Because He Lives
I. OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
When It Was Dark
I’m not quite sure how to say this. Many in the church have said that our faith is based on verifiable historical facts. It was a faith built upon evidence. Scholars like Josh McDowell wrote books like "Evidence That Demands A Verdict."
Something came to light a while ago that is out now in academic journals and will be out shortly in magazines and newspapers, I’m sure. As a pastor and member of the clergy I felt it best that it come from me. At least I may make some consolatory comments with it. Let me simply read the announcement.
I quote: “Archaeologists have made a startling and remarkable discovery. They have found recently, in a newly unearthed tomb in the suburbs of Jerusalem, the remains of an ancient man who quite evidently died of crucifixion. On the walls of that tomb they found also a plaque written in ancient Hebrew, which translated reads thusly, ‘Here lies Jesus of Nazareth, the great and good teacher. We secreted his body away in order to place him beyond the reach and rage of his enemies. He was the best of men. May he rest in peace.’ ”
That is a scene from a novel published in England in 1902. It is, I’m happy to say, pure fiction. I hope, however, that it had its impact in your heart this morning, that it captured your attention. The author of "When It Was Dark," Guy Thorne, portrays an alternate reality in which a wealthy atheist, a skeptic, an unbeliever, plots to destroy Christianity. In the fictional world of the book he hires a venal archaeologist to create this fraudulent find in Israel, to bring to light this contrived discovery of supposedly the remains of Christ.
The result in the novel is catastrophic. It seems as if a new Ice Age has descended upon the earth. The spirits of women and men flag like the branches of a willow tree. Hope goes out like a candle in the wind. Joy disappears from life. Men seek for mirth, saying, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” It is all a lie. In this dark world where Christ is found still in a tomb thousands upon thousands of missionaries return to their native lands. The lights in the churches go out, and the doors are locked for good. The Law of Sinai is exchanged for the law of the jungle. The Sermon on the Mount gives way to savagery in the street. The hand of every man is raised against his neighbor. Soon nation rises against nation, and in a while the whole world is one huge, blackened, smoldering ruin—because a few bones were discovered in a tomb in Jerusalem, and with that discovery, hope died.*
*Adapted from Christianity Today, Today’s Best Sermons: 52 Sermons on Holidays & Special Events, vol. 3, Today’s Best Sermons (Christianity Today, 1988).
It is the resurrection of Jesus that is the basis for the Christian religion and for all that we know to be true and good... and Jesus is alive. The tomb is empty and our hearts and lives are full...
II. TEXT:
The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:1-9 (ESV):
"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am..."
"...if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied..."
"32 If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
The old song we just sang the wonderful Crowder version of was written and performed originally by Bill Gaither, "Because He Lives." The chorus says:
And because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth a living just because He lives.
Because He Lives, I can...
Because He lives, all fear in gone...
Because He Lives, its worth living another day...
These truths are echoing through churches all over the planet this morning. Because He Lives!
III. INTRODUCTION:
Today we celebrate the central event upon which the Christian faith is based, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
It is the focal point of the NT, Jesus Christ risen from the dead (2 Timothy 2:8). It is mentioned by the writers of Scripture hundreds of times and when you read the sermons of the apostles in the book of Acts you find that it is on this central truth that they always return. Jesus Christ was raise from among the dead (Acts 2:36; 4:2; 17:31).
Don Stewart notes that according to Paul [in our text], if Christ has not been raised then the following five things would be true.
Christian preaching is empty and so is anyone's faith because the object of the faith, Christ, is not whom He said He was.
The apostles are liars for testifying to a resurrection that did not occur.
No forgiveness has been granted for anybody's sin.
Those who have died believing in Christ have no hope.
If hope in Christ is limited to this life, Christians are to be pitied above all people.
There Is No Meaning For Humanity If Christ Is Not Risen
Without the resurrection, Christianity has no meaning for humanity - its founder would have been a liar and a failure, and its followers would have no hope. Thus the importance of the resurrection to Christian faith cannot be overestimated.
