1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,320 There is an old epic, an old tale, 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,460 called the Epic of Gilgamesh. 3 00:00:05,460 --> 00:00:09,140 It's one of the earliest recorded writings of humans. 4 00:00:09,140 --> 00:00:12,480 And in the Epic of Gilgamesh, this Sumerian king 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,340 is on this mission, this journey, this quest, 6 00:00:15,340 --> 00:00:18,560 to find eternal life or immortality. 7 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,460 And he goes out, so from the very beginning of time 8 00:00:21,460 --> 00:00:24,940 in our written history and our written stories, 9 00:00:24,940 --> 00:00:28,400 we were looking at how can we live forever. 10 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,740 And you may, some of you guys, maybe if you took history 11 00:00:31,740 --> 00:00:34,740 or in high school or whatever, you remember the explorers 12 00:00:34,740 --> 00:00:36,540 and you had Christopher Columbus. 13 00:00:36,540 --> 00:00:38,420 Well, he also had a guy named Ponce de Leon 14 00:00:38,420 --> 00:00:43,420 and this legend formed around him as he went to the islands, 15 00:00:43,420 --> 00:00:45,220 the same islands that Christopher Columbus went 16 00:00:45,220 --> 00:00:48,220 in the Caribbean and then he also ventured his way 17 00:00:48,220 --> 00:00:52,740 on over to Florida and the legend formed 18 00:00:52,740 --> 00:00:54,740 that he was in search of what? 19 00:00:54,740 --> 00:00:56,900 The fountain of youth. 20 00:00:56,900 --> 00:00:58,940 The fountain of youth that would give him 21 00:00:58,940 --> 00:01:01,500 an eternal source of youthfulness 22 00:01:01,500 --> 00:01:04,420 that he would never have to get old and die. 23 00:01:05,660 --> 00:01:08,580 Jump to a little bit more modern era 24 00:01:08,580 --> 00:01:11,340 and you had Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade. 25 00:01:11,340 --> 00:01:13,100 Anyone watch that movie? 26 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:16,140 You had the quest for the holy grail, right? 27 00:01:16,140 --> 00:01:18,420 If you just get the grail and fill it up 28 00:01:18,420 --> 00:01:21,380 with some of that holy water and drink it, 29 00:01:21,380 --> 00:01:24,500 you too could live forever. 30 00:01:24,500 --> 00:01:28,060 We have been on this quest for immortality 31 00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:32,580 since as long as we've recorded things in writing 32 00:01:32,580 --> 00:01:35,780 and yet I wonder if the answer to this quest 33 00:01:35,780 --> 00:01:38,780 could be not in a legend or a story 34 00:01:38,780 --> 00:01:42,540 but instead in an actual historical event 35 00:01:42,540 --> 00:01:45,460 and more than just a historical event, 36 00:01:45,460 --> 00:01:50,460 a person that that event centers around 37 00:01:50,460 --> 00:01:53,140 and that person that we celebrate this morning, 38 00:01:53,140 --> 00:01:55,420 Jesus Christ. 39 00:01:55,420 --> 00:01:58,860 Could that be the answer that we've all been searching for? 40 00:02:00,180 --> 00:02:05,180 Revelation chapter one, verse 17 and 18 says this. 41 00:02:06,020 --> 00:02:09,340 John is having this vision and he sees the risen Lord 42 00:02:09,340 --> 00:02:13,500 and the Lord says to him, don't be afraid. 43 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:18,340 I am the first and the last and the living one. 44 00:02:18,340 --> 00:02:22,820 I was dead but look, I am alive forever and ever 45 00:02:22,820 --> 00:02:26,780 and I hold the keys to death and Hades. 46 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:31,820 Today we're going to look at this resurrection story. 47 00:02:31,820 --> 00:02:34,060 We're gonna look at this resurrection 48 00:02:34,060 --> 00:02:36,460 and begin to examine it and we're gonna be examined 49 00:02:36,460 --> 00:02:39,700 in under three points, the purpose of the resurrection, 50 00:02:39,700 --> 00:02:41,140 the proof of the resurrection 51 00:02:41,140 --> 00:02:43,260 and the power of the resurrection. 52 00:02:43,260 --> 00:02:46,380 And so first, the purpose of the resurrection. 53 00:02:46,380 --> 00:02:49,420 Why was the resurrection necessary? 54 00:02:49,420 --> 00:02:52,780 Why did God determine before time began 55 00:02:52,780 --> 00:02:55,900 that Christ would die and be resurrected? 56 00:02:56,940 --> 00:02:58,660 And the first point underneath the purpose 57 00:02:58,660 --> 00:03:00,780 of the resurrection I'll have you write down 58 00:03:00,780 --> 00:03:04,940 is that it validates Jesus's claims. 59 00:03:04,940 --> 00:03:07,300 It validates Jesus's claims. 60 00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:11,460 The first reason was in validating Jesus's claims, 61 00:03:11,460 --> 00:03:15,300 the resurrection proved them to be right 62 00:03:15,300 --> 00:03:18,620 because Jesus made a lot of claims about himself. 63 00:03:18,620 --> 00:03:21,260 Jesus said a lot of things 64 00:03:21,260 --> 00:03:25,260 that put a lot of people on edge, especially at his time. 65 00:03:25,260 --> 00:03:28,500 He claimed that he was the preexisting one. 66 00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:31,100 He said before Abraham, which was the patriarch 67 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:33,700 of their nation who had lived many, many, many, many, 68 00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:36,540 many years before the first century, 69 00:03:36,540 --> 00:03:40,700 Jesus said before Abraham, I am. 70 00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:44,180 And in saying I am, he invoked the name of God 71 00:03:44,180 --> 00:03:47,340 that was revealed to Moses back in Exodus. 72 00:03:47,340 --> 00:03:52,020 The name that says I am the preexisting one, the one. 73 00:03:52,020 --> 00:03:54,500 I am that I am. 74 00:03:54,500 --> 00:03:56,500 Jesus claimed to be that one. 75 00:03:57,660 --> 00:04:00,460 Jesus claimed that he had authority to forgive sins, 76 00:04:00,460 --> 00:04:03,020 something that was reserved for God alone. 