Transcript

Take your Bibles this morning and let’s go to 1 Corinthians 15. I’m going to do my best to take the time that I have to pour as much into you about the wonderful doctrinal truths of the resurrection as I can and, obviously, every point I make could be a series of sermons but we’re not going to do that. We’re going to give an overview of the great glories that are true because Christ is risen. 1 Corinthians 15:12-17.

12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

I’ve entitled this “The Meaning of the Resurrection.” What does Christ’s resurrection mean? Well, my friend, it means everything. The doctrine of the resurrection is perhaps the most cherished and essential doctrine in the Christian faith. Jesus’ literal bodily resurrection is a chief cornerstone of our faith. Now, if one claims to be a Christian and yet dismisses this doctrine to somehow fit in with the contemporary liberal progressive theology of the day, they in fact do not make Christianity more relevant nor more acceptable, they actually neuter Christianity and change it to a powerless, lifeless, man- centered philosophy. If the resurrection is lost, Christianity is lost, and quite simply, to deny the resurrection is to deny Jesus Christ. You can’t have both. I mean, to hold to a dead other than risen Savior is to hold to no Savior. It is to have no redemption. It is to have no hope beyond the grave. And quite honestly, if he is but a thoroughly decayed corpse and now just a portion of dust in Israeli soil, then let’s lock the door of this church and cease this charade. But the resurrection is true. Today he is alive. He is calling men to preach his glorious saving Gospel. He is today saving men, women and young people’s lives through that Gospel. He is calling them together in congregations called his church. Now, in this day of rapidly growing secularism and the decline of the church, we wonder what’s going on but I’m telling you, even in this day, Jesus is alive and well and very active. You see, to the spiritually discerning, he is active today purging and purifying his true church and he’s increasingly exposing the false, weak and cosmetic church that has far more symbolism than any real substance. You ask me how I know he lives? I know he lives because his life-giving resurrection power has changed my life.

Five things now about what the resurrection means. 1. Christ’s resurrection means that death is defeated. In 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is your victory? O grave, where is your sting?” The point is, it’s been defeated. Now, listen to me carefully, church, I need you to put on your brains this morning because Christian truth is essential for Christian faith and the more you grasp of these truths, the richer your faith will be and the more joy it will bring to your life. Jesus did not obtain the power to raise the dead through his own resurrection. Did you hear that? He didn’t obtain the power to raise the dead through his own resurrection. He’s always had the power to raise the dead. John 5:21, “just as the Father raises the dead, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” Jesus came upon a funeral procession. They were coming out of the city and there was a widow crying because now her only son has passed away and Jesus goes up and speaks to the corpse and instantly the young man sits up alive and he gives the boy back to his mother. He messed up the whole funeral procession. Jesus has always had the power to raise the dead. Jesus goes to the tombs and there Lazarus has been dead for four days and he cries out, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus comes floating up out of the tomb. This is before his death and resurrection. He’s always had the power to raise the dead but when Jesus was resurrected, he obtained the just and righteous power to forgive our sins and raise his children to everlasting life. That’s what was accomplished in the resurrection. It’s one thing to just raise the dead, it’s another thing to raise dead folks and give them eternal life and pardon their sins. That’s what he did in the resurrection. That’s the power of Christ. When he died, the payment was made for his children. On the cross, he stretched out his arms and he said, “It is finished.” So there is no longer any reason for him to remain in the place of the dead for the reason he went to the tomb has now been completed, that is, paying for his children’s sin.

Now, just like he reversed the course of that funeral procession that we read about in the Gospels, one day Jesus will mightily reverse the course of corruption and the grave. My friend, there is a mighty reversal in the universe coming. You see, man enters life at conception but then our life ends at death. We have this finality in our lives. Man lives every day beneath the screaming certainty of death. Utter finality. But Jesus did not enter life at conception. When he was conceived in the womb of Mary, he did not enter life, he entered humanity. He did not become a living being, he had always been a living being. That’s why when he was debating with his enemies, he looked at those Jewish authorities and he said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” In other words, “I’ve always been alive even before your ancient father Abraham.”