There are those who say that even without the resurrection, Christianity has significance. They hold that Christ's teachings provide ethical guidelines for humanity. The New Testament, however, testifies that this is not the case. Without the resurrection there is no meaningful Christianity.
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_811.cfm
C. S. Lewis notes that Christianity cannot exist apart from the miraculous in general and the central miracle of God coming in a genuine Human existence in particular (The Incarnation), and His death, burial, and miraculous resurrection.
Buddhism can function without miracles. There are only a few miracles attributed to Gautama by some very late sources. Gautama's ashes were supposed to go to one central place, but six clans and a king demanded the relics of his body. Today over a hundred shrines claim to have some portion of his body, ashes, and even a tooth enshrined. Like the apostle Peter said of David, "he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us" (Acts 2:29).
Confucius, that great teacher of Chinese philosophy, is dead and buried in Qufu, Shandong Province, China along with 100,000 of his descendants. There is no need of the miraculous for Confucianism to function.
Muhammed's religion can also function apart from the miraculous, and his remains are buried at the "Mosque of the Prophet" in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, had his ashes scattered into the Pacific Ocean.
The list can go on...
But, you cannot have Christianity without miracles. All other miracles are shadows of the Grand Miracle that crescendos in the Resurrection! We believe that the Bible is a divine book inspired by the Holy Spirit. We believe that today we celebrate a real historical event, the resurrection of our Lord.
Jesus's Incarnation, life, death, burial, and resurrection are unique because they make the rest of the story of human life make sense. The story of Jesus both contacts and corrects things that we instinctively know to be true.
We recognize that we are both material (body) and immaterial (spirit). This is a dim shadow of Christ who is, both Human and Divine.
The death and resurrection of Jesus show us the lengths that God is willing to go to save us. The Uncreated Deity condescended to become not just a Man, but a Boy, an Infant a Single Fertilized Cell in the womb of a virgin... and not just any Man, but a Peasant, and then a despised Criminal, and then a Corpse in a Tomb, and then a disembodied Person who descended to the realm of the dead... God came near and He can be no nearer than He has come to us in Christ and through the Spirit of Christ within us! He rose from the lowest place and ascended to the heavens with his prize, humanity! He loves humanity enough that He came Himself, the Infinite God came in finite Humanity and now He has lifted our humanity to the highest place!!!
Jesus's death and resurrection show us that God loves us in our particulars. Jesus became a particular Man, He chose a particular unfertilized egg from a particular young Virgin, He came at a particular place and time in human history! He chose the nails. He planted the tree that would become the cross upon which He would die for you and I. God is into the details of life. He loves you to your particulars and He died for you!
The Incarnation and the gospel makes sense of the vicarious way that nature works. Life tends to feed off of life and this can be a terrible reality or a beautiful thing. The parasites, both in nature and in humanity hurt and destroy. But there are also symbiotic relationships in nature and in human experience. A mother gives her body to the child growing in her womb and continues to share her life with that child long after the child is with her in the outside world as an autonomous person. Christ died vicariously for us and shared out death with us!
“Jesus doesn't give an explanation for the pain and sorrow of the world. He comes where the pain is most acute and takes it upon himself. Jesus doesn't explain why there is suffering, illness, and death in the world. He brings healing and hope. He doesn't allow the problem of evil to be the subject of a seminar. He allows evil to do its worst to him. He exhausts it, drains its power, and emerges with new life.” (N. T. Wright)
The resurrection is central to Christianity. It is a must. As believers we live out lives forward from the resurrection. We confess belief in this truth. We turn our lives towards Him. We are buried with Him in baptism. We are raised together with Him through the Power of the Holy Spirit. It is not essential in the sense of just mental ascent, but God wants us to experience the power of the resurrection for ourselves in a relationship with Him through the Spirit. He is real and alive today and because He lives...