77 00:04:03,020 --> 00:04:06,060 Jesus said that I and the Father are one. 78 00:04:07,140 --> 00:04:10,740 Jesus even made claims about his exclusivity, 79 00:04:10,740 --> 00:04:12,620 that it was only through him. 80 00:04:12,620 --> 00:04:16,860 He was the only way, the only truth and the only life. 81 00:04:16,860 --> 00:04:20,820 No one comes to the Father except through him. 82 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:27,540 He also said that he was the divine judge of all the world. 83 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:30,340 Again, something reserved for God. 84 00:04:31,900 --> 00:04:33,620 And so with all these claims, 85 00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:36,180 it leaves you wondering, was he right? 86 00:04:37,380 --> 00:04:38,620 Well, what's up with these claims? 87 00:04:38,620 --> 00:04:40,660 You can't just make those kind of claims 88 00:04:40,660 --> 00:04:42,220 and get away with it, can you? 89 00:04:42,220 --> 00:04:45,940 In fact, C.S. Lewis famously wrote, 90 00:04:45,940 --> 00:04:47,260 and others have wrestled with it, 91 00:04:47,260 --> 00:04:48,460 he wasn't the first one there, 92 00:04:48,460 --> 00:04:51,140 many before him had wrestled with this problem. 93 00:04:51,140 --> 00:04:54,340 And basically said, you can come down to, 94 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:56,660 originally it was three, the trilemma they called it, 95 00:04:56,660 --> 00:04:59,260 but there's a fourth one that we can add to it. 96 00:04:59,260 --> 00:05:03,100 You can come down to these four basic conclusions 97 00:05:03,100 --> 00:05:05,100 with all the claims that Jesus made. 98 00:05:05,100 --> 00:05:10,100 Either he was a liar or a lunatic 99 00:05:10,100 --> 00:05:11,100 or he was a legend. 100 00:05:12,940 --> 00:05:14,820 Maybe he was a lunatic, 101 00:05:16,180 --> 00:05:17,820 and if he wasn't any of those three, 102 00:05:17,820 --> 00:05:19,980 if you can dismiss all three of those, 103 00:05:19,980 --> 00:05:22,820 then what you're left with is he was Lord. 104 00:05:24,100 --> 00:05:25,380 He was Lord. 105 00:05:25,380 --> 00:05:26,300 Is he a liar? 106 00:05:26,300 --> 00:05:30,300 Is he a lunatic, a legend, or Lord? 107 00:05:31,260 --> 00:05:34,580 If Jesus knew that he was not God, 108 00:05:34,580 --> 00:05:38,420 but he claimed to be God, then he was a liar. 109 00:05:38,420 --> 00:05:40,900 And set aside the resurrection for a moment, 110 00:05:40,900 --> 00:05:42,460 he also made a lot of claims, 111 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:46,140 and we also look to Jesus, what, as a good moral teacher. 112 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:51,100 But does a good moral teacher lie about who he is? 113 00:05:51,100 --> 00:05:52,420 No. 114 00:05:52,420 --> 00:05:56,140 And so not only would the resurrection no longer be valid, 115 00:05:56,140 --> 00:05:58,300 but also all of his other claims 116 00:05:58,300 --> 00:05:59,860 to be a good moral teacher, 117 00:05:59,860 --> 00:06:02,820 you shouldn't listen to any of them if he's a liar. 118 00:06:03,940 --> 00:06:08,140 If he's a liar, then his claims have no value. 119 00:06:08,140 --> 00:06:09,220 Have no bearing. 120 00:06:10,740 --> 00:06:12,940 C.S. Lewis, in his dialogue in this, though, 121 00:06:12,940 --> 00:06:16,300 points out that the moral teachings in the life of Jesus 122 00:06:16,300 --> 00:06:18,620 were not consistent with someone 123 00:06:18,620 --> 00:06:21,340 who would be a deliberate liar, 124 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:24,420 essentially to extend a lie, 125 00:06:25,580 --> 00:06:28,860 to extend all the way to the place of dying this lie. 126 00:06:30,100 --> 00:06:31,620 But that's something you have to wrestle with, 127 00:06:31,620 --> 00:06:33,820 and some of you wrestle, was Jesus a liar? 128 00:06:35,180 --> 00:06:37,940 The other point is, was he a lunatic? 129 00:06:37,940 --> 00:06:39,940 See, it's one thing, Jesus is a liar 130 00:06:39,940 --> 00:06:41,580 if he knew he wasn't God, but claimed to. 131 00:06:41,580 --> 00:06:43,900 What if he thought he was God? 132 00:06:43,900 --> 00:06:47,340 What if he actually believed it and claimed to be? 133 00:06:48,220 --> 00:06:51,460 Well then he'd be a lunatic, he'd be delusional, right? 134 00:06:51,460 --> 00:06:54,260 If he wasn't actually God, he'd be delusional. 135 00:06:54,260 --> 00:06:57,300 And as Lewis points out, 136 00:06:57,300 --> 00:06:59,460 it's one thing to think that you're a poached egg 137 00:06:59,460 --> 00:07:02,580 just in search of a piece of toast to land on. 138 00:07:02,580 --> 00:07:06,140 It's a whole nother thing to think you're the son of God 139 00:07:06,140 --> 00:07:11,100 with all of these claims and to hold that over all of us. 140 00:07:11,100 --> 00:07:14,220 You wanna be a poached egg looking for toast, go for it. 141 00:07:14,220 --> 00:07:17,340 Have at it, get crazy. 142 00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:19,460 You wanna make the claims you made, 143 00:07:19,460 --> 00:07:22,620 you existed before everything, from you, 144 00:07:22,620 --> 00:07:24,780 everything was created. 145 00:07:24,780 --> 00:07:28,100 You wanna make the claim that you are the only way. 146 00:07:29,140 --> 00:07:31,620 You wanna make the claim that you're the divine judge 147 00:07:31,620 --> 00:07:32,860 of the whole world. 148 00:07:32,860 --> 00:07:34,700 There better be some proof. 149 00:07:35,660 --> 00:07:37,140 There better be some proof. 150 00:07:38,460 --> 00:07:42,460 Lewis notes that the wisdom and rationality 151 00:07:42,460 --> 00:07:45,740 evident in Jesus' teachings and actions and life 152 00:07:45,740 --> 00:07:48,380 do not align with the behavior 153 00:07:48,380 --> 00:07:50,380 of someone who was mentally ill. 154 00:07:52,180 --> 00:07:54,140 But maybe you wrestle with that, was he a liar? 155 00:07:54,140 --> 00:07:55,260 Was he a lunatic? 156 00:07:56,820 --> 00:07:58,060 Or was he a legend? 