He Rose...
1 Corinthians 15:19-20
Easter Sunday
March 27, 2005
Introduction
I’m honored to be able to share with you this morning. My understanding was that you guys had decided, "You know, we want to get a really special speaker. Why don’t we call the best preacher in the city and ask him to speak." And they did and he said "No".
So they said, "Well if we can’t have the best speaker, as least we can get the smartest one." So they called him and he said "No".
And then they said, "Well, if we can’t get the best or the smartest, at least we can get the best looking." And they called him and he said "No".
And finally one of them said, "Well, we can always ask Brian at the Wesleyan Church." And so Pastor Steve called. And what could I say, I’d already said "no" three times.
Easter is, in my mind, probably the most important holiday we celebrate as followers of Christ.
Is Christmas important? Absolutely. It set things into motion regarding the life of Jesus on earth. Absolutely important and essential.
What about Good Friday? Isn’t that important? You’d better believe it is. Without the cross, we would still have to pay the penalty for our own sins.
But Easter is the event that validates and seals the deal about all Jesus said and did on earth, and for all eternity.
Without Easter, we have no hope, and hope is the theme of my message today.
I’m speaking as one who is absolutely convinced that Jesus rose from the grave. And so I’m not going to use this time to convince you of that historical fact.
However, I will leave you with one piece of Scripture that helps convince me:
1 Corinthians 15:3-6 -
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 Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
And so all my comments will be from the perspective of someone who’s already convinced to the point of dying for it.
If you’re not there yet, but would like to know just why I believe so strongly that the resurrection is real, I’d be happy to talk with you one on one sometime.
But today I want to focus on what the resurrection does for us. And in doing that I want us to look at 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 -
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Hope is the theme of all of Scripture. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible isn’t just a book filled with rules and do’s and don’ts.
Those are in there, but they’re there because a loving Father wants to protect us, so we can enjoy our lives as we live for Him.
But my point is that all through the Bible, we find God offering hope to those who’ll take it, and we find people taking God up on that offer, and having their lives changed forever.
Today my intention is to offer you hope, whether you have been walking with Jesus for a long time, or if maybe you haven’t even taken that step of faith.
So let me take you through two areas in which we have hope because of the resurrection of Jesus.
And my hope is that as you leave here today that you will have a new appreciation of what Easter’s all about.
Let’s get started. First...
He rose to give us hope for today.
Our verse in 1 Corinthians says this: If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Well, to me that majorly implies that there is hope for this life. It’s not just for heaven - we have hope for the here and now, while we’re on earth.
So what kind of hope do we have for today? Let’s look at just three ways we have hope, okay? The first way Jesus gives us hope for today is in the...
1. Forgiveness of sin.
Romans 10:9-10 -
...if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
This is when forgiveness is first applied. Belief in Jesus - including his death and resurrection brings forgiveness of every sin you’ve ever committed. EVERY SIN - no matter how big or small.
At the end of the message, I’m going to help you obtain that for yourself, if you’ve never taken it before, so hang tight, okay?
But the point here is that in Christ, and because of his resurrection, there is forgiveness.
But that initial forgiveness isn’t the end. Look with me at 1 John 1:9 -
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
This means that forgiveness is always available. If you’ve put your faith in Christ, forgiveness is a prayer away.
Simply agreeing with God that what you’ve done is against what the Word of God says, and you’re taken care of.
And the Bible says that God will never bring them back up again. It says in the Psalms that he removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west, which is an infinite distance, and that he does not hold them against us any longer.
Hey folks, that’s a big deal! Do you live in forgiveness? And do you live like a forgiven person, or do you live under the shadow of guilt and shame?
But folks, here’s something that you’ve got to understand: Forgiveness and restoration from God prompts us to do the same for others.
If you are a child of God, forgiven of your sins, you are required by Jesus himself to offer forgiveness to others for hurting you.
In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus tells about a guy who owed a bajillion dollars to a king, and he couldn’t repay it. But he offered to totally write off the debt because the servant couldn’t pay.
And what did the servant do? Did he go out and tell everyone how gracious the king was? Nope! He went out and found another servant who owed him a few dollars and had him thrown into prison.
You might be thinking, "Look, Brian, I’ve been hurt a lot more than that servant. We’re not just talking about a few bucks. I’ve been hurt, and hurt badly."
The Bible says that if you’ve broken one law, you’ve broken them all.
And yet God forgave you. That forgiveness cost him his son. Think about that.
Maybe you’ve heard about the woman who was bitten by a rabid dog, and it looked like she was going to die from rabies. The doctor told her to put her final affairs in order. So the woman took pen and paper, and began writing furiously. In fact she wrote and wrote and wrote. Finally the doctor said, "That sure is a long will you’re making." She snorted, "Will, nothing! I’m making a list of all the people I’m going to bite!" (SermonCentral.com. Contributed by: Russell Brownworth)
Believe me, my heart has been breaking for this church for some time, and I don’t say these words lightly. But the resurrection secures forgiveness for us, and it secures the ability for us to forgive others as well.
After Jesus gave us the Lord’s prayer, he said that forgiveness of others is essential. It’s never optional.
