“Easter Hope” April 2, 2017
1 Corinthians 15:1-23
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man,the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”
Spring is in the air. I see the world coming alive. Flowers are adding color to our drab, cold, world. The days are getting longer and warming things up. Animals are giving birth to chicks and kits and pups and colts. And the new life is bringing the world joy. It’s a great time of the year. I love it! But most importantly and the greatest thing of all is it is a celebration of Resurrection Sunday. Without it the world would remain cold and ugly and lifeless and worst of all – hopeless. Listen.
“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”
1 Corinthians 15:17-19
But thankfully it doesn’t stop there. It continues:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20
Do you see that if Jesus didn’t come back to life we would be hopeless? We would be pitiful. The world would be a very unhappy and unwelcoming place. But it isn’t! It is a happy, joyful, hopeful place because Jesus is alive! He came back from the dead. He lives! We serve a RISEN Savior!
This morning I want to talk to you about Easter Hope. Hope, at least Biblical Hope, is more than a wish. We say things like, “I hope it doesn’t rain.” Biblical hope is an expectation that God will keep His Word. Hope is a trusting expectation of whatever God promises will happen. So hope of eternal life is not a “I sure wish it happens”. It is an absolute expectation of the certainty of the promise.
For many people Easter is about Easter Bunnies and Easter eggs and Easter egg hunts and Easter baskets. And those things are okay. They are a part of the celebration. I enjoy the colors and the sights and the tastes of Easter. But it is so important to remember and to celebrate what Easter is all about. It is about HOPE. Let me share four hopeful things that Easter brings to us.
First, there is HOPE of forgiveness. The Bible says,
“And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
“The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” Ezekiel 18:20
Do you see that death came into the world through sin? The result of sinning is death. The truth of the matter is that we are all guilty. We have all sinned. Who can dispute Romans 3:23 that says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”? John wrote, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8
That is pretty bad news. We all have sinned – therefore we all are deserving of death. But there is Good News! Jesus came to earth to pay the price for sin. Listen to what John the Baptist said when he saw Jesus.
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
Those who were Spirit filled in Jesus’ day knew even before it happened that Jesus had come to be the sacrificial Lamb that takes our sins away. Now we have hope of forgiveness. Peter said it best when he was sharing the Good News with a Roman soldier. He said,
“All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” Acts 10:43
John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Jesus brought us hope of forgiveness. All we need to do is believe. Believe, come to Jesus and confess your sin to Him. The hope; the expectation; the promise; is that we will be forgiven. Believe it!
There is something even that better! We have the 2)HOPE of being loved by Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
Because of Easter we have hope of forgiveness and the hope of being loved. Jesus said that because God loved us He gave Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins. What love! Imagine a Father who would give His son to die for people who hated Him and were in rebellion with Him. Imagine a Son who was so loving He was willing to do it – to die for a wicked and sinful people. Imagine a love so great that it would provide us a way to be forgiven and a way to return that love. Because of Easter we have the hope and expectation of being forgiven and the hope of entering into a loving relationship with God.
That sounds pretty awesome doesn’t it? It isn’t. It is pretty sad if that is all there is. We would be forgiven and love God – and then die. Some people were saying that a few years after the Resurrection. Paul’s response was,
“If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:13-19
Thankfully he doesn’t stop there. He joyfully continues:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20
Jesus is ALIVE! Jesus LIVES! And because HE lives we too will live. We have 3) the Hope of eternal life. Paul wrote of it so gloriously. He said,
“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-52
He continued, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
We have the hope of eternal life through our Savior Jesus Christ. He provided forgiveness for us. He declared His love for us. He provided eternal life for us through His meritorious death on the cross. Can it get any better? Can the Good News get any better than that?
The answer is YES! What is better than eternal life? Just this. We have the 4) HOPE of Eternal Reward. Jesus said,
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” Matthew 10:42
“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.” Matthew 16:27
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
It is absolutely crucial that we have faith in God. We must believe He exists but we also must believe He rewards us for our earnest search of Him. WHY? Because we might think that believing is all we need to do. Some believe we don’t even have to repent – just believe. The result is that there is no change; no motivation to seek God. That isn’t what the Bible teaches. We need to believe He is a rewarder of the earnest seeker. We need to “seek FIRST the Kingdom” and expect God will bless us and provide for us.
The Word of God says,
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:4
I would recommend you memorize these Scripture as I have done. They will help you to endure difficult times. They will encourage you when you get down. They will help you remember there is an eternal reward waiting ahead for you. Here is another favorite.
“Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6
There is a resurrection for us and we will reign with Christ. We will be His priestly representatives in a heavenly Kingdom that has no sorrow or tears and its glory is beyond our comprehension.
Earlier I quoted Paul when he said,
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19
Well, we do have hope in Christ for eternity. We have hope of
1. Forgiveness, 2. Eternal love, 3. Eternal Life, 4. Eternal Reward.
The ones to be pitied are those hopeless and faithless. I pity them. They are missing out on a rich, full, wonderful life right now and they will miss out on eternal life and eternal rewards if they continue in their unbelief. But God is good. God is love. He is merciful and forgiving. He is willing and even eager to come and forgive. Jesus said,
“Listen, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…” Revelation 3:20
Do you have hope? Easter is about hope. Hope of forgiveness and love and eternal life and eternal reward. If you want hope in your life you simply need to pray a prayer like this:
Jesus,
I need you in my life. Please forgive me for my sin. Thank you for dying for me and paying the price for me. Thank you for loving me. I believe your offer of eternal life and eternal reward. I expect it. My hope is in You. Give me the grace to live the rest of my life for You.