157 00:07:59,340 --> 00:08:01,220 Maybe you wrestle with the idea 158 00:08:01,220 --> 00:08:03,700 that maybe Jesus' life and his miracles 159 00:08:03,700 --> 00:08:06,700 and his claims to divinity were just exaggerated 160 00:08:06,700 --> 00:08:10,980 and mytholized over time by his followers 161 00:08:10,980 --> 00:08:14,620 who wanted to make him into something that he wasn't. 162 00:08:14,620 --> 00:08:17,620 Maybe Jesus was a historical figure, 163 00:08:17,620 --> 00:08:20,900 but all of the exaggerated divine claims about him 164 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:23,260 were all made by his followers 165 00:08:23,260 --> 00:08:25,700 either at that time or much later. 166 00:08:25,700 --> 00:08:28,900 Maybe Jesus was just a legend, at least the one 167 00:08:28,900 --> 00:08:31,300 that we have come to know. 168 00:08:33,740 --> 00:08:37,500 But if he's not a liar, if he's not a lunatic, 169 00:08:37,500 --> 00:08:41,500 and if he's not a legend, then Lewis says, 170 00:08:41,500 --> 00:08:43,860 after rejecting all those other ones, 171 00:08:43,860 --> 00:08:45,620 then you have to come to the conclusion 172 00:08:45,620 --> 00:08:47,100 that he must be Lord. 173 00:08:48,180 --> 00:08:50,060 And if he is Lord, 174 00:08:51,780 --> 00:08:55,060 then you would have to take every one of his claims 175 00:08:55,060 --> 00:08:58,620 and every one of his statements and see that he's Lord. 176 00:08:58,620 --> 00:09:01,780 And seriously consider them as true. 177 00:09:03,660 --> 00:09:08,220 The resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate this morning, 178 00:09:09,180 --> 00:09:13,860 if it happened, means that all Jesus' claims 179 00:09:13,860 --> 00:09:15,740 must be taken seriously. 180 00:09:17,700 --> 00:09:21,900 The late Dr. Timothy Keller has a quote that said, 181 00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:25,140 if Jesus rose from the dead, 182 00:09:25,140 --> 00:09:28,580 then you have to accept all that he said. 183 00:09:28,580 --> 00:09:30,780 If he didn't rise from the dead, 184 00:09:30,780 --> 00:09:33,460 then why worry about any of what he said? 185 00:09:34,620 --> 00:09:37,140 The issue on which everything hangs 186 00:09:37,140 --> 00:09:40,140 is not whether or not you like his teaching, 187 00:09:40,140 --> 00:09:44,140 but whether or not he rose from the dead. 188 00:09:45,140 --> 00:09:47,340 It's the crux of the issue. 189 00:09:48,660 --> 00:09:53,500 And so the resurrection is put out there 190 00:09:53,500 --> 00:09:56,860 as a way to validate Jesus' claims. 191 00:09:56,860 --> 00:09:59,300 If the resurrection happened, 192 00:09:59,300 --> 00:10:01,100 then you have to take him seriously. 193 00:10:02,380 --> 00:10:04,860 And I believe that the resurrection did happen 194 00:10:04,860 --> 00:10:09,180 for that very reason, to validate all that Jesus said. 195 00:10:09,180 --> 00:10:11,540 But I think it also happened for another reason. 196 00:10:12,500 --> 00:10:16,300 The second reason why the resurrection had to take place 197 00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:20,020 is it was a part of God's purpose from the beginning 198 00:10:20,020 --> 00:10:23,580 that he was going to remake everything, 199 00:10:23,580 --> 00:10:27,180 that God was going to renew everything, 200 00:10:27,180 --> 00:10:30,060 that God was making all things new. 201 00:10:31,180 --> 00:10:35,580 See, man had fallen into sin and chaos, 202 00:10:35,580 --> 00:10:38,100 and the world had been corrupted by sin 203 00:10:38,100 --> 00:10:40,980 from the very beginning in our first parents, Adam and Eve, 204 00:10:40,980 --> 00:10:43,060 but then it translated all the way down 205 00:10:43,060 --> 00:10:44,700 through the generations to you and I, 206 00:10:44,700 --> 00:10:47,740 and every one of us has sinned and fallen short 207 00:10:47,740 --> 00:10:49,420 of what God made us to be. 208 00:10:49,420 --> 00:10:53,300 And the penalty for sin, according to the Bible, is what? 209 00:10:53,300 --> 00:10:54,140 Death. 210 00:10:54,140 --> 00:10:56,420 The penalty for sin is death, 211 00:10:56,420 --> 00:10:57,860 and we have all fallen short, 212 00:10:57,860 --> 00:11:02,860 and therefore we all are owed for our labor of falling short. 213 00:11:02,860 --> 00:11:07,860 We're owed the wages of death, every one of us. 214 00:11:09,340 --> 00:11:11,940 But God, in his infinite wisdom, 215 00:11:11,940 --> 00:11:13,460 before time had even began, 216 00:11:13,460 --> 00:11:15,580 could look down through the passages of time 217 00:11:15,580 --> 00:11:17,180 and see what was going to happen, 218 00:11:17,180 --> 00:11:22,180 and determine in advance in what was classified in Hebrews 219 00:11:22,180 --> 00:11:27,180 as an everlasting covenant that God made within himself, 220 00:11:27,260 --> 00:11:29,420 a covenant that he made that he would send 221 00:11:29,420 --> 00:11:30,860 his one and only son, 222 00:11:30,860 --> 00:11:34,100 and the divine nature would be united together 223 00:11:34,100 --> 00:11:36,860 with the human nature in one person, Jesus Christ, 224 00:11:36,860 --> 00:11:39,300 and Jesus would live out his life, 225 00:11:39,300 --> 00:11:41,020 and he would go to the cross, 226 00:11:41,020 --> 00:11:42,180 and there on the cross, 227 00:11:42,180 --> 00:11:45,300 he would pay the penalty for our sins. 228 00:11:45,300 --> 00:11:47,380 That he would redeem humanity. 229 00:11:48,820 --> 00:11:50,140 But it wasn't going to stop there. 230 00:11:50,140 --> 00:11:52,940 His plan was never to end at redemption, 231 00:11:52,940 --> 00:11:55,100 but it was also to remake everything, 232 00:11:55,100 --> 00:11:58,460 to restore all that was broken. 233 00:12:00,940 --> 00:12:03,180 Acts three in a famous passage, 234 00:12:03,180 --> 00:12:06,140 a preaching in the early church, 235 00:12:06,140 --> 00:12:08,340 the preachers there talk about how God, 236 00:12:08,340 --> 00:12:10,700 Christ had ascended after his resurrection, 237 00:12:10,700 --> 00:12:13,580 had ascended up to heaven in order that he would 238 00:12:13,580 --> 00:12:16,740 come back to heaven in order that he might complete 239 00:12:16,740 --> 00:12:19,820 the work of restoring all things. 