This Changes Everything
The main question I want to ask you today is if the resurrection a powerless clique that you’ve heard your whole life, or a life changing reality that changes every aspect of your being and empowers you to be the person God has called you to be? This changes everything.
Has Easter become just another part of your life that it has lost its value?
Why we know that the resurrection is true
We need to discover why we know that the resurrection is true. Christianity stands or falls on the historical, bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead. No resurrection, no Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 15:17, Paul plainly writes, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”
So how do we know it is true? I have 7 reasons why we know the resurrection is true. First, the disciples radical change in their lives. If this is propaganda or a made up story, why paint the apostles, who the church was built upon, in such an embarrassing and negative light? Because it is the truth of what happened.
First, the cowards who ran are now emboldened and shameless. All of the apostles except for John were martyred for their faith in Christ. “Although people will die for a lie if they think it is the truth, they will not die for what they know to be a lie.” The disciples had NOTHING to gain from Jesus being God. They lost everything.
Second, the fact that women saw the tomb first.In the first century, women were not considered qualified witnesses in a legal proceeding. If you were to make up a story in the early church, surely you wouldn’t pick women to be the first ones to see him alive.
Third, changing the day of worship from the Sabbath to Sunday. For centuries Jewish law commanded the Sabbath, a day that is honored and kept sacred to the Lord. Yet something extraordinary happened around 30AD that caused a large group of Jews in Jerusalem to change their day of worship from the Sabbath to Sunday. That event is the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Fourth, the post-resurrection appearances. The New Testament records many times when Jesus appeared post resurrection (Matt 28; Luke 24; John 20–21; Acts 1; 1 Cor 15; Rev 1). The disciples claimed that Jesus appeared at different times and to different people. Some appearances were to groups while others were to individuals. We have eyewitness testimony in historically verified texts. People who physically laid eyes on the risen Jesus.
Fifth, the inability of the Jewish leaders and Romans to disprove the empty tomb. All they had to do to end all of this was produce a body. The could not, the tomb is empty.
Sixth, two skeptics finding faith. James was Jesus’ half-brother. John 7:5 tells us even his brothers did not believe in him. But in the book of Acts he is a leader in the church, who gets martyred for his faith! Paul of Tarsus, a violent prosecutor of the church is radically transformed and became the greatest evangelist to ever live writing a majority of the New Testament. He would also be martyred for this truth of Christ being alive.
And lastly, reliable eyewitness documents recording the events. The New Testament is the most well-authenticated document of antiquity, a fact no textual critic of any theological persuasion would deny. More than 5,600 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament exist. They have earlier dates and are more reliable than any other work of antiquity. Eyewitness followers of Jesus wrote many of them. No religion has in its sacred writings what Christians have in the New Testament.
Jesus actually rose from the dead and is ALIVE. It is true!
The resurrection matters
My second thought today is the resurrection matters. The definitive text on the resurrection is 1 Corinthians 15. It is both apologetic and theological in its treatment of this great truth. Both the death of Christ and His resurrection are part of the definition of the gospel. That gospel is that Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He was raised again—all according to the Scriptures. The resurrection itself is the crowning moment of the work of atonement provided by our Lord.
The resurrection confirms the truthfulness of Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Acts 2:22–24; Rom 1:3–4), and it provides hope for our own resurrection as believers in Him (Rom 6:8–9; 1 Cor 6:14; 15:20–28; 2 Cor 4:14; 5:10; Phil 3:21; 1 Thess 4:14; 1 John 3:2). The resurrection confirms God’s approval of Jesus—who He is and what He said. If Jesus rose from the dead then I can trust him about other things that I don’t know about.
The resurrection tells us that the God who raised Jesus from the dead exists. It establishes Jesus’ lordship. The resurrection promises victory over death (1 Cor. 15:55–57), and it is a pledge of God’s final judgment and justice of the earth (see Acts 17:31; Heb. 9:26–27).
Jesus said in John 10:18, “No one takes my life from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again.” Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, which all who believe in Him will enjoy (1 Cor 15:22). Christ has been raised for our justification (just as if we’ve never sinned) (Rom 4:25). Christ took our place, and without a perfect person in our place on the cross a debt is still owed. Salvation is possible because of what he did.
Jesus is the risen Lord. You can reject Him, but you cannot ignore Him. What Jesus did in rising from the dead demands a response. How will you respond to the risen Lord and King of the universe? It is a question that cannot be avoided.
The resurrection empowers
Lastly, the resurrection empowers. Romans 8:11 gives us an incredible truth: the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in: YOU. Do we understand what that means? We can’t possibly without true excitement and joy!
You are empowered to be the man or woman God has called you to be because of what Christ has done for you. 1 Cor. 15:57, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Whatever you are facing today I promise you that Christ is enough. If he can overcome the grave and death itself, you can overcome whatever the enemy is using to assault your life. No matter what is in your path at this moment: Christ is enough! The cross only has power because of the resurrection! When he walked out of that grave he gave you the power to walk out of yours. Through the resurrection, He gave you the power to walk:
Out of your past: whenever the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Romans 8:1, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Out of your current sin: The world tells you that you’ve made your bed and now you need to sleep in it, Jesus says take up your mat and walk! Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Out of whatever sullen destiny you think holds your future. What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Cor. 2:9
We need to recognize and walk in the power that God has for us. But we need to receive this for ourselves.
One of the most bizarre supreme court cases of all time happened in 1833. The United States vs George Wilson. The defendant, George Wilson pled guilty to several counts of robbery and the attempted murder of a mail driver.
In those days, these crimes were punishable by death and George Wilson was sentenced to die by hanging. President Andrew Jackson, for reasons unknown to us, issued George Wilson a full pardon. But then George Wilson, also for reasons unknown to us, refused the pardon and demanded to pay for his crimes. The warden told Wilson that he couldn’t execute him because he was pardoned by the president of the United States.
But George Wilson refused the pardon and contested the issue in court. The odd case went all the way to the supreme court and this was their public verdict:
“A pardon is an act of grace which exempts the individual on whom it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime he has committed. But a pardon is a contract, and a contract is not complete without acceptance. It may be rejected, and if it be rejected we have discovered no power in a court to force it on him.”
George Wilson was executed in 1834 with a presidential pardon sitting on the warden’s desk. Now, I am not sure if Chief Justice John Marshall who wrote that opinion was thinking of the gospels when he issued that ruling, but the Bible teaches the same thing about God’s pardon. A pardon is only valid if it is received. God has extended that pardon to you, but you are free, like George Wilson, to reject it.
But why would you? Why would you enter eternal punishment with Jesus blood shed on your behalf, sitting there on the desk. You can read this having heard these truths today and still reject it. Or you can accept your pardon and receive eternal life.