RESURRECTION: From the Cross to the Throne
Eph 4:7-10; Luke 16:19-31 (KJV)
Today I want to preach my Easter message in which we celebrate a risen Savior
But we are not just celebrating a historical event, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus we are celebrating one of a series of significant events
That has had a profound affect on the world we live in and even the unseen world to come
When we celebrate the resurrection, we are celebrating one of many of the battles that Jesus fought on our behalf to free us from sin and free us from death
Today I want us to look at what took place between the Cross and the Throne that affects our salvation
Jesus was crucified, He was buried, but on the third day He rose again…He is alive…
His bones are not in the tomb…Muhammad’s bones are in the tomb…Buddha’s bones are in the tomb… Hare Krishna’s bones are in the tomb
But Jesus’ bones are not in the tomb because He’s alive Hallelujah! If you agree can you say AMEN!
Before I read Luke 16, I just want to turn to Eph 4: which concerns Jesus who descended first into the lower parts of the earth before He Ascended into heaven
I want us first to Look at Eph 4:7-10 first and then Luke 16:19-31
Read Eph 4:7-10 / Pray
1. Have you ever asked “Where was Jesus for those three days He was in the tomb?”
Jesus descended before he Ascended
Eph 4 teaches that Jesus took the captive into His captivity and led them and took them with Him when He ascended into Heaven
So let’s read Luke 16:19-31
Vs 22 Abraham’s bosom (say Abraham’s bosom) Abraham’s bosom is the same as paradise
Father Abraham, send Lazarus to dip his finger (expound)
Be merciful to me…comfort me but how many know that he was not merciful to Lazarus on the earth in this life…begging for crumbs…eat up with sores
Now the rich man is in torment and Lazarus is being comforted
Now it’s important to understand what He is saying here…in hell there is a great gulf…two parts at this moment…one side is the unrighteous dead…the place of torment which is called Hades
Across that gulf on the other side is Abraham’s bosom…the place where the righteous dead went who were waiting for Messiah to come
Nobody before the cross died and went to heaven…they went to Abraham’s bosom…a place of peace and comfort but not heaven
It was paradise…or a form of paradise…an upper region in hell
Look at vs 27-28 read and expound
Look at vs 29-31
Vs 31 tells him if they don’t hear Moses and the prophets who are preaching the Word, neither will they believe one sent from the dead WHY? Because there is already one sent from the DEAD
His name is JESUS! Can I get a witness?
Ephesians 4 says He descended first…to where…to paradise…Abraham’s bosom
Remember on the cross…He’s about to die…and a thief; just before he dies he looks over at Jesus and says “Lord, remember me when you come into Your Kingdom.”
Jesus looked over at him and said “today” Everybody say “TODAY” Jesus said “today you will be WITH ME in paradise…that’s Abraham’s bosom.”
Jesus and the thief went to Abraham’s bosom and all those who have been waiting for Messiah weren’t there very long
Jesus took captive all those who had been held captive waiting for the Messiah
Jesus did not go to Hades…He did not suffer in side of hell that is for torment…
Everyone before the cross that died went to hell…some (unrighteous dead) went to the place of torment ‘hades’ and the righteous dead went to an upper region, Abraham’s bosom or paradise
Jesus descended first before he UHscended according to Eph 4…where did He go? He went to paradise…why did He go there?
He went there to declare to the righteous dead “I’m the one you been waiting on…I’m the one that all the shadows painted pictures of…the one foretold of old that was coming.”
“I am the one you talked about Moses…I am the one you talked about Elijah” and He even preached to them as it says in 1 Pet 3:19-20
And then He is raised from the dead and He takes all those with Him that have been captive in Abraham’s bosom
And He picked His body up on the way up…how do I know that? Because at the tomb was Mary Magdalene in John 20
She’s weeping at the tomb and He see’s her and He asks what is wrong? She doesn’t recognize that it is Jesus talking to her UNTIL…He calls her by name “MARY”
The second He mentioned her name…she said MASTER!
Man I love that! There’s nothing like hearing God call your name!
There’s nothing like knowing God knows your name!
