Introduction:
A. Happy Resurrection Day!
1. As you know, today is the holiday known as Easter.
2. It is the traditional, annual day for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.
3. In many respects, every Sunday is Easter Sunday, because we gather every Sunday to remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
a. Which Paul said to the Corinthians was of first importance: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also…(1 Cor. 15:1-8)
4. So every Sunday is precious to us as we worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
5. Nevertheless, the events of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, occurred at an important time on the Jewish calendar – during the Passover festival.
6. Therefore, each year we know which Sunday it was 2000 years ago, when Jesus’ resurrection occurred.
B. Today, around the world, billions of people will gather in churches because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
1. Some will do so out of tradition and will have their minds on other things.
2. Some will do so knowing more about the traditions of the Easter holiday, than about the biblical truth that the holiday is based on.
3. Many, however will do so with great faith, deep understanding, and sincerity of heart.
4. I hope that we are among this last group – that we are worshiping today with great faith, deep understanding and sincerity of heart.
C. It seems that the children always look forward to Easter, but many children are confused about its real meaning.
1. One Easter Sunday in a large church in Birmingham, Al., the minister decided to have all the young children come before the congregation in their new Easter outfits for a “children's sermon.”
a. The minister couldn't help but notice one especially pretty little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl about five or six years old.
b. She was wearing a beautiful white frilly dress, with rows and rows of ruffles from top to bottom, but she had such a sad expression on her face.
c. Trying to cheer her up, the minister called her by name, and said “you look SO lovely this morning. And I know you will wear that dress a lot because it is SO pretty.”
d. Sadly, she shook her head, and said, “no, preacher, I won't ever wear this dress again.”
e. Naturally, he couldn't imagine that response...so he said, “but, honey, you look so beautiful in that dress.”
f. The little girl said, “Well, thank you preacher, but I will never wear this dress again.”
g. The minister said, “I just have to ask you WHY you won’t ever again wear this pretty dress?”
h. Then the little girl announced in a rather loud voice, “Because my momma says it's a pain to iron!!”
2. I like the story of the Sunday School teacher who asked her class if they knew what Easter was all about.
a. They all raised their hands. The teacher called on one enthusiastic young man, who said: “I know, I know!! After Jesus died on the cross, some of his friends buried him in a tomb and three days later Jesus arose and opened the door of the tomb and stepped out.”
b. “Yes, yes,” said teacher excitedly “Go on, go on!”
c. The youngster continued, “And if he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of winter.”
3. Let me tell you one more story in which a little 3 year-old girl got right the meaning of Easter.
a. She was so excited about the coming of Easter, and she and her mom went to the store to buy her some new shoes.
b. She said, “Mommy, I can’t wait for Easter!”
c. Her mom asked, “Do you know what Easter means, honey?”
d. She replied, “Yup.”
e. “Well, what does Easter mean?” Her mom asked.
f. In her own sweet 3 year-old way, with a smile on her face, and with arms opened wide, she said, “Surprise!”
D. Easter certainly is full of surprises.
1. Surprise…death!
2. Surprise…sin!
3. Surprise…powers of evil!
4. Surprise…grieving disciples!
5. Surprise…modern-day skeptics!
6. Christ is risen! He is alive! He has won the victory!
E. What an awful and tragic scene it had been that afternoon before the Passover Sabbath!
1. Jesus, the teacher they had adored, the one they had left everything to follow, the one in whom that had put all their hopes, hung from a Roman cross and died.
2. Some of Jesus’ followers got permission to take his body from the cross and they placed it in a tomb, while Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sat across from the tomb.
3. Then they all went home while the soldiers secured the tomb and stood watch over it.
4. The hours that past from the after noon of Jesus’ death until the Sunday morning of his resurrection must have been the worst his disciples had ever experienced.
5. Even though Jesus had repeatedly predicted his coming crucifixion and resurrection, they were not ready for it and could not understand what he meant by it.
6. Jesus was dead, and as far as they were concerned it was over.
7. That’s the way the group of women felt that Sunday morning as they made their way to the tomb to continue the traditional funeral practices as they carried more spices to treat the corpse.
8. Let’s let Matthew finish the story for us: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 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 and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. (Mt. 28:1-8)
F. They went away afraid, yet filled with joy because of the resurrection.
1. After considering the resurrection of Jesus today, what will be our condition as we leave here?
2. I’m hoping and praying that we will leave here today, filled with resurrection blessings.
3. Look at this great passage from the first letter of the apostle Peter: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you…Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Pt. 1:3-5, 8-9)
4. Let’s spend the rest of our time talking about resurrection blessings.
5. In some respects it will be hard to talk about them each separately, because they are tied together in many ways, but I will try nonetheless.
