The central theme is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, presented as the cornerstone of Christian doctrine, essential for faith, salvation, and the hope of eternal life.
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all right well welcome
back we're embarking on installment
number nine now of summer in the
systematics our 24 2024 study of
christology um on Sunday evenings it's
been a great joy to me to be able to put
this together hope it's been a benefit
to you uh we'll move the tassel to the
other side of the cap next Sunday night
as we finish up our study of of
christology and by way of reminder we've
worked through the pre-existence of
Christ the deity of Christ the humanity
of Christ the natures of Christ the
Incarnation of Christ The Life of Christ
The Obedience of Christ the death of
Christ and then tonight we're going to
look at the resurrection of Christ and
of course this is a cardinal and
Cornerstone doctrine of the Christian
faith consider these words from Edward
Robinson he was a 19th century biblical
scholar he says the great fact of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead by which he was declared the Son of
God with power Romans 14 and in which
God fulfilled the good news of the
promise made to the fathers acts 13
stands out everywhere prominently on the
pages of the New Testament as one of the
Cardinal doctrines of the Christian
faith then here's good old Spurgeon the
resurrection of our divine Lord from the
dead is the Cornerstone of Christian
doctrine perhaps I might more accurately
call it the Keystone of the arch of
Christianity for if that fact would be
disproved the whole fabric of the the
gospel would fall to the ground that's
exactly what Pastor Mike said earlier
when he was mentioning 1 Corinthians
15:14 we'll get into that later but
without the resurrection it all it all
falls to pieces or Bruce deerest at the
heart of the Christian faith is the
claim that Jesus Christ on the third day
rose from the dead and is alive forever
more just to get us started just to get
us warmed up a few of these quotes from
some notable theologians to get us
thinking about this and we've got a lot
of territory to cover this evening this
is a massive topic so to try to squeeze
it into one hour or less is going to be
pretty Herculean but we're going to give
it a go we have eight points tonight I
think I've preached like 17o messages
before so eight should be a breeze but
we have an eight-point outline you see
it on your worksheet there this evening
and we're going to go through eight
different key biblical and Theological
truths related to the truth that Jesus
of Nazareth after being crucified on a
Roman cross after dying really did rise
from the grave and in doing so conquered
death and sin and Satan and in doing so
secured for the believer the hope of
eternal life and as we're going to see
the reality of our own future
Resurrection here's our first point
number one of8 we're going to look first
at the Prophecies of the
Resurrection The Prophecies of the
Resurrection as acts 1:3 here notes the
resurrection of Our Lord was
demonstrated by many convincing proofs
he also presented himself alive after
his suffering by many convincing proofs
now recall that scene in in Luke CH 24
the the road to emus scene and the the
recently resurrected Jesus is there on
the road to EMAs and he's walking
alongside two of his disciples but they
don't realize it's him initially not
only do they not realize it's him
they're confused and they're perplexed
and they're discouraged that's the whole
set setup there and they're discouraged
over what had happened in Jerusalem in
recent days Jesus the one they had been
following had been Cru cified he had
died he'd been buried in this tomb and
though he's standing there right in
their midst they don't recognize it and
look how Luke records their words of
discouragement this is from Luke 24
where these two disciples note how the
chief priest and a rulers delivered him
to the sentence of death they're saying
this as he's right there with them and
crucified him but we were hoping that it
was he who was going to redeem Israel
indeed besides all this it is the third
day since these things happen you can
sense the discipline ointment well
eventually it clicks for them and
eventually they realize that they are in
the presence of the Risen Lord and they
they did so as Jesus in his resurrected
State explained the scriptures to them
and how the scriptures all pointed in in
in some sense to him and his
resurrection he says this in Luke 24
these are my words which I spoke to you
while I was still with you that all
things which are written about me in the
law of Moses and the prophets and the
Psalms must be fulfilled then he opened
up their minds to understand the
scriptures and he said to them thus it
is written that the Christ would suffer
and Rise Again from the dead the third
day now Luke here doesn't record which
Old Testament text Christ was
referencing here when he says thus it is
written that the Christ would suffer and
Rise Again from the dead the third day
but as we're going to see here
momentarily there were several Old
Testament passages that he could have
been referring to there or then consider
the Apostle Paul PA's testimony before
King agria in Acts 26 he says this after
being seized and arrested and then
taking his appeal he says I stand Here
bearing witness both to small and great
stating nothing but what the prophets
and Moses said was going to take place
that the Christ was to suffer and that
as first of the Resurrection from the
dead he was going to Proclaim light both
to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles
so like Jesus in in Luke
24 Paul here doesn't specify which
section of the prophets of Moses he's
referring to that refer to Christ rising
from the dead so where do we go then
where where do we need to search and
find Old Testament scriptures and
prophecies concerning the future
resurrection of the coming Christ well
at the top of the list would be psalm
16 Psalm 16:10 specifically which says
for you will not forsake my soul to
sheol you will not give your Holy One
over to see
corruption this is the the clearest Old
Testament prophecy concerning the
resurrection of Christ where where God
through the inspired pen of David here
said that he would not allow his holy