She said Master…and she wanted to hug Him but listen what He says…
John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
This time table is important…Mary saw Jesus after 3 days in the tomb…
Now listen to this, after He ascended, that same day, in the evening, He appeared to the disciples
And in Luke 24:39 He speaks to the disciples and they thought He was a Spirit…they were hunkered down, they were scared…Jesus had died…what now?
Then He appeared to them and said “I’m not a spirit…touch me…handle me…for flesh and bone is not a spirit”
Jesus has a resurrected body…it’s flesh and bone…not the one before He ascended and Mary couldn’t touch Him
Are ya’ll okay so far? Are you with me?
Something happened between early morning Easter of “Mary don’t touch me” and the evening Easter of “touch me”
He was raised from the dead as our High Priest…He’s fixing to ascend to heaven and sprinkle His blood on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies to take care of our forgiveness once and for all
It wasn’t just the shedding of His blood…that blood had to be applied, sprinkled upon the mercy seat
Now that it’s done and the work is finished…He comes back to earth you can touch Him
In the OT, you could not touch the High Priest when the sacrifices were made or you would smitten and struck dead…He had been cleansed and purified…made ready for the sacrifice
Now this morning I am going to challenge you…to grow…to enlarge your heart
2. Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death
Jesus did not negotiate with the Devil over death…He didn’t make some type of peace treaty
Heb 2:14 says that “through death, he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil.”
Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death…can I get a witness?
That word “destroyed” here doesn’t mean to annihilate but in the Greek is simply means “to render inoperative”
Jesus crushed the head of the serpent at the resurrection and I need to know what that means in my life
Go John Chapter 11 is the story of Lazarus and he’s been dead for four days
Jesus first told His disciples that Lazarus was sleeping…and they said that if he sleeps then he will be fine…they didn’t get it…Jesus finally got frustrated and said Lazarus is dead.
Then He says, “I am glad for your sake that I wasn’t there so you can now see the glory of God”
In other words, if he would have been there, he would have healed Lazarus and that would have been a measure of God’s glory…but now to raise Him from the dead is all of it.
We know where Lazarus is…he is in Abraham’s bosom…but he has been dead for four days…Martha says by this time he stinks…he’s begun to decay
Now Jesus is talking to Mary and Martha and look what He says in John 11:25-26 (read)
Do you believe? Everybody always says yes…but how many truly understand?
Listen Lazarus is foreshadow of what’s happening to each and every one of us…as we look in the mirror everyday you and I are decaying…we stinketh…our bodies are dying!
Are you with me? Now let me challenge you and let’s back up to John chapter 8
Stay with me…Now remember we are talking about Jesus coming to free us from sin and death
He says “you who are alive and believe in me, you’ll never die…do you believe it?”
Now John Chapter 8:51 repeat after me…say “I love, (pause) the good Word of God”
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
Do you see it? You shall never see death if you keep His saying. What is the saying, Love the Lord Your God heart, soul, mind, spirit, neighbor as self.
I am keeping your saying…but I need help…what’s He saying?
I have seen a lot of death…I have had relatives die…I’ve done a lot of funerals
And if the Lord tarries…I know this body will be laid to rest…it will decay to death
But I will not die…I will live forever! Do you believe it?
Let’s go to the book of Revelation chapter 1 on look at the journey of death
When Jesus is talking about death He is talking about something different than what we think about when we say death
What is He talking about when He says “You that are alive…if you believe…you will not die?”
Watch this…go to Revelation 1:17 (read)
This is Jesus in His glorified body…this is Jesus after the resurrection
The Jesus that we worship…is the Jesus that has received His full glorified body and has entered into His full glory with the Father
The Jesus that walked the shores of Galilee stripped Himself of all His glory and John walked with Him on those shores…worked with him…ate with Him
And now, this same John, see’s Jesus in His glorified body and falls down as though he were dead
This is a different Jesus than the one that walked the shores of Galilee
Are you still with me? I am not saying there are two Jesus’…the Jesus we worship is a glorified Jesus
Look what Jesus tells John at the end of vs 17 and verse 18
Jesus said He had keys…He had taken keys from hell and keys from death…say death!
