The Power of the Resurrection
Matthew 28:1-10 and Philippians 3:10
On Feb. 27, 1991, at the height of Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a message from the Pentagon. Her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private 1st Class, had stepped on a mine in Kuwait and was killed. She wrote, "I can’t begin to describe my grief and shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For 3 days I wept. For 3 days I expressed anger and loss. For 3 days people tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great." But then the telephone rang and the voice on the other end said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." Ruth Dillow couldn’t believe it at first. But then she recognized his voice, and he really was alive. It was all a mistake! She laughed. She cried. She felt like turning cartwheels, because her son whom she thought was dead, was alive. And she writes, “I’m sure none of you can even begin to understand how I felt." Oh really?
Perhaps not, but many of Jesus’ followers would have understood because they experienced the same emotions themselves. One day they watched their best friend, teacher and mentor nailed to a cross and die as he uttered his last words: "It is finished!" They watched as His body was taken down from the cross and buried, along with all of their hopes and dreams. They mourned for 3 days and then some women went to His tomb to anoint his body for burial. They wondered who would roll away the stone for them. But when they arrived, they found that the stone had already been moved. And an angel told them, "You’re looking in the wrong place. You’re looking for Jesus among the dead. He is alive. He is risen!" And you can almost hear the laughter, and the joy and see the tears of joy streaming down their face.
"He is risen!" That is what we celebrate this morning. Jesus is risen from the dead! It’s almost unbelievable. The greatest event that the universe will ever see is the hinge upon which all history hangs and is forever divided. The division of time ought to be not only BC and AD; it ought to be BR (Before the Resurrection) and AR (After the Resurrection). Why? Because the resurrection changes everything! More than 500 people not only witnessed the resurrection but they experienced the power of the resurrection in their own lives. … which shook the Earth. We see it in the angel’s appearance whose clothes gleamed like lightning. We see it in the rolling away of the stone from the entrance of the tomb. We see it in the response of the seasoned soldiers who were overcome with fear and became like dead men. And most of all, we see it in the resurrection of Jesus. Do you know how much power it takes to bring something back to life? Paul says the Resurrection is the greatest display of God's power ever to be demonstrated, nor can it ever be surpassed.
But the power of the resurrection didn't end there. It was present on the day of Pentecost, when suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them…” We see the power of the resurrection in the disciples as ones who had been hiding behind locked doors in fear of their lives and now they step out into the streets of Jerusalem and boldly proclaim the Good News that “Jesus Christ is risen!” Acts 4:33 says, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.” Stephen is described as “a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.” The Apostles face death without fear and speak boldy of Jesus before the Jewish leaders. They heal many others. We see it in Saul’s life which is transformed from the greatest persecutor of the church to its greatest evangelist, theologian, missionary and church planter. But where we see the power of the resurrection most clearly is in the 1000’s of lives who are transformed by the Gospel as they become followers of Jesus Christ.
The life of the apostles was defined by the power of the resurrection at work in them. It became a part of their daily life in God. This is why Paul said of himself, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection …” Phil 3:10 And it’s why he prayed for the church at Ephesus: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power… And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power…” Eph. 3:16-18
The life of the early church was marked by the power of the resurrection too. Bill Hybels tells the story of being forced to take an Introduction to the Bible class in college. Bill thought the class would be a snoozer. At the end of the first lecture, the professor stepped out behind the lectern and said, “There was once a community of believers who were so totally devoted to God that their life together was charged with the Spirit’s power. In that band of Christ followers, believers loved each other with a radical kind of love. They took off their masks and shared lives with one another. They laughed and cried and prayed and sang and served together in authentic Christian fellowship. Those who had more shared freely with those who had less until socioeconomic barriers melted away. People related together in ways that bridged gender and racial chasms, and celebrated cultural differences….(They)…offered unbelievers a vision of life that was so bold it took their breath away. It was so bold, so creative, so dynamic that they couldn't resist it….The ‘Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’” Bill said his heart was spurred by that vision of what the church was and could be in the power of the resurrection. Tears started forming in his eyes and he felt a rush in his soul as he wondered: “Where had the beauty gone? Why was that power not evident in the contemporary church? Would the Christian community ever see that potential realized again?”
The answer is “Yes!” That is the hope and the promise of the resurrection. This is not just something we celebrate that happened 2000 years ago. It is something which has power for our lives today. Like the apostles, it’s the source of the power you can experience in your own life, every day. The same power that resurrected Jesus from death to life is available to you, and if you tap into it, you’ll see amazing transformation in your own life, too. The resurrection is not just a doctrine of faith to be pondered, it is an invitation to experience the living Christ and the power of the resurrection in your life. The power of the resurrection is meant to impact your life every day. Paul wanted us to know more than the knowledge of the resurrection. He wanted us to experience its power and for it to touch, guide and empower every part of life: our thoughts, our words, our actions and our decisions. What he, the Apostles and the early church experienced in their lives, we can in ours as well! And yet, the reality is that if you look at the life of the average Christian and church, there is little to no evidence of this incredible resurrection power. Researcher and pollster George Barna in his annual survey finds that the unchurched see absolutely no difference in the lives of Christians and non-Christians. In other words, there’s no evidence of transformation or power! Too many Christians are living lifeless and dead lives.
