Thoughts on Christs Resurrection

Easter 1992

April 19, 1992

Easter is a time that begs for a Super-Sermon! It is one of the happiest, most joyful days in the calendar. Almost everybody goes to church (somewhere) on Easter.

But strangely, Easter is a time when I am driven in my own thinking to go back to basics! I ask myself audacious questions like:

HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS REALLY ROSE? and WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT REALLY MAKE ANYWAY?

I grew up with Christmas and Easter, and took a great deal for granted before I made my faith, my Christian faith, my own. And these questions are life and death questions that no one else can answer for us.

On this Easter Sunday morning

I. HOW DO WE KNOW THAT JESUS REALLY ROSE AGAIN?

  1. We know that JESUS ROSE AGAIN because the scriptures tell us so, in their artless, inspired, penetrating way: the disciples, the evangelists who gave us the inspired Word bore witness with their words and with their life's blood. They saw the Risen Lord. They believed!

    Charles Coleson in his book Born Again gave his compelling reason why he believed the Bible accounts to be true. He told from personal experience of how it was impossible for a few men, with very much at stake, to keep a secret and act out a lie; and the result was that Watergate scandalized our government, and brought down a president, and sent him, Charles Coleson to jail.

    His point was that if the resurrection of Jesus were a skillfully devised plot among the disciples, they could not have kept the secret from authorities, who were themselves so anxious to discredit the resurrection that they were willing to bribe and perjure to deny its mighty power.

    And, secondly, Coleson makes the point that nobody dies willingly and bravely for what he or she knows to be a lie. The disciples were convinced that Jesus rose again. Their testimony in scripture is powerful!

  2. We know that JESUS ROSE AGAIN because of the mighty impact His life has made, and is still making during the nearly 2,000 years since His death on the cross. It is impossible to imagine how this world would be without the influence of the Risen Savior. Time is divided by His Coming the first time in Bethlehem. Time as we know it now will end with His return. This world is forever changed because Jesus lives!
  3. But the most penetrating reason men and women can know that JESUS ROSE AGAIN is because, for many of us, we have had a "revelation moment" in which Christ has been made personal to us. We heard Him speak some place, some time, as the written Word came alive, perhaps in a sermon— perhaps in a word of personal witness; and we cannot get away from the reality that He lives, and that He loves us! We have been persuaded! Jesus really is alive!

Which brings up the second, even more impertinent question:

II. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE, ANYWAY?

  1. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHEN WE FACE DEATH

    Being really persuaded that Jesus rose again makes a difference when the near prospect of death becomes a reality in someone we love, or even in ourselves!

    If Jesus did not rise, Paul tells us, then when we die we die forever, and we shall never see each other again. It makes a difference when we stand by an open grave whether or not Jesus rose again. If Jesus did not rise, then the dead are NOT raised. (see I Corinthians 15:15)

  2. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHEN WE FACE GUILT AND SIN The fact is that we all are born with a sin problem; and we all come to face the fact that evil lurks in the human heart.

    Education won't change the fact of human evil. Human efforts can not make sinful people into saints. But if Jesus died and carried our sins away— and rose again to prove that He conquered sin, then we have hope!

    If Jesus did not conquer death, and rise again, we have no assurance that our sins are forgiven. The best we could do would be to hope against hope that maybe His sacrifice was adequate, but we would conclude that probably it was not. We would have no evidence to the contrary. Paul says if Jesus stayed dead then we are still in our sins! Our faith is vain! Futile (see I Corinthians 15:17)

  3. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE AND LIVING

    But does the resurrection of Jesus make any difference in the every day? If Jesus did not rise again, Paul says, we are to be pitied more than any other religion! We are to be pitied because we have been deceived! If Jesus did not rise we are fools, and fooling ourselves!

    But if in fact the risen Savior by the gift of his Holy Spirit walks with you and talks with you— in the kitchen when you are doing chores— in the middle of the night when you awaken to worry about finances— in the joy of looking into your child's face while she is sleeping— the reality makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WHOLE WORLD! The Risen Savior makes us Friends with God!

