Please turn in your Bibles this morning to I Corinthians chapter 15 as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Tragically, we are seeing an increasing number of people who don’t know what this day is all about and no, it is not about Easter bunnies and colored eggs! Let me share with you this story and you will see what I mean.
A group of four year olds were gathered in a Sunday School class in Chattanooga. The teacher, looking at her class enthusiastically, asked, “Does anyone know what today is?”
One little girl knew. “It’s Palm Sunday!” she said.
“Very good,” said the teacher. “And does anyone know what next Sunday is?”
The same little girl lifted her hand again. “Yes, next Sunday is Easter,” she announced.
The teacher was very pleased with this little girl, and she complimented her effusively [exuberantly] before asking a third question. “Now, does anyone know what makes Easter so special?”
It was the same little girl who again raised her hand and offered this answer: “Yes, next Sunday is Easter because Jesus rose from the dead . . .”
Before the teacher could compliment her, she kept on talking: “. . . but if he sees his shadow, he has to go back in for seven weeks.”
- Robert J. Morgan, Stories, Illustrations & quotes, p. 254
Now as cute and funny as that story is, many adults have no clue to what this day is all about. Now that may surprise some of you, but it is true. In fact, several years ago a group of pollsters looked at the 60% of Americans who attended church the previous Easter Sunday, and 25% of them could not explain the significance of this event! And that is after going to church on Easter Sunday!
How can that be? Why is this happening? Because as the pastors, as the leaders disregard the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so too will the people. Listen to this article from the Herald Times Reporter from a few years back and you will see what I mean. George Plagenz, in the Opinion section wrote an article called: Belief in physical resurrection falters. And listen carefully to what he had to say because it is even worse today. He wrote:
Choirs and congregations throughout the world will sing out on Easter with “Christ the Lord is risen today. Hallelujah!” the voice from the chancel, where the clergyman or woman sits, may not be quite so rousing. The reason is that many contemporary preachers do not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus. One Catholic seminary instructor says he doesn’t know of “any credible Bible scholar who believes that Jesus rose bodily from the grave.”
Because most ministers learn their theology in the seminaries in which these scholars teach, it is easy to see why so few ministers, at least in the liberal denominations, believe that Jesus rose from the dead physically.
Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong, in his book “Resurrection: Myth or Reality” decides in favor of myth.
His scenario of the resurrection goes like this: Months after the crucifixion, a revelation came to Peter that Jesus wasn’t really dead, that “everything he stood for was very much alive.”
Jesus’ resurrection was thus a “spiritual resurrection” in which there was no body, just a body of truth” in story form. In Spong’s view, this spiritual resurrection took on form and shape in the legends that grew up later of the empty tomb and angels rolling away the stone, and in the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.
While surveys show the majority of modern Bible scholars do not believe in the physical resurrection, the devout appear to be ignoring the scholars. . . .
At the same time, there are some modern clergy who don’t cross their fingers behind their backs when they tell the Easter story. One is the Rev. Fleming Rutledge, an Episcopal rector in Port Clinton, N.Y.
“It is hard,” he observes, “to find a robust belief in the resurrection nowadays in the mainline churches. We hear from the pulpit about ‘a new season, new growth, new life.’ We hear words like ‘renewal, revival and rebirth’ – but not resurrection.
“Seriously, now,’ he asks, “would today’s Easter sermons inspire you to come back to church the next Sunday? Put yourself in the place of the women who went to the tomb on Easter morning. Maybe the flowers were blooming and the birds were singing as the women walked along. Do you think they took comfort from that?
“The women and the apostles did not start believing in the resurrection because they saw green grass coming up. Something more than that had to have happened. What happened is that Jesus himself appeared, and he was alive.”
If this is not the message people are hearing on Easter, that may be why the crowds in church on Easter dwindle to a precious few the following Sunday.
Easter, says Rutledge, is not a day of innocuous sentiments about crocuses in bloom and springtime in the heart. It is a day of resurrection – a true story . . .
If this word ever gets out, we may no longer have empty seats in church on the Sunday after Easter. We may even have to put up extra chairs.