Yet Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” If you believe in Christ and His resurrection, then you have the opportunity for a life filled with the power of the resurrection. Jesus said, “I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” John 10:10 If you have Jesus Christ, you have resurrection power available to you. All the power there is in Christ and his resurrection, and was in the life and ministry of the Apostles is there for you. This is the great difference maker. This is what is meant to makes us stand out. Ray Stedman writes in his book, “Body Life”: “We must understand that resurrection power is like no other power on earth. It is unique, and has no possible rival. For one thing, it is the kind of power that operates in the midst of death. It works when everything around it is dull, dead and barren. It works best in the midst of a cemetery, for that is where it was first demonstrated. When Jesus Christ was resurrected he came out from among the dead. Therefore, if you learn to live by resurrection power you can be alive and vital when everything and everyone around you is dead and lifeless.”
Tim Keller tells the story of a minister visiting a cemetery in Italy, and there he saw the grave of a man who had died centuries before who was an unbeliever and completely against Christianity, but a little afraid of it too. So the man had a huge stone slab put over his grave so he could not have to be raised from the dead, in case there was such a thing. He had insignias put all over the slab saying, "I do not want to be raised from the dead. I don't believe in it." Evidently, when he was buried, an acorn must have fallen into the grave. So a hundred years later the acorn had grown up through the grave and split that slab. It was now a tall towering oak tree. The minister looked at it and asked, "If an acorn, which has power of biological life in it, can split a slab of that magnitude, what can…God's resurrection power do in a person's life?" And then he writes: “The minute you decide to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, the power of the Holy Spirit comes into your life. It's the power of the resurrection—the same thing that raised Jesus from the dead…Think of the things you see as immovable slabs in your life—your bitterness, your insecurity, your fears, your self-doubts. Those things can be split and rolled off. The more you know him, the more you grow into the power of the resurrection.” This is why Paul was able to write, “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” That’s the power of the resurrection and it’s available to you to help you overcome all of the things in your life which are holding you back from living the abundant life Jesus offers you. .
Leanoard Ravenhill tells the story of preaching an 8-day crusade in a large church in Glasgow, Scotland starting the first day of World War II. That shattered his meetings and no more than 50 people showed, so they started to meet in a side room instead. Despite this, he preached his heart out every night. One night as he gave the invitation, 3 people came forward and they prayed with them. Then he looked back and saw a rosy-cheeked boy who was calling Leanoard. He went to him and said, "hello." He said, "My name is...Donald Wilson. Mr. Ravenhill, I am not a Christian. I believe I'm a very good boy but oh, I need Christ." So I said, "Well that's great. If you know that, it's a wonderful thing. Do you come from a Christian family?" He said, "No. My father is a communist, and he's a very, very vicious alcoholic." "What about your mother?" "No, she was a Christian, but she's backsliden.” Then the boy asked about salvation and Leanoard Ravenhill led him to faith in Jesus Christ, He then told him to go home and say to his Dad, “I've become a Christian tonight.” The next night’s meetings didn’t grow in attendance due to the threat of bombing but two nights later a big, burly man showed and when Leanoard gave the invitation, this man came forward. He said he was a communist and that his son had given his life to Christ. And he knocked me for a loop. “Since that time, I didn't want to drink, and I thought, ‘If my son needed saving, I sure need it.’" This man, who looked like he could have thrown Leanoard right through the building, just bawled like a child and said, "I am a sinner, I need a Savior” and he gave his life to Christ.
After the war was over, Leanoard Ravenhill returned to that church and as he sat with the pastor, the pastor leaned over and said to him, "Brother Ravenhill, you see that well dressed man over there on the left, the one with the white Scotch collar?" "Yes," he said. "That's Wilson." It did not ring a bell. “You remember the communist that got saved because his son came to faith? Well, that's him. And you know, he is about the strongest Christian in this church. Man, you can rely on him, he's as sure as the dawn. And as a matter of fact, he wants you to go to their home for a meal." After services, Leanoard Ravenhill went to Wilson’s house for dinner and discovered the whole family had gotten saved: their teenage daughters, and even his mother. “Leanoard looked at the house, it was beautifully painted, beautifully done. Wilson said, "You know, Mr. Ravenhill, I was the kind of guy who wanted to get the world right, and I wasn't right myself. I'll tell you how much change it makes: Jesus Christ has not only changed my life, He's changed the whole home. I wasn't content even to live in the slum I was in. I thought, 'No this is not the place we should be. The Gospel did this: it met me personally, it met me domestically, it met me socially. I've been able to go back in the factory and tell the men there of the miracle of the Gospel. It took out the habit of cursing other people and of drinking, all types of the other things. Since I came to faith in Christ came, He completely changed and revolutionized my life." And Leanoard Ravenhill writes, “That's the Gospel and the power of the resurrection (which is available) to everyone that believes.” And is available to you. Amen and Amen.