I. The First Resurrection Blessing that we can experience is Resurrection Joy
A. The ladies who heard the angel’s words at the tomb that morning were filled with joy.
1. In the passage we just read a minute ago, the apostle Peter referred to the resurrection joy as “inexpressible and glorious joy.”
2. Why is it an “inexpressible and glorious joy?”
3. It is “inexpressible” in the sense that it is hard to describe – it defies definition or description.
4. It is “glorious” because it has to do with God himself who is full of glory.
B. There is a real difference between happiness and joy, isn’t there?
1. Frequently these two words are used as one and the same.
2. While they do share some characteristics, they are actually different.
3. Happiness is an emotion usually directly related to circumstances that are currently happening.
a. So when the circumstances are good and going our way, we feel happy.
b. On the other hand, when things break, get old, disappoint, when we do not get what we want, or when things do not go our way, we feel sad and are not happy campers.
4. Joy is something entirely different from happiness.
a. Joy, in the Biblical context, is not an emotion - Joy is attitude of the heart.
b. It is not based on something positive happening in the physical or external sense.
c. Joy is something that lasts; whereas happiness is something that is temporary.
d. When happiness fades away, joy remains.
e. Joy is something that is bigger than you and me and our current circumstances.
f. Joy is something that God deposits into us through the Holy Spirit – it is a fruit of the H.S.
g. The enemy tries everything in his power to steal our joy because it is that important.
h. On the other hand, the enemy will tempt us with things that will temporarily give happiness, and cause us to drift away from God and miss out on joy.
C. The apostle Paul wrote these words to the church in Philippi: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:4-7)
1. The apostle Paul put that kind of joy and peace into practice regularly during his ministry.
2. Interestingly enough, on one occasion, he and Silas were sitting in a Philippian jail.
3. Because of their Christian ministry, they had been stripped and severely flogged, and thrown in jail.
4. But none of that robbed them of their joy.
5. The Bible says: About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:25)
6. That kind of joy gets people’s attention.
D. There’s a song we used to sing when I was young – one verse said “Joy is the flag flown high from the castle of my heart when the King is in residence there.”
1. That joy comes from knowing that we have been given new birth into a living hope, and that we are given a heavenly inheritance.
2. We know all this to be true because of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
E. I like the version of John 3:16 that a five-year old once recited – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have ever-laughing life.”
F. Why should we be saved? Because of immediate, continuous and inexpressible joy.
1. If we don’t know Christ and His resurrection, then we really don’t know abundant life.
2. Some preachers say, “Get right with God. You might die” and that’s true.
3. But I say, “Get right with God. You might live!”
4. Believing and obeying Christ is not a penalty.
5. Becoming a Christian and living as a Christian is not like taking bad medicine.
6. Christianity is not an invitation to a funeral, but to a feast.
7. One of the blessings of the resurrection of Jesus is the fact that we can be filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
II. A Second Resurrection Blessing that we can experience is Resurrection Hope
A. Someone has said, “Hope springs eternal in the human heart, but with some these days, the spring is drying up.”
1. We are going through some hard times – The economy has been down. Unemployment has been up. Our once great nation seems to be failing as we fight wars abroad and find ourselves so polarized at home.
2. Our current president wrote a book titled “The Audacity of Hope” and many voted for him, believing that he was the hope for our nation.
B. Nationally and economically there doesn’t seem to be a lot of hope these days, but that’s not the case spiritually.
1. Because of the resurrection, we can find all kinds of hope.
2. Peter tells us that we have a living hope – “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Pet. 1:3)
3. Look again at a verse from the Scripture reading: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…” (Eph. 1:18)
C. In the early 1920’s in Communist Russia, a communist leader named Niolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally.
1. For an hour he abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if it were hopeless for anyone to believe in Christ.
2. The communist leader then asked for questions.
3. An Orthodox Christian leader stepped to the microphone and said, “He is risen!”
4. Instantly, the assembly of thousands rose to its feet and shouted back loud and clear: “He is risen indeed!”
5. The resurrection makes all the difference in the world.
D. The empty tomb stands as the symbol of our hope.
1. Secular historians admit that Jesus lived, and died, and was buried, and that three days later, the tomb was found to be empty.