one to undergo corruption or or Decay
and how do we know how do we say that
psalm 16 is referencing the Messiah how
do we know it was fulfilled in Jesus
well we go over to Acts chapter 2 here's
Peter's inspired words at Pentecost he
says men brothers I may confidently say
to you regarding the patriarch David
that he both died and was buried and his
tomb is with us to this day and so
because he was a prophet and knew that
God had sworn to him with an oath to set
one of the fruit of his body on his
throne he looked ahead and spoke of the
resurrection of the Christ that he was
neither forsaken to Hades nor did his
flesh see corruption so there you go
Peter moved by the spirit recognized
affirmed here in Acts Acts chapter 2
that psalm 16 pointed to to the Future
bodily resurrection of the Messiah who
we know was Jesus not only that though
in that same sermon at Pentecost Peter
noted that it was not only Christ's
death which was according to the
predetermined plan and forn knowledge of
God we see that here in Acts 2:23 you
nailed him to a cross by the hands of
Lawless men and put him to death but it
was also his resurrection that was
brought about by that same predetermined
plan of God God raised him up again
putting an end to the agony of death so
psalm 16:10 is one of those Old
Testament prophecies concerning the
resurrection of the coming Messiah there
are also other Old Testament prophecies
or proofs which would otherwise indicate
that the coming Messiah would not only
live but he would die and he would
rise job 19 is often cited as one that
at least anticipates our Lord's Rising
as for me I know that my redeemer lives
and at the last he will rise up over the
dust of this world or Isaiah 258
speaking prophetically says he will
swallow up death for all time that could
Encompass the
resurrection so those are some Old
Testament Prophecies of the Resurrection
now we're going to get into our second
point which is the proclamation of the
Resurrection so prophecies Proclamation
how am I differentiating the two well
I'm distinguishing the two at least for
purposes of tonight's Lesson by saying
prophecies that was our first heading to
refer to those Old Testament passages
which foretold the future resurrection
of the Christ
and by proclamation here I mean Jesus's
own words in the New Testament where he
speaks to his own disciples face to face
about his coming death and resurrection
and as we see recorded in his gospels in
the gospels during his years on Earth
Jesus did speak over and over about his
coming death and Resurrection like here
John 21:19 he says destroy this
Sanctuary or Temple and in 3 days I will
raise it up he spoke of laying down his
life and taking it up again in John 10 I
lay down my life so that I may take it
again no one takes it away from me but
from myself I lay it down I have
authority to lay it down and I have
authority to take it up again uh he also
made claims that were right in line with
the Old Testament in terms of what it
prophesied about Israel's Messiah when
he says I am the resurrection and the
life he who believes in me will live
even if he dies and everyone who lives
and Believes In Me will never die ever
and then there are several other direct
statements in the gospels like these uh
some are from Christ himself by the way
some are from the Holy Spirit directed
gospel authors but they all refer to the
fact that Christ would not only die but
that he would rise again from the dead
Matthew 17 here says the son of man is
going to be delivered into the hands of
men and they will kill him and he will
be raised on the third
day Matthew 2018 the son of man will be
betrayed to the chief priests and
scribes and they will condemn him to
death and will deliver him over to the
Gentiles to Mock and fog and crucify him
and on the third day he will be raised
up Matthew 26 but after I have been
raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee
Matthew 2661 this man stated I am able
to destroy the sanctuary of God and to
rebuild it in three days that's when
they're accusing Jesus Matthew 27 sir we
remember that when he was still alive
that deceiver said after after 3 days I
am to rise again Mark 9:9 and as they
were coming down from the mountain he
gave them orders not to recount to
anyone what they had seen until the son
of man rose from the dead Mark 9:31 for
he was teaching his disciples and
telling them the son of man is to be
delivered into the hands of men and they
will kill him and when he has been
killed he will rise again three days
later Mark 10 behold we are going up to
Jerusalem and the son of man will be
betrayed to the chief priest and the
scribes and they will condemn him to
death and will deliver him over to the
Gentiles and they will mock him and spit
on him and flog him and kill him and 3
days later he will rise again Mark 14
but after I have been raised I will go
ahead of you to Galilee Luke 18 for he
will be delivered over to the Gentiles
and will be mocked and mistreated and
spit upon and after they have fogged him
they will kill him and the third day he
will rise again I'm just going to read
these for 45 minutes we got okay no we
could go on and on but Matthew
16 from that time Jesus began to show
his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and suffer many things from
the elders and chief priests and scribes
and be killed and be raised up on the
third day one more Matthew 17 and as
they were coming down from the mountain
Transfiguration Jesus commanded them
saying tell the vision to no one until
the son of man has risen from the dead
so those are just a few of these
examples of the Proclamation of the
Resurrection that came from the lips of
Our Lord or from these New Testament
authors as they recorded his life uh in
the gospel accounts next we're going to
look at the proofs of the Resurrection
that's our heading number three now not
not withstanding all that I just read
off for you from the New Testament from
the gospel specifically from the book of
Acts from psalm
16 there have been Skeptics there have
been doubters there are not only those
who outright deny that Jesus ever
existed even as a historical figure
which is historically laughable as a
matter of objective research but there
are those who will admit that he lived
but deny that he rose and or at least
deny that he experienced a physical
