SPEAKER_00: You know, everyone loves a good story, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is why we read books, this is why we go to the movies, it's why we listen to our friends tell us stories.
SPEAKER_00: Even if their story is not interesting, we at least act like it is.
SPEAKER_00: A good story is known to inspire us or maybe encourage us, sometimes make us laugh, sometimes make us cry, some make us think.
SPEAKER_00: But rarely do stories have any bearing on our lives.
SPEAKER_00: You know, with most stories, we we can walk away unaffected.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we're emotionally affected by the good story, but the story didn't demand that we do something about what we just heard.
SPEAKER_00: However, the story of Jesus and the story of the resurrection is different.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we read about the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus, we must wrestle with what we are going to do with it.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're going to look at together as we look at the resurrection story.
SPEAKER_00: So before I go any further, let us go to the Lord in prayer as we consider what's before us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Dear Lord, we want to thank you for this time together now as we turn our attention to your word.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we ask, Lord, that your spirit would awaken our hearts, Lord, and give us ears to hear.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we ask that your spirit, dear God, would accomplish much through your word, that it will shape us and mold us.
SPEAKER_00: Conform us, Lord, to the image of your Son.
SPEAKER_00: Encourage us where it can, exhort us where it can.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, uh, convict us where it can, strengthen us where it can.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we ask that you would be with us as we look at your word.
SPEAKER_00: Be with me, Lord, your servant, as I preach your word, that I might do so faithfully and clearly in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_00: So, what do we think of when we consider and we think of the story of Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: I think for most of us, two holidays come straight to mind, Christmas and Easter.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever we think about Jesus, our first thoughts are often his birth and his resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: We think of his birth and the manger scene, the angels and the manger, and we think of the resurrection and the cross and the empty tomb.
SPEAKER_00: But what is the significance of it all?
SPEAKER_00: Was it, or is it just a good, wholesome story of a man who lived a long time ago, of a man who came teaching many good things, who taught us how to treat one another, who encouraged us to do things like give to the poor and to love one another?
SPEAKER_00: Is that what it's all about, or is there something more to it all?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the cross and the resurrection is the central theme in the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, it is the theme of the entire Bible.
SPEAKER_00: The whole Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament really only has one story, one theme, and one subject.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we often think of the Bible as a collection of different stories, each with their own theme and message.
SPEAKER_00: And while there's a little truth to each of them having messages, each message of the Bible builds on the other.
SPEAKER_00: And the main message is the one they ultimately point to, which is the good news that we celebrate this day.
SPEAKER_00: So what I want to do this morning is do something a little different than what we're used to here at RCC.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than come out of one verse and only one passage, I want us to walk through the final days of Jesus leading up to the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: We're just going to read some passages this morning as we look at this Easter story together.
SPEAKER_00: It's not often that we get to pause and consider the final days in the life of Christ and recollect what some call the passion story.
SPEAKER_00: So I thought we would do that together.
SPEAKER_00: I simply titled this sermon The Resurrection Story as that's what we will be looking at from the scriptures.
SPEAKER_00: So as we will see, the story doesn't necessarily start on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: We have to go back a couple of days so we can get the full picture.
SPEAKER_00: So let us walk through some text.
SPEAKER_00: I'll make some comments along the way and then we'll end with a couple of points about the resurrection story.
SPEAKER_00: As you hear the story this morning, I want you to consider a couple of things.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to consider the suffering of Jesus, but also want you to consider the victory of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And all of that for the sake of those whom he loves.
SPEAKER_00: So we start the story on Thursday night before Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus meets with his disciples in the upper room to celebrate the Passover meal together.
SPEAKER_00: And it was there where Jesus tells the disciples that one of them would betray him.
SPEAKER_00: And he tells Peter that he would deny him.
SPEAKER_00: Later on that evening, Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John go to the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: This was a garden near the Mount of Olives.
SPEAKER_00: And they they head there to pray.
SPEAKER_00: And it was there where Jesus prays to the Father.
