Easter Sunday is a day when preachers have mixed emotions. First, it’s an easy day to preach because you already know what you’re going to speak about. Second, it’s a day of stress and pressure. You know that there will probably be people in your audience who are just there for the day. They’re not quite sure about all of this Jesus stuff. Maybe they’re in attendance because a relative or friend has pressured them to attend.
Whatever the reason for you being here today, I just want to tell you that we are glad you are here. Some of us have been praying for everyone who would be here today. We probably didn’t know your name or who was inviting you but we prayed any way. My prayer has been that the message you are listening to right now will point you to Jesus and relationship with him.
To those early followers into whom Jesus poured his life and work, to those who walked with him and talked with him, his death was the worst thing ever. Their hopes and dreams seemed shattered. They were distraught. They were in despair. They felt empty.
“Empty” when it’s used in reference to these feelings of despair is defined as “meaningless, hollow, vain, feeble, worthless.” Maybe that’s how you feel today. You’re wondering about what life is all about. You’re wondering if there really is a meaning to this earthly existence. You’re skeptical of “quick-fixes” or that there is any true substance to life at all.
I want to share with you today the power of the empty tomb. “Empty” as used in reference to the tomb in which Jesus was laid means “not occupied; vacant; unoccupied; uninhabited.” That’s exactly what happened in 1st century Palestine. Jesus’ tomb was empty – crucified on Friday; raised on Sunday morning.
The first people to the tomb were women who came early Sunday morning to complete the embalming of his body. What did they find? An empty tomb. The news was shared with the eleven remaining men of Jesus’ closest circle. Peter and John ran to tomb and found it empty.
The only thing they could ask themselves was, “What does this mean?”
Jesus appeared to these men in the upper room of a house in which they were hiding. The tomb was empty and Jesus is alive! Luke summarizes the time following Jesus’ resurrection in Acts 1:3 – After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Following this period of 40 days, Jesus appears for a final time to his disciples. Following a conversation concerning God’s kingdom, Jesus instructs them as to their mission. Acts 1:9-10 –
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come backin the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Like those early followers, we wonder, “What does all of this mean?” To find the answer to that question, we turn to a passage in the Bible written by one of those early followers. How else do we understand the power of the empty tomb except through someone who has “been there, done that?”
His name is Peter. Simon Peter. The man who lived as close to Jesus as possible on this earthly plane. Yet when confronted by others during Jesus’ trial, he denied even knowing Jesus. Between Friday and Sunday, Peter was a miserable man. But the empty tomb brought hope and meaning to all of life.
1 Peter 1:3-9 – 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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 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, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
New Birth
A number of years ago there was a movie starring Harrison Ford called Regarding Henry. Ford played a lawyer named Henry Turner, a lawyer who would do anything to win a case. Ethical behavior meant less to him than success and pleasure.
One night, on the way home from the office, Henry stopped at a convenience store and walked in on a robbery. The robber shot him in the chest and head. He’s taken to the hospital where he dies on the table and is brought back to life. He had a long period of healing and therapy.
Amazingly, Henry doesn’t remember his old life. As he learned about his past, he was ashamed. He didn’t like the man he had been. His life was changed. He became a loving husband and father. He treated others with respect and his life touched others in a positive way.
It seems that even Hollywood, at least in this film, understood something very important. How do you completely transform a person’s life? You kill him and bring him back from the dead.
Have you ever wanted a “do over?” Have you ever wanted to start all over again? Did you ever want to hit the restart button on your life? Jesus gives us that opportunity through a new birth. Meeting with a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, Jesus told him in Jn. 3:3 – “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
This new birth isn’t given to us because we’re good enough. It’s not given to us because we’re strong enough. It’s not given to us because we’re smart enough. Peter tells us here that it’s only available through God’s great mercy.
Mercy means that we do not get what we deserve. When we look at our lives and know that things aren’t right, that there is something missing and we see our failures and shortcomings, we know what we deserve.
Rom. 6:23a – For the wages of sin is death. Wages are what you are owed. They’re what you deserve. But listen to the rest of that verse. Rom. 6:23b – But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ’s death paid for our sin. His resurrection declared that he was who he claimed to be – God in the flesh.
New birth means new life. 2 Cor. 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.
Living Hope
We use the word “hope” as a way to express wishful thinking. I hope my team wins the ballgame. I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. I hope I get a raise at work. But that is not biblical hope.
Biblical hope is a confident hope. It’s an expectation that is sure and certain. Biblical hope is not a hope-so. It is a know-so. Ps. 146:5 – Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
Jesus had told his followers multiple times that he must suffer and die and be raised again on the third day. They either ignored him or disbelieved him because they sure weren’t looking for an empty tomb. The empty tomb means that every promise God has ever made is true and we can rest confidently in his promises.
Peter points out that our hope is a living hope. Why? Because of the empty tomb. Because Jesus came back from the dead. Why then should we doubt anything else he tells us?