- George Plagenz, Belief in physical resurrection falters, Herald Times Reporter
I think that most if not all of us here this morning have heard of the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! After Jesus was crucified on Calvary, Golgotha or the place of the Skull, he was placed in the unused tomb, the new tomb for the family of Joseph of Arimathea. And Joseph and Nicodemus wrapped Jesus with cloth and spices, about 100 pounds. Then this huge stone was rolled across the opening of the tomb, sealing Jesus in. As three days passed the women arrive and find the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus is gone. In fact, we are told that the grave clothes were like an empty shell, as if someone just evaporated out of them. And the cloth that was covering His face was neatly folded and placed in another location.
You see, three days after His death, early on Sunday morning Jesus rose from the dead, bodily, physically. This was not just a story; it was an actual event in history and sadly, many want to change this to just another fairy tale with a spiritual application. This morning I pray that you will see that there is plenty of evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and you can ignore the evidence, but you can’t deny it. With that said, let’s begin reading in I Corinthians chapter 15, starting in verse 12 and see what the Lord has for us this morning as we study His Word and look at the story of the resurrection!
When you look at the cross of Calvary you see pain, you see suffering, you see sorrow and if that is where the story ended, it would be truly tragic. But that is not the end of the story, Jesus has risen from the grave and Paul’s focus here is simple. If there is no resurrection, then Jesus did not rise from the dead. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we are still dead in our trespasses and sins. There is no hope for us and we are foolish for believing in this lie, this story. But if He did rise from the dead, and He did, then there is hope, our sins have been paid in full and the exclamation point is that He rose from the dead, He conquered death! The enemy has been defeated, praise the Lord!
Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote this regarding what people think happened and what really happened and that changes everything. He wrote:
When I was in my late twenties I went to Winchester, England, famous for its college and for its cathedral. The verger of the cathedral used to show people around the cathedral. He had been there for many, many years, and he loved to tell the story how the news of the battle of Waterloo came to England. There were not telegrams in those days, but everyone knew that Wellington was facing Napoleon in a great battle. A sailing ship semaphored news to the signalman on top of Winchester Cathedral. He signaled to another man on a hill and thus news of the battle was relayed, by hand semaphore, from station to station to London and all across England. When the ship came in, the signalman on board semaphored the first word – “Wellington.” The next word was “defeated”, and then the fog came down and the ship could not be seen. “Wellington defeated” went across England, and there was great gloom all over the countryside. After two or three hours, the fog lifted, and the signal came again: “Wellington defeated the enemy.” Then all England rejoiced.
There was that day, when in the eyes of the world they put the body of the Lord Jesus Christ in the tomb. Men might have said, “Everything is ended, all is gone, sin has conquered, man is defeated, wrong has triumphed.” But then three days later the fog lifted. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The truth has come down ever since and Jesus defeated the enemy.
- Donald Grey Barnhouse, Timeless Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, p. 200
I pray this morning that we can clearly see that Jesus is risen from the dead. That the fog of unbelief, confusion, and misinformation will be removed and you can see clearly that the tomb is empty, He has risen! So let’s break these verses down that we read this morning and see what Paul has to say regarding resurrection life that has begun with Jesus!
Paul, in writing to the church in Corinth, wanted them to think about what they believed about resurrection life. You see, it isn’t necessarily that they did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, but they did not believe in the resurrection of their own bodies. You see, back in I Corinthians 15:11 we are told, “Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” Thus, they believed in the resurrection of Jesus, they believed in the Gospel message!
Then how come they rejected the other truth of their own bodily resurrection? Because of what the major tenet of that day, that is that the Greek philosophers taught this idea of dualism. The thought here is that the spirit is good and the physical is bad. Because of that, to think of the body being resurrected was repugnant to them. The Greeks did not want their bodies resurrected because that is what was evil. They did not what these bodies taken to the next life. But for the spirit, that is what was good. For the Jews, the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the body and thus, they were sad, you see! Sorry but it is true.
And yet, as you look at the Old Testament Scriptures, they do speak of resurrection life, that these bodies will be raised one day. In Job 19:26 we are told, “And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God.” And in Psalm 17:15 we are told, “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” Yes, maybe resurrection life was limited in the Old Testament Scriptures, but it is still there and by the time we get to the New Testament, we clearly see it taught.
