Transcript

This is Mark’s account of the resurrection, or at least part of it. Mark 16 beginning in verse 1.

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. 5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.”

It was called the October Revolution, 1917, V. I . Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union and Communism took over that country. Soon 1 billion people would live under the dictatorial tyranny of Communism. It’s been a powerful political movement in the world. Lenin was so esteemed and revered by the people of Russia that they have a tomb for him there in Red Square. You can visit that tomb. I’ve seen pictures with people lined up for literally miles to walk in and view the corpse of Lenin. They have him encased there in a glass coffin. But the testimony from Lenin’s Tomb is” he’s still here. He’s dead. But the testimony of the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his tomb is this: he’s not here. He is risen. There are great and substantial even essential Bible doctrines that are understood when you realize where Jesus is not. It’s very important to understand where he isn’t. Let me mention three things this morning.

I. Jesus is not still on the cross. He’s not there. The cross was a place for condemnation. It was a place of execution for wrongs and crimes. Jesus is no longer there because he’s been exonerated. The innocent will not be found among the condemned. In John 19:30 the Bible says, ” when Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” You see, he’s done with the cross. Jesus is finished with his work on Calvary. Calvary was a one-time event and it’s been finished now for about 2,000 years.

The Bible says you and I have all offended God. We have all violated his holy laws and a holy God must vindicate his justice and therefore, friend, God’s holy wrath is against all mankind. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God made man the height of his creation. We were made in the image of God to reflect God’s glory to everyone else and all the other creatures of the universe, but we have all fall woefully short of that standard and God’s wrath is justly over us.

Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, no, not even one.” But Jesus through his suffering and his death on the cross for us can remain just, that means morally upright and good, he remains legally correct while justifying us condemned sinners. He remains just and in dying for us he justifies us, and once he had finished, there’s no reason to go back to the cross anymore.

Two things that I’ve been telling you for almost 20 years, I suppose, that I want you to be able to remember and I have told you if somebody stops you in the mall over in Florence and asks you the question, “What does the cross mean?” You should be able to say these two words: substitution and satisfaction. Now you’ve got now that’s a quiz. You’ll be asked that one day out on the streets if you’re a member of Grace Life Church. What does the cross mean? You should at least be able to say it speaks of substitution and satisfaction.

Let me talk just for a moment about each of these. First of all, substitution in that Jesus substituted for me on the cross. He became guilty in my place. God looked upon him, the innocent one, as if he were guilty because he was standing in my place. He was condemned in my place. In these next verses, notice the use of the personal pronoun. In 1 Peter 2:24 the Bible says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.” It was our sin that he was taking. It was our place that he was filling. Isaiah 53:5, “He was wounded through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And the chastening for our well-being fell upon him.” He assumed our legal responsibility before the holy law of God.

Many years ago when my mother became sick and she was no longer mentally able to take care of her own affairs, my older sister, ah, got Power of Attorney. She could stand legally for my mother and sign documents and make decisions that were legally binding. Well, that’s exactly what Jesus did, he became our Power of Attorney, if you will. He stood legally accountable before a holy God for us. He substituted on the cross for us and received the just wrath that should fall on all of us.

Substitution but also satisfaction. In other words, when Jesus died, he satisfied all the claims of law that were against me. Now let’s say I go out into our area and I steal something that’s just purely totally not mine. Rightfully I have violated the law and until I am apprehended, tried in a just court, and suffer the punishment for that law-breaking, I am owing, I am legally accountable. In other words, the law has not been satisfied until I pay for my crimes against law. Well, when the Lord Jesus Christ died in our place, the infinite, immutable God of the universe, the one of omniscience who knows all things and has all wisdom was fully satisfied that Christ took all the demands of holy justice that were against me upon himself. The Father did not leave the cross event and say, “He’s My Son and He did great and nobody could do as good as Him but there’s a little something left.” Absolutely not. The Father sat down at rest and was satisfied his Son has completely exonerated their children.

Satisfied. That’s what the Bible means in Isaiah 53:10 when the verse says, “The Father was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to death if He would render Himself as a guilt offering.” Now what does it mean he was pleased? It wasn’t mean that God with some sadist spirit liked to see his Son crushed, it means that he and the Son and in their plan to redeem their children were fully satisfied that this perfect Savior Jesus perfectly took our sins, perfectly received the judgment, and perfectly now has fulfilled the demands of the law against us and now God is fully satisfied. You see, Jesus was perfectly qualified and he perfectly executed the job requirement for being the Savior of the world. The Father, therefore, is satisfied.

