Jesus 1, Death 0

JESUS 1; DEATH 0

1 Cor 15:55-57

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Five-year-old Brian played the part of an angel in an Easter drama. Brian had the pivotal verse to recite at the tomb of Jesus: “He is not here, he is risen” (Luke 24:6). Unfortunately, he could not remember what to say, and the director had to quietly remind him of his line.

2. He then confidently grabbed the microphone and triumphantly shouted, “He’s not here; He’s in prison!” (I think his dad worked for TDCJ). [Source: Mature Living, April, 2011]

B. EASTER VIDEOS

C. TEXT: Rev. 1:18, 1 Cor. 15:52

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1 Cor 15:55-57]

D. THESIS:

1. You see, it was impossible that Death could conquer Jesus because Jesus possesses All Power, because He is the All-Swallower, and because God’s Word declares He will Triumph over every adversary.

2. History has proved this is true and that’s why the score is “Jesus 1, Death 0.”

REASONS WHY DEATH COULDN’T WIN:

I. JESUS NEVER MET A FORCE HE COULDN’T OVERCOME

A. THE MASTER OF DEATH

1. A young minister was called upon to preach a funeral service. He had never done one before. So he hunted all through the Four Gospels trying to find one of Christ’s funeral sermons.

2. He went to Jairus’ daughter’s funeral service; next he followed Jesus to the Widow of Nain’s son’s funeral procession, and finally to the tomb of Lazarus.

3. He found that Jesus broke up every funeral he ever attended; He raised them from the dead! Death could not exist where he was. Death and Jesus couldn’t co-exist. When the dead heard His voice, they sprang to life. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life!” (Jn. 11:25)

4. You see, Jesus came that He “might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Heb. 2:14-15). Every time Jesus met death, He conquered him.

B. JESUS NEVER MET A FORCE HE COULDN’T CONQUER. He said...

1. “ALL POWER is given to Me in heaven and in earth”.

2. He proved his power over:

Demonic forces

Natural forces – wind, water, etc.

Sickness

Over sin

Over the Law of Moses

& finally over death itself.

3. Jesus IS the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

C. STORY

1. The Cross is God’s boomerang; though the devil meant to destroy Jesus by it, it actually caused the devil’s downfall. It’s very similar to this terrorist story; Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, sent a letter bomb to an enemy, but he didn’t include enough postage on the letter bomb. So the Postal Service sent the letter back to him stamped, "return to sender." But Rahnajet forget it was a bomb; he opened it up and it blew him to bits. His own evil boomeranged and destroyed him! That’s what happened at Calvary!

2. In Christ we have power over sin, sickness, and the grave. We can tell the world what Pepsi cola told the Chinese. Pepsi had for a slogan, “Come alive with the Pepsi generation.” This was a wonderful slogan, but when it was translated into Chinese, it actually said, “Pepsi can bring your dead ancestors back to life.” I'm sorry to tell you that Pepsi can't do that; but I'm glad to tell you that JESUS CHRIST CAN! He overcame death, hell, and the grave! We have hope now and hope beyond the grave. Can you say, "Hallelujah?!"

THE 2ND REASON IT’S “JESUS 1, DEATH 0” is because of...

II. HIS IDENTITY: JUST WHO THIS JESUS IS

A. THE DEVIL GOT QUITE A SURPRISE

1. There was a man in S.W. China Guizhou Province who has become famous on social media for getting into the cage with tigers and pulling their tails -- until a tiger turned on him! How many know we're no match for a full-grown tiger?

2. That's the kind of thing that happened when the devil went up against Jesus; the demons came out crying, “You’re the Holy One of God!” “You are the Son of God!” Mk. 1:24; 3:11. They were shocked to encounter the Lord of Glory on earth!

3. They didn’t know that His mission was to redeem by sacrifice! 1 Cor. 2:8 says; “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” What a huge mistake!