In John 6:44 we see Jesus tells us, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” He is speaking of resurrection life. Remember what Jesus said to Martha in John 11:25, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.’” Once again we see Jesus speaking of the resurrection of these bodies. In Acts 4:1-2 we are told, “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Peter and John were in trouble for teaching of this resurrection life. Paul, in I Thessalonians 4:16 tells us, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” And Paul said in II Corinthians 4:14, “knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.”
Even though we see this taught in the Old Testament and in the New Testament by Jesus, by the apostles, by Paul, many in Corinth had believed the lies that there was no resurrection of the body and that is what Paul is dealing with here. Why was it so important? The reason is simple, because if you deny the resurrection of the physical body then you have to deny the physical resurrection of Jesus. You can’t have it both ways. That just does not work! You can’t have one without the other. And Paul is going to drive home that point as he goes on here in I Corinthians, showing them that if you deny the resurrection of the physical body, then you also have to deny the physical resurrection of Jesus and if you do that, we are in trouble! So let’s read on and see what Paul has to say regarding this issue.
First of all if Christ did not rise from the dead then what Paul and the apostles were preaching was empty, there was nothing to it, which brings them to an empty faith! Secondly, if they were preaching a resurrected Christ and knew that He did not rise from the dead, they didn’t see him, they would be liars and people would have believed a lie! But even worse, if Christ did not rise from the dead then our faith is empty and we are still lost in our sins! Do you see how important the resurrection of Christ is? You see, if death had power over Jesus, if He was defeated by death, then Jesus is not God and if He is not God then He can’t pay the penalty for our sins! And, as I have said, our sins are still upon us because if Jesus Christ is not risen, He can’t save us!
Paul continues on and says that if Christ hasn’t risen from the dead then those that have died in Christ have perished, there is no hope, life is over! The conclusion is simple, if we have placed our hope in an empty faith, if we are still in our sins, then we are the biggest fools around! In fact, we are the most pitiable, the most pathetic people around! But Paul is not going to leave us in this hopeless condition for he tells us, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” I Corinthians 15:20. We will deal more with that glorious truth in a minute.
On this Spurgeon tells us, “The fact is, that the sliver thread of resurrection runs through all the blessings, from regeneration onward to our eternal glory, and binds them together.” Look t how it is played out in our lives:
The divinity of Jesus rests on the resurrection of Jesus – “and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” Romans 1:4.
The sovereignty of Jesus rests on the resurrection of Jesus - “For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” Romans 14:9.
Our justification rests on the resurrection of Jesus – “who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:25.
Our regeneration rests on the resurrection of Jesus – “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.” I Peter 1:3.
Our ultimate resurrection rests on the resurrection of Jesus – “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11.
Most of you remember Houdini, the great magician. Houdini claimed that on the 50th anniversary of his death he would come back from the dead. Thus, on that date a group of his followers gathered together at his gravesite in San Francisco waiting for him to return, and they waited, and waited and nothing happened, maybe he got lost? You see, the tomb of Jesus is empty, He did rise from the dead and Paul is going to expound on that now in I Corinthians 15:20-28 as he speaks of the resurrection order. Folk’s, not only did Christ rise from the dead but we too will rise from the dead one day, we will get new bodies for our spirit and soul to dwell in!
Now before we deal with these verses, let me share with you the fact that the evidence for the resurrection is abundantly available. There were many eyewitnesses to the risen Lord and Paul says that there are over 500 of those witnesses and many of them are still alive at the time of his writing of I Corinthians. In fact, Josh McDowell wrote on this topic of the resurrection, “After more than 700 hours of studying this subject, and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the ‘most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon the minds of men, or it is the most fantastic fact in history.’” But what about the evidence, is there any evidence for the resurrection?
Sir Edward Clarke said, “As a lawyer, I have made a prolonged study of the evidences for the events of the first Easter Day. To me the evidence is conclusive, and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence not nearly so compelling. Inference follows on evidence, and a truthful witness is always artless and disdains effect. The Gospel evidence for the resurrection is of this class, and as a lawyer I accept it unreservedly as the testimony of truthful men to facts they were able to substantiate.” (Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, p. 190).
Not only that but Professor Thomas Arnold, author of the three-volume History of Rome, an appointee to the chair of modern history at Oxford University, wrote, “The evidence for our Lord’s life and death and resurrection may be, and often has been, shown to be satisfactory; it is good according to the common rules for distinguishing good evidence from bad. Thousands and tens of thousands of persons have gone through it piece by piece as carefully as every judge summing up on a most important case. I have myself done it many times over, not to persuade others but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.” (Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, p. 191).
