Title: What The Resurrection of Jesus Means
Bible Book: Matthew 28 : 6
Author: David Cook
Subject: Resurrection; Easter
Objective:
Introduction
A famous writer and mathematician were talking one day when the writer suggested they start a new religion. He suggested their faith be grounded in the great works of history, mathematical principles, and positive thinking. The mathematician thought about it for a moment then told the writer, “Very good, very good. All you will need to do will be to speak as a man never spoke, live as man never lived, be crucified, rise again on the third day, and get the world to still believe you are alive. Then your religion will have a chance to get on.”
Today, people are still trying to find their way around the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do you have a firm grip on what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means? How can the resurrection of Jesus Christ give your life hope today? First…
I. Your Past Can Be Fully Forgiven
Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote to Christians in Corinth saying, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
That’s the gospel of Jesus Christ in eight words. Christ died. Christ was buried. Christ rose again! When you place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, He gives you the gift of forgiveness of sins.
Forgiveness is the gift of God to you, but it’s not cheap. It cost the Lord Jesus Christ His life on the cross!
Evangelist Gipsy Smith who said, “I am not afraid of the cross. I know that men used to come there to die, but since He died, they come here to live.” Christ died on the cross for your sin and forgiveness is available to you through that sacrifice. A Holy God demanded justice for your sin. Thankfully, God provided Himself as a sacrifice for your sin. He sent Jesus, God in the flesh, to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Dr. Roger Haber gave the following illustration of Jesus’ sacrificial love. In a German concentration camp, gas chambers were in constant use. But because of the great influx of new prisoners daily, the Germans began using firing squads as well.
One day the commandant took ten men from one barracks to be executed by firing squad. One of those men was a father of a large family. When he was pulled from his place in line, he begged the commandant to spare his life. The commandant was unresponsive until another man came forward, a Catholic priest named Maximilian Kolbe. Father Kolbe offered his life in exchange for the man on the ground. Surprisingly, the commandant agreed. But instead of being led away to the firing squad, Father Kolbe was thrown into a tiny damp cell where he suffered the agonizing death of starvation.
Today, Maximilian Kolbe is honored by 35 million people because he died in the place of one man. Jesus Christ, through an agonizing death on the cross, died not for one person, or a few, or even several. Jesus died for all people. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”
Because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, your past can be pardoned. Your guilt can be removed by God’s grace. Through forgiveness, you can live a new life. Charles Colson in His book, A Dangerous Grace says, “When God wanted to defeat sin, his ultimate weapon was the sacrifice of his own Son…two thousand years ago, the birth of a tiny baby in an obscure village in the Middle East was God's supreme triumph of good over evil.”
The Lord Jesus Christ paid your sin debt completely by shedding His blood on the cross of Calvary. What was His motive? Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His love for us in this, while were still sinners Christ died for us.” This Easter morning, the resurrection of Jesus Christ means your past can be fully forgiven.
II. You Can Have Power For Today
Jesus gave His followers power not so they could just sit around and wait for the “sweet by and by.” He gave them power to live godly in the “nasty and now.” If you are a Christian, you have the power of God’s Spirit dwelling in your life. Romans 8:11 says, “…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.”
The power of the Holy Spirit dwells in every follower of Christ, but not all are aware of His benefits. Dr. Bill Bright told the story of a famous oil field called Yates Pool: “During the depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn't able to make enough on his ranching operation to pay the bills. Being so poor, he and his family had to live on government subsidy. Yates lived in constant worry about his financial difficulties.
That all changed the day a seismographic crew from an oil company came into the area and told him there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed a lease contract.
At just over 1,000 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. In fact, 30 years after the discovery one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels of oil a day.
Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he purchased the land he had received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he'd been living on relief. A multimillionaire living in poverty. He didn't know the oil was there even though he owned it.
Many Christians are living in spiritual poverty like Mr. Yates in the beginning. They are entitled to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and his energizing power, but they are not aware of their birthright.”
Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples something interesting. He said in John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away: for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” The disciples didn’t understand what in the world Jesus was talking about! How could it be to their advantage that Jesus, their Savior, Master, Friend would be leaving them on their own? How were they to make it without Jesus being there with them in Person? Why would this be to their “advantage?”
If someone told me to hit a golf ball like Tiger Woods, I would have no chance. No one can do that. But what if Tiger Woods could supernaturally live in me? As long as Jesus remained with His disciples, He could only be in one place at a time. When the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, all believers could be filled with the presence of Christ! Wherever they went, the presence of Jesus could fill them to bless and minister His grace to a hurting world!
Mighty changes took place when Christ’s followers received the power of the Holy Spirit. That same Holy Spirit power is still available to followers of Jesus today. The same power that raised Christ from the grave fills us with new life today.
How can Christ’s resurrection give you strength for today? When you are lonely, He will be with you when no one else can. When you are hurting and empty, His power can fill you anew. When you are battling with sin, He can lead you out. When you have failed miserably, He helps you recover and find healing in your heart.
Christ’s resurrection power gave His early disciples courage and boldness to take the Good News as far as they possibly good go. That power filled them so they could be kind, generous, sharing, and caring to those around them in need. They enjoyed God’s favor and all the people’s favor. It made them a blessing! What is that power accomplishing in your life?
One man said, “…there are two great days in your life. One is the day you are born and the second is when you discover why you were born.” You were born to live in the fullness of God’s strength!
What would happen if everyone in this church began to live in the resurrection power Jesus provides? Things wouldn’t be the same. Families would get stronger. Broken relationships would be restored. People would begin to find freedom from addictions. God’s kingdom on earth would be constantly expanding if we would daily in the power God provides! The resurrection of Christ brings you power for daily living.
III. You Can Have Bright Hope For Tomorrow
Jesus’ resurrection means you can have bright hope for tomorrow.
Biblical hope is more than wishing. For example, I may wish for one million dollars to show up in my bank account tomorrow. I may wish the Braves will win the World Series. Biblical hope means I have I rely on the God who can never lie. My hope is grounded in His faithfulness. Biblical hope means I trust so much in the character of God that it changes the way I live now. God made Abraham and Sarah a promise that they would have a child. He made them wait 25 years before that promise came to pass. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 when Isaac came into the world! What God promises, He performs!
Listen to the promise Jesus makes to you today. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” Do you believe that? If so, you are a person of hope!
Your present may not look so good, but your future is amazingly good! Your body may be breaking down, but one day you will have a resurrected body. Your home may need a lot of work, but one day you’ll live in a mansion prepared for you by Jesus Himself. You may be depressed, blue, sick now on earth, but there is no pain in Heaven! What hope the believer in Christ has right now and eternally!
The best is yet to come! That hope gives us a desire to be all we can now be for our Great Lord!
Here today are people of different backgrounds, different beliefs, different shapes, but one thing we do have in common is 100% of us will die one day. What you do with Jesus Christ determines your eternal destiny. If you die in the Lord Jesus Christ, Heaven is your home. On this Eater Sunday, there could be no greater joy than to know you have received Jesus as Savior and Lord. John 1:12: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." Knowing Christ, you’ll have bright hope for tomorrow!
Several years ago, researches at a California college performed a test with two groups of rats. The first group of rats was tested to see how long they could swim before they finally gave up and drowned. On average, those rats could last for seven hours. The second group of rats was tested a bit differently. They had to swim as long as they could, but at the moment they were about to give up, one of the researchers would remove him for a few seconds, then put him right back in to let him keep swimming. These rats were able to swim almost twenty hours without drowning. The researchers concluded that rats swam much longer in the second group because they had hope.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is your greatest hope. He conquered sin, death, hell, and promises, “Because I live, you will live also,” (John 14:19). Life is worth the living just because He lives!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ means forgiveness from your past, power for living today, and bright hope for tomorrow. Ask God to fill you with resurrection hope this morning!
