Resurrection Power

Resurrection Power 1 Corinthians 15:3-23

I. Introduction

INTRO.- ILL.- In 1173 the Italian architect Bonnano Pisano began work on what would become his most famous project: A separately standing eight-story bell tower for the Cathedral of the city of Pisa. The tower was to be eight-stories and 185-foot tall. There was just one "little" problem: builders quickly discovered that the soil was much softer than they had anticipated, and the foundation was far too shallow to adequately hold the structure!

And sure enough, before long the whole structure had begun to tilt... and it continued to tilt... until finally the architect and the builders realized that nothing could be done to make the Leaning Tower of Pisa straight again.

It took 174 years to build the Tower of Pisa and during that time many things were done to try and compensate for the "tilt." The foundation was shored up; the upper levels were even built at an angle to try to make the top of the tower look straight. Nothing worked. The tower has stood for over 800 years, but it leans 18 feet away from where it should be (10 degrees from the vertical, for all the engineers). One day, experts say, it will fall and all because it wasn’t built on the right foundation.

And this may well happen. Things do crumble in this life and especially, if they don’t have the right foundation. But it’s not just buildings that crumble and fall. It’s lives as well.

John 11:25-26 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest feat in the annals of human history. It is the very “capstone in the arch of Christianity Without it, all else crumbles. Without resurrection, there is no hope. Indeed without resurrection, there would be no Christianity.”

II. The Reality of the Resurrection

A. We must realize the Reality of the Resurrection

1.The resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a fairy tale

2.A legend or religious symbol.

B. It is a historical fact that is indisputable.

ILL.- “The Resurrection is not merely important to the historic Christian faith — without it there would be no Christianity. It elevates Christianity above all other world religions Christ demonstrated that He does not stand in a line of peers with Abraham, Buddha, Confucius, or Muhammad. Jesus Christ is utterly unique. He had the power not only to lay down His life, but also to take it up again.”

- Fatal Torment

A. “For the Resurrection to have any significance, Jesus had

To be dead first.”

1. Suffered in prayer at the Garden when he says,

Luke 22:44 says, “his sweat was like drops of blood falling

the ground.”,

2.His suffering continued throughout his interrogations before

Annas and Caiaphas, spit upon and beaten.

3.And continued as he taken to Pilate, where he was flogged,

given a crown of thorns, spit upon.

4.The flogging alone was so brutal that it is amazing he lasted

until His crucifixion.

“The Roman system of crucifixion had been fine-tuned to produce maximum pain. They used 5 to 7 inch spikes to hammer him to the wooden beams of the cross.

B. In John 19 the guards breaking the legs of the thieves

to hasten their death so that the bodies would not left on

the crosses during the Sabbath.

1. Came to Jesus, he was dead and they speared His side instead. This produced a sudden flow of blood and water. If he wasn’t dead, he would be dead now.

Mark 15:44-45 NIV says, “Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.” He was dead. No doubt about it.

He bore our sins in His body on the tree 2 Cor 5:21,”God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us..”

I. Jesus said, “I Am the Resurrection…”

A. What was different about the resurrection of the

Lord and others raised from the dead in the Bible?

1. Ever wondered what Paul meant in 1 Cor 15:20 that

Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of

them that slept.”

2.Why say that when there are earlier records of

people being brought back to life in both the Old and

New Testaments???

a. Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the

Dead--- (1 Kings 17:17-22).

b. Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman from

The dead (2 Kings 4:32-35).

c. A man was raised from the dead when his body