IV. PREACHING POINTS:
1. I Can Face Tomorrow
"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
Without the resurrection there is no hope in our tomorrows. Life is just an endless cycle of highs and lows, a mixed bag of good and evil that ends in death. But, Jesus said the person that lives and believes in Him will never die (John 11:26). The hope of tomorrow is that we will be resurrected like Jesus was!
The Christian faith is not based on being a disembodied phantom somewhere, but in being resurrected and changed into a new likeness.
Jesus resurrection was not just a resuscitation. The Bible records resurrections in the OT:
The child that Elijah raised up (1 Kings 17:17-24).
The child that Elisha raised up (2 Kings 4:18-37).
The man who was thrown on Elisha's bones and resuscitated (2 Kings 13:21).
The vision of the dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14).
Jesus brought many people back to life.
The twelve year old girl (Mark 5: 21–24, 35–43).
The boy whose mother was the widow from Nain (Luke 7:11-17).
And who can forget Lazarus who was dead four days (John 11). Jesus seemed to have shown up late for the funeral and they supposed even too late for a resurrection. But, isn't it great, when He's four days late, He's still on time! He had them remove the stone from the mouth of the tomb and declared, "Lazarus come forth!" You know the rest. But all of these people died again.
Jesus resurrection was unique. He rose with a new body.
It was real enough that it could be touched and handled (Luke 24:39-43).
It was real enough that He ate and drank with His disciples (Luke 24:30–32, 42-43).
Yet, He appeared and disappeared at will (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:31; John 20:19, 26).
He walked through walls (John 20:19).
He wasn't the same!
I can face tomorrow because the resurrection of Jesus tells me that there is a tomorrow, but tomorrow is not all there is!
Grief can weight heavy upon us when we have suffered loss. The disciples are portrayed as grieving on multiple levels after the death of Jesus. They had hoped that Jesus would deliver them Roman oppression. They had hoped that Jesus would have set up a kingdom where they were on top. They had also lost a friend and leader.
We all suffer loss and it hurts, but in Christ the loss of our loved ones in this life is not all there is. Comfort one another with these words (1 Thess. 4:18)! Words about resurrection tell me, I can face tomorrow!
Someone said "Tomorrow must be the longest day of the week, because everyone is going to do everything tomorrow."
We wonder, "Will you still love me tomorrow?"
I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds my hand.
Tomorrow, I can live, because He lives!
Corrie ten Boom, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future [tomorrow] to a known God.”
Jesus said to the disciples “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today." (Matt 6:34 NRSV)
Psalm 127:2 (ESV) "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep."
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!
Because He lives...
2. All Fear Is Gone
Hebrews 2:15 NLT
"Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying."
Jesus died as a Man who was also God. In the mystery of the Incarnation there was a union of the Divine and Human in Christ. While He was in the natural Human state of embodiment, He was Human and Divine. And while He was disembodied, He was Human and Divine.
He faced the greatest foe that humanity faces, death. He faced it in our realm and in the realm beyond as both God and Man. Death is scary, because it seems so final...
The other day Brother Joe sent me a text about the way we often focus on the central stanza of Psalm 23: "Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..." We use this psalm to focus on the big thing, but we do not always let the truth of this translated over into regular everyday life. Does God not want us to fear the biggest enemy we all face, death, but to shrink at living life through fear. Does he want me to fear going to the grocery store or work?
Jesus when speaking of Himself as the Good Shepherd emphasized His Oneness with the Father (John 10:30). He said that we were all in His Hand and His Hand was one with the Father's Hand (John 10:28-30). No one can pluck His sheep out of His Hand, no one, not even death himself. If He beat the biggest enemy that we will ever have to face then we can believe him in everyday life!
The song says, because he lives...
A-L-L fear is gone!
Overcoming this fear takes effort and time! The accounts of the resurrection in the Gospels show the disciples with a mixture of fear, doubt, faith, and joy (Matt. 28:17; Mark 1:8; Luke 24:38; John 20:19-29).
Believers are buried with Christ in baptism, in the likeness of His death. When we emerge from the waters of baptism, it is to walk into a new life through the power of the Gift of the Spirit. We are raised together with Christ to walk in victory over fear every single day of our lives. As we face every mystery even the greatest mystery, we are empowered to be courageous, because He lives!