240 00:12:19,820 --> 00:12:21,940 And in 2 Corinthians chapter five, 241 00:12:21,940 --> 00:12:24,980 we're told that if anyone is in Christ, 242 00:12:24,980 --> 00:12:27,220 they are a new creation. 243 00:12:28,420 --> 00:12:33,260 God had looked for what eternity was to be for us, 244 00:12:33,260 --> 00:12:34,100 and he said, you know what, 245 00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:37,260 we're gonna start it with Christ. 246 00:12:38,420 --> 00:12:41,220 And that anyone who enters into that relationship 247 00:12:41,220 --> 00:12:44,220 trusting in him can join with him 248 00:12:44,220 --> 00:12:46,580 in that eternal life today. 249 00:12:46,580 --> 00:12:50,100 Can begin to live in the eternity, in the life today. 250 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:54,780 I'm gonna read a quote from a scholar, N.T. Wright, 251 00:12:54,780 --> 00:12:58,540 who's probably written one of the great works 252 00:12:58,540 --> 00:13:01,980 on the resurrection, and he says, 253 00:13:01,980 --> 00:13:04,100 the message of the resurrection 254 00:13:04,100 --> 00:13:07,380 is that this world actually matters. 255 00:13:07,380 --> 00:13:10,460 That the injustices and pains of this present world 256 00:13:10,460 --> 00:13:12,940 must now be addressed with the news 257 00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:16,140 that healing, justice, and love has won. 258 00:13:17,140 --> 00:13:19,980 If Easter means Jesus Christ is only raised 259 00:13:19,980 --> 00:13:24,020 in a spiritual sense, then it is only for me 260 00:13:24,020 --> 00:13:26,620 and for me to find some new dimension 261 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:29,580 in my own personal life. 262 00:13:29,580 --> 00:13:32,940 But if Christ, Jesus Christ has truly risen from the dead, 263 00:13:32,940 --> 00:13:34,820 bodily risen from the dead, 264 00:13:34,820 --> 00:13:38,300 Christianity becomes good news for the whole world. 265 00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:42,060 News which warms our hearts precisely because 266 00:13:42,060 --> 00:13:45,740 it is just the kind of news that isn't intended to. 267 00:13:48,060 --> 00:13:51,260 And yet, we find new life in Christ. 268 00:13:51,260 --> 00:13:53,380 And it's not the kind of life that is 269 00:13:53,380 --> 00:13:55,700 some sort of out of balance that says 270 00:13:55,700 --> 00:13:58,700 the physical world doesn't matter, 271 00:13:58,700 --> 00:14:02,060 or the spiritual world is all that matters. 272 00:14:02,060 --> 00:14:05,780 We can go to those extremes as many have throughout history 273 00:14:05,780 --> 00:14:08,380 and say the goal of life is to leave the body 274 00:14:08,380 --> 00:14:11,980 in the physical and find your home in the spiritual, 275 00:14:11,980 --> 00:14:14,180 to ascend above the physical. 276 00:14:14,180 --> 00:14:15,980 And others have gone to the other extreme 277 00:14:15,980 --> 00:14:20,260 and say forget the spiritual, there's nothing else. 278 00:14:20,260 --> 00:14:22,300 All you got is this life. 279 00:14:22,300 --> 00:14:24,420 Maximize it, squeeze it for all it's got 280 00:14:24,420 --> 00:14:26,620 because once it's over, it's over. 281 00:14:26,620 --> 00:14:28,540 And then you're just worm food. 282 00:14:31,140 --> 00:14:34,500 Those are the extremes and yet the true gospel says no, 283 00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:37,100 there is a purpose still for the created world. 284 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:39,700 There is a purpose still for the body. 285 00:14:39,700 --> 00:14:44,700 God is remaking and renewing what is to become what we'll be. 286 00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:46,580 And there is a purpose for the spirit 287 00:14:46,580 --> 00:14:48,660 because this isn't the only thing. 288 00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:51,260 There's something that comes after this 289 00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:56,420 in which we're being invited into in the resurrection. 290 00:14:56,420 --> 00:15:01,420 God aims to make all things new, to restore all things. 291 00:15:01,420 --> 00:15:04,420 This means God hasn't abandoned creation either. 292 00:15:04,420 --> 00:15:06,900 Yes, creation has fallen into chaos. 293 00:15:06,900 --> 00:15:10,620 Yes, creation is marred by sin and death, 294 00:15:10,620 --> 00:15:12,740 but God hasn't abandoned it. 295 00:15:12,740 --> 00:15:16,820 Creation is still good and worth redeeming. 296 00:15:16,820 --> 00:15:19,540 And therefore, that is what the resurrection represents. 297 00:15:19,540 --> 00:15:22,340 It's the first fruits of the redemption. 298 00:15:22,340 --> 00:15:24,900 It's the first actions of what God is doing 299 00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:26,860 to make all things new. 300 00:15:26,860 --> 00:15:29,700 It's where we can look, to look with hope and say 301 00:15:29,700 --> 00:15:31,700 we see it in his resurrection 302 00:15:31,700 --> 00:15:35,300 and therefore we can see it coming in all things. 303 00:15:37,300 --> 00:15:42,300 The resurrection was a miraculous display of God's power, 304 00:15:42,380 --> 00:15:45,620 but it wasn't a suspension of the natural order 305 00:15:45,620 --> 00:15:47,420 of this world. 306 00:15:47,420 --> 00:15:49,940 Rather, it was the beginning of the restoration 307 00:15:49,940 --> 00:15:52,140 of the natural order of this world, 308 00:15:52,140 --> 00:16:00,140 back to what God had always intended. 309 00:16:00,140 --> 00:16:03,980 Number two, the purpose of the resurrection, 310 00:16:03,980 --> 00:16:08,140 to validate Jesus' claims and to show that God 311 00:16:08,140 --> 00:16:09,580 is making all things new. 312 00:16:09,580 --> 00:16:10,780 Number two, the proof. 313 00:16:10,780 --> 00:16:12,940 What is the proof of the resurrection? 