RE: NEW
1 Corinthians 15:17-20
Rev. Brian Bill
4/4/10
Many of you can relate to that drama because your life feels like it’s made up of “Shattered Pieces.” Whether you’re a skeptic or a sufferer or you’re satisfied, I want to propose that since Christianity is a resurrection religion, you can experience renewal today, right here and right now. But this renewal is only possible through rebirth.
While many know that Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to a recent Barna poll, only 42% of Americans associate this day with Jesus rising from the dead. David Kinnaman writes: “The Easter holiday in particular still has a distinctly religious connection for people but ... the specifics of it are really fading in a lot of people’s minds.” This morning I want to speak about some of the specifics of the Resurrection so we can see its relevance to our lives today.
That reminds me of the little boy who was not exactly happy about going to church on Easter Sunday. His new shoes were too tight, his tie pinched his neck, and the weather outside was just too good to be cooped up inside. As he sulked in the back seat of the family car, his parents heard him murmuring: “I don’t see why we have to go to church on Easter anyway. They keep telling the same old story, and it always comes out the same in the end.”
The reason it always comes out the same in the end is because Jesus did rise from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 summarizes the essentials of the gospel message: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
We need to keep telling the same old story because many of us have either forgotten or we just think that it doesn’t really matter. John Stott nails it when he writes, “The concept of resurrection lies at the heart of Christianity. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.” C.S. Lewis adds, “It is precisely one great miracle. If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.”
Our Report Card
Later in this same section in 1 Corinthians 15, which we could call the “Resurrection Chapter,” the Apostle Paul mentions the little word “if” seven different times to argue that if Christ had not risen from the dead, then there would be no foundation for faith. To say it another way, we would be a wreck without the Resurrection. I want us to look at just three areas that apply to every one of us today. Borrowing this idea from Max Lucado, we have all received three “F’s” on our report card.
1. Failure. Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
2. Futility. Like the guy in the drama, many today are skeptical and wonder what life is all about. We see this spelled out in Ecclesiastes 1:2, 8: “Meaningless! Meaningless...Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless…All things are wearisome, more than one can say.” Is this what life is all about?
3. Finality. The third bad grade is perhaps the worst. Because we have failed and life apart from God is futile, Hebrews 9:27 says that there’s a final judgment coming: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Death is inescapable and judgment is imminent.
God’s Report Card
My guess is that you didn’t come to an Easter service to hear bummer news like this. But stay with me. We must first understand the bad news before we can embrace the beautiful news of Easter! The relevance of the Resurrection is that it satisfies three of our deepest needs and longings. Because Jesus received perfect grades, in the place of our “F’s” He can give us straight “A’s.”
1. Acceptance instead of failure. In exchange for our sins, Jesus provides forgiveness. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15:17b: “And if Christ has not been raised…you are still in your sins.” We all long to be accepted and when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are forgiven and justified by Him. Romans 4:25: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Friends, if God held our transgressions against us we would be in big trouble. Some of you are so filled with guilt and shame that you wonder if you’ll ever be free of the chains of addiction and agony – your hurts have handcuffed you to your past and your sins have made you feel small. Here is some great news this Easter – God raised Jesus from the dead to validate our forgiveness and to vindicate what His Son went through for us when He died in our place on the cross. As the kids sang earlier, “There’s power in the blood!”
Are you ready to end your alienation from God and be accepted by Him? He’s made a way for that to happen through the death and resurrection of His Son. He can turn your failure into acceptance because the payment for your sins has been satisfied.
2. Arrival in the place of futility. Instead of wondering what life is all about we can have focus and say, “This is the life.” Let’s go back to verse 17: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile…” The word “futile” means, “without purpose, and a lie.” Life is not worth living and our faith is just fake if Jesus did not rise from the dead.
The followers of Jesus thought their lives were futile after Jesus died. Even though He had predicted His Resurrection, they totally lost their focus when He was crucified. In Matthew 28 we read about two women who were both named Mary. It was Sunday morning and they came to look at the tomb. A violent earthquake had taken place and an angel rolled back the stone covering the entrance. I used to think that the angel removed the rock so Jesus could come out but he actually did it so they could see inside.
They had gotten up early; in fact, John 20:1 says that it was “still dark.” Lucado writes, “A lot of us are dark, a lot of our worlds are dark, and the hardest thing to do is to get out of bed in a dark world -- I don't mean dark in the night, but dark in our hearts -- to take another step, to go up the hill…Here God, who had held His angels back all week long, sees these faithful, loyal disciples and He says, ‘I'm going to reward them; go down there angel, move the stone away and let them look in.’”
And then they’re given a mission, which is wrapped up in a message found in Matthew 28:6-7: “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead…’”
John 20:11 tells us that one of the Mary’s stood outside the empty tomb crying. In Verse 14 she turns around and sees Jesus but doesn’t recognize Him. He then asks her the first of two questions in verse 15: “Woman, why are you crying?” Friend, Jesus knows all about those things that make you sad. He understands your fear and anxiety. And He wants to walk through your pain with you.