Now here’s my point to you: Jesus paid it all at the cross, salvation has been finished for 2,000 years, he’s not there, he’s finished with it. Now Satan may mess with your mind and try to get you to think that there’s still something owing, there’s still something against you. Satan may mess around with your emotions and cause you emotionally to feel like, “But I don’t feel clean and I, I don’t feel completely that I’m God’s.” Satan may even fiddle with your faith to some degree but – listen to me – if you have looked to Christ as your Savior and your faith is in him, I’m telling you it’s been finished for 2,000 years. He substituted in your place and the Father’s satisfied in his sacrifice on your behalf.

Now you might say, “Well, pastor, we know that He’s no longer on the cross. We understand that.” Do you realize on this Easter Sunday morning all over this world – now listen to me – countless millions of people will walk to the front of a building and there a priest will administer the Mass and in administering that Mass, we would call it the Lord’s Supper, that church teaches that the bread they take literally becomes again the body of Jesus Christ, and that priest and that church teaches that the juice that they drink literally becomes the blood of Jesus Christ, and what they teach their people is Jesus has to die over and over and over again to keep you cleansed up-to-date in your sins and you must come to that church and you must go to that altar and you must eat that bread and you must drink that juice so Jesus can die again and make sure you’re cleansed, up-to- date. It’s important doctrinally to understand Jesus is not still on the cross dying. It’s finished. It’s done. It’s settled. It’s over. He’s not there.

The Bible says in Romans 6:10, “He died once for all.” Hebrews 7:27, “He died once for all when He offered up Himself.” 1 Peter 3:18, “Christ died once for all in order that He might bring us to God.” You see, I’m not going to a church and I do not go to some holy man and I do not find a new set of rules or laws or ethical standards that I might perform, that I might somehow help gain my way to heaven, my Lord has died once that he might bring me to God. My total faith and confidence is in him. So don’t go looking for Jesus on a cross.

Now a lot of people have crosses today and I’m not saying there’s anything sinful or wrong about jewelry and a cross, but just remember he’s not there. Just remember he’s been finished. Matter of fact, it’s rightful and good that true Christians cling to the cross and hold and cherish the glory of what our Savior did for us on the cross. Have you, have you seen some of the vampire movies ? I, I used to like the old vampire movies and the priest or whoever would get a cross and run around and scare the vampires off. I don’t know that that would do much for a vampire but you want to, you wanna really scare the enemies of God? Show them an empty tomb. That’s where the power really is.

But he’s through with the cross. You see, the testimony for the, for the cross is he’s not here. Why seek the innocent among the condemned?

Well, not only do we need to understand he’s not at the cross, secondly, we need to understand that he’s not today dueling with demons. There’s a lot of teaching going on and it’s very prominent. You can sell a lot of books doing this, that somehow there’s this cosmic warfare going on in the spiritual universe and Satan and his demons are over here and they’re fighting and Christ and the good angels are over there and they’re fighting and they’re fighting and wrestling and strategizing for the souls of men and it’s as if Satan and his demons are fighting to win you, and Jesus and the angels are fighting to win, and you have the deciding vote, will you cast your vote for Jesus. Well, I want to tell you, that’s heresy. Jesus is not wrestling and struggling with anybody, including demons. I like what Martin Luther said, he said, “There is a devil but the devil’s God’s devil.” God’s over him. He’s under God. He’s totally submissive to whatever the Lord God tells him to do. Period. Absolutely.

They’re defeated foes, friend. Satan and demons have no power – listen to me – have no power to prevent Jesus from bringing his sheep home. He’s doomed and defeated. In Colossians 1:16, the Bible tells us that he created all principalities and all powers, that means all the demon realm were created by him. He did not author their rebellion but he made them. They’re under his power and authority. Ephesians 1:21 says he is far above all principalities and all powers. The Bible even prophesied the defeat of Satan in Genesis 3:15 speaking of Jesus it says, “And He,” Jesus, “shall bruise you,” Satan, “on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel.” He might nip at Jesus’ heel and Jesus dies on the cross but God’s perfect will was performed even in that, but Christ will bruise him on the head.

Now what is Satan doing today? Well, Revelation 21:10 gives us a keen insight. In Revelation 21:10 the Bible says Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. He loves to go before the Father and accuse us of sin, wanting us to be condemned at the judgment of God. You see, Satan wants us to be in league with himself, in league with the doomed and the defeated, and since he is awaiting his final judgment, his whole goal is that others might perish with him, but when Jesus died for us on the cross, Satan’s pierced forked tongue, that tongue of accusation, was smashed into his face by the heel of omnipotence. That’s what Genesis 3 means when it says, “He’s gonna bruise you on the head. Your tongue of accusation against My children’s gonna be stopped.” And Satan can’t even say, “Yes, but they sin and they’re wrong and they’re vile and their hearts are wicked and they’re desperate.” And the Father says, “But My Son took care of all of that on the cross.” Don’t you magnify the greatness of your sin underneath the superior greatness of your Savior. He’s greater than your sin. He’s greater good than your sin is bad and your sin’s very bad. Very bad.

