So That We Too Might Live
Text: Acts 2:22-39
By: Ken McKinley
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In the nearly 2000 years since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am sure there have been thousands upon thousands of sermons preached, hundreds of books have been written, it has been debated in the highest of circles and the lowest of places. And the reason for that is because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to all of Christianity. If there is no resurrection, then there is no Christian faith.
As Christians we are to accept by faith that the resurrection happened, but it’s a faith founded on well documented facts. The Bible is a primary source and it documents it very well. The Jewish historian Josephus makes mention of it, and there are other historical sources that make mention of the resurrection as well. So there is plenty of evidence for our faith, it just depends on whether a person wants to accept the evidence that is given, or whether they want to reject it. Most of the time, I have found that people reject it, not because the evidence for it is faulty or lacking, but because they don’t like the consequences they’ll have to face if the Bible is true. You see, if the Bible is true, then we all have to stand before a holy, just, and righteous God and give an account.
And so this morning, I don’t want to talk to you about all the evidences for the resurrection; we’ve already done that a couple of Sunday’s ago. I don’t want to talk to you this morning about the proof of the resurrection, I want to talk to you about what the resurrection proves. In-other-words, what does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to you and me? What did the resurrection verify? What did it accomplish? What did it prove?
So… first of all; the resurrection proves the truthfulness of the Word of God. If you look at our text there in Acts chapter 2, what you’re seeing is the birthday of the Church. It was the day of Pentecost, and the disciples had been tarrying in the upper room just like Jesus had commanded them to do before He ascended to heaven. And to give you a little background, they were in this room, when all of a sudden they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and they came out of the room and they began to share the glory and power of God, but the amazing thing is that they were able to speak in other languages, maybe Phoenician, Egyptian, Greek, Latin… and what this did was get everyones attention, and so Peter takes full advantage of the situation and he stands up and he preaches a sermon. He starts out by giving a little background in verses 22 and 23, he talks about how Jesus was put to death, and then in verse 24 he talks about the resurrection when he says, “Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” So Peter was saying Jesus arose from the dead… death couldn’t hold Him. And then in verses 25-28 Peter quotes Psalm 16. I guess we could say that Psalm 16 was his text for his sermon. Peter anticipates what people might say… they might say, “Well David was writing this about himself.” So Peter addressed that in verse 29. Basically he says, “David is dead, and he’s buried, and his tomb is still with us today.” Another-words, you can go to David’s tomb and dig up his bones if you want to, so he couldn’t have been talking about himself. No… David was a prophet, he was prophesying about the Messiah, about the One who would come and deliver His people from the bondage of sin. The One who would be resurrected from the dead. And he drives that point home in verse 32 when he says, “It’s Jesus that God has raised up… and you know what? We’ve all seen Him alive.”
The Apostle Paul preaches a very similar sermon in Acts 13:16-41, and again he references Psalm 16, but Paul also references Psalm 2, and Isaiah 55:3. Now let me bring this in for you. What Peter and Paul were doing in their sermons were referencing Old Testament passages that made mention of a Savior who would die, but then be raised from the dead. These were prophecies, and these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So here’s the thing; if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, Psalm 2 is wrong, Psalm 16 is wrong, Isaiah 55 is wrong, and any other OT passage that you can find that indicates the resurrection of Jesus Christ is wrong. If that’s the case, then none of the Bible could be trusted. But Jesus was raised from the dead, and that proves the truthfulness of God’s Word.
In Luke 24 we read about two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus, they were sad because Jesus had been crucified and had been in the tomb, going on 3 days now and in verse 25 the resurrected Jesus comes alongside them. Let’s turn there and look at it (Read Luke 24:25). So He started way back in the OT with Moses and He explained to them all the things concerning Himself. You see, the picture of a dead, but then risen Savior is all over the Old Testament. Every time there was a sacrifice it was talking about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins. But every time it talked about a ruling and reigning Savior, it’s speaking about a living Savior.
Secondly; the resurrection not only proves the truthfulness of the Word of God, it also proves that Jesus was the Son of God, that He was God in the flesh. In-fact; there is no greater proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ than the resurrection. You say, “hows that?” Because only God could do it. All throughout history men have made claims to deity. The Roman Emperors used to claim that they were divine, that they were children of the Roman gods; every one of them died, but none of them came back. All throughout history men have founded religions and made all sorts of claims, but all of them have died, and all of their bodies are still in the ground.