This is basic stuff! This is NOT Super Sermon, this is the very essence of what Christians believe:

III. CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS AT THE VERY HEART OF THE GOSPEL

I Corinthians 15:1-8

  1. THE GOSPEL REDUCED TO ARTICLES OF FIRST IMPORTANCE:

    THE GOSPEL IS ABOUT JESUS! It isn't that all the rest of the New Testament isn't Gospel; or that the doctrines and teachings and beatitude and standards of conduct are not important; but first and foremost, the Gospel is about the Person and work of Jesus.

    Here it is in a nutshell: Jesus came ... Jesus died for our sins ... Jesus was buried: He really was dead- the scriptures say He preached to the spirits in prison— Jesus rose again— and Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us— Jesus will come again to rule and reign over all Creation! That is the heart of the Gospel!

  2. THE RESURRECTION IS THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL STORY

    The resurrection of Jesus unlocked the Gospel to the disciples that had known Him in the flesh.

    It was not until they were truly persuaded that He had risen that they understood the real power of the Gospel.

    John 20:9 is a key verse— and it stands for every person who would be a Christian but has not faced up to who Christ is, and what Christ did: For as yet they did not understand the scripture that [Jesus] must rise again from the dead. (John 20:9)

    The disciples were shattered, paralyzed, defeated by the savagery and violence of the crucifixion of their Master. Gentle, meek, unfailingly kind and considerate of the weak Himself, He had been led to the slaughter like a Lamb for Passover.

    As it began to dawn that perhaps Jesus had risen they were not eager to believe. They did not want to be deceived again. They did not want to get their hopes up. The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus were universally met with hesitancy at best, with downright stubbornness and unbelief at worst. "We trusted— but we don't trust any more" was the testimony of the two on the Emmaus Road. "Unless I see for myself I will never believe!" was the word of Thomas.

    The teachings of Jesus are merely wise sayings, like any other Eastern philosopher, apart from the resurrection. If Jesus did not rise we may as well follow Buddha or Confucius or Mohammed. The Bible is like any other ancient collection of manuscripts. When we read the Old Testament a veil is over our eyes, apart from Jesus and the resurrection, and all we can see is the tortuous path of a people struggling with divine forces and decrees they never fully understand.

    But if the resurrection is real, then a startling thing happens. A transformation takes place in the Bible! It seems to come alive! Jesus Himself, the Risen Lord, becomes the KEY to the scriptures.

    Before He was fully revealed to the two on the Road to Emmaus Jesus expounded in the scriptures (beginning with Moses and extending to all the prophets, according to Luke) the things concerning Himself: Such a wonderful lesson may have included

    • FROM GENESIS 3:15 the seed of the woman triumphant over the seed of the serpent
    • FROM NUMBERS 21:9 even as Moses lifted up the (brass) serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up
    • FROM DEUTERONOMY 18:15 the confident prophecy of Moses: For the LORD shall raise up a prophet unto you like unto myself..."
    • FROM 2 SAMUEL 7:12 David's confidence "I will raise up Your descendant and establish His kingdom forever..."
    • FROM ISAIAH 7:14 "Behold a virgin shall be with child.. Emmanuel, God-with-Us!
    • FROM ISAIAH 9: "His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace— of His kingdom there shall be no end
    • FROM ISAIAH 42: Behold my servant.. he shall open blind eyes— a bruised reed He will not break
    • FROM ISAIAH 53: "A root out of dry ground— the Lord hath laid on HIM the iniquity of us all—
    • FROM DANIEL 7:13 the ""Ancient of Days"
    • FROM MICAH 5:2 "And thou Bethlehem— out of thee shall come a KING!"
    • FROM ZECHARIAH 9:9 "Behold your King cometh unto you, meek and riding upon a donkey.."

Conclusion

How have YOU handled these basic questions of the faith in YOUR own heart? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? To believe, to really believe, is a gift of faith from God Himself!

And to believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead— to really be persuaded in heart— is half-way to the assurance of being saved!

The parts of the wonderful promise of Romans 10:9 and 210 are these:

  1. If we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus— and
  2. If we believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead— then— WHAT?
  3. Then— we shall be saved!

It isn't enough to confess to being a Christian without believing Jesus lives! And it isn't enough to have the gift of faith, and be persuaded in heart, but not make Jesus Lord!

But if faith and surrender combine— then the resurrection life of Jesus is ours to share with Him for eternity!

162 - Crown Him with Many Crowns