Phil. 1:18-21 – I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Imperishable Inheritance
Peter tells us that this new birth provides us with a great inheritance. This inheritance comes now because we are adopted into God’s family. Eph. 1:3-5 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
I am an adopted child. I have no idea who my birth parents are. All I know is that Tommy and Betty Luke adopted me at birth. I have no idea if my birth parents gave me a name but Tommy and Betty Luke did. Even though I am not “blood of their blood or flesh of their flesh,” I have received all of the rights and benefits of a son born out of their physical union. I stand before the law as a rightful inheritor of whatever estate is left behind.
Because of God’s great mercy, the new birth, and the empty tomb, we have the right to be called children of God. As children of God, we have a full claim on our Father’s kingdom. The inheritance is ours.
Peter points out that this inheritance doesn’t perish, spoil, or fade. Earthly inheritances can deteriorate. Funds in investment account can lose value. Property can depreciate. Items of earthly value can be damaged or broken. But the inheritance we have in Christ Jesus can never perish, spoil, or fade.
Jesus said in Matt. 6:19-21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Returning Lord
Jesus is coming back. He’s coming back for those who have placed their faith and hope in him. He is returning to bring the kingdom of heaven to its full realization. He is coming so that we can receive the fullness of our inheritance. Our salvation comes to its completeness when Jesus returns.
The term salvation is used in multiple ways in scripture. It refers to physical deliverance from danger. It refers to the healing of the body. But it also refers to the work of God’s rescuing grace on our lives.
Peter speaks of this final work of salvation as occurring at the end time. It literally means a set time or occasion that happens at a final point. The New Testament teaches that we are living in the last times. The last times began when Jesus ascended into heaven. But there is coming a certain end of time when Christ returns and we are all resurrected.
1 Thess. 4:13-18 – Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Proven Faith
Peter reminds us that our faith will be tested. He is writing this letter to followers of Jesus who are undergoing persecution and trials. Some folks get the wrong idea that once you commit to Jesus as being Savior and Lord, all the hard stuff stops. Not so.
Peter speaks about our faith going under fire. Trials do not mean that your faith is not real. They are actually a help to your faith. Precious metals are intentionally put under the duress of extreme heat for the purpose of purification. The heat separates the impurities from the true precious metal. Peter reminds us that our faith is much more valuable than gold.
Trials will do one of two things. They will make us bitter or make us better. The choice is up to us. When we choose to see the purpose behind the trials, it makes us better. It refines our faith. When we choose to focus on the purpose, when we say, “Why me?” we become bitter.
. An athlete doesn’t go through all of the conditioning to make themselves weaker. They do it to make themselves stronger. They do it to build endurance. The human body responds well to the right kind of stress. The heart and lungs function more efficiently and the muscles grow stronger. Trials do not exist to take strength from us. They exist to build strength within us.
End Result
Peter says that the end result of our faith in Jesus Christ is the salvation of our souls. Our physical bodies will die. Our souls will live one until the day Jesus returns and we receive glorified bodies like his on that great day of resurrection.
1 Jn. 3:2 – Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
The Christian life is a dichotomy. It seems to be a contradiction. We have salvation but it doesn’t seem to be complete salvation because it’s not complete until Jesus returns.
However, scripture tells us that our salvation is already complete. When Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” In the original language, that term meant “paid in full.” Jesus’ death provided full payment for all of our sins but the completeness of our inheritance is not realized until Jesus returns. We live in the tension between the already but not yet.
Is the kingdom of God a future reality to be hoped for or a present reality to experience now? The answer is that it is partly present and partly future. Many of its blessings are here to be enjoyed now; but many of them are not yet here. Some of its power is available now but not all of it. Some of the curse and misery of this age can be overcome now by the presence of the kingdom. But some of it cannot be.
The decisive battle against sin and Satan and sickness and death has been fought and won by the King in his death and resurrection, but the war is not over. Sin must be fought, Satan must be resisted, sickness must be prayed over and groaned under and death must be endured until the second coming of the King and the consummation of the kingdom.
God’s message to us through Peter is that it all works out in the end. That’s the message of the book of Revelation. While Satan seeks to devour us, while earthly rulers seek to dominate us, while we struggle in this fleshly existence, the hope is still alive. It’s alive because our king and savior is a risen king and savior. He has defeated sin and death and because of his victory we have the guarantee of victory in the end. Jesus tells us Rev. 2:10 – “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”
God promises us that the end result is better than anything we could ever plan for or imagine. 1 Cor. 2:9 – What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him.
Close
The question, then, is where have you placed your trust? Is your hope just wishful thinking or is it a hope alive with the vitality of the empty tomb? Are you looking to Jesus for victory or are you trying to win it on your own? Victory now and victory for eternity is available but it’s only available in Jesus Christ – the One who overcame dearth and whose tomb is still empty.. Let’s pray