He said “I am the first and the last and I am alive evermore” He even AMEN’d Himself and then said “and by the way I have the keys of death and hell.”
When then did he get these keys of death and hell?
A lot of people think He got the keys from the devil in hell…listen the devil ain’t in hell
The devil don’t want to go to hell anymore than you or I do…that’s his final destination but he is not there yet!
When did Jesus get the keys? Strap yourself in and go to Revelation chapter 6
Jesus took something from hell and He took something from death
Look at Rev 6:7-8
This rider is someone or some thing…an angel of death, sitting on a horse and has the power to kill with sword, to kill with hunger, and to kill with death
And Hell is following him and power was given to THEM.
We need to look at death maybe in a different light and see that death is an angel…death is sitting on a horse
Some say…yea but that’s just symbolic…go to Revelation 20 verse 10-14 and let’s see
Look at 14 again…Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire
You don’t cast symbols into the lake of fire…there is an angel of death…it was back in the days of Moses and is still here today
Even the world knows there is a death angel…what do they call him? Grim Reaper
Go to Colossians chapter 2:9-15 and let’s look at how Jesus defeated hell
Verse 15 says that Jesus spoiled the principalities and powers and made a show of them.
Show here means a “public display” in the NIV it says “a public spectacle”
All the angels of heaven witnessed it…all the saints of old, held in Abraham’s bosom witnessed it, and when Jesus died, He went and set them free…
Now when did Jesus spoil the principalities and powers? This is incredible…
The word spoil in the Greek is “apekduomi” literally means to “strip or disarm”
This is the only place in the bible that this form of the Greek is used
That word is what the Roman armies used whenever they finished battle and it was a celebration that took place after their victory
This Greek word was a ceremonial word…the head general of the roman army would have all of the top military leaders paraded before them with all of their metals, stripes, armor and in full uniform
This word “spoiled” means they brought the enemy in front and stripped them of all of their honor, all of the authority, all of their rank, all of their medals, all of their victories
Humiliated them to the utmost
General McArthur was truly one of the last great generals that understood warfare…when he brought the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri to sign the order of surrender
He stripped all of the generals, right in front of their own men, he stripped them of all of their medals and their rank…total defeat…total humiliation
Jesus just didn’t defeat the devil…He spoiled him…he stripped him of all his honor, he humiliated him forever
When Jesus ascended to heaven with all the OT saints…He stripped Satan, Death and Hell and humiliated them completely
“Satan, you still wearing that medal that says you’re the morning star” Jesus stripped it and said “I am the Bright and Morning Star”
Jesus looked at death and stripped “the sting” out of death…this is what Paul saw in I Cor 15:55-58
He is proclaiming by revelation “O death where is your sting; O grave where is your victory”
David knew what he was talking about in Psa 23 as a prophesying of things to come when he said “Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”
Listen as a new testament believer, death will not meet you at the door, hell will not meet you at the door…death has no power over you…hell has now power over you
You will lay this body down but you will meet angels and they will usher you into the very presence of God instantly
Jesus ascends to heaven, strips Satan, principalities, death of all of its power and then descends back to earth to spend 40 days with His disciples
And now He has delegated the power, the authority, and the dominion to you and I who are alive in Him
Remember, Revelation says that Jesus took the keys of death and hell…
Listen all the demons, all the principalities were there that day when Jesus stripped Satan and death and so when you invoke the name of Jesus…they shudder at the mention of His name
So what I hope you see as we look at celebrating Easter is that the resurrection is so much more than just Jesus rising from the dead
What happened between the Cross and the Throne shattered all of death, all of hell, all of prinicipalities, all of sin, all of the power of satan…it was all stripped on that day
And Jesus says, if you are alive and believe in me even though you were as one that is dead…you will never die…never , ever, never die!!!
Conclusion
I hope you see today the power that has been given you because of what Jesus did on the cross, after the cross, and even until that day of our own resurrection
We don’t have to fear death…Jesus applied His blood so that you and I will never die.
Let’s stand together and be dismissed…Hallelujah.