And furthermore, when Jesus came to death, it was not a finality for him. Death was a room that Jesus entered but he certainly did not set up residence. In fact, he has torn the back wall of death completely down. He walked into death’s room and walked back out of the back door tearing a gaping hole in it as he left. He arose from the grave conquering death and he will for all of those that are his, in effect, one day stop the great machinery of the universe, push in the clutch of the engine of time and mortality, and shift them into reverse and the corpses of dead men will instantly be reversed causing them to cease their degradation, break the bonds of death and corruption, and come forth to life from the grave. Therefore for all who knew Christ and all who are Christians, death may be scary but death is in effect harmless. Death to us is like a toothless lion with crippling arthritis.

My little granddaughter, two-year-old granddaughter, was running across the floor toward her grandmother, Whammy we call her. There are reasons for that. And she had this look of fear and distress because there was a critter chasing her and every time she would take a step, the critter would lunge at her. You see, a few minutes earlier she had helped her older brother open one of his birthday presents. There was a huge bow on that package and a long, long ribbon and at the end of that ribbon was a piece of tape and she had stepped on that piece of tape and she saw something move about five feet behind her but she was too scared to look and see what it was. Something was after her and every time she’d take a step, it would lunge toward her and so she thought, “I’m not looking at it, I’m just going to Whammy,” so here she goes and she jumps into Whammy’s arms and we’re all just laughing and hugging her and Whammy said, “Look, it’s nothing. It’s just a piece of ribbon on a piece of tape that was stuck to your heel and every time you stepped, it would jump toward you.” Look, that’s what death is now for the child of God. It follows us through this life. Every now and then it lunges after us and half scares us to death but it’s lost all of its power because Jesus is risen. That is the meaning of Christ’s resurrection.

Number 2, not only death has been defeated, but judgment has been averted. You see, his resurrection, Jesus’ resurrection proves our justification. A lot about that big word “justification,” but it’s a Bible word so you need to grasp it. Justification means you now though you haven’t changed or earned anything, but justification means that now you stand before God as if you had never sinned, and resurrection assures us that justification has happened for us. You see, everything hangs on why Jesus died. Now get to that. He didn’t just die, there was a reason he died. He was falsely accused, is that why he ended up condemned, execution on a cross? That’s true but that’s not why he died. Was he a threat to Jewish and Roman authority because he was gaining a great following? Yes, but that’s not why he died. You see, Jesus, now listen, Jesus died for a specific, divine purpose. A specific, divine purpose. John 10:17-18, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” So he says, “I’m laying my life down for a specific purpose. Nobody is making me die. I’m doing it for a specific purpose.”

Romans 4:25 lays it out so clearly, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” That’s the purpose, to take our transgressions, take the wrath for our transgressions, and be raised for our justification. Sid Galloway was with us some years ago and said, Galloway, in addition to being a preacher is a zoologist and he talked about the zoo down in New Orleans where they have this big orangutan pen, I’d guess you’d call it. Is it politically correct to say orangutans live in a pen, is that degrading to orangutans? I don’t know. They are in a pen and George is the patriarch of the orangutan gang but on this day, the orangutans were not acting the way the zoologists wanted the orangutans to act and they found out if they’d take a high pressure water hose, now it’s not a fire hose but it’s stronger than your water hose at home, but if they take a high pressure water hose and spray it, they could get them to move and get back to where they’re supposed to be and behave the way they’re supposed to behave. And so George, the leader of the orangutan gang, saw the zoologists getting the pipes ready and the hose ready and he saw them about to turn it on and right when they turned the water on, old George stood up in front of all the other orangutans, put his arms out and let the whole blast hit him and he blocked the others. That’s what Jesus did on the cross. He didn’t just die, he wasn’t just an example, he wasn’t just saying, “I want to be selfless,” he was those things, he was saying, “I’m going to die to take the blast for my children.”