But think about this for a minute… Jesus founded a religion, He made all kinds of claims. He said, “The Father (meaning God) and I are one.” He said that He had power to forgive sins. He claimed that He could give eternal life. So here we have a man, 2000 years ago, going around Palestine, making claims, saying that He was God in the flesh, and there is no historical reference or work that refutes this. In-fact that’s why He was crucified. But here’s the thing. Jesus made all these claims, and other founders of other religions also made claims, but only one was ever raised from the dead. Gautama, the founder of Buddhism is still in the grave; Mohammed, the founder of Islam is still in the grave; and we can go down the list and find that only one religion makes the claim that its founder rose from the dead. Now let me ask you something; if Jesus had not been who He said He was, if all the claims He had made were just lies and falsehoods… do you really think God would’ve raised Him from the dead? If Jesus had just been a man, telling stories in order to get followers, do you really think God would’ve raised Him up from the grave? Do you think God would’ve raised up a man who was claiming equality with Him? But Jesus was raised from the dead, and that resurrection verifies the claims He made. It shows us that Jesus was Who He said He was, and that He can do the things He said He could. It proves the claims of Christ. IF we go back to our text there in Acts chapter 2:36 Peter is even saying that (Read).
Now the King Jimmy and the New King James say something like, “God made ‘this’ Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” And in our modern vernacular we might miss what Peter was saying, so let me put it in Oklahoma-layman’s terms. Peter is saying here, “God has proven that the Jesus that you crucified is both Lord and Christ.” He says, “This Jesus,” because Jesus was a common name in Israel.
So the resurrection proves that God’s Word is true, and it proves the truth of Jesus’ claims, but you know what else? It proves that those who have been born again, those who have been saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, have been brought into a right relationship with God. In other words; the resurrection proves our salvation, our redemption, our justification, our sanctification and our eventual glorification. All the parts that the Bible talks about belonging to salvation, are proven because of the resurrection. Turn with me to Romans 4:25 (Read). If you miss point one and two, please don’t miss this.
Jesus was delivered up (He was crucified) because of OUR OFFENSIVES (that’s our sins), and was raised (that’s resurrection) because of our justification. The resurrection is God’s way of saying, “Jesus; your death has accomplished what it was intended to do. It has satisfied My wrath against a sinful and unholy people. My demand for justice has been met, by Your sinless, perfectly holy sacrifice. And because of that; My demand for mercy can now be bestowed on those very people You died for.” Justification means to be brought into a right relationship with God, the way that happens is when a person becomes a Christian, God imputes Christ’s righteousness to your account. You become the righteousness of God IN CHRIST. But you are also forgiven, and the reason you’re forgiven is because Christ took your punishment when He hung on the cross, and the resurrection proves that the Father was pleased with His Son’s sacrifice. You see, if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead then we would know that His sacrifice was unsuccessful, but since He did rise from the dead, we know that the justice of God was satisfied. And our redemption was perfectly accomplished.
Now you see why I say, “Without the resurrection there is no Christian faith.”? In the time I have left, I couldn’t even begin to tell you all the things that the resurrection of Jesus Christ shows us, or does for us, or prove to us, so I’m going to show you one more thing and then I’ll close.
I’m not closing yet… I have one more thing… THEN I’ll close.
The Bible tells us that after Jesus rose from the dead, He spent some time with the disciples and then He ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of God, and that He make intercession for us. In-other-words; when you or I blow it, even though we are saved, born again Christians, when we mess up, Jesus intercedes for us.
1st John 2:1 says, “… if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the righteous.” Hebrews tells us that He lives to make intercession for us. If Jesus had not been raised, we would have no intercession. Intercession means that He is pleading our case for us. Jesus is our heavenly advocate. What that means is when we mess up and fall into sin, Jesus is right there to say, “Father their righteousness is as a filthy rag, but they are covered by my blood. My sacrifice on the cross paid for that sin, and because they are in Me, my righteousness has become theres.” That’s not a license to sin, in-fact the Bible teaches that if you are in Christ, if you are a Christian, sin will become less and less of a factor in your life.
You won’t get rid of it completely until the redemption of the body, the day of the Lord, the day you go to be with Jesus… but if you’re a Christian the power of sin in your life has been broken. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. If you’re a Christian your life will change, and yes you may sin, but it won’t be a habitual, practice of sin, it won’t be a lifestyle of sin, it won’t be ongoing.
You see, there’s plenty of evidence that proves the reality of the resurrection, but to those of us who are already saved, the issue is, what does the resurrection prove? What was it that transformed a group of fearful, faithless, doubters into world changing apostles? It was the fact that the resurrection proved God’s Word was true. It was the fact that the resurrection proved that Jesus was Who He said He was, and that He would do what He said He would do. It was the fact that they had been made right with God through faith in Christ. And it was the fact that this same Jesus who had died for them and had made them right with God, was now interceding for them at the right hand of the Father.
And so the issue for us this morning is: Do you believe it?
Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Do you believe that this morning? Has God made this truth a reality in your life?
Let’s Pray
