Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 23.
If you've been here regularly, we've been going through the book of Luke, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, for a couple of years now. And we're not in chapter 23 not yet. We're in chapter 18 at the moment. But it is Easter Sunday and it's expected of us on this Sunday to celebrate the resurrection. I can't think of a better way to start that than by going to some of these resurrection passages.
But before we can talk about the resurrection, let's read what happened before the resurrection. Before somebody can be resurrected, they need to be dead in the first place. Let's read about how Christ our Lord died on the cross.
33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, This Is The King Of The Jews.
39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.
Luke 23:33-49 (KJV)
That passage we just read is the darkest moment in human history. In that passage you have Jesus Christ, who is 100% pure. He is the only human who has ever lived that was 100% pure. He was a man that came from heaven. He gave up the glories of heaven to come to the earth and to serve us. He healed the sick. He touched the hurting. He had a heart of compassion, love, mercy, and grace. This is how he was treated.
He was stripped naked. He was put on public display. He was beaten beyond recognition with whips. They took a purple robe in mockery and put it on his back. They took long thorns and made a crown and shoved it on his head. They put him on a cross, driving nails through his hands and his feet, forcing him for hours to have to force his body up just to breathe. They did this all in a public place where people could see his humiliation and that wasn't enough.
They mocked him with their words. They put a mocking sign above the cross. They took his few possessions and they bet over them with him right there, dying in front of them. This was the time in human history where absolute purity met absolute wickedness. Where light collided with darkness.
And it sure seems if you just read this story that darkness wins. The world physically goes dark as Jesus is on the cross. He gives up the ghost. He says it's finished and just like anyone else they lay him in a tomb. It sure seems like it's all over.
But then you turn the page to chapter 24. Days and nights have passed. The Passover and the Sabbath have finished and some of Jesus' beloved female followers want to make sure that his body has been taken care of so they go to the tomb.
Let's pick up in chapter 24.
1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Luke 24:1-7 (KJV)
They come early in the morning to the tomb. They come with spices so they can anoint Jesus' body. To their horror they find that the stone that covered the tomb has been rolled away. Their fear is that the body of Jesus has been stolen.
They come in and they are perplexed and they see two men in shining garments, two angels. They're afraid and they bow their faces down to the earth. The men say something great. They say, "Why are you seeking the living among the dead? Jesus is not here. He is risen. He is alive. Don't you remember what he said to you? Don't you remember that he said that he was going to be crucified and that he was going to be risen on the third day?"
Hopefully you know the rest of the story.
The woman went and told the apostles. They didn't believe them at first. Peter and John came and they saw the empty tomb and they met the risen Lord. Jesus appeared to the apostles multiple times. Jesus appeared to all of his disciples at once. At one point he appeared to hundreds of people at once in his resurrected form. Before them all, 30 days later, Jesus ascended into heaven, leaving the church with the great commission to go and be witnesses of his life, death, and resurrection and the salvation he brings.
That's the resurrection story. That's what we're celebrating today. If you've been around church for any length of time, you've probably heard this story over and over again. That is certainly appropriate but what I want to talk about today is why the resurrection matters. And I want to look at three different passages from the epistles that talk about the resurrection. There are many passages in the epistles. Actually there are many passages in the Old and the New Testament that talk about the resurrection. I just want to pick three that teach us three important truths about the resurrection today.
Why the resurrection matters
The first one is in the book of Romans chapter one. So turn with me to Romans chapter 1. We're just going to read the first four verses of this great book.
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Romans 1:1-4 (KJV)
I want you to notice verse four. It says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.
So the first reason why the resurrection matters is
1. The resurrection matters because it proves that Jesus is the Son of God.
When Jesus died, was buried, and then rose again, that rising again proved to the world that Jesus was not just a prophet. Jesus was not just a miracle worker. Jesus was not just a teacher. He was not just a man that was caught up in the wheels of history. Jesus is the Son of God. Everything that Jesus said about himself being God, saying before Abraham was I am, everything that he said was proven to be true.
He rose again with power. He showed his power, his authority over even death.
Listen folks, a lot of people think they're going to beat death but death is undefeated. Even people in the Bible that were resurrected, they still had to die. They didn't just die once; they died twice.
Every person, no matter how wealthy you are, no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how powerful you are, you are going to die. That is the law of nature.
Death is undefeated or should we say death was undefeated? One person beat death. One person, by the power of God, rose from the grave and as the Lord Jesus Christ. And by doing that he showed that he is the Son of God. He is God incarnate. He is the God-man.
There were resurrected people before. Lazarus was resurrected. Jesus resurrected several people in his ministry. Elisha resurrected people in his ministry.
But in every one of those cases there was somebody else affecting that resurrection. Jesus rose himself from the grave! Only God could do that. Only God has the power over death and Jesus showed that he has the power over death.
And so we celebrate the resurrection. It's important for many reasons and one of them is because it shows that Jesus is the Son of God.
Let's look at a second reason why the resurrection is important and this one's personal to us. You can see this in First Peter chapter one.
The resurrection matters because it proves that Jesus is the Son of God and…
2. The resurrection matters because it enables us to be born again
First Peter chapter 1. Look with me at verses 3 to 5.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (KJV)
Do you notice that phrase in verse number three how it says "we have been begotten again"? That phrase means to be born again, to be born anew.