You know, when young married couples decide they want to try to have babies, it’s an exciting time. They do their pregnancy tests and sometimes those home pregnancy tests are true and sometimes they’re not true, but when they go to the doctor, they take a blood test that’s always right and that blood test is based on the presence of the hCG hormone. You see, there’s only one reason that the hCG hormone is present and that’s if the baby is present because it prepares the placenta for the baby. In other words, if that hormone is present, the baby is present. If that hormone is present, it means your pregnancy is successful. Conception is successful. Friends, in like manner, that’s what Jesus’ resurrection is. Jesus wasn’t just raised, Jesus’ resurrection is the hormone proof. It’s the indisputable proof what he went to die has now been successfully done. Paid for our sins. Redeemed us. Paid the price. Has taken sin out of the way. It was completely satisfied and successful so the Father looked down at the Son and said, “Son, it’s finished. Arise, my love.” His resurrection proves judgment for us has been averted because it was all successfully placed on him. If he be not risen, we have not justification.

Number 3, not only does Christ’s resurrection mean that death is defeated, judgment averted, but that the Spirit is now imparted. The Spirit has been imparted. When Jesus went to the throne of heaven, he imparted, sent the Spirit to come and do his work. The Spirit comes into the world, John 16:7 says, Jesus is speaking, “But 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 go, I will send Him to you.” That’s the Holy Spirit. He comes and he regenerates. It is the Holy Spirit of God that enables men to be converted. Unless the Spirit comes with his convicting and wooing power, no man will turn to Christ. It’s a spiritual experience. Salvation is not just walking an aisle. That’s fine but it’s more than that. Salvation is not repeating a prayer. That is good but it’s more than that. There must be a spiritual work and if Christ is not risen, if he has not ascended, he would not have sent the Spirit and no one could be saved. After he regenerates us, he is the assurance of our salvation. Ephesians 1:13 speaks of the Spirit as being the seal in our life. The seal is that stamp of authentication. The Bible speaks of the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit of the Son of God.

I was working at the deer camp yesterday and that’s part of my therapy on Saturdays, and Blake was with me, Blake is our intern here and he said, “Look, there’s some stakes there.” He said, “Brother Jeff, that’s one of those security of salvation stakes.” And what he meant was is I have derided the notion that to be secure in your salvation you’re to go out into your yard and drive a tomato stake in the ground and tell the devil, “I’ve asked you to save me, now that stake in the ground means I’m saved.” Well, I’ve always said, “Do you want a tomato stake or the infinite, omnipotent Holy Spirit of God to be your security of salvation?”

Well, that’s what he is. He comes. The Spirit of God lives in us. He reveals the words to us. He helps us in our sanctification. You would not be interested in the preaching of the word or the truth of the word if the Spirit did not give you a hunger. It’s not my job to make God’s truth appealing, it’s my job to give you God’s truth and the Spirit makes it appealing to you. He regenerates. He sanctifies. He seals us. He gives us security. He keeps us all the way home. And then one day, the Bible says, Jesus is going to return in the sky, the church will be raptured, and when the church leaves the earth, the working of the Holy Spirit to a great degree will be removed from planet earth and then vile wickedness will fill the planet. You think it’s bad now, wait until those seven years of tribulation when the church is removed and the Spirit’s restraint of evil is removed out of the earth. Oh, my friend, what a glorious and wondrous truth it is that Jesus Christ has gone to the Father after he was raised and imparted the Spirit back to us.

When a girl grows into young adulthood, it’s not God’s will for all, some remain single but as a pattern, it’s God’s will and it’s best that she leave her relationship with her father and she be joined to another. So you have a wedding ceremony and when that young daughter marries some young man and the father in that ceremony gives her away, now listen, he doesn’t give her away in abandonment, he just knows it’s necessary that we part for now because she’s going to a better relationship and a better place. She’ll have her own husband. She’ll raise her own family. She’ll have her own home and the manifold blessings that follow. That’s what Christ did. When he left his disciples, he said, “I know it’s going to be hard. You’d like to just stay here with me and I here with you but I must go away because if I go away, I’m going to give you a new relationship with one that for this season is better fitted for you, the omniscient, omnipresent Holy Spirit,” because he can live in our hearts where the incarnate Jesus would just be in one place. So until the day that Christ returns, he has imparted the Spirit to us that we would have him. And by the way, that is the only glue that makes a church a church, the Spirit of God in each individual heart. Listen, if you join a church, if you’re connected to a church, if you’re united to a church under anything else than the truth and the Spirit that binds us in truth, you have settled for less than God intended. Thank God, praise God, hallelujah to Christ for going to the Father and imparting to us the Spirit. If Christ be not risen, there is no Holy Spirit impartation to us.