SPEAKER_00: It was also there where the disciples fell asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pick up the story in Matthew chapter 26, verse 36.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be in Matthew, so we can kind of hang out there.
SPEAKER_00: The scriptures will also be here on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 26, verse 36.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray.
SPEAKER_00: And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.
SPEAKER_00: Remain here and watch with me.
SPEAKER_00: And going a little further, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is be if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
SPEAKER_00: So after Jesus is done praying here, this prayer, he's met in the garden by Judas, the disciple who would betray him.
SPEAKER_00: Judas comes into the garden that night along with some temple guards and Pharisees to arrest him.
SPEAKER_00: And there, as some of you know, Judas betrays him with a kiss.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Judas is a picture of what many people are today, someone who wants to be around Jesus, but for the wrong reasons.
SPEAKER_00: Judas was someone who openly displayed his affection for Jesus, but privately he displayed his disdain for him, his shame of him as he privately and secretly plots this plan to betray him.
SPEAKER_00: Judas had personal and selfish motives for following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't want part of the sufferings that came with following him.
SPEAKER_00: And there are many Christians who also, or many people who say they're a Christians, who also want to follow Jesus for the wrong reasons, because of the miracles, because of the healings, because of what he can do for me and how he can get my life and make my life better.
SPEAKER_00: Judas is again a picture of what many are today.
SPEAKER_00: His display of affection is also a warning not to rely simply on outward expressions to determine one's love for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You know, oftentimes we we look at someone who you know posts a lot on social media about how they love Jesus, or maybe they get very emotional when they hear a worship song and you know they cry and you know they they really are passionate about music or one thing or another.
SPEAKER_00: But outward displays and bursts of affection are not the true test of what's in the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Now, sometimes what is in the heart will come out, many times they do, and we will display outward affection, but it's not always the case as we see in Judas here.
SPEAKER_00: So after they arrest Jesus, they take him to the home of the Jewish high priest for an illegal trial.
SPEAKER_00: First the high priest Anna, and then the high priest Caiphus.
SPEAKER_00: It is during this time when Peter, the disciple, who claimed he would never deny Jesus, denies him three times.
SPEAKER_00: At these illegal trials, the Jews were attempting to make the case that Jesus deserved to die.
SPEAKER_00: They claimed that he was a blasphemer and that he was a teacher of things that were contrary to their law.
SPEAKER_00: They were attempting to convict him and have him put to death.
SPEAKER_00: Since they didn't have the authority, the Jews didn't have the authority to do this on their own, they send him to Pontius Pilate, who is the Roman governor.
SPEAKER_00: And after examining him, Pilate sends him to King Herod, the appointed ruler of Judea, for another examination.
SPEAKER_00: After questioning him there and finding no wrong, Herod has him beaten and sends him back to Pilate for one final trial.
SPEAKER_00: After some attempts to let him go, Pilate gives in to the pressure of the people, to the pressure of the Jews who were demanding his blood, who were demanding that he be put and sentenced to death.
SPEAKER_00: There was a custom in those days for Rome to release a Jewish prisoner at the Passover.
SPEAKER_00: Pilate gives the people a choice.
SPEAKER_00: Release a man named Barabbas who is sentenced for an insurrection or release Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And the Jews, they, as you know, they choose Barabbas.
SPEAKER_00: They choose a man who was a criminal over Jesus who had done no wrong.
SPEAKER_00: An innocent man takes the place of a guilty man.
SPEAKER_00: It was a microcosm of the passion of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came to take the place of the guilty.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus came to die in the place of guilty sinners.
SPEAKER_00: We pick the story back up in Matthew 27, verse 24.
SPEAKER_00: So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of this man's blood.
SPEAKER_00: See to it yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And all the people answered, His blood be on us and our children.
SPEAKER_00: Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
SPEAKER_00: So there and then Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion.
SPEAKER_00: We are told that he was first scourged and then made to carry his own cross.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Roman scourging was this.
SPEAKER_00: It consisted of a whip that was made with metal.
SPEAKER_00: It was a whip with strands of metal or bone that was attached to the end of the whip.
