cross, and place their faith in Him as Savior, are spiritually healed from the effects of sin. The wrath and judgment of God on sin no longer apply. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus! Our sins have been forgiven! The price of our redemption has been paid in full! The wrath of God has been lifted off of us! We have been set free by the blood of Jesus!

Jesus died for your sins! When He was on the cross, you were on His mind! He shed His blood for you! And His blood will never lose its power! Just one drop of His precious blood is enough to wash away your sins and grant you everlasting life! And all you have to do is acknowledge you’re a sinner, believe in Jesus and what He did at the cross as the only source of salvation, and confess Him as Lord and Savior of your life!

John 3:16–17 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

He Was Buried

We may not often think of the burial of Jesus as part of the Gospel, but it is. It is important for several reasons. First, obviously you don’t bury someone who is not dead. Jesus died on the Cross. The Roman soldiers confirmed He was dead. The followers of Jesus who came and took His body down from the cross confirmed He was dead. This wasn’t some elaborate hoax as some suggest. Jesus didn’t play possum on the cross so He could fake a resurrection. Jesus died on the cross and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Second, Jesus’ burial also fulfilled Scripture.

Isaiah 53:9 NKJV

9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Jesus was buried in the tomb of a rich man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus had also said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” He had also said:

Matthew 12:40 NKJV

40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus prophesied that He would be dead for three days and three nights. They laid Him in the tomb. They rolled a stone in front of the entrance. They posted guard at the tomb to make sure the disciples didn’t steal the body of Jesus and claim a false resurrection. They should have paid closer attention to what Jesus said. He was only going to need the tomb for three days! He wasn’t staying there any longer than that!

He Rose Again the Third Day

On the third day, He got up! Sometime early on Sunday morning, the stone was rolled away. The power of God flooded the tomb. Suddenly, the body of Jesus, the same body that was beaten, nailed to a cross, pierced in the side, and laid it the tomb began to move. He got up! He laid aside the grave clothes. And He walked out of the tomb in victory; demonstrating His power over sin and death!

Some of His followers showed up the next day expecting Jesus to still be in the tomb.

Matthew 28:1–6 NKJV

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

He wasn’t in the tomb when they arrived that morning, because He got up! The tomb is still empty today, because He got up! You can visit the tomb in Jerusalem where many believe is the actual tomb where He was buried, but you won’t find Him there, because He got up. You won’t find his remains anywhere, like Mohammed's, or Buddha’s, because He got up! He got up and walked out of the tomb, alive! And He is still alive today. And He will be alive forever more!

And that means something for us today! When He got up, He demonstrated that He has the ultimate power over sin, over sickness, over death, and over all the power of the enemy! And if you are “in Christ” then His victory is your victory! There is victory in Jesus!

Because He Got up, we have recieved some great and precious promises!

Because He Got Up, We have Peace with God!

Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

5 ...The chastisement for our peace was upon Him...

Sin had to be judged. The payment for sin had to be paid. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. So we deserved the death penalty. The wrath of God was upon us. But Jesus came and bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He took the punishment we deserved. He payed our sin debt by offering His own life as a substitute for ours. He took the chastisement that was required to give us peace with God so that we can have relationship and fellowship with Him! Aren’t you glad, He got up!

Because He Got Up, We are Justified by Faith!

Romans 4:24–25 NKJV

24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Because He got up, it guarantees our justification and forgiveness from sin! Justification is a legal term that means it is “just-as-if-I’d never sinned.” When God looks at us as born again believers, He doesn’t see our past. He doesn’t see our criminal backgrounds. He doesn’t see our wrap sheets. He sees the blood of His Son Jesus Christ applied to the doorposts of our hearts. He sees the righteousness of His Son imputed to us. He sees us “just-as-if-we’d never sinned!” Aren’t you glad, He got up!

Because He Got Up, We are Raised to Newness of Life

Romans 6:4 NKJV

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Because He got up, we do not stay bound to our sinful nature. Just like Christ was raised from the dead, as a born-again believer, we are also raised to newness of life. The old person we used to be is dead and buried. And we are raised up, by the power of God, to be a new creation in Christ Jesus! We don’t think some of the same ways we used to think. We don’t act some of the same ways we used to act. We don’t want to do some of the same things we liked to do. We’re different. We’re changed. We’re born again. Aren’t you glad, He got up!

Because He Got Up, We have Hope!

1 Peter 1:3 NKJV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Because He got up, we have a living hope! Christ is the firstfruits of those who will be raised from the dead. The Bible says that the power of God was so strong at the resurrection of Jesus Christ that many of the saints came back to life and walked out of their tombs and were seen by many in Jerusalem. That is just a foreshadowing of a great event that is going to take place one day very soon. All the saints of God of all the ages are going to be resurrected at the Rapture. Ain’t no grave gonna hold their bodies down! It won’t matter if they’ve been cremated and their ashes spread all over God’s creation. At the sound of the trumpet, the dead in Christ are going to rise! And those of us that are alive and remain are going to be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord! Aren’t you glad, He got up!

Because He Got Up, We are Healed!

Malachi 4:2 (NKJV)

2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings...

Because He got up, we have access to not only spiritual, but physical healing of our bodies. It is by His stripes that we “were” healed! He bore those stripes for me and for you, so that we could be healed through faith in Him! The Son of Righteousness, Jesus Christ, has risen with healing in His wings! Healing is a part of the gospel message. Jesus is still our healer today. He can make the lame walk again! He can open blinded eyes! He can remove cancer! He can break the power of addiction! He can mend a broken heart! He can fix a troubled mind! I don’t care what needs healing, Jesus is the healer! Aren’t you glad, He got up!

CLOSING

Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Jesus was buried according to the Scriptures. And Jesus rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He got up! And that means He is who He says He is. He is who the Bible says He is. And He can do what He says He can do. It doesn’t matter what problem you may be facing, Jesus is the solution! He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! He is the King of kings and Lord of lords! He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last! He is Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace! He can radically change your life! He can give you peace with God. He can give you justification by faith. He can raise you up to newness of life. He can give you a living hope. He can heal your mind, soul, and body. You don’t have a problem that Jesus cannot solve. Aren’t you glad, He got up!

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