Jesus’ resurrection means death has been defeated. It means judgment has been averted. It means the Spirit has been imparted. But fourthly, it means mediation has been established. Now, you know what a mediator is, he’s a go between. A mediator brings two parties together and Jesus is our Mediator. He brings us together to God. He is risen that he might be the Mediator for us with the Father. You see, Jesus did save us when he died on the cross, now listen, and Jesus is saving us right now. Did you hear that? Jesus did save us on the cross and Jesus is saving us right now. Jesus is active today. He’s actively working to secure you, to keep you, and prepare for you an eternal home. We’ll talk about that more in a few moments.

Now, Jesus is active for every person who’s ever lived. Are you listening to me? Jesus today ascended into heaven, is active for every person who has ever lived. For some, those who are Christians who believe in Christ, he’s actively interceding for them before the Father. Hebrews 9:24 says he has “now appeared in the presence of God for us.” Think about that. Now listen, if he’s not risen, he couldn’t have gone and appeared. It’s vitally essential that he appear in the presence of God for us. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2, “He has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God,” which means he has entered heaven and settled into his permanent place. His place is at the right hand of God, as we just said also, where he is interceding for us. Hebrews 7:25, “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Is that not amazing? Now listen, that one of the key intentions of Jesus dying was that he could rise again, ascend to the Father, and ever live at the right hand of the Father to intercede for you so that in any way, shape, or fashion, listen to me, in any way, shape, or fashion, should there ever be an accusation before the Father about your unworthiness, even what you did last night, Jesus in faithfulness goes to the Father and says, “Father, I died for him,” and the Father says, “That, my Son, is sufficient. Not guilty.”

So he’s active saving us now and the only way you can lose your salvation is if somehow he becomes inactive or somebody topples him off the throne of eternity and, by the way, that’s not going to happen. But the Bible says Jesus is also active for the rest, for those who are not believers in Christ, those who have not humbled themselves to receive him as Lord and Savior. Today he’s active for them preparing the wrath that he will one day bring against them in the judgment. Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” This first teaches there is an active working up and development. Now, can you, listen, can you imagine what the infinite, omnipotent Christ is able to develop to pour on sinners who deserve his wrath? He is working up wrath to come against those who do not know Christ. But trust me, friends, Jesus is active. To intercede for those that are his and to prepare the wrath for those who are not. You say, “Pastor, it’s Easter. Bunnies, eggs, the wrath of God?” My friend, there is no glory of salvation if there is not the reality of judgment and wrath. So for the Christian he is risen to ever intercede for us. The Bible even calls him our lawyer. It gives us the word advocate. Our advocate before the Father. You see, if Jesus died but did not rise again, you do not have a mediator, you do not have an intercessor, and you are still lost in your sin. But because he is risen, mediation for our eternal salvation has been permanently established. Aren’t you glad it’s not the evangelist, it’s not Brother Jeff, it’s not the Cardinal, it’s not the Bishop, and it’s not the Pope, it’s Jesus that mediates for you and keeps you saved? What a Savior. What an Easter message. What a truth. What a glory.

