The Reality of the Resurrection
By Kenny McKinley
Text: Multiple Scriptures
(Read Matt. 28:5-6)
Christianity stands or falls on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection Christianity would be no different than any other religion. Oh sure there would be differences in some of the moral teachings, and sure there would be differences in some of the rituals. But the resurrection is what separates Christianity from every other world religion out there. This morning I’m just going to touch on a few points as time permits. It would take several days to do an exhaustive sermon on the resurrection and what it means for us, but at least this morning I can offer a few key points.
So why is the resurrection so important?
Turn with me to Romans 1:4 (read). Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, By the resurrection from the dead.
The Bible is a series of events that were recorded either as they happened or shortly after they happened. That Scripture we just read says that Jesus was declared to be who He said He was, and the proof is in the resurrection. Several Scriptures prove this point, like Matt. 22:32, and Luke 20:38, and 1st Cor. 15:20:26, lets go ahead and turn to that passage in First Corinthians (read). See if Christ is not risen from the dead, the long course of God’s redemptive plan to save His people ends in a dead end street, in a tomb. If the resurrection of Christ is not a reality, then we have no assurance that God is the living God, we would have no assurances that we are even saved at all. Our faith would be futile because the object of our faith had not validated Himself as the Lord. But if Christ is raised from the dead then we can know that God is sovereign over all things, even death. The resurrection also proves that Jesus was who He said He was, because it fulfills the predictions He Himself made about the resurrection. Again we could look at several texts that speak of this, Matt. 17:9, Luke 24:46, but I want you to look at John 2:19-22 (read); now turn with me back to 1st Corinthians 15 and look at verse 4 (read). If Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead then He was a liar, and if Jesus was a liar, then His death did not pay for our sins. If Jesus was a liar, what kind of man would that make Him? C.S. Lewis said that for someone to make the claims that Jesus made, and not fulfill them he would have to either be a liar like the world has never seen, a lunatic, or the devil himself. You know it amazes me that there are some people who think that Jesus was just a moral philosopher but not God in the flesh. What kind of person would follow a person who claimed to be God, who claimed to able to do the things that Jesus claimed, and who claimed to be able to rise from the grave, and not believe the miraculous claims?
So the reality of the resurrection is important because it shows us that our faith is placed on a sure foundation, on God Himself. The resurrection shows us that Jesus was indeed who He said He was; that He wasn’t just some crazy man running around Israel.
The reality of the resurrection is also important because it shows us that God the Father has accepted the sacrifice of His Son, for the reconciliation of man.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 4:16-25 (read).
Jesus Christ bore the legal penalty for us on the cross. He suffered and died in order to pay the penalty that we owed; to pay for the sins that we committed. But when He was raised from the dead that shows us that God saw His Son’s suffering and death as a sufficient and effective offering for our sins. Turn with me to John 19:30 (read). From the cross Jesus said, “It is finished.” That is the Greek word tetelestai. It was a word that Roman generals used to proclaim that the victory in battle had been won. It was also a word that was used at the market. It would be written across a bill to indicate that the bill had been paid in full. The resurrection is the receipt that God gave humanity, that Jesus’ death paid the full price for our sins. Our forgiveness was not cheap. It cost Jesus His blood, and His life. He paid for it on the cross. But because of the resurrection, there should not be a lingering guilt for our sin. Some of us have done some pretty bad things in our lives. But the empty tomb means that your sins and mine can be forgiven, if we are in Christ. The Bible tells us that just as Abraham had faith and it was accounted to him as righteousness, if we too have faith in God, His righteousness shall be placed on our account, and we become the righteousness of God in Christ.
There is one other thing here I need to say, when we think of the price that Jesus paid for our forgiveness, and the fact that He was willing to pay it, even while we were still sinners, then we have no right to withhold forgiveness from someone else. If God in Christ has forgiven you and others, for us to withhold forgiveness would be like us saying that we are more righteous than God. Also to the resurrection tells us that when we are justified by faith, thanks to the price Jesus paid, we have peace with God. The Bible teaches that we were enemies of God; that we were against Him. But because of our justification, through the resurrection, we now are at peace with God, we are no longer His enemies. We are His children.
So the reality of the resurrection teaches us that Jesus is who He said He was, and that because He is God, we can have faith in Him. It teaches us that the Son of God came to this world and died for our sins. He died in our place, for our wrong doings, even though we were not worthy of such a sacrifice; and because He did this, it satisfied God’s just judgment against sinful man, and therefore Christians are now justified in His sight.
The reality of the resurrection also guarantees for us, that if we are in Christ, we too shall rise from the dead. Turn with me to 1st Peter 1:3-5 (read). God has begotten us again to a living hope. In other words we have been re-born, born again, into a living hope. How? Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Christians have an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and never fades away, and its reserved for those who are kept by the power of God, through faith, in heaven. (Man that is awesome)
In John 11:25 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
The reality of the resurrection doesn’t end there. The Bible tells us (Eph. 1:20-23) that Jesus ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of His Father.
Romans 8:34 tells us why that’s important, it says that Christ is seated at the right hand of God and that He makes intercession for us. 1st Jon 2:1 says, “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.” The Bible also tells us that Jesus rules all things with divine power and majesty, and that He is the head of the Church.
The resurrection is a vital and essential part of the Gospel. It is what theologians call an essential doctrine. Turn with me again to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 (read).
We see it right there, the death, burial, and resurrection. Paul said, I’m declaring to you the Gospel.
What is the good news?
That Jesus Christ died for us willingly. In John 10:15-18 He said, “I lay down my life for the sheep (That’s us)… I lay down my life, that I might take it up again… no man takes it f4rom me, but I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again…” In John 2:19-21 Jesus said, “Destroy this temple (His body) and in 3 days I will raise it up again.” He went to the cross, He endured that terrible punishment for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” and when Jesus was raised from the dead, He proved that He was God manifest in the flesh. He proved that He fully paid the price for mans sins. If Christ were not resurrected from the dead that means that He was not God, that sin wasn’t paid for, and if that we are still lost and doomed. Paul said that it was the Gospel that saved us (Look at verse two), he also says that same thing in Romans, he says that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, for all who believe… He tells us in this passage in 1st Corinthians as well that the Gospel saves us unless we have believed in vain. In other words it’s by grace through faith. That’s the same thing Ephesians 2 tells us, it’s the same thing that John 3:16 tells us. It’s the same thing Romans 10:9-10 tells us, and John 11:25, and countless other Scriptures.
The reality of the resurrection is that you and I can be forgiven; we can be cleansed from all unrighteousness. We can be justified before God; we can be made righteous in His sight. We can be changed and made a new creation in Christ Jesus. We can have peace with God, and eternal life.
Jesus Christ is who He said He was, He did what He said He would do. When we place our faith in Him, we are justified before God, because God was satisfied with the Sacrifice Jesus paid and Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. That’s why first John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We confess our sins to Jesus. He’s the one who paid for them, and it’s His blood is what cleanses us from them (1st John 1:7).
Our lives, our relationships, forgiveness, sanctification, the future, a whole philosophy, an entire world view, all of these things are wrapped up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the greatest event in all of human history. Today we celebrate the accomplishment of redemption. Today we celebrate the victory over death, hell, and the grave. Tetelestai Jesus paid it all and because He did, God sees us in His Son. We are justified and righteous before Him if we are in His Son. That’s the resurrection reality. Praise God.
ALTER CALL