314 00:16:12,940 --> 00:16:14,460 I'm gonna read to you a passage out of 315 00:16:14,460 --> 00:16:19,460 1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning in verse one. 316 00:16:19,620 --> 00:16:21,060 This is Paul speaking and he said, 317 00:16:21,060 --> 00:16:24,740 now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, 318 00:16:24,740 --> 00:16:27,740 the gospel I preach to you, which you received, 319 00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:29,900 and on which you have taken your stand 320 00:16:29,900 --> 00:16:31,740 and by which you are being saved 321 00:16:31,740 --> 00:16:34,380 if you hold to the message I preach to you, 322 00:16:34,380 --> 00:16:36,660 unless you believed in vain. 323 00:16:36,660 --> 00:16:40,140 For I passed on to you as most important 324 00:16:40,140 --> 00:16:44,380 what I also received, that Christ died for our sins 325 00:16:44,380 --> 00:16:47,540 according to the scripture, that he was buried 326 00:16:47,540 --> 00:16:49,620 and that he was raised on the third day 327 00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:53,180 according to the scripture, and that he appeared to Cephas, 328 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:57,300 then to the 12, then he appeared to over 500 brothers 329 00:16:57,300 --> 00:17:01,780 and sisters at one time, most of them are still alive, 330 00:17:01,780 --> 00:17:04,460 but some have fallen asleep. 331 00:17:04,460 --> 00:17:08,380 And then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles 332 00:17:08,380 --> 00:17:11,460 and last of all, as one, born at the wrong time, 333 00:17:11,460 --> 00:17:13,220 he also appeared to me. 334 00:17:13,220 --> 00:17:18,220 Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, 335 00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:23,300 how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 336 00:17:23,300 --> 00:17:25,380 If there is no resurrection of the dead, 337 00:17:25,380 --> 00:17:27,660 then not even Christ has been raised. 338 00:17:27,660 --> 00:17:29,540 And if Christ has not been raised, 339 00:17:29,540 --> 00:17:33,620 then our proclamation is in vain and so is your faith. 340 00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:38,660 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God 341 00:17:38,660 --> 00:17:41,260 because we have testified wrongly about God 342 00:17:41,260 --> 00:17:44,180 that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise 343 00:17:44,180 --> 00:17:47,380 if in fact the dead are not raised. 344 00:17:47,380 --> 00:17:49,500 For if the dead are not raised, 345 00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:51,540 not even Christ has been raised. 346 00:17:51,540 --> 00:17:53,540 And if Christ has not been raised, 347 00:17:53,540 --> 00:17:57,940 your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins. 348 00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:02,020 Those then who have fallen asleep in Christ 349 00:18:02,020 --> 00:18:04,100 have also perished. 350 00:18:04,100 --> 00:18:08,100 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, 351 00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:11,100 we should be pitied more than anyone. 352 00:18:14,180 --> 00:18:16,700 Paul, speaking to the church in Corinth, 353 00:18:16,700 --> 00:18:21,700 is basically saying if Christ did not rise from the dead, 354 00:18:21,700 --> 00:18:23,900 then this message is worthless, the faith is worthless, 355 00:18:23,900 --> 00:18:26,740 very similar to what Tim Keller had caught on to there 356 00:18:26,740 --> 00:18:29,900 talking about if he rose from the dead, 357 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:32,180 then all his claims we have to take seriously. 358 00:18:32,180 --> 00:18:34,620 If he didn't rise, then why take any of them? 359 00:18:34,620 --> 00:18:36,580 And so we know the story. 360 00:18:37,460 --> 00:18:41,220 We know the story of the resurrection, or most of us do, 361 00:18:41,220 --> 00:18:44,220 that Christ died on the cross, 362 00:18:45,180 --> 00:18:48,300 and in a rush, they hurriedly took his body down 363 00:18:48,300 --> 00:18:51,220 in preparation for the Passover, 364 00:18:51,220 --> 00:18:54,020 and they buried him in a tomb 365 00:18:54,020 --> 00:18:57,620 and rolled a big stone in front of the passageway 366 00:18:57,620 --> 00:19:01,220 in order that no one could come and take his body 367 00:19:01,220 --> 00:19:04,860 to make any claims about Jesus. 368 00:19:04,860 --> 00:19:06,540 And with that stone in front, 369 00:19:06,540 --> 00:19:10,140 early on that Easter morning, that first Easter morning, 370 00:19:10,140 --> 00:19:12,980 some women went out to the grave, 371 00:19:12,980 --> 00:19:15,940 and they were prepared to add spices to the grave 372 00:19:15,940 --> 00:19:17,340 as they were supposed to, 373 00:19:17,340 --> 00:19:20,460 it was very common for the ritual of burial at that time, 374 00:19:20,460 --> 00:19:22,980 and because he had been hurriedly taken down from the cross 375 00:19:22,980 --> 00:19:25,300 and rushed to the grave, all the preparations, 376 00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:27,060 all the things that they were needed to do, 377 00:19:27,060 --> 00:19:28,420 they were prepared to do. 378 00:19:28,420 --> 00:19:31,420 And so they went out there with the hope that they could 379 00:19:31,420 --> 00:19:35,420 somehow prepare his body for its resting place. 380 00:19:36,820 --> 00:19:40,620 When they arrive, what do they find? 381 00:19:40,620 --> 00:19:44,580 Those women find that the stone has been rolled away, 382 00:19:45,460 --> 00:19:48,140 and in one gospel account that there's an angel 383 00:19:48,140 --> 00:19:49,980 sitting upon that stone, 384 00:19:51,140 --> 00:19:53,620 the angel sitting upon the stone, 385 00:19:53,620 --> 00:19:56,060 saying he's not gonna die, he's gonna die, 386 00:19:56,060 --> 00:19:59,340 sitting upon the stone, saying he's not here. 387 00:20:00,540 --> 00:20:02,420 The grave is empty. 388 00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:05,580 The grave is no longer there. 389 00:20:05,580 --> 00:20:08,180 And so what you have at this beginning 390 00:20:08,180 --> 00:20:11,500 of the very story of resurrection 391 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:15,300 is you have women who have come as the first witnesses. 