The Third Day

Subject: Resurrection of Christ

Scripture: 1 Corinthians. 15.1-58

Sermon: The Third Day

Scope: This sermon should challenge each listener to place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Summary: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most important event in history because it brings the hope and power of salvation to all mankind.

Segue: I want to share with you four truths that will express the significance of Jesus’ resurrection for our lives today.

Introduction: Josh McDowell in Evidence for Christianity states, that “all but four of the world religions are based on philosophical propositions.” The other four are based on a personality. Of those four only Christianity claims an empty tomb. It is this distinction that took place on the third day that sets Christianity apart from all other religions in the world.

This distinction is so significant that many a man through out history has tried to explain away both the divine nature and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The attempts are as old as the event itself and as recent as the twenty first century. Try as they may all such efforts are futile and empty.

So, significant is this event that the whole of the Christian faith would fall if the resurrection on of Jesus Christ were not true. William Lane Craig suggests that, “with out the belief in the resurrection the Christian faith could not have come into being. The disciples would have remained crushed and defeated men. Even if they continued to remember Jesus as their beloved teacher, His crucifixion would have silenced any hope of his being the messiah. The cross would have remained the sad shameful end of his career.” Therefore, it is crucial that the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are true and historically accurate.

We could refute the major theories which attempt to explain the away the reality of the resurrection. We could cite the works of such historical people as Justin Martyr, Josephus, and Turtilian to verify the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection. However, that is not our purpose today. Our purpose today is to express the significance of the truth of the resurrection for our lives today.

However, for the sake of the skeptic among u it is prudent that we at least lay a foundation for our premise that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is both a theological truth and a historical fact.

It is a historical fact that the place of Jesus’ life and death were literal geographical locations. It is a historical fact that the man who owned the tomb that Jesus was buried in was a real littler human being that lived in the first century. It is a historical fact that the tomb was a real place hewn out of rock on a hill side in Jerusalem. It is a historical fact that the Roman guards were real literal human beings assigned to guard the tomb of Jesus by the Roman Government. It is a historical fact, as verified by literary proof, that Jesus was a real person living among men in the first century. It is a historical fact that the event of His death, burial, and resurrection was witness by his disciples and more than 500 more people.

As Wilbur Smith puts it, “we know more about the details of the hours immediately before and the actual death of Jesus, than we know about the death of any other man in the entire ancient world.” Therefore, we begin our study today with the premise that these events are just as historically accurate as any other historical event and even more so since they are verified by the Word of God.

My purpose today is to share with you how the resurrection of Jesus Christ impacts our lives today and eternally. In order to accomplish this I want to share four truths from our text that will help you understand the significance of the remarkable event that took place on The Third Day. We will begin by seeing how the Jesus’ resurrection is faith’s reality. Next we will explore how the resurrection is our ultimate hope. Then we will continue by seeing that Christ’s resurrection is our final victory. We will conclude with the fact that Jesus’ resurrection is our present power.

I. The Risen Christ is Faith’s Reality (I Corinthians 15.3-4, 14).

a. The Cross is God’s Redemptive Plan (I Corinthians 15.3).

b. The Resurrection is God’s Power for His Plan (I Corinthians 15.4).

II. The Risen Christ is Our Hope (I Corinthians 15.16-19; 32).

a. No Resurrection = No Redemption (I Corinthians 15.16, 17).

b. No Resurrection = No Future Reunion (I Corinthians 15.18).

c. No Resurrection = No Reason (I Corinthians 15.19, 32).

III. The Risen Christ is our Final Victory (I Corinthians 15.50-58).

a. We have victory in our Vesture (I Corinthians 15.50-53).