Dr. Simon Greenleaf of Harvard University, a very verbal skeptic of Christianity, had written a set of books called “The Laws Of Legal Evidence.” He was challenged by his students to apply these books to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He accepted the challenge, and in the process he became a Christian. His conclusion was, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the best established events of history, according to the laws of legal evidence administered in the courts of justice.”
You see, if you want to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ because of a lack of evidence, then every person who is in prison would need to be released because there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, eyewitnesses, over 500 of them that saw the risen Lord and how often do you see 500 witness in a court case? So if you want to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is because you choose not to because there is plenty of evidence for it! Thus, the tomb of Jesus is empty, He did rise from the dead and Paul is going to expound on that now in I Corinthians 15:20-28 as he speaks of the resurrection order and lets read through verses 20 through 23 to start with.
Paul has given us the facts of Christ’s resurrection, the eyewitness testimony, and now he is just restating that fact – Christ is risen!
The feast of Firstfruits was the Jewish feast that took place on the day after the Sabbath following Passover. At this feast, which took place in the spring, they would bring a sheaf of grain and wave it before the Lord and it represented a fruitful harvest that was to come as they gave to the Lord. (Leviticus 23:9-14). Jesus rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits and thus, as Paul said in Romans 6:5, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” It is as Trapp said, “As in the Firstfruits offered to God, the Jews were assured of God’s blessing on the whole harvest; so by the resurrection of Christ, our resurrection is insured.” It is as Paul said in Romans 8:23, “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”
Paul continues on and shows us that through Adam we have all been born into that sin nature and with it came spiritual death, separation from God. But Christ has come to give us life once again as Paul said in I Timothy 2:4-6, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” Now please don’t come to the wrong conclusion that Paul is saying or speaking of some kind of universal salvation, where everyone is saved in the end, that is not at all what he is saying here in Corinthians. Listen carefully to what he does say, all who are IN Adam will die and all who are IN Christ will be made alive! Thus, if you are not in Christ, if He is not your Lord and Savior, then you will not enter into that eternal life with him, your spirit will remain dead because we have all been born into Adam and thus, we need to be born again!
It is as Paul said in Romans 5:12-21, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned -- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Christ is the beginning, He was the firstfruits and there is coming a bountiful resurrection from the dead. The word “coming” is PAROUSIA in the Greek and in general terms it speaks of a person’s appearance. But when it is spoken of Christ, it relates to His second coming, as Matthew 24:27 tells us, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Now for some, they have a hard time with Jesus being the firstfruits because we read in several instances in the Bible of people who were raised from the dead long before Jesus was! So how could Jesus be the first? Think about it for a minute, they died and were resurrected once again in their physical bodies that eventually died once again but Jesus was raised in glory, He received a new body that will never fade away and that is what we are waiting for in our own lives. Thus the order is as follows: Jesus is the start; He is the firstfruits of the harvest that is coming. Then there is the harvest of the saints which has an order: From Pentecost till the Lord comes in the rapture all the dead and those who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and receive our new bodies. (I Thessalonians 4:16). Next are those who come to Christ during the Tribulation Period and are martyred for their faith, they will receive their resurrected bodies at the end of the Tribulation Period. (Revelation 20:4). The Old Testament saints some feel will receive their resurrected bodies here at the end of the Tribulation Period while others feel it will be at the time of the rapture. (Daniel 12:2). Lastly, those who are born during the Millennial Kingdom and those who enter into the millennial kingdom after the Tribulation, those who survive the Tribulation Period and are saved will get their resurrected bodies at the end of the Kingdom Age, after Satan’s short rebellion. There is an order!
VERSES
24-28
After all of this, the Rapture, the Kingdom Age, the short-lived rebellion of Satan at the end of the Kingdom Age, Jesus will present the completed work to God the Father. There will be no more rebellion, God is in control and we will enter into that everlasting life with Him in the new Heavens and the new Earth! There will be no more death! But why do we as Christians have to die now? Because these physical bodies can’t enter into the kingdom of God, we must be changed, we must be transformed and so as these physical bodies go back to the dust of the earth, God will be giving to us a glorified body for our spirit and soul to dwell in at the time of the Rapture, and these new bodies will never fade away!