392 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:19,460 And back to our idea of the purpose of the resurrection, 393 00:20:19,460 --> 00:20:21,460 if the purpose of the resurrection, 394 00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:23,300 if it was really just a legend, 395 00:20:23,300 --> 00:20:25,660 if it was something that was created by his followers, 396 00:20:25,660 --> 00:20:28,580 one thing you would not do at that time in the first century 397 00:20:28,580 --> 00:20:32,620 is you would not have women being the first eyewitnesses 398 00:20:32,620 --> 00:20:35,060 to the resurrection of Jesus. 399 00:20:36,140 --> 00:20:39,900 Because women at that time were not held at the high value, 400 00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:43,900 and they did, their reputation and their witness, 401 00:20:43,900 --> 00:20:47,900 their testimony was not taken with any seriousness. 402 00:20:48,860 --> 00:20:50,740 And so if you're going to write a good legend, 403 00:20:50,740 --> 00:20:52,300 you're not going to put women 404 00:20:52,300 --> 00:20:54,020 as the first ones to witness it. 405 00:20:54,020 --> 00:20:57,420 That'd be a surefire way for people to write it off. 406 00:20:57,420 --> 00:20:58,820 Say, oh, well, you said it was women. 407 00:20:58,820 --> 00:21:01,700 Women, we don't trust their word. 408 00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:06,740 And so the proof of the resurrection begins with a story 409 00:21:06,740 --> 00:21:08,580 that has women as the eyewitnesses, 410 00:21:08,580 --> 00:21:13,340 the first eyewitnesses, but it goes so much deeper than that. 411 00:21:16,140 --> 00:21:18,980 There are four ancient biographies that are written 412 00:21:18,980 --> 00:21:21,900 about the life and death of Jesus. 413 00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:24,140 These four ancient biographies, 414 00:21:24,140 --> 00:21:26,500 they're all written by eyewitnesses, 415 00:21:26,500 --> 00:21:29,060 and they're all based upon eyewitness testimony. 416 00:21:30,180 --> 00:21:33,540 And not only that, but these writings were circulated 417 00:21:33,540 --> 00:21:36,980 among people while the eyewitnesses were still alive, 418 00:21:36,980 --> 00:21:39,980 which means if someone had fabricated any stories, 419 00:21:39,980 --> 00:21:41,180 they could raise their hand and go, 420 00:21:41,180 --> 00:21:42,940 nope, that's not how it went. 421 00:21:42,940 --> 00:21:44,980 Rewrite it, rewrite it. 422 00:21:45,900 --> 00:21:49,700 But instead, these gospel accounts are circulated 423 00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:51,580 as eyewitnesses are still alive. 424 00:21:51,580 --> 00:21:54,500 And every single one of these biographies, 425 00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:55,980 these four ancient biographies, 426 00:21:55,980 --> 00:21:57,540 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 427 00:21:57,540 --> 00:22:01,500 every one of them claim that Jesus rose from the dead. 428 00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:07,100 In addition to that, you have pagan and Jewish writers 429 00:22:07,100 --> 00:22:10,140 who are outside of the Christian world, 430 00:22:10,140 --> 00:22:13,780 and they report that Christians believe 431 00:22:13,780 --> 00:22:17,620 that Jesus rose from the dead, contemporary writers. 432 00:22:18,740 --> 00:22:21,380 You also have many of the principal eyewitnesses 433 00:22:21,380 --> 00:22:23,260 to the resurrection of Jesus. 434 00:22:23,260 --> 00:22:27,780 They died because of their claim that Jesus had resurrected. 435 00:22:29,020 --> 00:22:33,140 Now, we all know that some people will die for a cause. 436 00:22:33,140 --> 00:22:36,020 They'll get behind a cause and they'll die for it, 437 00:22:36,020 --> 00:22:38,900 but will people just die for a set of facts? 438 00:22:40,300 --> 00:22:44,060 Oftentimes people, at this time, the early church, 439 00:22:44,060 --> 00:22:46,540 were taken to the place of their death 440 00:22:46,540 --> 00:22:50,300 simply because they claimed that their God rose from the dead. 441 00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:55,220 That claim alone was enough to get early Christians killed, 442 00:22:55,220 --> 00:23:00,180 simply saying, my God died and was raised to life. 443 00:23:00,180 --> 00:23:02,780 And yet we have story after story 444 00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:05,020 and eyewitness after eyewitness 445 00:23:06,020 --> 00:23:11,020 who were willing to die for that set of facts, 446 00:23:11,100 --> 00:23:14,620 that he did die and he did rise. 447 00:23:14,620 --> 00:23:17,820 They went to their graves rather than to say 448 00:23:17,820 --> 00:23:20,460 that those facts were untrue. 449 00:23:22,020 --> 00:23:23,940 Also have the historical evidence. 450 00:23:23,940 --> 00:23:26,340 If you were to weigh the historical evidence 451 00:23:26,340 --> 00:23:30,100 related to the resurrection with an objectivity 452 00:23:30,100 --> 00:23:34,540 in the way that we would weigh any old ancient claims, 453 00:23:34,540 --> 00:23:37,220 then you would find that the historical evidence shows 454 00:23:37,220 --> 00:23:38,860 that the grave was empty, 455 00:23:38,860 --> 00:23:41,700 the grave clothes were neatly left behind, 456 00:23:41,700 --> 00:23:45,620 the stone enclosing the tomb was rolled away, 457 00:23:45,620 --> 00:23:47,860 the body of Jesus was never found, 458 00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:50,180 the grave was guarded by Roman soldiers 459 00:23:50,180 --> 00:23:53,580 and no one ever claimed to have stolen the body. 460 00:23:55,980 --> 00:23:56,820 There's more. 461 00:23:59,740 --> 00:24:03,100 Jesus appeared to quite a few people 462 00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:04,540 even after his resurrection. 463 00:24:04,540 --> 00:24:08,300 He appeared to men and women, individuals, couples, groups, 464 00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:09,620 one large crowd. 