bodily Resurrection but why why would
such a person ever make an argument like
that well the argument that's been out
there for centuries now is there because
if Jesus rose if he says who he says he
is that means he's owed the allegiance
he demands
and sinful creatures that we are before
God regenerates Us by a Divine work of
his Spirit we don't want to give Jesus
Allegiance we don't want to make him the
Lord of our life and so a natural point
of attack for the unbeliever is to go
after his resurrection and to deny that
Jesus rose physically from the Tomb in
which he was laid and all sorts of
arguments have been offered out there
through the years to argue against the
biblical testimony the proofs that we
just looked at concerning the
resurrection of Jesus some will argue
that Jesus never
died they'll call it the Swoon Theory
and the whole idea is that through the
pain through the agony through the
lashes and beatings and nails and the
rest he he just lapsed into a state of
unconsciousness but he he didn't die and
then what was would happen they would
say is that he was then placed in the
cooler air of the Tomb and then in the
cooler air of the Tomb he revived and he
woke up and then rolled back the the
stone and walked out only to eventually die
die
again well that view ignores many
details but I mean what about the fact
that a spear was driven into his side
that would have been the killshot to
somebody who was in such a weakened
condition as he was at that point or
what about the fact that the Roman
soldiers who were experts in in
brutality and death didn't bother to
break his legs because they were so
certain that he was
dead or what about the fact that there
was this armed Roman guard there
guarding carefully the tomb keeping
watch over it to make sure that very
thing the Skeptics say happened wouldn't
happen it it doesn't add
up another theory that's offered there
is that the resurrection was just this
fabricated story told by Jesus's
followers kind of a a warm memory that
they wanted to keep alive they didn't
want to lose their memories of the good
times so they wanted to perpetuate the
telling of his story his miracles his
good teaching for future posterity for
for generations to come but that theory
also makes no sense as it's complete
completely undermined by the way those
very followers lived after Jesus rose
right they they went from fleeing in
fear once he was put to Death To Boldly
proclaiming his resurrection not even
the threat of death or or losing family
or losing limbs could slow down their
proclamation of the Risen Lord and what
brought that about the reality of his
resurrection the reality that he rose
their bold stand their witness their
willingness to die for what they had
seen with their own eyes and what they
had heard with their own ears and even
touched with their own hands proved that
they weren't living for a
lie JP Morland notes they were willing
speaking of these post-resurrection
Witnesses they were willing to spend the
rest of their lives proclaiming this
without any payoff from a human point of
view it's not as though there was a
mansion awaiting them on the
Mediterranean they faced a life of
hardship they often went without food
slept exposed to the elements were
ridiculed beaten imprisoned and finally
most of them were executed in torturous
ways for what for Good Intentions no
because they were convinced beyond a
shadow of a doubt that they had seen
Jesus Christ alive from the
dead there's Simon Greenleaf he was
actually a law professor he says it was
impossible that the disciples could have
persisted in affirming the truth of the
Resurrection had not Jesus actually
risen from the
dead well there are many other false
theories out there which have been put
forth over the centuries by those who
reject the idea that Jesus underwent a
true physical bodily Resurrection we
don't have time to get into all those
but but ultimately for those who claim
that Jesus did not rise bodily from the
dead that he didn't resurrect what
they're doing is rejecting scripture
they're rejecting the very words of the
Living God and in doing so they're
rejecting God himself because the
scriptures are indisputably clear that
Jesus rose bodily from the
dead now so far I've just laid out the
counterarguments things like the Swoon
Theory or the the friend the friend
theory just preserving the good memories
of Jesus Theory well let's just look at
some of the biblical proofs
which establish beyond the shadow of a
doubt that Jesus really did rise from
the grave and he really did rise
physically in bodily form first of all
he was taken from the cross John 19 now
after these things Joseph of arthea
being a disciple of Jesus but secretly
because of his fear of the Jews asked
pilate that he might take away the body
of Jesus and pilate granted permission
so he came and took away his body not
his Spirit his
body also in John 19 we see that Jesus
was placed in a garden tomb now in the
place where he was crucified there was a
garden and the garden a new Tomb in
which no one had yet been laid therefore
because of the Jewish Day of preparation
since the tomb was nearby they laid
Jesus there we also know here from
Matthew 27 that that tomb was guarded by
soldiers who were there specifically to
prevent anybody from removing or
tampering or having access to the Lord's
body and then we see and we're going to
get into this much in much much more
detail later that he appeared he
appeared alive in bodily form to many
eyewitnesses acts one he also presented
himself alive after his suffering by
many convincing
proofs and ryy notes the number and
variety of people in a variety of
circumstances who saw the Lord after his
resurrection give overwhelming proof Pro
that he did rise from the dead and then
there are the are all the
post-resurrection appearances to
individuals where Jesus appeared bodily
we see here to Mary Magdalene after he
had risen early on the first day of the
week he first appeared to Mary Magdalene
from whom he had cast out seven demons
she went reported to those who had been
with him while they were mourning and
crying then he appeared to Peter Luke 24
they stood up at that very hour and
returned to Jerusalem and found gathered
together the 11 and those with them who
were saying the Lord has really risen
and has appeared to Simon to to Peter he
appeared to we saw this earlier the
