Resurrection Sunday 2020

Resurrection Sunday 2020

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Well… today is Easter Sunday, and I’ll just tell ya’ right up front, I don’t usually call it Easter Sunday, I call it Resurrection Sunday. Because that’s what today is all about. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I admit, that when I was a kid, I didn’t really understand what this holiday was all about… in-fact; it wasn’t until I became a Christian that I really understood it. But over the years, as I’ve grown in my faith, I’ve come to appreciate Resurrection Sunday more and more, but it was this one… this year… TODAY, that I’ve looked at it with probably more joy than I ever have before. And I’ll tell you why.

A few weeks ago, my dad passed away from cardiac arrest. I know that many of you have lost loved ones, and it’s hard. It’s always hard when someone you love passes away… but I have to say, it’s even harder when that someone is your childhood hero… your role model, and not only your dad, but one of your best friends in the whole world. Me and my dad had a great relationship. And one of the reasons it’s so hard is because you miss that person, and you realize that you won’t get to make new memories with them here on earth. But as we were approaching THIS DAY, Resurrection Sunday! I had a great feeling of peace, and comfort, and yes… even joy. Because I know that I will see my dad… and my mom (who passed away several years ago)… I know that I’ll see them again.

I know that, because of the promises given to us in God’s Word.

You see; God’s Word tells me that because my parents had been saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, that the moment they passed away, they were immediately ushered into the presence of the Lord. And God’s Word tells me, that because I too have been saved by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, that when I leave this world, I’ll see them again.

And the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the evidence and proof of that.

So what I want to do this morning is talk to you a little bit about that. I want to talk to you about how we can be sure that Jesus was raised up from the dead, and what His resurrection means for each one of us, who have put our faith and trust in Him as Lord and Savior.

So if you will, please turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (READ).

Now this was the Apostle Paul writing to believers in the city of Corinth, and in this letter, he talks to them about all kinds of things. Things they needed to be doing, and things that the needed to stop doing, but when he gets to this section of the letter, he says to them, “Now guys, I’ve talked to you about a lot of things… But I want to remind you of the Gospel that I preached to you (the Good News I told you about)…” And then he says, “And here’s what’s most important: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures.”

Here’s how it went down. Jesus went to the cross, and died on the cross on Friday. And Paul just told us why Jesus did that – to pay for our sins. All of us have sinned against God. We’ve rebelled against Him, we’ve disobeyed Him, we’ve ignored Him. We’ve lied, we’ve cheated, we’ve coveted, we’ve lusted, we’ve had hatred in our hearts. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the Bible tells us that there are none who are righteous, no not one. And so when God looked down upon humanity, we all stood guilty before Him. And God could’ve said, “They’re all guilty, I’m going to punish them all.” And that would have been just, and fair if He had said that, or done that. But instead, when God looked down upon humanity, and saw that all of mankind was guilty of sin, and as His justice demanded punishment for that sin, Jesus said, “Father, I’ll take the punishment.” And so Jesus comes into this world as a man, and He lives the life that we should have lived… a life without sin, and then He goes to the cross, where our sin is laid upon Him. And instead of God pouring His wrath out on us, He pours it out on His Son – Jesus. And Jesus takes our punishment, and then dies in our place. He was then placed in the tomb before the sun went down on that same Friday. He was in the tomb all day Saturday, and then early Sunday morning, He rose from the dead.