When Jesus died on the cross, all of Satan’s kingdom came to a halt as far as any power over the children of God. Colossians 2:15 says, “When He disarmed and stripped the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” And then Jesus arose from the dead after he died on the cross and he went to heaven, the Bible says, and he sat down. Jesus isn’t running around wrestling with Satan and getting him into a headlock and making him tap out. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high. The Bible says in Colossians 3:1 Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Now I don’t want to be trite or trivial about the glories of heaven, but it’s as if, and by the way, Job tells us Satan enters heaven to accuse. Job tells us he did that and I think he still does that in a way but it’s as if when Satan comes into heaven and he, he, he wants to accuse you before the Father and he brings your name up and the Father looks over at the Son and the Son goes, the Father sees the nail prints and he says, “Satan, shut up. I’m satisfied in the death of My Son for My child.” There’s no fighting. There’s no wrestling. There’s no struggle. There’s no warfare as such between Jesus and Satan over the souls of men.

The Bible tells us Satan’s gonna be eventually completely thrown down. He has some access to heaven now, there’s mysteries there I don’t understand but there is some access now, but listen, in John 12:31 the Bible says, “now the ruler of this world,” that’s Satan, “shall be cast out.” It says down in the, in the translation literally it means “cast out.” Well, it means that judicially, it means judicially he has no longer a standing to accuse you. He’s cast out. He’s no longer valid. Christ has made him of no consequence. Luke 10:18 says, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” And that’s a, a, a prophetic statement because in Revelation 20:10 he’s gonna be banished forever in the lake of fire and brimstone. So that means that there’s coming day in the end times when he will be not only judicially cast out, not only no longer having a standing against the children of God, but he’ll be thrown away forever into the abyss.

So he’s cast out judicially and then later on he’s gonna be cast out literally into eternal destruction. There’s a sense in which Satan held the keys to death and hell until Jesus cleared us of all charges and by his death, burial and resurrection, that was fully and completely accomplished. Listen to Revelation 1:18, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,” now this is Jesus, “and I have the keys of death and of hell.” Now listen to me, Jesus has the keys to death and hell. Here’s what it means: he can release from death and hell anyone he chooses and Satan can’t do a thing about it. No power of man, no scheme of man, no power of hell can ever pluck me from his hand. Jesus holds the key. Praise his name.

Right at 20 years ago, I wrote a little poem. Now I’m not a poetry writer but I’m gonna read it to you.

“When Jesus died, Satan fell weak, He knew that the Victor had brought him defeat. He awaited the Spirit to quicken the dead, And the heel of omnipotence crushing his head. Then Jesus arose and the earth did roar, Satan bowed to the King as he entered the door. Bowed on his face and on bended knees, Satan yielded to Jesus the eternal keys. So when Satan whispers and says you’re unfit, Your heart gets discouraged, you’re ready to quit. Remember that Jesus who died in your place, Has cleansed you from sin, there remains not a trace. Jesus now holds the title deed to your soul, Permanently your name is written on the roll. Heaven is joyful and filled with all glee, His resurrection proclaims that I am now free.”

Don’t look for Jesus dueling with demons because the testimony from the den of demons is this: he’s not here. Why would you seek the victor among the defeated?

3. There’s another important place Jesus is not and, of course, this is our text, he’s not in the tomb. The testimony of the angelic witness at the tomb was: he is risen, he is not here. And in Luke 24 the Gospel writer says, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” And that’s a good question. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, and Salome, they come to the tomb after the Sabbath is over, they couldn’t do it on the Sabbath, with spices, incense, perfumes, to give Jesus’ body the proper burial anointings. Now these women were devoted but they were deluded. They didn’t understand. They should’ve been looking for Jesus anywhere but in a tomb. I mean, he’s life. He’s the author of life. He’s the sustainer of life. He’s eternal life. You see, in one supernatural moment, Jesus tasted death, conquered death and abolished death for us.

2 Timothy 1:10, “Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Now listen to me, go back to the garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned, they had immorality, they would never die. Jesus now has bought back what Adam and Eve lost in the garden of Eden.

1 Peter 3:18, he was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” Now I know we sing a hymn and I understand the truth of it that talks about, “God my Savior died for me, that thou my God, rather, shouldst die for me,” but there’s a sense in which Jesus didn’t die like all men die because if Jesus had died the entire universe would have fallen into anarchy and chaos because he holds all things together by the word of his power.