disciples on the road to Emmas and it
happened that while they were conversing
and debating Jesus himself approached
and was going with them though they
didn't recognize him initially he
appeared to the disciples in the upper
room and it happened that while they
were conversing and debating Jesus
himself approached and was going with
them oh I just did Luke 24 again I'm
sorry wrong quote he appeared to the
seven of the disciples beside the Sea of
Galilee after these things he manifested
himself again to the disciples at the
Sea of tiberias and he manifested
himself in this way Simon Peter and
Thomas called dimus and Nathaniel of
canaa and Galilee and the sons of
Zebedee and two others of his disciples
were together he appeared to the
apostles and more than 500 Brethren and
to James his half brother the Lord's
half brother after that 1 Corinthians 15
he appeared to more than 500 Brothers at
one time most of whom remain until now
but some have fallen asleep after that
he appeared to James then to all the
apostles and then we know from acts 1:9
he appeared to those who witnessed his
Ascension after he had said these things
he was lifted up while they were looking
on and a cloud received him out of their
sight Now One account of course of a
post-resurrection appearance that I've
left out so far is that of Thomas
doubting Thomas as he's affectionately
known in day he deserves his own special
treatment here recall that Thomas had
this tremendous uncertainty about the
bodily resurrection of our Lord and what
was Jesus's response well he he gave
Thomas the chance to put him to the test
John 20 then he said to Thomas bring
your fing your finger here and see my
hands and bring your hand here and put
it into my side and do not be
unbelieving but
believing and then at that point Thomas
is convinced that that Jesus had risen
that he had conquered the grave and he
and that he was Thomas's Lord and God In
the Flesh Thomas answered and said to
him my Lord and my God after touching the
the
side so the Christians claim then our
our claim that that Jesus rose bodily
from the dead it doesn't just rest on
one isolated shred of evidence doesn't
rest on on the testimony of a singular
witness now we see as we work our way
methodically and carefully through the
gospels that over this period of many
many days on multiple different
occasions as recorded in a variety of
different scriptures Jesus appeared
alive sometimes it was to one individual
sometimes to two sometimes to larger
groups sometimes as we saw in 1
Corinthians 15 even to groups of
hundreds of people which is why Thomas
Arnold would note that the resurrection
is the best attested fact in human
history not only were there the
appearances there were the acts that the
Risen Lord performed which pointed to
the reality that he truly had risen
bodily through his
resurrection like he had breakfast he
prepared breakfast for his disciples
Jesus said to them come have breakfast
Spirits don't typically fix up the bacon
and the eggs I know it was fish but you
get the point he ate fish Luke 24 and
while they were still not believing
because of their joy and were still
marveling he said to them have you
anything here to eat and they gave him a
piece of broiled fish and he took it and
ate it before them Spirits don't do that
Peter even said that Christ ate and
drank with his disciples after the
resurrection acts 10 says God raised him
up on the third day and granted that he
appear not to all the people but to
Witnesses who were chosen beforehand by
God that is to us who ate and drank with
him after he arose from the dead uh he
invited his perplexed disciples to
examine the nail marks in his hands see
my hands and feet that it is I myself
touch me and see for a spirit does not
have Flesh and Bones as you see that I
have and as we just saw with Thomas he
invited him to touch the spear wound in
his side these aren't the actions in
other words of a a disembodied spirit
being these are the actions of a person
with a body and they point conclusively
to the fact that Jesus rose
bodily Rolland mun notes that only by
tampering with the biblical evidence
impugning the testimony of the numerous
eyewitnesses and disclaiming the verbal
inspir ation of the scriptures can the
bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
be denied
amen so those are some of the proofs of
the resurrection and next we're going to
get to our fourth Point here which is
the power of the Resurrection that's
your fourth heading there the power of
the Resurrection we'll treat this one
briefly but it's important to note that
the resurrection of Our Lord was was
underg guarded by and was a
demonstration of God's Mighty hand of
power now God's Mighty hand of power was
on display throughout the Old Testament
scriptures we know that and it was his
mighty hand of power which caused the
Red Sea to part it was his mighty hand
of power that caused Mana to fall from
the sky it was his mighty hand of power
that caused an axe head to float it was
his mighty hand of power that that
caused seemingly insurmountable enemies
of Israel to be defeated but all of
those manifestations of God's power
stand in the shadow ultimately of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ and the
divine power which undergirded that
specific event recall the words of
Paul how he wanted the Believers there
in Philippi to to know him and the power
of his resurrection Christ's
resurrection and the fellowship of his
sufferings being conformed to his death
in order that I may attain to the
resurrection from the dead the power
he's noting here of the Resurrection
note that Paul here isn't saying I wants
you to note the power of the the the the
Exodus out of Egypt he's not asking that
they would know the power of the
floating ax head he's not wanting them
to know the power of of Israel's Mighty
conquest of the you name the IES no he
wanted them to know the greatest form of
power this world has ever seen namely
the power of the
Resurrection he expressed a similar
sentiment in Ephesians
1 he say so that you the eyes of your
heart having been enlightened will know
what is the hope of his calling what are
the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the Saints and what is
the surpassing greatness of his power
toward us who believe according to the
working of the might of his strength