And it tells us how we can be born again. We can be born again because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because Jesus rose from the dead because Jesus displayed power over death and showed himself to be the Son of God, he has the power to enable us to be born again from our life of deadness and sin to a life of being alive in Christ.
You see the Bible teaches that all of us are under sin. All of us are dead in our trespasses and sins. Outside of Christ we are zombies. We are walking dead. And yet through the power of Jesus demonstrated in the resurrection, we can be born again. We can become new creatures.
Listen to this awesome truth: It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how you've lived your life. It doesn't matter how wicked you have been because of the mercy of Jesus, because of the power of Jesus, you can become born again. You can become a new creature in Jesus Christ as a born again person. You have a new father.
You're no longer a child of the devil. You're now a child of God. And God is a good father.
And because you've been born again by this good father, you now have an inheritance in heaven waiting for you. An inheritance that no one can take away. An inheritance that isn't affected by the stock market.
And this is great. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead is keeping you. It's protecting you as a believer.
Ever go to the bank and, on the teller stand there, there's usually a little sign that says that this bank is protected by the FDIC. Your deposits are insured by the FDIC, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.
Listen as a Christian you are a child of God. You've been given a new nature. You've been given a new father. You've been given an inheritance in heaven. You are being kept and protected by God and all of it is protected by something much greater than the FDIC. It is the power of God. And the resurrection proves all of this.
Resurrection matters because it proves that Jesus is the Son of God. The resurrection matters because it enables us to be begotten again there's one more passage I want us to turn to. There's one more reason the resurrection matters that I want to talk about today.
3. The resurrection matters because it's the foundation of our whole lives as believers.
Colossians chapter 3. Look with me at verse number one.
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:1 (KJV)
Here's what this verse teaches us: we were dead and now we're risen with Christ. We have risen with Christ and our whole life is with Christ.
If you're a Christian today, you've been born again and you've been resurrected. You died with Christ on that cross and you too rose again with Christ. We have to believe that and we have to set our heart and our mind on the Lord Jesus Christ. To set our heart and mind not on earthly things but on heavenly things.
Keep reading with me:
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:2-3 (KJV)
Because Christ died on the cross and rose again, our whole lives as believers are tied up with Christ. Our life is hid with Christ in God.
Here's what that means. It means because of the resurrection, our lives, our allegiance, our affection - it is in heaven.
Think of it like this: one of our soldiers that's deployed overseas. He lives in a foreign land. He fights in a foreign land, a land that goes against all of his values, a land where the language and the culture is foreign to him. But his heart is at home. His allegiance is at home. He's thinking always about his family, about his wife, about his children, about his country.
We may be living in this world. We may be surrounded by the filth of this world and the sin of this world but as believers because of the resurrection our heart, our life is somewhere else. It's with Christ. It's hid with Christ in God. And church, that should change everything about how we live.
Then the rest of this chapter tells us how our life should change because of the resurrection:
- Because of our life is hid with Christ we shouldn't live lives that are controlled by lust or by greed.
- Because our life is hid with Christ we need to be putting off our old clothes of anger and wrath and blasphemy and filthy speech and lying and putting on the new clothes of being a new man in Christ:
- Mercy
- Kindness
- Humbleness
- Meekness for bearing with each other
- Love
- Because our life is hid with Christ we should let the word of Christ live in us and grow in us every single day.
Because of the Resurrection Church we are called to live a resurrected life, a life where our heart is with Christ in heaven, our allegiance is with Christ in heaven, and that changes everything.
Conclusion
So we're here today to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. We do this every year and honestly we really do this every Sunday. It's the reason why we meet together on Sunday because Christ rose again on Sunday. Every Sunday is supposed to be a reminder that we're living this resurrected life.
And so I want to ask you three questions in closing today. The first question is this:
Do you believe?
Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Do you believe that he died on the cross for the sins of the world and that three days later he came out of the tomb showing his power over death? Do you believe?
I hope you do. If you do believe then that kind of changes everything, doesn't it? If Jesus really lived and died for our sins and really rose again, which by the way is one of the most well-attested facts in ancient history, that really happened demands a response from us.
And so that leads me to the second question.
Have you been born again?
Have you been begotten again as first Peter says or born again as Jesus asked Nicodemus in John chapter three?
Has there been a time in your life where you realized that you were a sinner, that you couldn't save yourself, and you understood that Jesus paid for your sins on the cross? You put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and you were saved. Have you been born again?
Finally third question. The resurrection is real and you've really been born again.
Are you living the resurrected life?
Are you living like your life is hid with Christ and God? Is your life characterized by lust or by greed or by anger or by malice?
If the answer is no, if those things do control your heart, the good news is the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to you right now.
Do you live your life tied down by the sins of the past or do you live your life like you're a new creature with a new direction and a new affection? What's in your heart? What's dwelling in your heart? Is it the Word of Christ or is it the sins of the world?
Let's let this Easter, this Resurrection Sunday, remind us not just that Jesus rose from the dead but why Jesus rose from the dead. He did it to prove to us he's the Son of God and that he, being the Son of God, can make us sons of God. That should remind us every week that we should live like resurrected sons of God. Are you doing it? Let's stand for prayer.
