He is Risen
Luke 24:1-12
This morning I want to talk with you about the greatest event in all of history - the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead. We understand that not everybody believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ - but for us it is a really big deal. Here’s why . . .
at our church we believe that a guy named Jesus really walked the earth. We believe Pilot had Him beaten, and that Peter denied Him.
at our church we believe that Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross. We believe that He shed real blood, cried real tears and felt real pain. We believe the sky grew dark and the earth shook. And we believe that after six excruciating hours Christ’s agony came to a crashing halt when He breathed His last breath. We also believe the story didn’t end there.
at our church we believe with every ounce of our being that Jesus walked out of the tomb alive on Sunday morning. Please don’t ask us to shy away from that core conviction because it lies at the very center of our faith. We invite you to check it out for yourself.
at our church we are not going to just leave the story there. We are not going to place it on a dusty doctrinal bookshelf in some church basement.
at our church we are going to learn to live each day in full response to the empty tomb - and make no mistake about it - there is abundant life to be had right now for every person in this room. And it is all because 2000 years ago God took on human flesh. He lived. Then He died. And then He lived again. And today we are celebrating that event and the life it offers us. It is Easter. He is risen. (Wording edited from Worship House Media clip, ‘Easter, Welcome to Our Church’)
Please open your Bibles with me to the book of Luke and the 24th chapter. I would like to talk with you this morning about three words that are amongst the most powerful you will ever hear. They come from the Bible, have rung out from pulpits through the ages, are at the depth of every true believers core convictions, they unnerve Jesus enemies, and they are the title of my message this morning.
"He is Risen"
Eighteen years ago, on Feb. 27, 1991, at the height of Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private 1st Class, had stepped on a mine in Kuwait and was dead.
Ruth Dillow later wrote, "I can’t begin to describe my grief and shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For 3 days I wept. For 3 days I expressed anger and loss. For 3 days people tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great."
But 3 days after she received that message, the telephone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." Ruth Dillow said, "I couldn’t believe it at first. But then I recognized his voice, and he really was alive." The message of her son’s death was all a mistake!
She said, "I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels, because my son whom I had thought was dead, was really alive. I’m sure none of you can even begin to understand how I felt."
Well perhaps not, but some who walked the pages of the New Testament would have understood how she felt because they experienced the same emotions themselves. One day they watched their best friend and teacher being nailed to a cross. They witnessed His pain as He cried out, "I thirst!" and "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" They watched the most inhuman agony and crushing pain strip him of dignity and life. Being absolutely overcome, He cried out, "It is finished," and gasped His final breath. And then they buried Him in a cold tomb. It was the worst day of their lives. Yet three days later something happened that changed the world forever.
Luke24:1-12 - The Scriptures tell us . . . [God’s Word]
The resurrection, I would suggest to you this morning, was not . . .
a metaphorical religious expression or
a circus act designed to wow the crowd.
Jesus rose bodily up from the grave - and that was the greatest day in human history. It has profound implications for all of humanity - and it has profound implications for you this morning. Rightly understood, this Easter celebration of the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead will turn any life around completely.
What I would like to do briefly this morning is give you 5 incredible things that you say when you say, "He is Risen." Are you ready?
When you say "He is risen" it is . . .
1. The Proof Of Authenticity
Acts 17:31". . . having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion - and Christianity is simply like all other religions, useless, meaningless and powerless. But because Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, He is indeed God, as He said He was, and He is the only way to the Father. No other religion even suggests that their god died and rose again. The founders of every other religion lie dead, buried in a grave somewhere that is honored and decorated by the devoted and the deceived. But the grave of Jesus Christ alone is vacated.
This week I Googled ‘religious leaders who rose from the dead’ - I got about 290 000 hits - and I must confess that I did not go through them all - but after wading through page after page - I only found One mentioned who ever did rise from the dead - His name was Jesus Christ.
Josh McDowell says that "Jesus claimed He had the power to raise Himself from the dead and His followers would be raised from the dead. That’s a unique claim in the literature of religion."
Even non-Christian historical sources from Jesus day record His death, burial and resurrection from the dead.
When you say "He is Risen" and you say it from the heart, it is a profoundly satisfying thing to know that the certainty of your confession evidences the authenticity of your faith.
1 Cor. 15:17 "and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins."
But my friend, this morning we celebrate the historical certainty that Christ was raised from the dead, and Jesus resurrection from the dead is proof of the authenticity of the Christian faith.
1. The Proof Of Authenticity
There is another statement you make when you proclaim, "He is Risen" . . .
2. The Provision for Your Salvation
Rom. 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Here is an incredible truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ - it secures your place in heaven. Now that is huge - because you and I are sinners. We do wrong things, we say wrong things, we think wrong things. Our hearts and wicked and our sins are great. But despite that fact - there is no sin that cannot be forgiven, there is no wrong that cannot be removed. There is no weakness or mistake that will keep you out of heaven if you will put your trust in Jesus Christ to forgive you.