which he worked in Christ by raising him
from the dead and seating him at his
right hand in the Heavenly places note
the reference there to God's power and
might and strength and how God's
omnipotence was displayed in raising
Jesus from the dead I agree with mun
again he says the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead is the most
colossal demonstration of the power of
God of all
time that takes us to our next point
point number five we're going to look at
the prospect of the Resurrection we're
already turning over the sheet we're
right on time the prospect of the
resurrection and by that I mean that the
resurrection of Jesus from the dead
paved the way for our own Resurrection
our own future Resurrection unto life to
build out this idea we'll start here 1
Corinthians 15:20 says but now Christ
has been raised from the dead the first
fruits of those who have fallen
asleep here Paul is borrowing from the
Old Testament first fruits under the
Mosaic law refer to those those first
heads of of ripened grain which were
were dedicated to God and they were
dedicated to God in anticipation of his
his expected blessing of provision when
the whole Harvest or the full Harvest
came in so so the first fruits when a
first fruit deposit was made or a first
fruit offering was made it was like an
an earnest deposit a a down payment if
you will to thank the Lord for the
Harvest that was to come you see the
idea here in Exodus 23 you shall bring
the choice first fruits of your ground
into the house of Yahweh your God now in
a similar manner the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead was the first
fruits of all men according to Paul
Jesus's resurrection paved the way for
the future resurrection of all people
including those who will be resurrected
under the resurrection of judgment and
those who will be resurrected unto a
resurrection of life and we see both
resurrections by the way mentioned in
this passage next couple of passages 1
Corinthians 15 again says for Since By A
Man Came Death By A man also came the
resurrection C of the Dead for as in
Adam all die so also in Christ all will
be made alive that's a a resurrection
reference or John
5:28 sayso not Marvel at this for an
hour is coming in which all who are in
the tombs will hear his voice and will
come forth those who did the Good Deeds
to a resurrection of Life those who
committed the evil Deeds to a
resurrection of judgment but but the
first resurrection though the the the
first fruits is that of Christ Christ
himself 1 Corinthians 15 again says but
each in his own order Christ the first
fruits and after that those who are
Christ at his coming then comes the end
when he hands over the kingdom to the to
God to the God and father when he has
abolished all Rule and all authority and
all power for he must Reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet or
Acts 26 says therefore having obtained
help from God of this day I stand Here
bearing witness both to small and great
stating nothing but what the prophets
and Moses said was going to take place
that Christ was to suffer and that as
first of the Resurrection from the dead
there's that first fruit idea again he
was going to Proclaim light both to the
Jewish people and to the Gentiles now in
what sense was Jesus's resurrection the
first as it says here in Acts and also
over in 1 Corinthians well the word
could mean in in some contexts
chronologically first but in in the
context of the overall
New Testament witness what would be more
likely is that's this is referring to to
First in prominence or or first in
preeminence we have to remember as we
look at the whole of the old and the New
Testament there were other individuals
who died who and who came back to life
both in the old and the New Testaments
there there's the Widow of this there's
the son of the Widow of zarapa in First
Kings 17 the shite's son in 2 Kings 4
gyrus his daughter in Mark chapter 5
Tabitha in Acts chapter 9 udcus in Acts
chapter 20 Lazarus in John
11 but each ultimately then had to go
face death all over again did they not
yes they did none of those who Rose none
of those who came back to life none of
those who were quickened had a total
triumph over death now every single one
of those individuals I just mentioned
would die again and none of those
individuals received a a glorified
Resurrection body the way that Christ
did no no Christ who is preeminent over
all things as we saw last year in our
study of Colossians is also preeminent
in his death and preeminent in his
resurrection he is the only one to have
earlier
because Jesus rose from the grave
because he was
resurrected we know that we will one day
be too
1 Corinthians 6:14 now God has not only
raised the Lord but will also raise us
up through his power 2 Corinthians
4:13 but having the same Spirit of Faith
according to what is written I believe
therefore I spoke we also believe
therefore we also speak knowing that he
who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us
also with Jesus and will present us with
you I hope you hear me if especially if
you're newer to church or newer to our
study here or just haven't heard some of
these truths
before if we have put our faith in Jesus
Christ Our ultimate hope is not just
that we'll go to heaven and live in some
sort of ethereal float around on the
clouds and pass through walls sort of
experience that's not the ultimate hope
no Our Hope and our confidence is that
one day we will be given a new body a
physical body a glorified body not one
like this one that falls apart and
breaks down and the eyes go bad and
everything else but a perfect body at
our own Resurrection that's our ultimate
in-game hope John Kennedy not that one
said the resurrection of Christ is not
only a prophecy of our Resurrection but
it's guarantee it's Earnest and pledge
its first fruits and it is the
resurrection of Jesus Christ that
guarante that every believer again will
one day be raised from the dead Romans
8:11 but if the spirit of him who raised
Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will
also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit who dwells in you
Philippians 3 our citizenship is in
heaven from which also we eagerly await
for wait for a savior the Lord Jesus
Christ who will transform the body of
our humble State into Conformity with
