“Gifts from the Grave”
Text: Luke 24:1-8
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
When we lived in Hawaii, one of the great blessings was seeing these three cemeteries: Punchbowl; the Valley of the Temples; and the Arizona Memorial. We didn’t know anyone buried in these three locations but we enjoyed visiting them. Thousands were entombed in these beautiful, historical and peaceful locations. However, most graves give us no pleasure – just bittersweet memories. Occasionally, I must travel to this cemetery in Giles County where my parents are buried along with my precious grandmother and a host of aunts and uncles and other relatives. No matter how many times I make this sad journey, I never receive any gifts from the hundreds of graves – even from the people I knew and loved. Today, as most in the Christian world focus on our Savior’s resurrection, I want us to look at some things we received from the empty tomb in a lesson entitled “Gifts from the Grave.” We hope you’ll open your Bibles as we study together for the next few minutes and then we encourage you to continue searching the Scriptures this week to make sure I’m preaching the truth.
III. Lesson
When Jesus arose from the dead early on that first day of the week, God initiated the gift of glory. The passage we want to associate with this gift is 1 Peter 1:20-21 – He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. You’ll remember the beautiful prayer for unity Jesus prayed on the night of His betrayal in John 17. At the beginning of this prayer, notice His supplication in verses 4-5: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Jesus left the glory of heaven to be born of a woman and to walk among men in order to redeem them. But, He knew that His return to glory was via Golgotha and the grave. If we are children of God, we can look forward to this same glory – Romans 8:16-17 – The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. We really have something to look forward to as Paul describes it in Philippians 3:20-21 – For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. We spend our Christian lives striving to be conformed to the image of Christ and it will become a reality in the resurrection. The resurrection was the path to return to glory for the Son of God and it will be the door to ours. One final passage about this – 1 Corinthians 15:42-43a – So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. The second gift from the grave we want to notice this morning is gladness. While there are several wonderful post-resurrection events, I believe my favorite occurred on the evening of that first day of the week as found in John 20:19-20 – Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Can you imagine their emotions after thinking the Messiah was dead? He had tried to prepare them but they didn’t understand. Now they know for sure that He has risen from the dead! It’s interesting that the Greek verb translated “were glad” is the same verb Paul used in Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Joy or gladness is a feeling that should characterize us today because we have a risen Savior. Isn’t that what the apostle Paul is trying to convey in 1 Corinthians 15:13-17? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up – if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! While you and I have not physically seen the risen Christ, we know He arose from the dead through the eyes of witnesses. If we are children of God, we can be glad and rejoice because our sins have been forgiven. The third gift from the Lord’s grave we want to examine is grace based on John 1:14-17 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. I might add that grace is mentioned only one other time in the gospels and that is in reference to the boy Jesus in Luke 2:40. We don’t have time to discuss all the ramifications of God’s grace this morning but let me suggest you find time this week to read the fifth and sixth chapters of Romans. In Romans 5:6-8, we read how Christ died for our sins. Continuing on, we read that the sentence of death passed onto all men as the result of one man’s sin – that of Adam. And, through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Now notice Romans 5:20-21 – Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But, for grace to reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God had to suffer and die. Notice Colossians 2:11-14 – In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. The death, burial and resurrection of our Lord ushered in a new era – one of grace and truth. Now listen to Romans 6:1-4 – What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. If we want to experience God’s amazing grace, we need to experience the death of Christ by being buried with Him in baptism. Now drop down to verses 12-15 to see how Christians are to live: Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! The fourth gift from the grave is the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ. As Paul defined the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the resurrection was the third leg of this triad: Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, Folks, we must not take the gift of the gospel lightly. Remember Paul’s words in Romans 1:16? For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. The gospel was God’s chosen message to save people. In fact, Paul calls it the gospel of the grace of God in Acts 20:24. Finally, we come to the fifth gift from the grave and that is the guarantee of our own resurrection – Romans 6:5 – For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, This follows Paul’s description of our baptism into Christ’s death. Yes, we are raised to a new life in Christ but it also looks forward to the future resurrection of the dead. One of the best descriptions of this future resurrection is found in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 – But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
We believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead – that He came from the tomb very early on that Sunday morning after His crucifixion. We believe the testimony of those witnesses who saw and touched the risen Savior. This morning we have looked at five gifts which came from His empty grave: glory, gladness, grace, the gospel and a guarantee of our own resurrection. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again the third day? If so, you believe the gospel of Christ. The Lord then asks you to repent of your sins and make Him Lord of your life by being baptized into His death. My friends, that is obeying the gospel of Christ. That’s how you begin to live under God’s grace and insure your future resurrection to glory. There’s a terrifying passage in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 – and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. If you’ve never obeyed the gospel of Christ, please don’t put it off any longer. Maybe you haven’t been living faithfully and you’ve fallen from grace – you no longer are in fellowship with the body of Christ or God, the Father and His Son. If this describes you, why not confess your sins and let God forgive you. We’re going to sing a song of encouragement – one that describes who we should be. If you need to come to the cross today, please do so as we stand and sing.