SPEAKER_00: And what they would do is they would bind the victim to a post by their wrist and have them whipped until their flesh was torn from their back.
SPEAKER_00: The scourging alone would have been enough to put you to death.
SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes it would, even before making it to crucifixion.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Jesus endured.
SPEAKER_00: He was spit on, he was beaten, he was struck in the head, he was given a crown of thorns to wear and to walk around as a mockery.
SPEAKER_00: As he was there with his crown of thorns, he was mocked as the king of the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to listen how to how John MacArthur describes what a Roman crucifixion was like.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Roman crucifixion was a lingering doom by design.
SPEAKER_00: Roman executioners had perfected the art of a slow torture while keeping the victim alive.
SPEAKER_00: Some victims hung on the cross for days before dying of exhaustion, dehydration, traumatic fever, or most likely suffocation.
SPEAKER_00: When the legs would no longer support the weight of the body, the diaphragm was constricted in a way that made breathing impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Some people even lingered until they were eaten alive by the birds or wild beasts.
SPEAKER_00: The hands were usually nailed through the wrist and the feet through the Achilles' tendon.
SPEAKER_00: The most notable feature of crucifixion was the stigma of disgrace that was attached to it.
SPEAKER_00: As people would walk by, you would be there naked and ashamed, and people would see this criminal who was put to death by the Roman government.
SPEAKER_00: So here he was, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, nailed to a tree in full humiliation.
SPEAKER_00: There he was, put to open shame.
SPEAKER_00: There he was, mocked and ridiculed.
SPEAKER_00: There he was in pain and agony, abandoned by his closest friends, left to suffer for crimes that he didn't commit.
SPEAKER_00: We picked the story up in Matthew 27, verse 45.
SPEAKER_00: Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the land until the ninth hour.
SPEAKER_00: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli Eli Lema Sebatani.
SPEAKER_00: That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
SPEAKER_00: And some of the bystanders hearing it said, This man is calling Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: One of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.
SPEAKER_00: But the other said, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and he yielded up his spirit.
SPEAKER_00: So there he was, crying out, giving his last breath.
SPEAKER_00: At the cross, Jesus was taking on the full wrath of God.
SPEAKER_00: He was taking on the punishment that was reserved for guilty sinners like you and me.
SPEAKER_00: Simply put, the cross is where Jesus paid it all.
SPEAKER_00: It's where God laid down his divine justice for sin.
SPEAKER_00: The Puritan Thomas Goodwin says, Christ was made a curse for us and stood under the full weight of God's displeasure as if he had been the only sinner.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Jesus was treated like the sinner that we are, yet he was no sinner.
SPEAKER_00: Yet there was no fault or guilt found in him.
SPEAKER_00: Has 2 Corinthians 5 21 says, He became sin who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Simply put, he took our place in death so that we might take his place in life.
SPEAKER_00: The cross is a display of love.
SPEAKER_00: In John 15, Jesus says, Greater love has no man than this, that he laid down his life for his friends.
SPEAKER_00: You know, many will look at the crucifixion and will point out the punishment that Jesus took at the hands of Rome.
SPEAKER_00: Or to put it another way, we look at the cross and the crucifixion and say, wow, what a punishment that Jesus took at the hands of men.
SPEAKER_00: But yet we fail to see the punishment that he took at the hands of God.
SPEAKER_00: At the cross, Jesus Christ bore the fullness of God's wrath, and he carried divine punishment for all believers, both past and future.
SPEAKER_00: The text we read, we wrote that there was there was darkness over the whole land.
SPEAKER_00: That that darkness wasn't God's absence, that was God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: At the cross, God the Father arrived on the scene to pour out his infinite wrath on his own son.
SPEAKER_00: The darkness was the atmosphere of wrath that was appearing in the middle of the day as we read.
SPEAKER_00: It was only the sixth hour.
SPEAKER_00: And for the people, this was a frightening thing to behold.
SPEAKER_00: This was a somber awareness that they mere mortals were in the presence of a holy and righteous being.
