“YOU KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED…” (Outline)
April 4, 2010 -
Easter Sunday -
ACTS 10:34-43
INTRO: Death is the natural process of living. At death decay takes over. The body returns from where it once came: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”. There is no stopping this earthly process that overtakes all people. There was one exception to this process. The body of Jesus did not decay. On Easter true be-lievers celebrate the simple, yet very true fact that the tomb is empty! "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay" (PSALM 16:9,10). Our theme today:
“YOU KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED…”
I. Christ rose from the dead,
II. To forgive everyone’s sins.
I. CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD
A. Peter is at the house of Cornelius, a Gentile. Jews and Gentiles usually did not associate together.
1. Gentiles, as unbelievers, were considered unclean and untouchable by the Jewish nation.
2. Verse 34. God had opened Peter’s eyes to see that He had declared all things clean (10:1ff).
3. Verse 35. God also accepted all people who believe in Christ. There is no difference.
B. Verse 39a. Peter and the other apostles walked and talked and lived with Jesus for three years.
1. Verses 39b, 40. God made his Son, Jesus to be seen. God places great stress on being seen.
2. The disciples and many others saw Jesus (see second lesson -- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11).
C. Verse 41. The disciples also ate and drank with Jesus. Christ rose from the dead – body and soul.
D. “You know what has happened…” Christ rose from the dead on the third day. The tomb is empty: Alleluia! Believers rejoice and celebrate the fact that Christ lives, he lives! There is also a note of somber thought at the resurrection of Jesus. For Jesus to be raised from the tomb meant that Jesus also had to be put to death. Jesus, as the Son of God and true Man, was the only person born with the sole purpose in life to die. All men die. Every soul that sins die. Mankind is not born with the purpose to die. But – here – on Easter Christ rises from the dead having been put to death, innocently. "He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth" (ISAIAH 53:9). This is a sobering, sad thought. Only by death would Christ rise again.
E. In the birth of Jesus we see God’s great and mysterious power to do things beyond our limited, human knowledge. During the life of Jesus we see the power of God displayed in signs, miracles, wonders, and divine teaching. Even at Jesus’ death God shows his power. At the cross the Roman centurion confesses that this Jesus is the very Son of God. Jesus is taken down from the cross and placed in a nearby tomb. On the third day the world is witness to the greatest power of God. "His Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord" (ROMANS 1:3,4). “You know…”
F. The empty tomb on Easter means everything for our eternal salvation. Once again, the believer finds that his or her life is changed forever. You and I have hope as we live in this wicked world of darkness. By grace our faith is alive and well and filled with an eternal, living hope. All of this happens by and through the resurrection of the Christ, Jesus, our Savior. "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" (1 PETER 1:3). God’s gift of “living hope” does not compare at all with the dead hope of this life. Our earthly hopes and dreams are often empty. They are dead. March madness reminds us how quickly our hopes for our team to win it all quickly comes to an end. Hope for things in this life result in dead hopes. Eternity, heaven, and resurrection are all guaranteed and our living hopes.
“YOU KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED…”
Christ rose from the dead on the third day, body and soul.
II. CHRIST ROSE TO FORGIVE EVERYONE’S SINS
A. Jewish thinking was about to change. Peter was in a Gentile’s house. This was a miracle.
1. Verse 37. John the Baptist preached a message of repentance. Great crowds came to listen.
2. Verse 38. Jesus’ earthly ministry began at his baptism. Note: “God was with him”!!
B. Verse 36. The Savior came through Israel. Jesus was born of the house and line of David.
1. Peace with God comes only through Christ. Sadly, many in Israel gave up that peace.
2. Jesus came to save sinners as the Lord of all. Peter was filling in the blanks for Cornelius.
C. It was not enough for Cornelius to know God’s peace. Peter wanted Cornelius to have God’s peace.
1. Verse 42. It was not natural to associate with the unclean. God “commanded”. It was done.
2. Verse 43. Scripture is fulfilled at Jesus’ resurrection. Forgiveness is freely given to all people.
D. “You know what has happened…” Christ rose again from the dead to forgive everyone’s sins. This is the very simple yet vital life-changing truth of God’s word. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the greatest event in the history of mankind. Without Jesus’ resurrection you and I and everyone else would be lost forever. You and I and everyone else would have no hope at all. God demanded a payment for mankind’s sin. God also provided that payment for sin. Only by grace do you and I know, believe, and confess that our sins are forgiven. Such is God’s great love for us. But there is more. The death and resurrection of Jesus also provides forgiveness for all sins. "Jesus Christ, the Righteous One…is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 JOHN 2:2). It is sad that all too many do not know that their sins are forgiven (they deny or reject).
E. Sinfulness and wickedness separate people from God. It is God who seeks out sinners to save them. We do not deserved to be saved. We cannot buy forgiveness. Nor can we earn God’s favor or mercy. In spite of all this, our Lord God Almighty freely provides his Son as the atoning sacrifice for all our sins. Christ came as the perfect Sacrifice once for all time. Christ came as the perfect Sacrifice one man for all people. "He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit" (EPHESIANS 2:17,18).
F. The resurrection of Jesus has been under attack from that very first Easter. The guards were to watch over a dead body in a tomb. But on Easter Sunday that dead body had “escaped”. This was not good. The guards and leaders conspired to spread the rumor that Jesus’ disciples stole his body. To deny the resurrection of Jesus is to deny the free forgiveness of God for all people. Jesus did rise. Jesus did appear to witnesses. God’s word cannot be broken even though it may be denied. "The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things" (LUKE 24:46b-48).
CONC.: “You know what has happened…”. God changed Saul’s life forever. Saul became Paul. Paul realized that to know Christ made all other knowledge rubbish. Over the generations the importance of the truth of the physical resurrection of Jesus has not changed. Jesus’ resurrection and God’s forgiveness is just as important for us today as it was on that first Easter Sunday and every Sunday and every day after that. "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" (1 CORINTHIANS 15:3,4). “YOU KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED…” Christ rose from the dead to forgive everyone’s sins. Today we are still witnesses of all these things. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
EASTER SUNDAY rdgs:
EXODUS 15:1-11;
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11;
LUKE 24:1-12;
(PSALM 118)
SERVICES: 1:00pm @ NCF Min. (Sat)/12:00pm @ NCF Medium (Sun) / 9:30am @ Redeemer (Sun) / 7:00pm @ Hays (Sun)
BIBLE STUDIES: 10:55am @ Redeemer (SUN) / 6:00pm (Min) + 7:30pm (Med) @ NCF (TUES.)
/ Sunday radio broadcast @ 9:05am on KQNK 106.7FM or 1530AM
