Hello steemchurch, hope we are all having a joyous Easter celebration.
Let's talk about Jesus and the resurrection. Fact is, we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday this is why Christians from earliest times switched to meet on Sundays rather than Saturdays which the Jews met. They would gather early every Sunday before the dawn because Christ was risen early on a Sunday morning.
Join me as we open to 1 Corinthians 15 Verses 1-6 and 12-22
Two groups of people exist, those who are standing firm in the belief of their salvation and those who Paul warns might have believed in vain.
Some of us right now are thinking, I am a Christian I might not go to church much, I might not practice my faith much, but I go to church sometimes what more does he want? A survey revealed that the majority of adults in the world still think they are Christians. I have one thing to ask us all this morning, Are we holding fast to the word preached to us? For most of us, sadly, we have not really understood the Bible. Some of us go to church for christenings, weddings, and funerals sit, gist and dispatch! Perhaps we go to church just for some Christmases and Easter, too.
Lets draw a clear line this morning not between the believers and non-believers, but rather between the believer who is confident of his salvation, who knows God is pleased with him and he is on his way to heaven, and on the other hand, there is everyone else. From the beginning of our passage, lets not be among the people that Paul classified as people who have believed in vain. James says, even the devils believe in God. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believeand shudder! (James 2:19)
We are not going to the cross of course, we will speak about the cross but, in fact, we are going to the empty tomb. For it is at the empty tomb that we meet Jesus He is not dead, He is risen!
The greatest "good” news is the story of Jesus and how the events of his life 2000 years ago still have a major impact on the world today. What is the good news or gospel according to Paul?
There are three aspects:
Christ died
He was buried
He is risen!
Based on research, Historians are very clear about two things about Jesus He existed, and He was crucified. There are no serious persons who doubt those two facts. Indeed, the whole edifice of history comes tumbling down if you doubt the events of history that are better attested to the life of Jesus Christ. Fact is, if we are not sure Jesus lived and died, then we cannot be sure of any event in history.
But the fact that there was a man who lived 2000 years ago, then died, is not a new news story. The fact that He was a great teacher is not news. The fact that He was reported to work miracles is not unusual as you might think. The fact that He founded a religion does not even make Him unique although, few people manage that one! Actually the fact that he was hung on a cross and then crucified through no sin/fault of His own is not even unique to Jesus thousands of people have been crucified also.
However, there is, one fact about Jesus that makes Him unique. This fact is the only thing that marks Him as totally different from every other figure in history. This is the fact of the empty tomb. Secular historians admit that there was an empty tomb. So, we see that there is no doubt that Jesus lived, no doubt that He died, and we can even be very sure that He was buried. Also, there is no doubt that there was an empty tomb, and a movement was birthed in the months and years after His death that claimed He had been raised from the dead and was now worthy of worship.
A dramatic effect came upon a group of timid good Jewish boys who happened to know very well that there was only one God worthy of worship. They were transformed into bold set of preachers who delivered the message that said the man who you crucified, God raised him from the dead, and we are now to worship him, because He is worthy of worship. This is not a message that is so very easy to believe in, it is not something that you can even make up.
If the Jewish or Roman authorities could have lead us to the body of Jesus, they would have done so immediately to quash the belief that Jesus is risen. So what other options do we have? that the disciples stole the body and came up with the lie? We all know how difficult it is for a group of 10 persons to decide to lie. Talk less of over 500 people. Also if it was a lie, how come none of the disciples ever doubted the ressurection, how come none ever brought up evidence to prove against the ressurection of Jesus?
Could it have been a hallucination? No, hallucinations dont happen to a crowd all at once like that.
Also, the amazing phenomenon that has been the Church of Jesus Christ has to be explained. No religion ever grew more quickly, and no religion today is as widespread. And the one thing the Church agrees on is Jesus rose from the dead. Millions have claimed to have met Him. If this didnt happen, every Christian who has ever lived is to be pitied more than any other. Everyone who, at a funeral, believed their loved one had gone to be with Jesus is deluded if He is still buried somewhere in Israel. The apostles and every believer has falsely testified about God that He raised Jesus from the dead.
And if He is not risen, every great transforming work of the Jesus is somehow a delusion. Every great reformer like Wilberforce or Newton who claimed to be driven by a call from Jesus should be locked up rather than revered as a great historical figure.
Without the resurrection, the Christian religion comes tumbling down. If Jesus is still dead, then Christianity is the cruelest HOAX if Jesus is still dead it is cruel and sadistic. It means we have been singing to a dead man, praying to a dead man, preaching about a dead man, trusting a dead man. The resurrection is crucial. If it wasnt for the resurrection, we would still be in our sins. How could Jesus work in us to forgive us and make us like Him if He is still dead?
Jesus is NOT dead He is alive. Every other religious leader is dead no one else conquered death only Jesus. The resurrection is Gods stamp of approval that He still loved His Son, and that the work was done. Jesus had died for our sins; now He was being raised up for our justification (Rom 4:25). It is not just that our sins are dealt with and that we are made morally neutral before God. It is not only just as if Id never sinned, but also just as if Id lived a perfect life for eternity and was as pure and righteous as Jesus!
It is not as if sin swallowed Jesuss merit up quite the opposite! Jesus swallowed up sin. Although on the cross, because of the sin swallowed, God couldnt look on Him, however God didnt abandon His perfect Son to the grave!
Though you might not have been there over 2000 years ago to see him, yet you love him. Though you do not now see him, yet you believe and rejoice with joy that is unexplainable and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:35).
Is that true of you this morning? If not, it can be! You can be born again because of the resurrection. You can meet Jesus. Note the following:
Sin does not win Jesus does!
Death does not win Jesus does!
He really did die for our sin and rose for our salvation, and so we sing to Him daily, and also confess our sins to Him because He is alive.
He said I am God. I have come to take away sin. I will die, and three days later come back to life again to prove it. He did prove it!
Solidify your faith this morning dwell on this resurrection of Jesus, let it give you a firm foundation.
Now that Jesus is risen, what does this mean for us?
It means:
We are declared righteous, since Jesus has swallowed our sins on the cross.
We are born again we have a new beginning, the old one is behind us, which includes, our fears and our guilt.
We have hope for the future that goes beyond the grace.
We have hope for now that transforms our lives.
We have a relationship with Jesus we know and love Him, though we dont see Him with our eyes.
Jesus said:
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26).
Do YOU believe this?