Back To Basics pt. 3 (The Resurrection)
We are continuing on with our back to the basics series, and are on part three of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. If you remember, the first of the essential doctrines was the Deity and Humanity of Christ; the second is salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and today we are going to be talking about the resurrection.
So if you will turn with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 (read Cor. text). What our text tells us that if we do not believe in the resurrection then our faith is in vain and useless. That is why this is an essential doctrine. If someone denies the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the Bible describes it, then they are denying the work and sacrifice of Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the things that makes Christianity different from every other religion in the world. The other thing of course, is what we talked about last week. Every other world religion relies on works to get you into heaven, and every other world religion has founders that are dead. Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, all are dead. But Jesus Christ is alive. He died, but was raised from the dead, and is alive for ever more.
Now someone might ask, “Why is it so important to believe in the resurrection? Why can’t we just believe in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ? Why do we have to believe in the resurrection?”
Well, first of all Jesus’ resurrection demonstrated His victory over death. Stay in First Corinthians chapter 15 and let’s go down a few verses to verses 54 – 57 (read). See, when Jesus arose from the dead, He proved to Satan and everyone else that He is God. That nothing can keep Him from doing as He has planned to do, not even death. The Bible tells us that Jesus conquered death, and because Jesus has shown that death has no authority, that also tells us that we too will not be held by death, but will be raised up to everlasting life. That is what this passage is telling us. That death has no sting for the believer. That Christians need not fear death, because our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ has power over death, and He will raise us up. So it’s important that we believe that Jesus was resurrected, because it shows His power over death, and that He is God, because only God has such power.
Secondly it’s important to believe in the resurrection because it shows Jesus’ righteousness. Turn with me to John chapter 16, and lets read verses 5 through 10 (read).
Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit had come He would convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. He would convict the world of sin, why? Because they did not believe in Jesus, not because they were bad, or because they didn’t do certain things, but because they didn’t believe. See when we believe in Jesus Christ and are saved, our sins are forgiven, they are washed away, and therefore cannot be convicted of them. Sure the devil may bring them up, and accuse us. The Bible calls him the accuser of the brethren. But God will look at him and say, “Those sins have been paid for, with the blood of my Son. They have been washed away, and erased.” Look at what Jesus said next, He said the Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness, “Because I go to my Father.” If Jesus was not who He claimed to be, and if Jesus had not done what He claimed He was going to do, do you think God would’ve raised Him from the dead? Think about it. If Jesus was just some guy in the Middle East who was claiming to be God, and the Son of God, and He was claiming to be able to forgive sins, and give eternal life to those who believed in Him, do you think God would’ve raised Him from the dead? The answer is no. That is why Mohammed is still taking a dirt nap. But Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. And by His resurrection God validated His Son’s claims. He proved that Jesus was who He claimed to be. Lets turn to Romans chapter four. In Romans chapter four the Apostle Paul explains to us about justification, and how Abraham was justified by faith, remember we talked a little about this last week. Well at the end of that chapter Paul says that Abraham’s faith was accounted to him as righteousness, now look at verse 23 (read 23 – 25). What those three verses are telling us is that righteousness is imputed to us when we believe, (by faith) but also that Jesus died for our sins, but was raised because of our justification. In other words, Christ’s death and resurrection are two aspects of salvation. In the first part, the death on the cross, Christ bore the penalty for our sin(s). He took our punishment, and paid the price for our sin(s). In the second part, He rose from the dead, and by the resurrection, God confirmed that His wrath was satisfied, and that the penalty Jesus paid on our behalf was a sufficient and satisfactory offering for our sin(s). And that is why we are imputed with righteousness.
Let me explain this in another way. Mankind was lost. Remember, we were dead in trespasses and sin, we were separated from God, but God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus came to this earth, lived a sinless life (a life without sin), and then died on the cross for ours. He did this in order to pay for our sin(s), because God’s justice demanded payment. And Jesus’ death was that payment. He paid for our sins on the cross. And after three days, God raised Him from the dead as a way of saying, His Son has paid the price, and satisfied His justice, and therefore, those who believe in His Son will be forgiven of their sin(s), declared righteous, and eternally saved. Turn with me to Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Is everyone still with me? This doctrine, or teaching, goes hand in hand with what we talked about last week. That we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; but it also goes along with what we talked about first, the Deity and humanity of Christ. You see, Jesus coming and dying – that is grace. When we believe it, that is faith. That Jesus died proves His humanity, and the resurrection proves His Deity, they are all tied together. And so, like the others we not only have to believe it, but we have to believe it correctly, as the Bible teaches us.
See back in Paul’s day, and in the days of the early church, there were some who said that Jesus was not physically raised from the dead, that He returned as some sort of spirit, or ghost. In-fact, there are some today who say the same thing. That Jesus was resurrected as a spirit, or some non corporal entity. In John chapter two verses 19, 20, and 21 Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again” And He was speaking of His physical body, and in the Gospels we can read about the resurrected body of Jesus, when we see that Thomas touched the nail holes in His hands, or when He ate a fish breakfast with His disciples, and in Luke 24:39 He even tells His disciples that He isn’t a spirit or a Ghost. Lets turn there and read that, (read Luke 24:38-39).
Now some people say, “If Jesus had a physical body, then how did He disappear on the road to Emmaus then?” Or, “How did He appear in the upper room with the disciples when the doors were locked?” And I say, “That’s easy, He’s God. God can do anything.” You know I have trouble understanding how people can read about how God created the world, parted the Red Sea, took Elijah up in a flaming chariot, flooded the earth, brought down the walls of Jericho, and all the other things, but then they can’t believe that Jesus was resurrected in a physical body. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Jesus rose from the dead in the same body He had died in.
The last thing about the resurrection is that because Jesus was raised, we can have faith that we ourselves will be raised. Like I said a while ago, we can know that because we serve Jesus, and that because Jesus has power over death, that He will keep His promise to us, and raise us up to everlasting life.
If Jesus had not been resurrected, then we would have no hope, all we would have to look forward to, is death.
So the question we must ask ourselves today is, have we believed in the resurrection? Have we believed in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was raised for our justification? Remember Romans 10:9-10? If you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and confess with your mouth, you will be saved. Have you done that? Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
ALTER CALL