SPEAKER_00: And this righteous being was coming with his full wrath and judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Yet it was not coming for them.
SPEAKER_00: It was coming for his own son.
SPEAKER_00: The judgment that arrived was not yet for the world, it was for the one who was hanging on the tree.
SPEAKER_00: As the prophet Isaiah says, it was the will of the Lord to crush him.
SPEAKER_00: And then it was finished.
SPEAKER_00: Christ had come to do what he came to do.
SPEAKER_00: He came to die for sinners.
SPEAKER_00: He came to be the mediator, the one who would stand in the place of the elect and say to the Father, Don't punish them.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, punish me.
SPEAKER_00: He came to take the place of those who place their faith in him.
SPEAKER_00: For those who call upon his name to save him, on the cross, he took on the just and the right punishment that we deserve.
SPEAKER_00: He treated our sins as if they were his own.
SPEAKER_00: John Owen says, There is no greater evidence of the love of God than this, that he spared not his own son, and no greater evidence of his hatred of sin that he would not spare his own son in the place of guilty sinners.
SPEAKER_00: But the story doesn't end there.
SPEAKER_00: Today we celebrate what happens in X.
SPEAKER_00: After he gave his last breath, he was taken down from the cross and he was placed in the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: And we pick the story up in Matthew 28, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the day of the first of the till the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
SPEAKER_00: And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
SPEAKER_00: His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
SPEAKER_00: And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
SPEAKER_00: But the angel said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
SPEAKER_00: He is not here, for he has risen as he said.
SPEAKER_00: Come, see the place where he lay, then go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee.
SPEAKER_00: There you will see him.
SPEAKER_00: See, I have told you.
SPEAKER_00: So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples, and behold, Jesus met them and said, Greetings.
SPEAKER_00: And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid, go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So on the first day of the week, which is Sunday, the two Marys, they go to the tomb, they arrive at the tomb, and there they see that the stone that once covered the entrance of the tomb had been rolled away.
SPEAKER_00: Not to let Jesus out, but to let people in.
SPEAKER_00: It was a way of inviting people in to come and see that the man that they were looking for, he wasn't there anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel sitting on the stone said, He's not here.
SPEAKER_00: The one you're looking for, he's not here for he has risen.
SPEAKER_00: Come and see, come and see where he used to lay, the place where he once was.
SPEAKER_00: So the women go into the tomb and they they don't see him.
SPEAKER_00: They don't see the dead body because the dead body is not there.
SPEAKER_00: So so they go away from the tomb with the text tells us with fear and great joy.
SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting combination of emotions, fear, joy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but when I'm afraid of something, I don't have a lot of joy, and vice versa.
SPEAKER_00: But as you can imagine, seeing and speaking to an angel might draw up some fear.
SPEAKER_00: Only that, but they they knew that if Jesus had risen from the dead, then the power of God was near.
SPEAKER_00: And that can be a frightening thing for mere mortals like us.
SPEAKER_00: But they were also full of joy because their their Lord was was no longer dead.
SPEAKER_00: The one who they loved was no longer in that tomb.
SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, everything that Jesus said was true.
SPEAKER_00: He said he was gonna be killed and raised on the third day.
SPEAKER_00: Everything happened just as he said, as they go and tell the other disciples what they had seen, they they meet Jesus who greets them on their way.
SPEAKER_00: He he didn't want them only to witness the empty tomb.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted them to witness himself alive.
SPEAKER_00: As if to say, here's your proof.
SPEAKER_00: No need to question, no need to speculate what happened to the body.
SPEAKER_00: Did someone take it?
SPEAKER_00: Did someone steal it?
SPEAKER_00: No, here I am before you.
SPEAKER_00: And I think the fact that they took a hold of his feet and worshipped him is significant.
SPEAKER_00: It shows that this wasn't just a spirit that they were seeing or witnessing.
SPEAKER_00: This wasn't a ghost of any kind.