465 00:24:09,620 --> 00:24:12,340 He was physically touched, he was audibly heard, 466 00:24:12,340 --> 00:24:13,660 he was visually seen, 467 00:24:13,660 --> 00:24:16,140 he ate food in the presence of witnesses 468 00:24:16,140 --> 00:24:17,900 and none of these witnesses believed 469 00:24:17,900 --> 00:24:21,100 that Jesus was going to rise from the dead before he did. 470 00:24:22,740 --> 00:24:27,340 And yet they claimed after, that's exactly what he did. 471 00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:34,180 You've ever thought about even the idea 472 00:24:34,180 --> 00:24:37,140 and confronted the proofs of the resurrection, 473 00:24:37,140 --> 00:24:40,580 then you know that many people have arguments 474 00:24:40,580 --> 00:24:42,900 and claims that they like to make against it. 475 00:24:42,900 --> 00:24:45,020 But one of the things that I think is really encouraging 476 00:24:45,020 --> 00:24:48,420 to me is that our God is not afraid of that. 477 00:24:48,420 --> 00:24:52,140 He's put plenty of evidence out there and proof. 478 00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:54,500 We tend to think of faith as this thing 479 00:24:54,500 --> 00:24:57,060 that we're supposed to just believe no matter what. 480 00:24:57,060 --> 00:24:59,740 We're to believe it with no evidence whatsoever 481 00:24:59,740 --> 00:25:01,860 and just believe it, just believe it. 482 00:25:01,860 --> 00:25:03,660 And yet God didn't see it that way 483 00:25:03,660 --> 00:25:05,340 with regard to the resurrection. 484 00:25:05,340 --> 00:25:08,940 Even Paul writing later in that passage out of Corinthian 485 00:25:08,940 --> 00:25:11,700 says, you've got to settle on this. 486 00:25:11,700 --> 00:25:14,340 Christ actually was raised from the dead. 487 00:25:14,340 --> 00:25:17,100 If you don't believe that, if you can't come to that place, 488 00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:18,420 then your faith is worthless. 489 00:25:18,420 --> 00:25:22,460 Because without that, none of the other stuff matters. 490 00:25:22,460 --> 00:25:25,340 And what we find is that God made it possible 491 00:25:25,340 --> 00:25:29,740 with regard to the resurrection to actually verify it, 492 00:25:29,740 --> 00:25:31,140 to actually go to the source. 493 00:25:31,140 --> 00:25:33,940 If you will go with an objective heart, 494 00:25:33,940 --> 00:25:37,060 seeking to actually hear the truth, 495 00:25:37,060 --> 00:25:40,100 all the breadcrumbs are there to lead you to the truth 496 00:25:40,100 --> 00:25:42,660 that Jesus actually rose from the dead. 497 00:25:42,660 --> 00:25:46,420 He died and he rose from the dead. 498 00:25:47,740 --> 00:25:49,020 In fact, even in the narrative, 499 00:25:49,020 --> 00:25:52,180 if you remember the narrative of the stone rolled away 500 00:25:52,180 --> 00:25:55,220 and the fact that Jesus had passed through the grave clothes 501 00:25:55,220 --> 00:25:57,500 because they were left neatly folded there 502 00:25:57,500 --> 00:25:59,220 on the burial bench. 503 00:25:59,220 --> 00:26:01,380 Jesus had passed through and left it there. 504 00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:02,780 He hadn't ripped them off and tore them. 505 00:26:02,780 --> 00:26:05,140 There wasn't burial clothes all over the room. 506 00:26:05,140 --> 00:26:07,300 Instead, they were nicely folded 507 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:09,380 right where his body would have laid. 508 00:26:09,380 --> 00:26:11,060 And when the late women showed up 509 00:26:11,060 --> 00:26:13,620 and the tomb was rolled away, right? 510 00:26:13,620 --> 00:26:16,900 If Jesus could pass through the grave clothes 511 00:26:16,900 --> 00:26:18,860 to leave them perfectly folded, 512 00:26:18,860 --> 00:26:21,220 did Jesus need the stone to be rolled away? 513 00:26:22,380 --> 00:26:23,860 No. 514 00:26:23,860 --> 00:26:25,820 So why was the stone rolled away? 515 00:26:27,380 --> 00:26:29,820 The stone was rolled away so we could see. 516 00:26:31,140 --> 00:26:33,420 God said, I wanna show you. 517 00:26:33,420 --> 00:26:35,740 I want you to see how amazing this is 518 00:26:35,740 --> 00:26:38,300 that he's no longer in the tomb. 519 00:26:38,300 --> 00:26:41,540 Ain't no grave gonna hold his body down. 520 00:26:41,540 --> 00:26:44,460 The stone has been rolled away, 521 00:26:44,460 --> 00:26:46,620 not so that Jesus could get up and walk through. 522 00:26:46,620 --> 00:26:50,660 We know later on that he appeared in a room. 523 00:26:50,660 --> 00:26:52,420 He just appeared there. 524 00:26:54,380 --> 00:26:59,380 The stone was rolled away so that we could come and see. 525 00:27:01,260 --> 00:27:03,900 Even this many years later, 526 00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:06,380 God still invites us to trust in him 527 00:27:06,380 --> 00:27:08,860 and he invites us to verify. 528 00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:10,180 Trust but verify. 529 00:27:11,380 --> 00:27:13,660 If you are here and you have doubted 530 00:27:13,660 --> 00:27:15,500 the story of the resurrection 531 00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:17,580 and any of this starts to kind of bubble within you 532 00:27:17,580 --> 00:27:19,300 and you have questions and you start to think, 533 00:27:19,300 --> 00:27:22,620 yeah, but what about, I encourage you, go on that search. 534 00:27:22,620 --> 00:27:23,740 Go on the journey. 535 00:27:23,740 --> 00:27:25,540 The evidence can handle it. 536 00:27:25,540 --> 00:27:26,700 God can handle it. 537 00:27:26,700 --> 00:27:28,140 He can handle your questions. 538 00:27:28,140 --> 00:27:29,180 He can handle your doubting. 539 00:27:29,180 --> 00:27:31,340 He can handle your wrestling. 540 00:27:31,340 --> 00:27:33,380 Go on that journey. 541 00:27:33,380 --> 00:27:36,540 Because I believe the answer will come out. 542 00:27:36,540 --> 00:27:39,620 The resurrection is true and if the resurrection is true, 543 00:27:40,980 --> 00:27:42,980 then you have to take Jesus seriously. 544 00:27:46,260 --> 00:27:48,620 Number three, the power of the resurrection. 