As some read these verses they try to say that Jesus is inferior to God the Father and thus He is a lesser God, not Almighty God! That is totally wrong and does not follow what the Scriptures teach but those false doctrines are nothing more than doctrines of demons! Hodge put it this way, “The son of a king may be the equal of his father in every attribute of his nature, though officially inferior. So the eternal Son of God may be coequal with the Father, though officially subordinate.” In John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.”
This one verse proves the Deity of Jesus, and of course there are many others. This verse shows that Jesus is equal with the Father. You see, the word that Jesus used for “one” in the Greek is HEN and it does not speak of Jesus and the Father being one identical person, for all those who are Jesus only people! It speaks of them being one in essence! You see, the Father is God, The Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but don’t make the mistake as some do and say that the Father is the Son and the Son is the Father, that is not at all what is being said. Thus, the Scriptures teach one God manifested in three distinct persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Thus, Jesus willingly submitted Himself to the authority of the Father even though they are equal, they are one, they are God!
I think you can clearly see that there is evidence that Jesus rose from the grave and that gives us assurance that one day we too will be resurrected. As I begin to close I want to share a few points to show you what the resurrection proves.
1. THE RESURRECTION PROVES
THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD
The resurrection does prove that the Bible is the Word of God. Why is that? Because you can see that Jesus said He would die and be raised the third day over and over in the Scriptures. Thus, if He didn’t, then it would show that God’s Word cannot be trusted, but we do see the risen Lord, we have the evidence! In fact, Wilbur M. Smith makes these remarks regarding what Jesus said. He wrote:
It was this same Jesus, the Christ who, among many other remarkable things, said and repeated something which, proceeding from any other being would have condemned him at once as either a bloated egotist or a dangerously unbalanced person. That Jesus said He was going up to Jerusalem to die is not so remarkable, though all the details He gave about that death, weeks and months before He died, are together a prophetic phenomenon. But when He said that He himself would rise again from the dead, the third day after He was crucified, He said something that only a fool would dare say, if he expected longer the devotion of any disciples, unless – He was sure He was going to rise. No founder of any world religion known to men ever dared say a thing like that!
- Wilbur, M. Smith
So the Resurrection does prove that the Bible is the Word of God!
2. THE RESURRECTION PROVES
THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD
Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and one of the ways He proved it was that He said that He had power over death. And yes, He raised people from the dead but this goes beyond that for they would die again. He is speaking of resurrection power and thus, His resurrection proves that He is the Son of God. Paul, in Romans 1:3-4 tells us, “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul starts out by showing us the humanity of Jesus, that He was flesh and blood, born of the seed of David, just as the prophets said. Jesus was born and became a man; he was fully human, not partially human or pretending to be human!
Not only was and is Jesus fully human, He was and is fully God. Paul uses the Greek word HORIZO for “declared” and from this Greek word we get our English word “horizon” from. In other words, Jesus has always been God, He never ceased being God, and He will always be God just as the horizon stretches across the sky!
Paul, in Philippians 2:6-11 makes this powerful point of Jesus being fully God and also becoming flesh and blood. In other words, He is 100% God and He is 100% man, and I can’t explain it, I can only believe it by faith because that is what the Scriptures are telling us.
How do we know this is true, that God became flesh and dwelt among us to pay the penalty for our sins? It all boils down to His resurrection from the dead as the Scriptures tells us and because He rose from the dead we have that assurance that one day we will be raised in glory if our faith is in Him. James Denny put it this way, “ . . . the sonship, which was declared by the resurrection, corresponded to . . . the spirit of holiness which was the deepest reality in the Person and life of Jesus.”
So the resurrection proves that Jesus is the Son of God!
3. THE RESURRECTION SHOWS
US THAT OUR SALVATION IS COMPLETE
This is obviously important, that the resurrection of Jesus
shows us that our salvation is complete; there is nothing that
needs to be added to it. Paul, in Hebrews 2:9-10 tells us, “But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for
the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He,
by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was
fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings.” And in Hebrews 5:9 Paul
tells us, “And having been perfected, He became
the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”
You see, apart from the death and resurrection of Jesus
we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins with no hope
of that resurrection life. But because of what Jesus has done,
the work is completed, we have that assurance as Peter tells us,
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there
is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved.” Acts 4:12.
