So That We Too Might Live Series

So That We Too Might Live

Text: Acts 2:22-39

By: Ken McKinley

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In the nearly 2000 years since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am sure there have been thousands upon thousands of sermons preached, hundreds of books have been written, it has been debated in the highest of circles and the lowest of places. And the reason for that is because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the key to all of Christianity. If there is no resurrection, then there is no Christian faith.

As Christians we are to accept by faith that the resurrection happened, but it’s a faith founded on well documented facts. The Bible is a primary source and it documents it very well. The Jewish historian Josephus makes mention of it, and there are other historical sources that make mention of the resurrection as well. So there is plenty of evidence for our faith, it just depends on whether a person wants to accept the evidence that is given, or whether they want to reject it. Most of the time, I have found that people reject it, not because the evidence for it is faulty or lacking, but because they don’t like the consequences they’ll have to face if the Bible is true. You see, if the Bible is true, then we all have to stand before a holy, just, and righteous God and give an account.

And so this morning, I don’t want to talk to you about all the evidences for the resurrection; we’ve already done that a couple of Sunday’s ago. I don’t want to talk to you this morning about the proof of the resurrection, I want to talk to you about what the resurrection proves. In-other-words, what does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to you and me? What did the resurrection verify? What did it accomplish? What did it prove?

So… first of all; the resurrection proves the truthfulness of the Word of God. If you look at our text there in Acts chapter 2, what you’re seeing is the birthday of the Church. It was the day of Pentecost, and the disciples had been tarrying in the upper room just like Jesus had commanded them to do before He ascended to heaven. And to give you a little background, they were in this room, when all of a sudden they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and they came out of the room and they began to share the glory and power of God, but the amazing thing is that they were able to speak in other languages, maybe Phoenician, Egyptian, Greek, Latin… and what this did was get everyones attention, and so Peter takes full advantage of the situation and he stands up and he preaches a sermon. He starts out by giving a little background in verses 22 and 23, he talks about how Jesus was put to death, and then in verse 24 he talks about the resurrection when he says, “Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” So Peter was saying Jesus arose from the dead… death couldn’t hold Him. And then in verses 25-28 Peter quotes Psalm 16. I guess we could say that Psalm 16 was his text for his sermon. Peter anticipates what people might say… they might say, “Well David was writing this about himself.” So Peter addressed that in verse 29. Basically he says, “David is dead, and he’s buried, and his tomb is still with us today.” Another-words, you can go to David’s tomb and dig up his bones if you want to, so he couldn’t have been talking about himself. No… David was a prophet, he was prophesying about the Messiah, about the One who would come and deliver His people from the bondage of sin. The One who would be resurrected from the dead. And he drives that point home in verse 32 when he says, “It’s Jesus that God has raised up… and you know what? We’ve all seen Him alive.”

The Apostle Paul preaches a very similar sermon in Acts 13:16-41, and again he references Psalm 16, but Paul also references Psalm 2, and Isaiah 55:3. Now let me bring this in for you. What Peter and Paul were doing in their sermons were referencing Old Testament passages that made mention of a Savior who would die, but then be raised from the dead. These were prophecies, and these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So here’s the thing; if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, Psalm 2 is wrong, Psalm 16 is wrong, Isaiah 55 is wrong, and any other OT passage that you can find that indicates the resurrection of Jesus Christ is wrong. If that’s the case, then none of the Bible could be trusted. But Jesus was raised from the dead, and that proves the truthfulness of God’s Word.