What does his resurrection mean? It means death has been defeated. It means judgment has been averted. It means the Spirit has been imparted. It means his mediation has been established. And number 5, his resurrection means eternity has now been granted. Eternity, a glorious eternity is now granted. He is risen and in addition to his intercession, he’s actively preparing an eternal, glorious place for us. Now look, when God first spoke heaven and earth into existence, earth was an unbelievable paradise and, listen to me, that was the first creation. The Bible says there’s a second or a new creation and its glory and wonder far exceeds the first. In John 14:2-3, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” Jesus said, “I’m preparing it to come and get you to take you there and it will be yours. It’s eternal. It’s forever.” Folks, that’s why he was raised. Listen, are you listening to your pastor this morning? He was raised that he might use the infinite designs of his wisdom and power to prepare a wonderfully special place for you forever. What a Savior. He designed this place by his own wisdom. He is building this place by his own power and he is adorning this eternal place with his own glory by fully and completely fulfilling his assignment as Savior through his death. The Father raised him from the dead and the Father has given him the title deed to our souls and even the title deed to the universe. When you see something being built here around town every now and then but somebody’s got to go and they’ve got to buy the title deed to the property and then they can do what they want there within city code. When Jesus was raised from the dead, the Father said, “Here, Son, you get full authority. Here’s the title deed to everything that is. Now make something special for you and your children.” Wow.

Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” That place is described in Revelation, Revelation 21:1-5, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city,” that’s the church, “the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.'” It’s like John can’t say enough about the wonder and the glory of God being there with us. Verse 4, “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.'” I love verse 5 here, “And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.'” Eternity has been granted.

He is risen that he might grant his children an eternal home and there adorn them with his purity, his beauty, his riches, and his immeasurable happiness because his children are his precious bride and he’s a great groom that only gives his bride the very, very best. He is risen that he might perfect us with his own righteousness and dwell with us eternally and we will bask in the incomparable love of Christ and the glory of his holiness. He is risen that he might with godly compassion wipe every tear from his children’s eyes. Have you ever thought when you heard the Easter story, Jesus is risen that he might one day wipe every tear from my eye? He’s going to wipe all the tears away from the inside out. He will remove from your heart every capacity or propensity to know anything but explicit joy. He is even going to wipe away your capacity to remember anything that might bring unhappiness. He rose from the dead that he might do that for you, wipe every tear from his children’s eyes and bring his children to such a blessed state that all fear, pain and sorrow is removed and removed forever, even from our memories. There may be tears in that new glorious home but they can only be tears of great, great joy.

He is risen. There will no longer be any death. No more parting. No more grieving. No more loss. And as some of you were trying on your Easter clothes, in a million years you’ll be as young and vibrant as the first day you arrived. In our eternal home prepared for us by our risen Lord, pleasure and happiness can never decrease. Now listen, not only can it never decrease, it can’t even plateau. They will never be a day in heaven when you say, “Boy, today, man, I was happy in heaven today, about like yesterday.” You’ll never say that, every day will be better. It can’t even plateau. You see, it will be impossible for pleasure and happiness to not continually increase in heaven because, you see, Christ arose so that he might give those he died and arose for his very best and that is himself. You know, people think about, “When I go to heaven, will I get this, that?” No, you get the best. You get Christ himself. You’re just too stupid to know that’s best and I’m too stupid to know that’s best. You see, he is the best of the best. He’s not just saying, “I want you to believe I’m the best,” he’s saying, “I really am the best of everything. The best happiness. The best pleasure. The best joy. It’s me.” And we will have him in heaven. He is our pleasure. He will be our joy. He’s a being of infinite pleasures and unending pleasures so our pleasures in heaven will only and always increase for all eternity.

What does Christ’s resurrection mean? It means there’s hope for you. The worst of sinners, there’s hope for you. The most vilest of the vile, the most corrupt of the corrupt, I’m telling you, Christ’s resurrection is true, it means there’s hope for you. He will forgive you but in reality, forgiveness is too small a term. He did more than forgive, he took your place, now listen to me, and removed the possibility or the capacity of you ever having anything in you to where God would not welcome you or take you into his home. There’s hope for you. There’s blessing for you. There’s an eternity for you. What does Christ’s resurrection mean? Oh, my dear friend, it means everything. Everything. May you go from this service and in this week deeply stirred and enamored with the great, great, greatness of Christ and the greatness of your salvation and the greatness of what he has accomplished for us in his resurrection. And God’s grateful people said, amen.

Let’s stand together and close singing his praises.