the body of His Glory by his working
through which he is able to even even
subject all things to
himself now we know that 1 Corinthians
15 could have gone about this by just
exting first 1 Corinthians 15 but
there's so much to cover but we know
that 1 Corinthians 15 gives us the most
expansive treatment of this subject of
of the believer's Future Hope and the
believer's future Resurrection Paul lays
out there in 1 Corinthians 15 not only
Our Hope in Jesus's resurrection and its
centrality to the message of the Gospel
but it also lays out Our Hope in our
Resurrection which is anchored in the
fact that Jesus himself Rose from the
grave addressing that passage 1
Corinthians 15 note this Charles
Feinberg notes that the the fact to be
born in mind is that Paul was not trying
to argue in 1 Corinthians 15 the
resurrection of Christ that was taken
for granted among the Believers to whom
he was writing instead he was defending
the resurrection of Christian s which
some at the church in Corinth were
denying Paul proceeding on the basis of
the resurrection of Christ and its
apparent implications for those who are
in him pointed out that the resurrection
of Believers is certain and
secure and again that is our hope is it
not not only that we're saved though we
are if we put our faith in Christ not
only that we're forgiven though we are
if we put our faith in Christ but that
we are going on to God's Eternal King
Kingdom a physical Kingdom where where
we will having put off the old will put
on the new living forever and worshiping
God forever in these new physical glorified
bodies Point number
six we're going to consider now the
prominence of the resurrection and by
that I mean um the importance of the
Resurrection in terms of the amount of
attention that's given throughout the
New Testament uh for instance the
apostles in order to to become Apostles
had to be eyewitnesses of of Christ and
his resurrected condition we see that in
Acts one here uh therefore it is
necessary that of the men who have
accompanied us all the time that the
Lord Jesus went in and out went in and
out Among Us beginning with the baptism
of John until the day that he was taken
up from us one of these must become a
witness with us of his resurrection and
they knew this was a requirement which
is why John would say things like this
other Apostles said things like this as
well this is the disciple who is bearing
witness to these things and wrote these
things and we know that his witness is
true the witness the eyewitness idea and
in giving their testimony as T notes
Here the apostles could not have had any
ulterior motive for proclaiming so
stupendous of fact they proclaimed
Christ's Resurrection at the risk of
their lives the disbelieving disciples
believed when they saw the Risen Christ
and became
indefatigable Heralds of the Resurrection
Resurrection
the prominence of the Resurrection is
also displayed and how often it's
mentioned in the scriptures and we've
gone through several specific examples
already but the resurrection is of
course prominently recorded in all four
gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John all
all four gospels if you put them all
together you see a very clear story of
an empty tomb and then the Lord's
post-resurrection appearances in bodily
form and then his exhortations
post-resurrection to his disciples and
then his eventual Ascension into heaven
then beyond the
gospels there's the book of Acts where
again the resurrection of of the Lord is
is featured prominently here's Peter's second
second
sermon uh following the the sermon at
Pentecost he says you denied the holy
and righteous one and asked for a murder
to be granted to you but put to death
the author of Life whom God raised from
the dead a fact to which we Are
Witnesses and it continued on as the
witness of Christ and and what he was
doing expanded throughout Jerusalem acts
4 and with great power the apostles were
bearing witness to the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon
them all here's Peter's testimony to to
Cornelius he says God raised him up on
the third day and granted that he appear
not to all the people but to Witnesses
who were chosen beforehand by God that
is to us and who ate and drank with him
after he arose from the dead it was
brought up at Paul's preaching here at
Antioch God raised him from the dead and
for many days he appeared to those who
came up with him From Galilee to
Jerusalem the very ones who are now his
witnesses to the people it came up at
Paul's preaching at Athens therefore
having overlooked the times of ignorance
God is now commanding men that everyone
everywhere should repent because he has
fixed a day in which he will judge the
world in righteousness through a man
whom he determined having furnished
proof to All by raising him from the
dead and then here's Paul's testimony
before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem but
knowing that one group were Sadducees
and the other Pharisees Paul began
crying out in the Sanhedrin Brothers I
am a Pharisee a son of Pharisees I am on
trial for the hope and resurrection of the
the
dead last one here in Acts Paul's
defense before agria I stand Here
bearing witness both the small and great
stating nothing but what the prophets
and Moses said was going to take place
that the Christ was to suffer and that
as first of the Resurrection from the
dead he was going to Proclaim light both
to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles
and of course we don't have time now but
you go through every single one of those
Epistles and you see references to the
resurrection over and over and over
we've got two more points to cover two
more Blanks on your worksheet here's
number seven the purposes of the
Resurrection under this heading we're
going to explore some of what the scriptures
scriptures
teach about the resurrection and how it
ties into our position before God and
specifically to to our
Salvation let begin begin with belief in
the the resurrection is a a bare minimum
truth that a person must trust and
believe in in order to be saved Romans
10:9 if you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead you
will be saved and that by the way is not
some some bald confession that's being
referred to here this is not merely
believing in the sense that you believe
that Montpelier is the capital of