So
the resurrection shows that our salvation is complete in Him!
4. THE CHURCH WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE RESURRECTION
In Matthew 16:18 we see that the Church was established
through the resurrection of Jesus as we are told, “And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against
it.” Please understand
that Jesus is not saying that He will build His Church upon Peter,
the little stone, but upon Peter’s declaration that Jesus
is the Son of God and thus, the Church will be built upon Jesus,
the ROCK!
And the gates of Hell, death could not stop Jesus from
building His Church and the evidence for it is the resurrection!
5. THE RESURRECTION PROVES THAT JUDGMENT IS COMING
Jesus has come as the Lamb of God to take away the sins
of the world and if you reject Him, He is coming again as the
Lion from the tribe of Judah to judge this world!
Jesus said in John 5:25-29, “Most assuredly,
I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son
to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute
judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at
this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth — those who have done
good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil,
to the resurrection of condemnation.”
God has come to set man free from his sin and those that
reject that free gift will be judged for it, it is that simple.
You see, the Judge is alive, He has risen from the dead and the
Father has given Him the authority to judge the eternal destiny
of every person and it is all based on believing or not believing
in Jesus as their Lord and Savior or as Jesus said in John 5:24,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My
word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and
shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
Thus, the Resurrection proves that judgment is coming!
6. THE RESURRECTION PROVES THAT HEAVEN IS WAITING
Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of those
who have fallen asleep or have died in Him and because He rose
from the dead, it gives us the assurance that we too will rise
from the dead and enter into Heaven with Him in our new resurrection
bodies. Jesus said in John 14:1-4, “Let not your
heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In
My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go
you know, and the way you know.”
These bodies are just tents or temporary dwelling places
for our spirit and soul to dwell in. And Jesus tells us He is
preparing a mansion or a permanent dwelling place for our spirit
and soul to dwell in just as His temporary dwelling place was
made into a mansion in His resurrection!
And Jesus tells His men that they know where He is going
and they know the way and Thomas says that they do not know the
way or where He is going and Jesus responds by saying to them,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6. In other words, if you want to get to Heaven, if you
want to be with God the Father, you have to go through Jesus for
He is the only way to get that resurrection body that leads to
life and not to death! Thus, Heaven is waiting as the Lord is
preparing!
Thus, the resurrection proves that Heaven is waiting!
Folk’s, dead men do rise, the resurrection proves
it and it gives us the assurance that the Bible is the Word of
God, that Jesus is the Son of God, that our salvation is complete,
that the Church was established, that judgment is coming and that
Heaven is waiting! It proves it all!
If you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you
have heard the evidence and you are not here by accident or by
chance. God is calling you to come to Him and receive Him as your
Lord and Savior. All you need to do is talk to Him, ask Him to
forgive you of your sins and to be Lord and Savior of your life
and that is it! You have received that free gift of life that
is found in Jesus. You will enter into eternity with Him in that
new resurrection body one day! And for those that do know Him,
never forget what He has done, don’t be ashamed to speak
it forth and thank Him for His great love for us that saved us
wretched sinners and gave us resurrection hope in Him! Don Francisco,
in his song, He’s Alive, had this as his closing line in
the song, “He’s alive, he’s alive, he’s
alive and I’m forgiven heaven’s gates are opened wide.”
May we not forget that,
He is alive and Heaven’s gates are opened wide all because
of what Jesus has done for us!
As
I close let me leave you with this story. We are told:
About
1930, the Boshevik, Bukharin, journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His
mission was to address a huge assembly. His subject, atheism.
For a solid hour he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity,
hurling argument and ridicule. At last he was finished and viewed
what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men’s faith.
“Are
there any questions?” Bukharin demanded.
A
solitary man arose and asked permission to speak. He mounted the
platform and moved close to the Communist. The audience was breathlessly
silent as the man surveyed them first to the right, then to the
left. At last he shouted the ancient Orthodox greeting, “CHRIST
IS RISEN!”
The
vast assembly arose as one man, and the response came crashing
like the sound of an avalanche, “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”
- James S. Hewettt, Parables, Etc.
Vol. 4, No. 2
May we not forget that and may we let others know, the
tomb is empty, won’t you come and see!