Jesus' Resurrection Series

Paul’s point is that believing that Jesus was raised from the dead – if in fact he was not raised from the dead – would be vacuous, devoid of any advantage or benefit, useless, or empty. It would be utterly worthless believing in Jesus if he was not raised back to life.

I became a Christian when I was nineteen years old. God started working in my life in a very pointed way about six months earlier. My brother and best friend often talked to me about Jesus and the gospel. One reason I took so long to come to faith is because I wanted to know for sure that Jesus really was alive. I did not want to put my faith in Jesus only to find out later that he was not who he claimed to be and that he was not raised from the dead.

Forty-five years ago, on Easter Sunday in 1976, I put my faith in Jesus Christ. I believed that he really did rise again from the dead. And in all my studies since then my conviction has only grown stronger and stronger that Jesus is as alive today as you and I are alive!

If Jesus was not raised back to life again, our faith is in vain. But, thank God, he was raised to life on the third day after his death.

Conclusion

Retired pastor Tim Keller tells the following story:

When my wife was growing up, every summer her family spent two weeks at a small compound of cottages on the shores of Lake Erie. Now the cottages are all gone – in fact that part of the beach is gone. Whenever she visits that childhood vacation spot, she weeps because she knows the beach is irretrievable. That sense of irretrievability is like a death. And the older we all get, the more we realize that certain losses are irretrievable; they’re gone, and that sucks the joy out of our lives.

But here’s where Jesus’ resurrection offers something unique. Even religions that promise a kind of spiritual future or spiritual bliss, only offer consolation for what you’ve lost. But the resurrection of Jesus even promises the restoration of what you’ve lost. You don’t just get your body back; you get the body you always wanted but you never had. You don’t just get your life back; you get the life that you always wanted that you never had.

Jesus is walking proof that you will miss nothing. Nothing! It’s all coming in the future. It’s going to be unimaginably wonderful. There is no religion, no philosophy, and no human being who can offer this kind of future. Our hope for the future is based on the historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection.

Do you want to be done with sin? Do you want a future that is unimaginably glorious? Then do what I did forty-five years ago. Repent of your sin. And believe that Jesus was raised for your justification. And do it today. Amen.