Vermont it's not just intellectual
Ascent no this is confessing you see it
here Jesus as Lord which means
inherently that it's recognizing that
you are
not it's recognizing our need to be
saved look at the last word there which
stems from the the recognition that
without being saved we stand under God's
judgment and it's recognizing that
because he was brought to life we can be
brought to life and rendered free in
Christ but not free the way the world
thinks of free like like living the way
you want to live after you make your
profession of faith in him but rather
free from the shackles of sin which once
weighed you down and now free to put on
his yoke which is gentle and
light a person though only receives as
we see here the benefits of genuine
saving faith if they have True Heart
level belief at the most fundamental
level that God truly did raise him
raised Jesus from the
dead that's 1 Corinthians 15 in a nutshell
nutshell
now I make known to you Brothers The
Gospel which I proclaimed as good news
to you which also you received in which
also you stand by which also you are
saved if you hold fast the word which I
proclaimed to you as good news unless
you believed for nothing for I delivered
to you as a first importance what I also
received that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures and that he
was buried and that he was raised on the
third day according to the scriptures so
belief in the res res rection the
resurrection of Jesus Christ must underg
any true profession of faith we also
know that belief in the resurrection is
at the heart of the believer's
justification that is God's declaring
him righteous in his sight that's Romans
4:25 he who is delivered over on account
of our transgressions and was raised on
account of our justification in other
words only through a risen Christ can we
be deemed Justified before God which we
see summarized in these next couple of
quotes mun again says present day
Believers in the resurrected Christ that
is those who exercise faith in the
Divine promises as did Abraham of old
are justified by being given a standing
in righteousness and declared and
treated as such Forever by a holy God
John Murray says Jesus was delivered up
in order to atone for our sins and was
raised in order that we might be
justified Charles Feinberg notes that
Jesus's resurrection guarantees the
believer's justification the
resurrection of Christ proves Beyond a
doubt that God has accepted his death
for humankind as the full satisfaction
of his claims for human justification
and one more from
fineberg just as Christ was delivered up
on account of people's offenses because
they had grievously offended the
Holiness of God just so he was raised to
show that his death had fully and
completely availed for believers and
that now they stand in the presence of
God the Father Justified from all things
so the resurrection plays a role in our
justification and our Resurrection we're
going to see next plays a role in our
regeneration uh by the Holy Spirit which
is just really just another facet of the
whole entire salvation transaction if
you want to call it that where we go
from Darkness to light and from Death To
Life 1 Peter 1 blessed be the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ who
according to his great Mercy has caused
us to be born again that's regeneration
language to a Living Hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead so the resurrection is linked to our
our
justification the resurrection is linked
to our regeneration now we're going to
see the resurrection is linked to our
sanctification Romans 6 sanctification
growth as
Believers therefore we were buried with
him through baptism into death so that
as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the father so we
too might walk in newness of life for if
we had become United with him in the
likeness of his death certainly we shall
also be in the likeness of his
resurrection knowing this that our old
man was crucified with him in order that
our body of sin might be done away with
so that we would no longer be slaves to
sin this is sanctification
language and fineberg again picks up on
that he says through the death of Christ
positional sanctification that just
means salvation was affected for all
believers through the resurrection
experimental sanctification was made
possible that's a way of that's how we
would describe sanctification growing in
Christ in his death Christ died not only
for sin but he died to sin as well he
made it possible for believers to have
dominion over the power of
sin so on account of Our Risen Lord and
Savior who said I am the res
resurrection and the life we receive
spiritual sustenance through the same
power who raised Jesus from the dead of
the one who raised Jesus from the dead
we who have believed Upon Jesus Christ
have been given the ability to to live
for him and serve him and love him if
anyone's in Christ he's a new creation
the old things passed away behold new
things have come Galatians 2:20 I've
been crucified with Christ and is no
longer I who live but Christ who lives
in me and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself up for
me mckune again notes that spiritual
life and the hope it entails are
possible because Christ validated his
atoning work against sin which resulted
in his death by triumphantly raising
rising from the dead Resurrection Life
being made alive in Christ acrs to the
Christian because he has by Faith been
identified with Christ in his death and
Resurrection Christ's victory over sin
and death becomes the Believers as
well and then last one under this
heading of the purposes of the
Resurrection is that through our Lord's
Resurrection not only has Christ been
exalted which he has we see that here in
Ephesians 1 19- 21 I won't read the
whole thing but in addition to that the
of Jesus Christ is seen by God as being
there with Christ in his Resurrection
being raised up with him and being given
an exalted position in the heavenlies
with Christ that's Ephesians 2 but God
being rich in Mercy because of his great
love with which he loved us even when we
were dead in our transgressions made us
alive together with Christ by Grace you
have been saved and raised us up with
him and seated us with him in the
Heavenly places in Christ Jesus the
resurrection of Jesus Christ then is
tied directly in with our position