SPEAKER_00: No, this was Jesus in the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: This was a bodily resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: The woman grabbed a hold of his body.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had truly come back to life.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question for us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Why did Jesus rise from the dead?
SPEAKER_00: Can't we say that his death on the cross accomplished his purpose?
SPEAKER_00: If his purpose for coming into the world, as we're told in Scripture, is to seek and save those that were lost, if his purpose for coming into the world was to die for our sins, why did he have to rise for us?
SPEAKER_00: Why was the resurrection necessary?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, wasn't it all accomplished on Friday?
SPEAKER_00: Why do we need Sunday?
SPEAKER_00: Well, allow me to give you just two reasons for the necessity of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: There's more, but I'm just going to point out too as we celebrate the day and remark how Jesus rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Let me show you a couple of reasons why Jesus rising from the dead is so important.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, it proved that he was the suitable substitute for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection proved that Jesus was the suitable substitute for taking on the sins of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Some theologians would rather use the term mediator.
SPEAKER_00: He was, Jesus is the one mediator between God and humanity, acting as both God and as man to reconcile people back to God.
SPEAKER_00: Look, no mere man could take our place on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, one man, one man's death is not sufficient for the sins of the entire world.
SPEAKER_00: But the resurrection proved that Jesus was not just a man, though he was a man, but that he was also the Son of God, which meant that he was a suitable substitute, that he was able to take upon himself the sins of the world.
SPEAKER_00: It proved his divinity, which means that he was sinless.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus was the Son of God, then he could not sin and he could not taste corruption.
SPEAKER_00: We all know what happens to dead bodies after a while, right?
SPEAKER_00: They decompose, they corrupt.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus had died and not resurrected, his body would have eventually gone through this change.
SPEAKER_00: But this could not happen to the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's what made the resurrection necessary.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I heard an interesting point this week as I was kind of studying some theologians on this topic, and a couple of them made the point that, you know, we say that Jesus was dead for three days.
SPEAKER_00: How do we calculate that if it was Friday night and he raised on Sunday morning?
SPEAKER_00: And of course, some of you have heard the arguments of the Jewish calendar and why that's the case, but it was it was three days, but it was the shortest of three days possible.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason for that was because God the Father wanted to make sure this body in that tomb did not taste one bit of corruption.
SPEAKER_00: So the shorter in the tomb, the less likely his body would have corrupted.
SPEAKER_00: This even speaks with even the in the New Testament speaks to this, Acts chapter 13, verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.
SPEAKER_00: And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessing of David.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore he says also in another psalm, you will not let your holy one see corruption.
SPEAKER_00: For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.
SPEAKER_00: But he whom God raised up did not see corruption.
SPEAKER_00: David, Abraham, all of your great men in the Old Testament, everyone who you look up to, everyone who accomplished these great things, they died.
SPEAKER_00: Their bodies saw corruption, but as to this Jesus, God raised him from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Since he did not see corruption, it proved that he was not like any other, that he was not the same.
SPEAKER_00: It proved that he was the spotless Lamb of God.
SPEAKER_00: See, if he had died and not resurrected, then we would say that he was guilty of sin.
SPEAKER_00: For Scripture tells us the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, death comes from sin.
SPEAKER_00: Death comes as a result of sin.
SPEAKER_00: All who sin pay the penalty of death.
SPEAKER_00: If there was no resurrection, it would prove that Jesus had sin in him and he paid for his own sin.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 5 12.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
SPEAKER_00: If Christ would have fallen prey to the power of death, then instead of overcoming sin, sin would have overcome him.
SPEAKER_00: First Peter one nineteen.
SPEAKER_00: But with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
SPEAKER_00: His resurrection proved who he was.
SPEAKER_00: He was God.
SPEAKER_00: He was the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: He was indeed the worthy substitute.
SPEAKER_00: He was the Lamb without spot or a blemish, and that he could not, and because of that, he could not fall prey to the power of death.
SPEAKER_00: It proved him to be sinless.