2. The only good explanation for the empty tomb is the resurrection of Jesus.
3. The resurrection of Jesus that Sunday morning gave humankind real hope for the first time in history.
4. My prayer for each of us here today, is the prayer that Paul gave the Romans: May the God of hope fill you with great joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)
E. This hope of the resurrection of Jesus keeps us going.
1. It reassures us that God is with us and will carry us through all our struggles in this life.
2. It reassures us that God will also raise us from the dead and that we will receive our heavenly inheritance.
3. The hope that we receive is not a “hope so” hope, but a “know so” hope.
4. It is only a hope because it has not yet been realized, not because it might not happen.
III. A Third Resurrection Blessing that we can experience is Resurrection Power
A. Look back at the Scripture reading one last time: I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know…his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms…” (Eph. 1:18-20)
1. Paul believed in that incomparably great power, that mighty strength of God.
2. In Phil. 3:10, Paul declared: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…”
a. The resurrection power of Jesus changed Paul’s life.
b. He went from being Christianity’s greatest opponent, to being Christianity’s greatest proponent!
c. Nothing could bring about that kind of change except the power of the resurrection of Christ.
d. Paul experienced the power of the resurrection at work in his life.
e. He declared, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13)
3. God has unbelievable, resurrection power!
a. Ultimately nothing is impossible for God (Lk. 1:37; Mt. 19:26)
b. And therefore, when God is working in us then nothing is impossible for us.
4. The great Easter truth in our lives is that the resurrection power of God is changing us in the here and now.
a. The real power of the resurrection was demonstrated not only 2,000 years ago, but is also demonstrated today in the lives of people who are following Jesus Christ.
5. Resurrection power is converting power - it gives us the power to be forgiven.
6. Resurrection power is conquering power - it gives us the power to overcome temptation and troubles.
7. Resurrection power is conforming power – it gives us the power to conform and transform into the likeness of Christ.
8. Resurrection power is commissioning power – it gives us the power to be God’s agents for the gospel and for good.
9. How wonderful to go through life depending on the resurrection power of Jesus.
10. When I was young we used to sing a great song that included these words: “Learning to lean, learning to lean, learning to lean on Jesus. Finding more power than I’ve ever dreamed. I’m learning to lean on Jesus.”
Conclusion:
A. We live in a day when motivational speakers are constantly challenging us to turn our possibilities into realities.
1. I want to encourage us to do just that – but the possibilities I’m talking about are not based on our own abilities.
2. The possibilities I’m talking about are based on God’s proven promises.
3. He raised Jesus from the dead and that reality leads to the possibilities of these resurrection blessings – resurrection joy, resurrection hope, and resurrection power.
4. Will you accept these possibilities and turn them into realities by putting your faith in Jesus?
B. I want to end with the true story of David Bloom.
1. Do you remember David Bloom? He was an NBC reporter who was covering the war in Iraq.
a. He was a friendly, enthusiastic, tenacious reporter who clearly loved his job.
b. Tragically and suddenly, David Bloom died on April 6, 2003 at age 39.
c. A stray bullet didn’t kill him, rather he died of a pulmonary embolism – a blood clot.
d. Here’s a picture of the make-shift memorial soldiers constructed using Bloom’s helmet and flack jacket.
e. What you may not know was that Bloom had become a Christ-follower who considered his personal relationship with Jesus far more important than all the glamorous assignments he’d had as a reporter.
f. The night before he died, Bloom called the NBC assignment desk in New York to check the Final Four scores, and then called home to talk to his wife, Melanie, and their three young daughters.
g. He also sent his wife an email that seemed to foreshadow his imminent death.
h. Bloom wrote, “I hope and pray all my guys get out of this in one piece. But I’ll tell you, Mel, I am at peace. Here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional success, but I could, frankly, care less. It’s nothing compared to my relationship with you and the girls and Jesus.”
2. When things are right in our relationship with the Lord, then everything else takes its proper place.
3. When we know the Lord and are walking with the Lord, then we know real joy, hope and power.
C. Are you at peace? The resurrection blessings will bring the kind of peace all of us need.
1. We would like to help you find the resurrection blessings that are in Christ.
2. You can begin today by admitting that you need to turn to the Lord.
3. You can admit that your life is a mess and that you need the new creation life that God offers.
4. We can help you learn what God requires of you, and when you are ready, you can be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
5. The apostle Peter declared: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…” (Acts 3:19-20)
6. If that’s what you need to do today, then I pray that you will come forward and do so while we stand and sing this song.
Resources:
“Resurrection Joy” Sermon by Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson.
“Experiencing Resurrection Power” Sermon by Gary Veazey, SermonCentral.com
