The Foundation Of Our Faith Series

THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH

(Easter Sunday)

1 Cor 15: 12-23 (p815) April 8, 2012

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever noticed that many of the movies about Jesus come to the resurrection and they’re not sure what to do….

They know they can’t leave it out…or completely ignore it, so they show an ending clip with an empty finish…they’ll show the grave clothes sitting in a pile… Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” at least paid it some attention…with the blinking light and the picture of a resurrected, transformed Jesus exiting the tomb…

Why? Why is the resurrection of Jesus ignored, or given short shift? Why would people want to leave it out…And my answer is…”Because it’s supernatural and unexplainable.

People can grasp a peasant boy growing up to be a great teacher and leader…someone coming from obscurity to influence is the lifeblood of Hollywood and the literary world…

Even a martyrs death is easily made part of the screenplay or closing chapters…but there are no scenes after the death…you cannot continue writing after the conclusion…

That’s the reason the resurrection is so ignored…or so attached…Death, even death on a cross is understandable…life after the conclusion…not so much.

[Every year thousands of people climb in the Italian Alps passing the “stations of the cross.”…It seems to end at this crucifix (show picture) , but if you continue on past the cross you can find another shrine , a shrine symbolizing the empty tomb…It (show 2nd picture) is neglected, the bush has grown up around it…almost everyone goes as far as the cross…but most stop there.]

Why is almost everyone willing to go as far as the cross but not the empty tomb?....Not just in the movies or books, not just in the Italian Alps…but spiritually speaking when it comes to Jesus death, burial and resurrection…

I think I know

I THE CROSS IS ABOUT SALVATION

[Josh Cooper, our student minister told me about a conversation he had with one of our students over at Fern Creek…this guy asked Josh why all these rappers talk about killing people and hooking up and getting high or cranked…and then they thank Jesus for their awards and stuff…

Josh said, “I think that’s a little longer conversation than we can have right now in the hallway.”

But Josh told him what we all know…the cross is about salvation…Jesus died there so our sins could be forgiven…I Love Jesus being my Savior…I need Him to keep me out of Hell!.

I’m not sure how many times dead or death is mentioned in our text…but A LOT! Verse 21 says “Death came through a man…verse 22 lets us know that man’s name…”for as in Adam all die”….

We know Adam & Eve opened the door to sin…and even though I’m not accountable for their sin or anyone’s but my own….I have their father, selfish nature…mankind became broken in the Garden of Eden…We are all broken…Remember Romans 2: 10-12

Romans 3: 10-12 (p 797)

Romans 5 tell us…”Sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” (V12)

Rappers, Preachers, Policemen, Teachers…Jews and Gentiles, Rich and Poor, young and old…men and women…we all sin…and we all will die…We know that…we see it happening….and we grieve when it happens to someone we love close to us…

All of us understand the need for the cross….we’ll approach the cross because we all need a Savior…we need an answer to death…

[I’m afraid sometimes we leave the resurrection out of the salvation process…Have you ever heard someone say…”I want to get Baptized, maybe a young person…or maybe someone not so young.

Whenever I hear that I’m cautious…many times I’ll say, “But do you want to surrender yourself to Jesus?”

What? No, I want to get baptized…I want to go to heaven…and I want to teach people Baptism isn’t a box to be checked off…

Baptism is not the washing of your outer body…It’s the cleansing of your conscience. That’s what 1 Peter 3:21 says and then “It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Ironic isn’t it…Peter says we’re not saved by the cross…we’re save by the resurrection. If you’re dead when you’re buried and dead when you are removed from the grave…you’re still dead!

The cross accomplished nothing without the resurrection. Hang it around your neck…nail it to a wall…get baptized 42 times…because you need a Savior…but if you’re still dead in your sins, and there is no resurrection…your still dead!

Here is what our text is all about…it’s the truth of Easter.

II THE RESURRECTION IS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH

Far too many people get to the cross and know the despair and heartache of sin and death…but far fewer have moved beyond it, to find the real meaning of Easter…New Life.