He Is Not Here, He Is Risen

He Is Not Here, He Is Risen

Luke 24:1-12

Jesus is alive and well! The tomb is empty! He is risen!

The empty tomb of Jesus Christ declares resurrection power that no other religion can offer.

God designed people to hunger for the supernatural, so people of all nations have religions of one sort or another that seek in some way to meet this need.

The one limitation common to all mankind is death, which is the focal point of many religions.

If a religion can give significant meaning to death, then it can give significant meaning to life.

According to David Barrett, editor of the World Christian Encyclopedia, nearly 10,000 distinct religions exist in the world, and the number is steadily rising [Toby Lester, “Oh Gods!” The Atlantic Monthly, February 2002, p. 38]

Many religious leaders from the past, and apparently even new ones today, are making claims that they have the answers to feed that gnawing hunger in the soul for something eternal.

But the leaders of the world’s religions have one thing in common, the grave, the final resting place.

The grave is no respecter of persons. It’s icy fingers grab the young as well as the old, it grabs the male as well as the female, the rich and poor.

While there is no way to determine how many tears have been shed at the graveside, some things we do know about the grave.

At some point in life, nearly everyone will contribute some of their tears there, and nearly everyone will become the focus of some of those tears when they, too, are planted in the grave.

Of all the miracles Jesus performed, victory over the grave is the most significant.

This power to melt the chill of death and to bring everlasting light to the deepest darkness could only come from One who Himself came forth victorious over the grave and all of its icy power.

Jesus did this, but no other religious leader has demonstrated this power.

A person can deny Jesus, lie about Him, and say that He didn’t exist, or they can just ignore that He does exist.

But the fact is that no religious leader has ever been able to put Him back in the grave.

He is risen!

And he is the only one who walked out of the grave! That grave is empty today! We celebrate a risen Christ. Not a dead Christ, but a risen Christ.

He didn’t mess around with death, he conquered death and now through Him, we will conquer death.

Oh death where is thy sting, oh grave where is thy victory. We have power, through the power of the resurrection.

He is not there, the grave is empty, He is risen.

The resurrection demonstrates the power of life over death, sickness, sin, and even the stress of our busy world today.

But to hear about the resurrection is just part of its power. We shouldn’t just hear about it, but we ought to live in it.

Because it’s not just a story, it’s what give us life. [now and eternally]

I’m talking about the resurrection. We ought to life in the power of the resurrection.

And if we do, we will walk out of the grave. We will have victory over death. We will rise to meet Jesus in the clouds of glory.

We should make it a point to study the resurrection ourselves. We should examine ourselves.

How? But asking ourselves a few questions.

1. Am I living in the power of the resurrection?

2. Do I really believe the words of Jesus Christ?

3. Is there evidence in my life that proves what I believe?

The real power of the resurrection was demonstrated not only 2,000 years ago, but is also demonstrated today in the lives of people who are following Jesus Christ.

Those who refuse to give in to the power of darkness and are walking in the light of the resurrection, prove every day that God in the flesh was victorious over the grave.

When people see your life change. When people see that you are victorious over a sinful past. When people see you rise to a newness of life.

When they see the old man die in you, and a new man start living, it proves to them that Jesus got up out of the grave.

Because if you can get up out of the grave of sin, if you can rise to the newness of life. If you can change, there had to be a resurrection.

He’s not here, He is risen.

When God’s spirit lives in you, you will be victorious over death, hell and the grave.

Joseph of Arimathea was known as a counselor. [see Luke 23:50] {It is interesting to note that Jesus who was called Counselor by the prophet Isaiah [Isaiah 9:6] was laid to rest in a tomb made for a counselor}