Significance of the Resurrection
Mark 16:1-16
Today is the day that we celebrate an event that happened over 2000 years ago. Friday evening started the Israelites Passover. Passover was a reminder to the nation of Israel of their great deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. God worked a miracle in their lives that day and they are to remember that miracle in the Passover.
Today, as the Israelites celbrated their time of deliverance, we celebrate or may I say remember a miracle (our deliverance if you will) that happened on the first day of the week over 2000 years ago. It was a day that turned the world upside down.
In our text this morning, something happened that has never happened before. Someone rose themselves from the dead. I want to stop right there and explain that. We have accounts in Scripture of others rising from the dead. There was a man by the name of Jairus who had a daughter that died. Jesus intervened and she lived again. And of course we know the account of Lazarus in the book of Luke that died and Jesus said those famous words for all to hear, “Lazarus, come forth.”
What was so different about those “resurrections” compared to the one that we are talking about this morning? Jesus is the difference. It was Jesus that raised those two. They didn’t do it under their own power. When Jesus was resurrected, He did it under His own power. You see, He is God. Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus had no power of their own they could use. Jesus had the power to raise them, He had the power to raise Himself and He has the power to raise us up as well.
So what did happen on that first day of the week that should stand out in our minds? That should cause us to pay attention to? That’s what I want to talk about this morning. The significance of the resurrection.
The first thing we need to see is…
I. In order to live, you must first die
I mentioned earlier that Jesus had the power to raise Himself from the dead. He also had the power to take His life. I want you to understand something. Jesus did not commit suicide. What is suicide? Suicide is the taking of ones own life. There is a difference (and I mean a big difference) between those who commit suicide and the death of Jesus. And I believe the big difference is found in John 3:16. Many can quote that verse and if you can lets do it now. The key word that I want to look at is the word gave. When someone commits suicide, more times than not, it is for selfish reasons. I don’t want to sound harsh this morning and that is not my intent. But if you were to look into your heart and be reasonable about it, people commit suicide because of selfish reasons. Maybe they did it because they couldn’t handle the situation they were in and thought it easier to remove themselves from that situation. Notice the words we use when someone commits suicide. What do we say? They took their lives.
When Jesus died, He what? He gave His life. There is a difference in taking and giving. Jesus gave His life as a ransom. Both Matthew and Mark tell us in Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Let’s look at what Jesus said in John 10:17-18.
He is letting the people know that the Son of man has power to not only lay His life down, but more importantly the power to take it again, or in other words, to raise Himself up. We do have the power if you will to give our lives. I was talking to Connie and Ellen about this at supper yesterday. Ellen brought up a good point. How about a soldier that throws himself on a live grenade. He/she did that to save the lives of their fellow soldiers. To me that is an example of giving your life so that others might live. Or I would jump in front of a bullet so that my wife, or my children could live. Just like Jesus did. He gave His life so that we might live. The only difference though, those that gave their lives for others do not have the power to raise themselves from the dead. Jesus did just that.
Now I said that in order to live you must first die. How does that apply to us today? It is kind of like a seed that is planted. Did you know that when you plant that seed, it actually dies? That seed is useless unless it is planted and then dies.
Turn in your Bible to Matthew 16:24-26.
These are very interesting verses in deed. I want to look at some words in these verses. The first word is lose in verse 25 and then the word lose in verse 26. Though they seem to be the same word in our language, in the Greek they are not. The lose in verse 25 is the Greek word ap-ol'-loo-mee from 575 and the base of 3639; to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively:—destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.
So we can say in this verse that in order for us to have life, we must first die. We must die to self. We must die to Satan. We must die to the world. Do you get the point?
Now the word lose in verse 26 is a different Greek word. The word lose in verse 25 is referring to the body. Our physical being. Can our bodies be destroyed? Yes. But verse 26 is talking about our Spirit. Our soul. Can our soul be destroyed? No. The Greek word used here is zemioo dzay-mee-o'-o to injure, i.e. (reflexively or passively) to experience detriment:—be cast away, receive damage, lose, suffer loss. The first lose means die and the second lose means to suffer loss. Talking about spending eternity in hell. Your soul will suffer loss.
Yes in order for us to live, we must die to self, the devil and the world.
Another significance concerning the resurrection that we should see is that…
II. Death is not the end
There are a lot of people in this world that will dogmatically tell you that when you die, that’s it. You cease to exist and you are buried and life as you know it now or even in the future is over.
I was talking to Danny yesterday and I told him that I could not imagine if all we have is this life. Honestly, that’s kind of a depressing thought.