before God in our
Salvation in our
sanctification and one day in our our
glorification that brings us to our
eighth and final point this evening
which is the problem of no
Resurrection the problem of no
Resurrection in words what if Jesus
never Rose what if he didn't rise what
if he didn't what if he wasn't
resurrected what would the consequences
what would the Fallout be if Jesus
actually didn't rise from the grave if
his his bones are buried somewhere in
the Holy Land even today well first his
credibility would be completely
shot trust in his word and Trust in his
promises would be completely
eroded I mean think about it if he was
wrong about his his own Resurrection why
would we give any weight or authority to
any one of his teachings on on topics
like God or mankind or sin or judgment
or the need to to repent why why would
we any longer accept or Embrace even his
claims to be God remember his his
resurrection is linked to his
deity Romans 1:4 he's designated as the
Son of God in power according to the
spirit of Holiness by the resurrection
from the dead he's designated as the Son
of God by the resurrection from the dead
in other words if Jesus didn't actually
rise from the grave we would have no
reason to think of him as anything more
than a mere man A A A wise man but
ultimately an incorrect man a flawed man
a mere man not only that if Jesus didn't
actually rise from the grave uh the
gospel would be
defanged the the message of the Cross
would be totally without power and the
cross would ultimately be reduced to
this this tragic
failure 1 Corinthians 15:17 if Christ
has not been raised your faith is
worthless you were still in your
sins did you catch that with without a
resurrection there would be no
forgiveness of sins because without a
resurrection it means that Christ wasn't
who he claimed to be he wasn't truly God
and if he wasn't truly God that means he
was an inadequate substitute for the
sins of the world and he was unable to
pay the price for our
Redemption and further if Christ did not
rise bodily from the grave Our Hope
again of our own future Resurrection is
just a sad illusion it's this pitiful
Mirage if Jesus's body actually decayed
in some tomb on the outskirts of
Jerusalem if any trace of his bones were
ever discovered we would still be dead
in our sins and enslaved to the power of
death and if that's the case we are of
all men most to be pied
Floyd Berman
notes if he had not risen then his death
would be of no value in Saving Sinners
and the gospel would be ineffective a
save but Jesus's body we know will never be
be
found and not because of the Ingenuity
or the the Zeal of some Roman soldiers
or or or Jewish authorities not because
they dispensed of it or they moved it or
they got rid of it but rather because we
know without a doubt that Christ was
raised and we know that because right
after 1 Corinthians 159 which speaks of
the hopelessness and the despair of a
world in which Christ didn't rise the
every next verse says but now Christ has
been raised from the
dead and there lies our hope
hope
amen I said there lies our hope
amen I mean that's it I mean what are we
doing here if that I can't get an amen
out of that I mean that's there lies our
hope amen amen all right now we're
dead earlier this week um I visited with
a a dear member of our church it was it
wasn't dick Bert but thank you Mike for your
your
wonderful uh words and tribute for dick
it wasn't was n dick who I visited with
earlier this week but um I did me visit
with a member who's in Decline and his
uh his Earthly tent is giving away and
he's ready for the new one and he's
ready to meet the Lord and he has the
hope that we're talking about and it was
such a joy to sit with him because he's
got you know he's got oxygen in and he's
slowly but the joy is there
the joy is there not withstanding the
the discomfort he's going through um
even if it's a little harder to to move
and and
breathe the joy is is in that man and it
is something truly to
behold and it all ties back to that
man's Resurrection
hope he knows that the Lord rose he
knows that he is going to meet that
Risen Lord he knows he has been
transformed from Philippians 3:10 by the
Resurrection as I was uh driving away
from that man's house this
week I I couldn't help but think of a
quote I've read in different settings at
different times it's a quote from DL
evangelist he said someday you will read
dead don't you believe a word of
it at that moment I shall be more alive
than I am
now that which is born of the spirit
will live forever
forever
amen praise the Lord for his death
praise the Lord for his
resurrection praise the Lord for our
hope God thank you for this time this evening
God I know these studies on Sunday
nights in the summer can feel like we're
sitting in a classroom but I
do hope and trust that we all understand
that this is reality this is not just
scribbling down verses this is preparing for
for
Glory and God we have that glorious hope
we have that promise that we will one
day be with you the promise that dick
had and held to that he is rejoicing in
in the presence of his savior right now
the hope that the other brother that I
just mentioned is is walking in right
now God if we have believed upon the
name of Jesus all because of your great
love for us and preparing a way for us
and making a way for
us we can have this
hope we can have the hope not only that
Jesus died which he did and not only
that Jesus rose which he did and that
our sins can be forgiven which they
are but we know that we will one day
also rise
and we will one day be given these
perfect glorified resurrected bodies
that are suitable and fit for worshiping
you forever in glory oh what a day that
will be and we anticipate it with with
joy so God I do pray that these studies
would really get down to the heart of
everybody here for we who believed upon
the name of Christ I pray these studies
would just just grow us in our
anticipation of being with you forever
and for anyone here who doesn't know you
I pray that they'd be asking the hard
questions and doing some soul searching
and reaching out to somebody here to
ask like the Ethiopian unic what must I
do to be
saved God I pray that you would do a
good work in our midst this week May our
our sights and our gaze be fixed on you
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