The rest of our Christian life is spent trying to live into what God has declared that we are! It takes effort, but all fear is gone.
The apostles in the book of Acts are far more bold after spending 40 days with Jesus and the receiving the Gift of the Spirit makes them even bolder (Acts 2:4; 4:31)! As we live with Him day after day, month after month, year after year we are being perfected in love and ultimately prefect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
The resurrection accounts are full of angels or Jesus telling the disciples and believers not to fear (Matt. 18:5; Luke 24:38). Jesus speaks peace into their lives.(Luke 24:26). He Breathes on them and says "Receive the Holy Spirit!" (John 20:22).
All fear is gone! I don't have to fear going to the grocery store, or a failing economy, or a coming apocalyptic event. He is alive and I am alive in Him. He has given us power to tread upon the scorpion and the adder (Luke 10:19). The scorpion strikes with its tail; the adder with its mouth. Heads of tails we win, because Jesus is alive! All fear is gone!
He has gone into the wilderness ahead of us and took out the sting. Speaking of the resurrection of Christ and our resurrection with Him Paul wrote quotes Isaiah "Oh, death where is your sting? Oh, grave where is your victory!" (1 Cor. 15:55-57; cf. Isaiah 25:8). Death has lost its sting because Jesus died for our sins and has given us grace in place of the law (1 Cor. 15:56). We have life in Him!
A-L-L fear is gone!
Because He lives...
3. Life Is Worth Living
1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV)
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me."
2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV)
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."
We live in a world plagued by hopelessness. If there is one word that defines the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is hope. The Incarnation is an act of God's Grace, the death of Jesus, the burial, the resurrection are all acts of God's Grace.
John 16:7 (NKJV)
"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you."
Paul said that because of the resurrection and the Grace given his life was worth living! There was hope. Hope gives us something to live for. This hope is not just a hope-so hope, it is a hope that is filled with expectation. Jesus is alive and because He lives, we can face tomorrow!
When Paul preaches in Acts he says "for the hope of the resurrection I am on trial!" (Acts 23:6)
Resurrection is built into the fabric of the universe. It is already a part of life in these shadows:
Seeds fall into the ground only to come up again as plants. Each night we sleep. We are unconscious. In a dreamy place like a tiny death. The NT speaks of death as being asleep. But, each morning we rise. The seasons teach resurrection. Harsh winter comes and beats upon the earth. It causes the plants to go dormant and life seems to fade. but, Spring comes each year! and there is a resurrection! Oh, there is a reason we celebrate Easter in the Springtime!
Every 24 hours there is a cycle of night and day, a death and a resurrection as the sun comes blazing across the eastern sky warming and waking everything in its path!
This teaches us that there is a tomorrow that is filled with hope!
We look not at the things which are seen, for the things which are seem are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal!!! There is hope!!!
Life is worth living!
Galatians 2:20 (ESV) "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Hope! The message of the resurrection is that things can get better!
The resurrection of Christ is the first crocus of the Spring that is coming when we will rise together with Him!
Your present condition is not your final destination.
Life is worth living...
V. CONCLUSION:
We will live again… because he lives. That gives confidence and courage.
Picture it this way:
Imagine that you are an ice skater in competition.
You are in first place with one more round to go.
If you perform well, the trophy is yours.
You’re nervous, anxious, and frightened.
Then, only minutes before your performance, your trainer rushes over to you with the thrilling news: “You’ve already won!”
The judges tabulated the scores and the person in second place can’t catch you. You are too far ahead.
Upon hearing that news, how will you feel? Exhilarated?
And how will you skate? --- Timidly? Cautiously? Of course not!
How about courageously and confidently?
You bet you will.
You will do your best because the prize is yours.
You will skate like a champion because that is what you are!
You will hear the applause of victory…
(Conclusion borrowed from https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/64639/on-stories-by-daniel-owens)
Because He lives!