Lets look and see what Scripture has to say about this. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15:12-20.
The writer of this epistle was the Apostle Paul. One of the greatest missionaries that ever lived. What he is trying to say in these verses is just the right answer to those who believe that you die and are buried and that’s it.
I agree with him in the fact of verse 19 that we would be of all men most miserable.
Think about how short your life is. Job said in Chapter 14 and verse 1 Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Life is short. I look back and wonder in these past almost 46 years, where the time went. I am sure some of you older folks are probably wondering the same thing.
No I cannot imagine the idea that this life is all there is.
Because its not. The resurrection of Jesus is proof that there is something after death. Hebrews is definitely a verse that explains this. Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: You can rest assured that death is not the end. There is comfort for some in that fact.
This verse tells us that we all have an appointment with something and that something is death. There is no escaping it. We one day will keep our appointment with death. Jesus kept His appointment and we will keep ours. What happens after death, the judgment. Real quick, there are two judgments that the Bible speaks of. The Christians who die will stand at the Bema seat of Christ where we will give an account on how we lived our lives after we were saved, and then the other is the Great White Throne judgment. At this judgment, all who have died without Christ will stand before God and not give an account on how they lived their lives, but will be judge on not accepting Jesus as Savior. You see in order to get to heaven, or I should say, in order to have life eternal, you have to accept what Jesus did on the cross at Calvary. Jesus said in John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
So in the resurrection we have seen that in order to live we must first die and that death is not the end of things but the beginning. The last thing I want you to see and understand this morning is the fact that…
III. What happens after death matters
Now if we were to believe that once you die, that’s it. No matter how you lived your life on earth whether as a saint or as a devil, we all are faced with the same demise. We all are buried and then forgotten about. But that is not the case. There are consequences for your choices here in the physical world that will affect your spiritual world.
There are a lot of different beliefs out there on what happens after you die. Some believe that we are reincarnated into another human form which gets better each time you are reincarnated. There are others that believe we are reincarnated and come back as some kind of animal. There are others that believe everyone will go to heaven. I have never heard of anyone saying that we all will go to hell. I wonder why that is. Because if you want to know the truth, that is where everyone belongs is in hell. But it is God’s grace that we all don’t go there. That’s another sermon for later though.
So with all of these beliefs out there, how can we know for sure which one is right? I mean I would like to believe the one where we all go to heaven. That is a good thought. But that’s all it is, just a thought. In order to find the truth of what happens after you die is to go where? To the Bible. Remember, we are talking about the fact after Jesus’ resurrection that what happens after death does matter.
What I am trying to say is that Jesus did rise from the dead. He conquered death for all. I believe that in our text this morning as Mary stood there and talked with Jesus He had a new body. Listen to me lost person, listen to me Christian, there is life after death.
After we physically die, we will open our eyes in one of two places. Before I go any further I want you to understand something in the New Testament. There are times that a Christian dies in Scripture they are referred to as sleeping. Lazarus was referred to as sleeping just as Jairus’ daughter was referred to. In I Thess. 4:13-18, Christians are referred to as sleeping. To me that sounds good, because when you are sleeping you will one day wake up.
Now back to the topic of the two places you can go to after you die. Turn to Luke 16:19.
This is Jesus speaking. Who better to talk about life after death than the one who actually has been there and done that.
Yes a person that dies will go to one of two places. If you are saved you will have life and spend eternity in heaven. If you are unsaved you will have death and spend eternity in the lake of fire. You might be thinking, preacher, that is awful mean to say. I know that those are hard words to hear. But they are necessary words to hear. That is plain Bible truth. Not David Seabolt truth, but Bible reading Holy Ghost speaking truth. And you can take that to the bank.
Do you know what you have to do to go to hell? Honestly, what sin do you have to commit in order to be worthy of hell?
None. Listen to the words found in John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Be saved from what? The condemnation that John 3:18 is talking about.
So in order to be worthy of life after death, you must ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and invite Him into your heart. For John said John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Closing:
This is Easter day. This is a time that we celebrate and remember that Christ conquered death when He rose from the dead. Through His resurrection we see these three things. In order to live, you must first die, death is not the end and what happens after death matters. Praise the Lord that He conquered sin death and the grave. And because He conquered those things, we can too.
It says in John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
You see, because Jesus rose from the dead, we too, the ones that believe on Him and has accepted Him as the payment for our sins, will one day resurrect. Our bodies will one day be resurrected unto the newness in life.