SPEAKER_00: It proved his sinless life and his righteous life, which meant good news for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because if he lived a righteous life, then he could in turn credit his righteous life, the righteous life that we need to us.
SPEAKER_00: No man but the Son of God is worthy to do this.
SPEAKER_00: No man but the Son of God is worthy to take on the sins of the whole world.
SPEAKER_00: And the resurrection proves that he is the worthy substitute, that he is the worthy Son of God, that he is the worthy sacrifice, that he is a suitable substitute to take our place in life and in death.
SPEAKER_00: Next, it also proves that he conquered death.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection proves that he is victorious over death.
SPEAKER_00: This is another thing that the resurrection accomplished.
SPEAKER_00: It accomplished victory.
SPEAKER_00: If Christ would have just died after the cross, there would be no hope in a resurrection for anyone.
SPEAKER_00: Death would be able to claim victory over us all, not only over Christ, but over everyone.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter 1 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: There is hope for each and every one of us because of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: John Calvin says, By his death sin was taken away.
SPEAKER_00: By his resurrection, righteousness was renewed and restored.
SPEAKER_00: For how could he, by dying, have freed us from death?
SPEAKER_00: If he yielded to its power?
SPEAKER_00: How could he have obtained the victory for us if he had fallen prey to death?
SPEAKER_00: Because of the resurrection, Christ did not yield power to death.
SPEAKER_00: He did not give death power and victory.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he defeated it.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, death fell prey to him.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15, 54 tells us, when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
SPEAKER_00: O death, where is your victory?
SPEAKER_00: O death, where is your sting?
SPEAKER_00: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
SPEAKER_00: But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Through the resurrection, Jesus has claimed victory over death.
SPEAKER_00: And not only his death, but ours also.
SPEAKER_00: For we who have been made alive in Christ will one day be resurrected with him.
SPEAKER_00: And look, we all know the sting of death.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone in this room has lost someone that they love.
SPEAKER_00: We've all been to a funeral.
SPEAKER_00: We've all cried and shed a tear.
SPEAKER_00: We all know the pain that death can bring.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, we're feeling the sting of death ourselves every year as we get older.
SPEAKER_00: We feel death coming for us as we get sick more, and our body starts breaking down.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that death will one day come knocking at our door.
SPEAKER_00: And if there were no resurrection, that would be a terrible day.
SPEAKER_00: It would be a sad day, it would be a day of loss.
SPEAKER_00: But here is the promise for the believer.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the promise for all those who are in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
SPEAKER_00: For the Christian, death is just a passage.
SPEAKER_00: It is a passage from this life to the next.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus here in the text is called the first fruit of the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Well, whenever a farmer is waiting on a crop or waiting on a harvest, he goes and he looks out for that first fruit.
SPEAKER_00: And that first fruit will tell him something because when he sees the first fruit, he knows that there is more coming behind.
SPEAKER_00: He knows that fruit, that first fruit is the first of many.
SPEAKER_00: That first fruit is the promise that others are coming.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what Jesus accomplishes at his resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: He is the promise that others are coming.
SPEAKER_00: That others will like him be raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: Let me close with this.
SPEAKER_00: If you can go back to that slide, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20, and just leave it up there.
SPEAKER_00: In that passage, it says, in Adam, all die.
SPEAKER_00: What that means is that everyone who is born in Adam will die.
SPEAKER_00: And in case you haven't figured that out yet, that's everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone comes from that first created being, which is Adam.
SPEAKER_00: And we have all been born with this inherited, sinful nature because of Adam.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that sin is what we do, sin is who we are.
SPEAKER_00: That's why 2 Corinthians 5 says that Jesus was made to be sin.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Jesus took our place as sin.
SPEAKER_00: Because sin is who we've been since birth.
SPEAKER_00: This is important because there are many people who fail to see their sin for what it is.
SPEAKER_00: When we see sin as just something we do, rather than someone, something that we are, rather than who we are, then what we do is we justify our sin by saying we don't do that many bad things.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we say to ourselves, we don't really sin that much.