Now did you see what that verse said? "If you . . . believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved."
Do you find yourself sometimes questioning the reality your salvation because of some weakness in your flesh, some peculiarity in your doctrine, some bias in your thinking? Well my friend, my Bible tells me that if you believe in your heart, and you really believe, you will be saved.
Now watch this if you will - there are many people who believe in their heads but not their hearts. They believe about Jesus but not enough to believe in Him. There were two thieves in the cross - one on either side of Jesus the day he was crucified. Both believed in their heads - but for one it was also a heart issue.
When you believe in your heart my friend, and confess with your lips you will be saved.
1. The Proof Of Authenticity
2. The Provision for Your Salvation
There is another statement you make when you proclaim, "He is Risen" . . .
3. The Perfection of Your Mortal Body
Rom. 8:11 "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
Now listen for a moment if you will. This passage is not speaking about what happens after we die, this is about what happens while we are alive.
You see my friend, because He lived, died and then lived again, when you believe in Him you get to enjoy the life of God not simply when you die and go to heaven, but now while you are still in your mortal body.
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
Because He is risen, you get to enjoy full and real and abundant life now. How? By the power of His Spirit.
I like the way Paul says this in . . .
Romans 6:4 ". . . as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too . . . walk in newness of life."
You see my friend, when you say from your heart "He is Risen" you are declaring that not only does Jesus live, but because Jesus lives, you live. That is why for the who believe in Christ life has meaning, life has purpose - I get up in the morning and I get up with purpose and with passion. It is not that my life is perfect or that everything goes the way I would like it to go. It is because, as Paul says in a letter he wrote to a church, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." [Gal. 2:20]
1. The Proof Of Authenticity
2. The Provision for Your Salvation
3. The Perfection of Your Mortal Body
There is another statement you make when you proclaim, "He is Risen" . . .
4. The Presence of His Righteousness
Rom. 4:25 "He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification."
Church, did you hear me? I said ‘He was raised for our justification.’
When God raised Jesus from the dead, He signed a blank check that would forgive all sin and cancel all debt, and said that anybody who wanted to, could cash it, all they needed to do was believe. When you say, He is Risen" you say, "I believe."
You see my friend, forgiveness is available for anybody and everybody who wants it - and it does not matter where you have been, what you have done, what mistakes you have made - it does not matter - whatever it is - when you put your faith in Jesus Christ - He washes your sins away. But here is the deal folks - it is not a head issue - it is a heart issue.
It is not about agreeing to set of particular theological facts, or being able to say ‘yes’ to a particular set of theological questions.
That is because saving faith is not a knowledge about Jesus Christ or even an agreement with the truths concerning Jesus Christ, it is about a wholehearted relationship with Jesus Christ. When you say, "He is Risen" you are not simply saying ‘He is alive," you are saying He is alive in me.
If Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, saying, "He is Risen" is meaningless and empty. If you do not have Jesus Christ living in you, then saying it is just as senseless and empty.
But when say it and mean it, because in your heart you know it is true, you realize that because of He was raised from the dead, your sinds are forgiven and Jesus lives in you.
1. The Proof Of Authenticity
2. The Provision for Your Salvation
3. The Perfection of Your Mortal Bodya
4. The Presence of His Righteousness
There is one other statement you make when you proclaim, "He is Risen" . . .
5. The Promise of Your Eternal Life
Oh, you have got to love this. When you say "He is Risen" it is a declaration that you, too, will be raised from the dead.
1 Cor. 6:14 "Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power."
2 Cor. 4:14 "knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you."
You see, while the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is rooted in history - and while it’s purpose is the glory of God and the establishment of His kingdom, the truth is that God loves you so much that He wants to spend eternity with you - and there is no cost that is too expensive, no distance that is too great, no wait that is too long - He wants you there. And the reason He raised Jesus from the dead is because He wants to raise you as well.
You see my friend, when you say, "He is Risen" it is . . .
1. The Proof Of Authenticity
2. The Provision for Your Salvation
3. The Perfection of Your Mortal Body
4. The Presence of His Righteousness
5. The Promise of Your Eternal Life
My friend, as we close this morning, I need to ask you a question. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? I am not asking you if you believe about Him - but do you believe Him.
At the cross 2000 years ago, not everybody believed.
There were the scoffers - they laughed.
There were the skeptical - they simply watched.
There were the patronizing - they sympathized.
There were the believers - they trusted.
At our church we believe with every ounce of our being that Jesus walked out of the tomb alive on Sunday morning. Please don’t ask us to shy away from that core conviction because it lies at the very center of our faith. At our church we believe there is abundant life to be had right now for every person in this room. Would you pray with me please.
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