His body did die but his spirit went to be with the Lord. He said in the Gospels, “Father, into Thy hand I commit My spirit.” But his body, dead, laid in the grave and the Bible says he left his body there until Easter Sunday morning where he went to be with his Father until his resurrection morn. In Romans 8:29 the Bible says, “He is the firstborn among many brethren.” It means he’s the first of this type. It means Jesus is the first one to go through death’s door and death not hold him and go on to immortality and eternity, and all of the children of God, all of his children will follow their leader right on into glory like he did.

You know, there are those today who deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ but do not be alarmed by them. Two thousand years ago some of the scholars of the day also denied our Lord’s resurrection. They even concocted a scheme to pervert the truth of the resurrection and in like manner today there are so many today who have more learning than they have wisdom. They would gladly accept Jesus as a great teacher. They would gladly esteem him as a great moral example or maybe the highest level of humanity. They would say he’s a model to emulate but they reject his resurrection. Now why is that? You see, if he died and remained dead like all men, then he was a good man or a good example to follow, but if he rose again, he’s the Lord God Almighty. You see, fallen man in his self-centered, self-serving ego and pride would much, much rather emulate a model than submit to a Lord. But he did rise again.

I’ve shared it with you before but I love the picture of Christ in the life of Samson. Remember he was in Gaza and the Philistines decided, “We gotta kill this strongman.” So they concocted a plan that they would kill Samson at daybreak at the gate of the city. Samson got word of their plot so in the middle of the night Samson goes down to the gate of the city and mighty Samson put his shoulders under the gate and lifted up gate, post, bars and all, just ripped it up out of the ground and the Bible says he took it up and he threw it down on the side of the mountain. Can you imagine what those Philistine leaders felt the next morning at sunrise when they went down to the gate to find Samson coming through the gate and the gate wasn’t even there. Well, I want to tell you what Jesus did: he took death, hell and the grave and he put his mighty shoulders under it and he ripped it up, gate, bars, post and all, and he’s thrown it away. So when a child of God dies now, the grave is not his stopping point, there’s a gaping hole he walks right on through into glory.

We sang the song,

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior, Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord. Vainly they watch is bed, Jesus my Savior, Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord. Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior, He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord. And up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes. He arose a victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever with His saints to reign.

He arose, He arose, Hallelujah, Christ arose.”

Now friend, if you want to find the head of atheistic Communism, go to Lenin’s Tomb there in Red Square in Moscow and the testimony from Lenin’s Tomb is: he’s dead. He’s still here. But if you want to find the head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, don’t look on a cross because he’s finished with the cross. The testimony from the cross is: he’s not here. Why seek the innocent among the condemned? Don’t look for him dueling with demons. He’s not out there fighting with demons, he’s through with them, they’re defeated, they’re, they’re squashed. The testimony from the den of demons is: he’s not here. Why would you seek the victor among the defeated? And don’t look for him in Joseph’s tomb, he only borrowed it because he didn’t need it very long. The testimony from the tomb is: he’s not here. He is risen. Why would you seek the living among the dead?

Romans 6:9 and I’ll close, ” knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.” So death no longer is master over us.

Now let me say this final exhortation. Many of you here today have spent a lifetime almost of looking at Jesus and that’s good, you must look at him, but see, Christ our Lord is risen today, he’s alive – listen to me – he’s alive to perform two main things for you if you’ll turn to him in faith: to forgive you of all your sin and to give you new life. But you don’t get forgiveness and new life by looking at Jesus, my friend, there must be a day when you stop just looking at Jesus and you start looking to Jesus. Have you looked to Jesus for your hope? Have you looked to Jesus for your forgiveness? Have you looked for Jesus for cleansing from sin? Have you looked to Jesus as the Lord and the boss of your life? Not in perfection but salvation means that there was a time in your life, maybe you can’t put a day on it or a date on it and that’s fine, but there was a time in your life where you sensed your lostness and you saw your wickedness and you saw how undone and guilty you were before a holy God and you didn’t just historically and intellectually look at the story of Jesus, in your heart and personally you’ve looked to Jesus and you’ve continued to look to him ever since.

In meditating on this, I was thinking about my conversion at the age of 19, just had turned 19, and I don’t know of a day in my life since then that some time in that day and usually many many times in that day my heart doesn’t go toward heaven and say, “O Jesus, I need You. I need Your forgiveness. I need Your mercy. I need Your pardon. I blow it so much.” And that’ll be my testimony until the day I die, looking to Jesus and one day I’m gonna get a new body and a new mind, a glorified physical existence I’ll have then and no longer will I desire to sin against my Lord, and so I won’t have to look to him for continual forgiveness anymore, I’ll just spend the rest of eternity gloriously, happily, with increasing and immense pleasure look at Jesus from then on. Are you just looking at him or have you really with the eyes of faith looked to him?

Let’s bow in prayer.