SPEAKER_00: That's sin, our sin.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe their sin, but my sin is not such a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: And when we don't see sin as much, we won't see the cross as much.
SPEAKER_00: Salvation doesn't mean much when we don't see sin for what it is.
SPEAKER_00: What is it?
SPEAKER_00: Look at the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the bloody cross.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the pain and the torture and the wrath of God that Jesus endured for those whom he love.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the ugliness of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Don't turn away.
SPEAKER_00: And there you will see sin for what it is.
SPEAKER_00: When we think it's not a big deal, we won't see that.
SPEAKER_00: We'll make excuses.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I need to be saved?
SPEAKER_00: What do I need to be saved from?
SPEAKER_00: After all, I'm not that bad of a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't done the worst of things.
SPEAKER_00: Let's play that game.
SPEAKER_00: You're an outstanding citizen.
SPEAKER_00: You never speed.
SPEAKER_00: You go to work every day.
SPEAKER_00: You punch the clock.
SPEAKER_00: You pay your taxes.
SPEAKER_00: You obey the law.
SPEAKER_00: You're a great husband.
SPEAKER_00: You're a great wife.
SPEAKER_00: You don't cheat.
SPEAKER_00: You're faithful.
SPEAKER_00: You're even a giving person.
SPEAKER_00: Someone calls you up, you're willing to help them when they're in need.
SPEAKER_00: All of that is great.
SPEAKER_00: But here's your problem.
SPEAKER_00: You're still an Adam.
SPEAKER_00: And we just read that in Adam all die.
SPEAKER_00: The question is not, do you sin?
SPEAKER_00: And the question is not, how much do you sin?
SPEAKER_00: Or are your sins less or more than the next person?
SPEAKER_00: The question is, are you in Adam or are you in Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Because in Adam all die, but in Christ all will be made alive.
SPEAKER_00: Who are the all?
SPEAKER_00: Who will be made alive?
SPEAKER_00: Simply put, it is all those who are in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: As verse 24 of the passage says, those who belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So the ultimate question is, who do you belong to?
SPEAKER_00: Do you belong to Adam?
SPEAKER_00: Or do be do you belong to Christ?
SPEAKER_00: We all know that we've been born of Adam.
SPEAKER_00: But have you been born again into Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Have you had a new birth?
SPEAKER_00: Not have you said a prayer once when you were young, or not have you been baptized once?
SPEAKER_00: Not have you, if you've walked down an aisle, or maybe you were baptized as a baby, that's not the question.
SPEAKER_00: Not if you recited the sinner's prayer, or if you've cried once or twice in your life during a worship song, that's not the question.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, have you had and experienced the new birth?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a new creation in Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Do you have reason to hope in this resurrection?
SPEAKER_00: Because only those who have been born again do.
SPEAKER_00: Only those who have turned to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins do.
SPEAKER_00: And only those who have accepted his work on the cross as being done for them can have this hope.
SPEAKER_00: Only those who have acknowledged that in their sins they are guilty before a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: Only those who can look at the bloody cross and say that should have been me.
SPEAKER_00: It should have been me up there paying for my sins that Jesus Christ paid for can have this hope.
SPEAKER_00: Only those who believe in Christ can find life in him.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question that is put before us, not only this day, but every day.
SPEAKER_00: Have I died and risen with Christ?
SPEAKER_00: By faith have I trusted in his death and in his resurrection to save me from my sins?
SPEAKER_00: Have I turned from my sins and turned to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Have I called out to him and asked him to save me from my sins?
SPEAKER_00: And if I am alive, do I live like it?
SPEAKER_00: Is my life marked by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Is there evidence of Christ being alive in me?
SPEAKER_00: When I examine my life and I take stock of my life, can I truly say that I'm living for Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: This is what the story is about.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about dressing nice and going to church and being inspired.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about eggs in a basket or candies in a basket.
SPEAKER_00: It's about Jesus living, dying, and living again for sinners like you and me.
SPEAKER_00: Every Easter, we remember this greatest story ever told the story about the life, death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.