Jesus still moves stones today because we all have boulders we can’t move – people we can’t please, alcohol we can’t avoid, worry that won’t go away, money messes, sins we can’t sever and relational ruptures. On top of all this, many of us are filled with disenchantment, discouragement, dissatisfaction and disillusionment. As a result, we just feel dissed.
Jesus not only asks about her sorrow but He also wants to know about her seeking: “Who is it that you are looking for?” He doesn’t ask her “what” she is looking for but “whom.” Until we find Jesus, each of us are looking for someone as well.
In verse 16, Jesus says just one word to her, “Mary.” Actually, He uses her Aramaic name, “Miriam.” This was the name that family and friends used. And Jesus always called her Miriam when He spoke to her.
All Jesus had to do was speak her name and verse 16 tells us that she immediately turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni.” This was a term of highest respect. It was more than just “rabbi.” It was like she was saying, “My master and my teacher.”
The Resurrected Christ is speaking your name this morning. Jeff. Patty. Andrew. Mandy. Do you hear Him? Will you follow Him? Will you surrender to Him? Remember this: Renewal is only possible through rebirth.
Because we’ve been accepted through forgiveness, we have arrived with focus in our lives. There’s one more A to replace the final F.
3. Afterlife in exchange for finality. With the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we now have a future. Check out verses 18-19. If Christ had not been raised, “Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” Because the tomb is empty we do not come to an empty end. Believers can have hope in this life and heaven in the next. The question isn’t, “Will I die?” but rather, “What will happen when I die?”
I’ve been pondering a quote from Mark Driscoll that is quite profound: “If you die as a non-Christian, this life will be as close to heaven as you will ever experience, and nothing but hell awaits you. But if you die as a Christian, this life will be as close to hell as you will ever experience and nothing but heaven awaits you.” I put this on Facebook and received more comments from this than any other thing I’ve ever posted. One person replied: “I needed that and its sooo true! I can’t wait for heaven!” Someone else quipped: “I would rather have hell on earth than hell when I die.” Another friend wrote this: “They don’t call it good news for nothing!”
Friends, compared with eternity, this life is extremely brief and our homes here are only temporary residences. That’s why feelings of discontentment and dissatisfaction can be a good thing because they remind us that our real home is in heaven. C.S. Lewis was right when he said, “All that is not eternal is eternally useless.”
When Jesus rose from the dead, He destroyed death, claiming victory over the grave. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55: “…Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Did you know that if you believe and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will not really die? Check out what Jesus said in John 11:25-26: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
1 Corinthians 15:20 caps off our passage with this concluding statement: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead…” It’s not “if” Christ has been raised but “indeed” He has been raised. My guess is this is where the traditional Easter greeting comes from: “He is Risen!” This is answered with the response, “He is risen indeed!” Let’s try it out. I’ll say the first part and then you answer with the Resurrection response.
Tim Keller poignantly adds, “If Jesus rose from the dead you have to accept all He said, if He didn’t rise from the dead then why worry about anything He said…if Jesus rose from the dead, it changes everything.”
* Some of you have a past you can’t shake. If so, you need acceptance through forgiveness.
* Some of you have a present you can’t stomach. If that’s the case, you need to arrive and have focus.
* Some of you have a future you can’t face. If so, you need an everlasting afterlife through faith in Jesus.
Renewal through Rebirth
Someone close to us left us this past week. Eleven years ago we were given a 1990 Acura and it finally gave up its life. There was no way to repair it any longer so we just had to get rid of it.
I want you to know that no matter how beat up you feel, how skeptical you may be, or how shattered your life is, God can renew you because He’s not interested in getting rid of you. But this renewal is more than just a new paint job or new brakes; God wants to do a complete restoration. And renewal is only possible through rebirth. Jesus said it like this in John 3:3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
He can put the pieces back together. His hand is reaching out to you…but you must take it. You don’t have to perform or take all the steps. He’s already taken the steps to you. Just reach out. Call out to Him and He will answer. Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
Because Jesus has been resurrected from the dead, I want to give you the opportunity to respond.
* Repent – Admit that you’re a sinner and turn from the way you’ve been living.
* Receive – Accept what Jesus has done for you and ask Him to save you from your sins.
* Rebirth – Ask Him to make you born again right now.
* Renewal – Appropriate the power of the Resurrection so that you can change.
When you do this, you will sense something melting away. John 5:24: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” If you’re ready to receive new life right now, would you pray this prayer with me? Before we do that, I want you to know that over 300 people have been praying for you these past weeks. We asked people to sign up to pray for this service and they have been asking God to bring the new birth to you right now.
“Lord Jesus, for too long I’ve kept you out of my life. I’ve been searching for what life is all about and I now know I’ll never figure it out without you. I own the fact that I have failing grades when it comes to my relationship with you. I admit that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. I repent of my sins by changing my mind about the way I’ve been living. I believe and gratefully receive you as my Risen Savior. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. With all my heart I confess that you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and that you rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I want to cross over from death to life and I want to be renewed through rebirth. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer and meant it, I wonder if you would have the courage to stand as a way to say that you’ve now identified yourself as a Christ-follower.
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” I want to ask John Merrill to come up because I want you to hear his story of rebirth and renewal.
