If A Man Dies Shall He Live Again? (Easter)

It is Easter. The day that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A time when Alleluias fill the air: ....Beloved ... You know the response:

Alleluia Christ is Risen..... The Lord is Risen in Deed Alleluia.

We have hope through the resurrection.

Yet often that hope..... is not fully realized until we come face to face .... With the reality.... of our mortality.

Professional golfer Paul Azinger .....was diagnosed with cancer ...at age 33.

He wrote about that experience: ......"A genuine feeling of fear came over me ..... I could die ....from cancer.

But then another reality hit me ....even harder:..... I'm going to die eventually anyway, ....whether from cancer ....or something else.

I am definitely going to die.......It's just a question..... of when.

Everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me.......All I wanted to do.. was live"

About that same moment ......he remembered something that Larry Moody..... who taught a Bible study on the pro tour ....said to him:

"Zinger,... he said.... we are not in the land of the living .....going to the land of the dying.

We are in the land of the dying .....trying to get to .....the land of the living". (Long Pause)

Many ask the ancient question that Job asked so long ago: ....."If a man dies, shall he live again?" REPEAT (Job 14:14)

That is .... One of the most important questions..... that we could ever ask, ......for life .....is our most precious possession.

Jesus said, " For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36).

If a man dies, shall he live again?

It is not until we have confidence of living beyond the grave...... that this life .....will take on..... ultimate meaning and enjoyment.

The Scriptures state , BIBLE " If in Christ we have hope in this life only, .... we are of all people .....most to be pitied." END 1 Corinthians 15:19

The longer you live, ....the more you realize ......that life is moving quickly ....and coming to a dead end.

The end is futile .....if there is not hope ....beyond the grave.

In our text from Corinthians the apostle Paul deals with this question ......in light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Listen to how he begins: BIBLE "Now I would remind you brothers and sister, of the good news that I proclaimed to you; .....which you in turn received .....in which you also stand. .....Through which also you are being saved,...... If ...You hold to the message... I proclaimed to you." END 1 Corinthians 15:1-2a.

The good news is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ .......provides answers .....to the question of life after death.

If a man dies, shall he live again?

Is there life after death?

The answer is an emphatic and glorious yes, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ...is the proof.

Old Testament Scripture .....had predicted that Messiah was going to die.

It states that he would be led like a sheep .....to the slaughter.

So Jesus' death was not the accidental death.... of a martyr.

It was the deliberate death ...of a person who offered His life .....as a sacrifice.

Our heavenly Father, .....in his tender mercy, .....gave his only Son ....Jesus Christ .....to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.

He offered himself and made, .....once for all time, .....a perfect and sufficient sacrifice .....for the sins ....of the whole world.

A woman wrote Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "Our preacher said that on Easter, .......Jesus just swooned on the cross .......and that the disciples nursed Him back to health.

What do you think?"

McGee replied, "Dear sister, ......beat your preacher with a leather whip with 39 heavy strokes, .....nail him to a cross, ......hang him in the sun for six hours, ......run a spear through his side....., put him in an airless tomb for three days, and see what happens!"

The Old Testament Scriptures .....state that God the father.....would not allow the Holy One ......to undergo decay.

Jesus was laid in a borrowed tomb. ....Jesus was not staying permanently.

He was raised... he was resurrected from the dead. (Pause)

One night during the Easter Pageant, ....there was young boy who was enthralled.....with the story.

When the crucifixion scene took place.... he became very quiet.

But when Jesus came back from the grave......His eyes lit up and he looked at his mother..... and loudly proclaimed, ......He's alive!"

And he began to clap ....and he hugged his mother around the neck.

It is so powerful ....to see someone..... understand the resurrection .....for the first time.

On that first Easter morning Jesus left the borrowed tomb .....very much alive.

When the women went to the tomb to anoint His body, ......they discovered the tomb was empty.

The angel said, ...."Why do you seek the living among the dead?