Implications Of Resurrection Series

As we read the New Testament passages, we realize that the resurrection matters supremely. For example, in Romans 1:3-4, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. We can see that the incarnation of Christ, when He was born to this earth, validated His humanity, but it’s His resurrection that validated His deity, that proved that He was God.

It’s the resurrection that validates the deity of Christ. The First century followers of Christ, before the resurrection they were timid; they were fearful. They thought that their lives might be at risk, causing them to run and hide in the room. None of them but John even showed up at the cross; they were all in hiding.

But then news came out of the resurrection and then the gift and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. They were bold enough and willing to lay down their lives for Christ’s sake. The church was birthed and it spread through the proclamation that Christ died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life—and He is—what do we have to fear? What’s the worst that can happen to you?

The apostles and the early church, started to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the messages of resurrection. That’s the reason the church began. Apart from Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we have no hope of eternal life. 1 Peter 1:3 says that, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.

So there’s no doubt that the resurrection matters.

What difference does the empty tomb make in our lives this week and the next week and the week after that?

What difference does it make for people who are facing problems and pain, failure, and fears? I want to talk to you today, about six implications of the resurrection for those who have placed their faith in Christ. So you can go back and reflect on these implications of the resurrection—not only on Easter Sunday, but throughout the course of the year.

I. The resurrection means there is hope in the most desperate circumstances.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. - John 14:6

It means that God can make a way out where there is no human way out. It means that God is all-powerful and nothing is beyond His control. It means that one day all tears will be wiped away and all sorrow will be turned to joy. It means that He can bring beauty out of ashes and that He can cause even evil circumstances to bring Him ultimate glory.

Think about the circumstances of the cross, so painful where evil men put Christ to death and realize that evil men never get the final word. God gets the final word. There is hope in the most desperate circumstances.

It’s the resurrection that encourages us to remember that Christ has defeated death—the most ultimate desperate circumstance. He’s defeated death by walking through it and has come out to the other side. So no matter how many enemies seek to take Him down, He cannot ever die again. That’s what the resurrection tells us.

We think today about news of natural disasters, economic uncertainty, world crises—it can be overwhelming just to read the news. But the resurrection encourages us to take a deep breath and to remember that God is on His throne; He is in charge no matter how dark it gets in your life or in this world.

There is nothing that can happen to us that is not going to be ultimately overcome by His power. The resurrection means there is hope in the most desperate circumstances. God is helping and hoping beyond our circumstances.

II. The resurrection means that God always keeps His promises.

In Matthew chapter 28:5-6, when the two women went to the tomb looking for the body of Jesus that was buried there, “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said'”. As He said . . . Jesus had told the disciples that He would not stay dead, that He would rise from the dead.

Let me just read to you one of those accounts where He’s told them that. In Matthew 16:21-22, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you”.