Don’t wait for repentance - Jesus didn’t when he was on the cross.
He rose so we could have forgiveness of sins. Second, he rose to give us hope in the area of...
2. Victory over sin.
Romans 6:4 -
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Then verse 11 -
...Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The Bible says that sin is bondage. When we live in sin we live as slaves to it.
Well, who’d want that? The answer is this: everybody who doesn’t recognize the fact of that slavery.
Sin rarely appears as slavery, especially when you’re in the midst of it. It seems attractive, and so we don’t see the chains around our souls.
Well, by coming out of the grave, Jesus says, "Enough of that! I’m here to set you free. You don’t have to live as a slave to sin."
You don’t have to live your life swallowed up with guilt and a never-ending cycle of sin and asking forgiveness and sin and asking forgiveness.
When he rose from the dead, he went to be with the Father. But if you are a follower of Christ, then he lives in you as well, and through his Holy Spirit, we can live in victory. He broke the chains of sin.
Here’s a third reason we can have hope because of Jesus’ resurrection, and that the hope of...
3. A full and abundant life.
John 10:10 -
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
This is a familiar verse to probably most everybody in here, but I think it might also be one of the most under appreciated.
I’ve already said that while the Bible has its do’s and don’ts. But even more so, the Bible is full of hope and promise for the family of God!
Do you go through the day with the thought that God has something for you today?
Do you go through the day with the idea that no matter what comes your way, God is moving and working in you?
Romans 8:28 says that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.
And he works to make us more like Jesus. And who wouldn’t want that?
Who couldn’t use a little more Christlikeness in their lives? And don’t think of your spouse or your mother-in-law here, I’m talking about you!
Last time I looked in the mirror, I saw someone who could use a bit more of Jesus in his life.
But my point here is that God loves us - he knows us in intimate detail because He made us.
He knows what’s best for us, and he wants nothing but the best for us.
You know what I think is one of the keys to living a full and abundant life? It’s one word: anticipation.
Folks, I’m not perfect, no matter what my mother says, and things don’t always go my way. I have heartache and disappointment at times. Jesus never said life would always be easy.
But I live life filled with anticipation of what God might do in me and through me each day.
And I live in anticipation of what God can do in Aberdeen, in Brown County.
I live in anticipation of the fact that out of the ashes of despair, God can make something wonderful and new.
And when you live in anticipation for what God can and will do both today and in the future, you open the door to experiencing life to the fullest, just as Jesus wants.
So what’s in the way of that?
Generally it’s things like unforgiveness and a lack of faith in the fact that God really does care that much.
If you’re one of those who doubt that God cares, don’t take my word for it. Find out for yourself by reading the words of Jesus, who says that God cares for you more than many sparrows, or that he cares for you so much he sent His son to bring you to heaven and give you a wonderful life on earth.
Jesus rose to give us hope for today, by giving us forgiveness of sin, victory over sin, and a full and abundant life.
But not only Jesus give us hope for today, he also rose...
He rose to give us hope for tomorrow.
Thanks to those of you who acted surprise that I was going to say "tomorrow," given the fact that I first said he gave us hope for to "today."
He gives us hope for tomorrow. Look back at our main passage for today, in 1 Corinthians:
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
This passage is saying that because of Jesus, we have hope for eternity.
That hope comes in knowing for sure you’re going to heaven someday. And when you have that squared away, you’re able to live that life of anticipation I talked about before.
And not just anticipation of what God will bring during that day, but anticipation of the day when you’ll stand in front of God, and he says, "Come on in. Jesus has you covered. Come and enjoy the kingdom heaven and the joy of my presence for all of eternity."
One day, we will all be together, worshiping and praising God, enjoying his presence and his blessing forever.
No more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more suffering. Only perfect peace and joy forever.
No more sickness, disease, or injury. All our bodies will finally be perfect
Man, I hope that excites you like it does me.
Conclusion
Let me give you two applications that I think will help all of us:
First, make an intentional decision and take some decisive action to...
1. Live in hope.
Take your eyes of your circumstances, place them on God, and walk in trusting obedience, anticipating the full and abundant life Jesus came to give you.
Hey you know what? I know many of you are hurting deeply. And I would never try to minimize that hurt.
But on the other hand, hope and healing aren’t found in the circumstance, they’re found in God.
The second application is this:
2. Take the hope of heaven for yourself.
My guess is that there are some people here today who have never really taken the step of faith by trusting in Christ for forgiveness and a home in heaven.
Romans 10:9-10
What’s it mean to believe?
It means that you are putting all your hope in something.
It’s saying, "This is it. It’s all or nothing. This better be right, because I don’t have a plan B when it comes to Jesus."
So let me ask you - do you believe that Jesus lived, died, and rose, and that he did it for you, to bring you to God?
If so, then let me invite you to pray with me, placing your faith in him.
If you don’t think you can do that today, I understand. And so I would encourage you to pray the same prayer a father prayed when he brought his son to Jesus for healing: "Help my unbelief." In other words, help me to believe in you as I need to.
Let’s pray.