545 00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:55,900 Romans chapter eight, verse 10 and 11 says, 546 00:27:55,900 --> 00:28:00,460 now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, 547 00:28:00,460 --> 00:28:03,620 but the spirit gives life because of righteousness. 548 00:28:03,620 --> 00:28:06,580 And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead 549 00:28:06,580 --> 00:28:10,340 lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead 550 00:28:10,340 --> 00:28:13,580 will also bring your mortal bodies to life 551 00:28:13,580 --> 00:28:18,580 through his spirit who lives in you. 552 00:28:18,660 --> 00:28:20,380 The power of the resurrection is that 553 00:28:20,380 --> 00:28:22,700 Jesus is just the first fruits. 554 00:28:23,740 --> 00:28:26,180 Jesus is just the first one to go there 555 00:28:26,180 --> 00:28:28,380 but is inviting all the sons and daughters 556 00:28:28,380 --> 00:28:30,620 who are in Christ who come after 557 00:28:30,620 --> 00:28:32,420 to experience the same power, 558 00:28:32,420 --> 00:28:35,220 the same power that raised Jesus from the dead 559 00:28:35,220 --> 00:28:38,420 to experience that new life today. 560 00:28:38,420 --> 00:28:39,460 You don't even have to die. 561 00:28:39,460 --> 00:28:40,300 You don't have to wait. 562 00:28:40,300 --> 00:28:42,900 The new life can be yours today. 563 00:28:43,780 --> 00:28:45,300 Jesus was the pioneer. 564 00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:47,700 He was the perfecter of faith. 565 00:28:48,940 --> 00:28:52,620 That word pioneer is that Greek word archegos 566 00:28:52,620 --> 00:28:56,620 and it means one who goes before a leader or a champion. 567 00:28:56,620 --> 00:29:01,620 It's good down. 568 00:29:02,340 --> 00:29:03,180 It's all good. 569 00:29:07,620 --> 00:29:09,780 It says in Hebrews chapter two, 570 00:29:10,980 --> 00:29:14,220 in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, 571 00:29:14,220 --> 00:29:18,140 it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom 572 00:29:18,140 --> 00:29:21,500 everything exists, should make the archegos, 573 00:29:21,500 --> 00:29:25,100 the pioneer, the one who goes before, the leader, 574 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:29,060 the champion, to be the champion of our faith 575 00:29:29,060 --> 00:29:30,780 or to be the champion of their salvation, 576 00:29:30,780 --> 00:29:33,580 the sons and daughters, perfect through his suffering 577 00:29:33,580 --> 00:29:35,020 or perfected through his suffering. 578 00:29:35,020 --> 00:29:39,380 He too shared in their humanity so that by his death, 579 00:29:39,380 --> 00:29:41,340 he might break the power of him 580 00:29:41,340 --> 00:29:44,300 who holds the power of death and free those 581 00:29:44,300 --> 00:29:47,420 who all their lives have been held in slavery 582 00:29:47,420 --> 00:29:49,580 by the fear of death. 583 00:29:51,500 --> 00:29:54,780 The word archegos is a word that means champion 584 00:29:54,780 --> 00:29:57,300 and if you think about the word champion, 585 00:29:57,300 --> 00:29:59,580 draw your mind back to another Bible story 586 00:29:59,580 --> 00:30:02,420 you might remember, David and Goliath. 587 00:30:02,420 --> 00:30:04,100 Remember the story of David and Goliath 588 00:30:04,100 --> 00:30:06,300 if you grew up in Sunday school or in the church? 589 00:30:06,300 --> 00:30:08,860 But if you didn't, I'll go ahead and fill it in a little bit. 590 00:30:08,860 --> 00:30:12,380 David and Goliath, they went out onto the battlefield. 591 00:30:12,380 --> 00:30:14,340 The people of Israel were on one side, 592 00:30:14,340 --> 00:30:16,700 the Philistines were on another. 593 00:30:16,700 --> 00:30:20,540 And they were kind of in this standoff face to face. 594 00:30:20,540 --> 00:30:24,260 And it was determined that each camp, each group, 595 00:30:24,260 --> 00:30:29,180 each nation should send one fighter to go out 596 00:30:29,180 --> 00:30:32,100 who would represent the nation on the battlefield 597 00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:33,900 against one fighter from the other one. 598 00:30:33,900 --> 00:30:36,660 And these two would fight it out to the end 599 00:30:36,660 --> 00:30:41,660 and whoever won, that other nation would be enslaved to them. 600 00:30:45,140 --> 00:30:47,620 And so if David went out and won, 601 00:30:47,620 --> 00:30:50,420 selected by the people of Israel, if David went out, 602 00:30:50,420 --> 00:30:55,420 then the victory of the entire army was imputed to them. 603 00:30:57,300 --> 00:30:59,380 His victory was imputed to the entire army. 604 00:30:59,380 --> 00:31:02,140 If Goliath had won, then all of Israel 605 00:31:02,140 --> 00:31:03,820 would have been enslaved. 606 00:31:03,820 --> 00:31:06,220 In other words, instead of the two armies hacking 607 00:31:06,220 --> 00:31:08,940 at each other, mowing each other down in the battlefield, 608 00:31:08,940 --> 00:31:11,700 these two individuals would go out and fight. 609 00:31:14,020 --> 00:31:17,660 And the defeated one or the victorious one, 610 00:31:17,660 --> 00:31:21,060 their people would either be enslaved or free. 611 00:31:22,100 --> 00:31:25,540 And so you have this idea of a champion who goes first, 612 00:31:25,540 --> 00:31:27,780 who represents the whole group. 613 00:31:27,780 --> 00:31:31,660 And whatever he does gets imputed to them. 614 00:31:31,660 --> 00:31:35,380 If he wins, if he gains victory, it's their victory. 615 00:31:35,380 --> 00:31:38,140 If he gains defeat or if he suffers defeat, 616 00:31:38,140 --> 00:31:40,940 it's their defeat. 617 00:31:40,940 --> 00:31:44,020 Well, Jesus is that for our salvation in our new life. 618 00:31:44,020 --> 00:31:46,220 He went there first. 619 00:31:46,220 --> 00:31:51,220 He went to the grave, but the grave could not hold him. 620 00:31:52,340 --> 00:31:53,860 He went there first. 621 00:31:53,860 --> 00:31:56,900 And because he was able to go and face death 622 00:31:56,900 --> 00:32:00,420 and fought against death, he defeated death for us. 623 00:32:00,420 --> 00:32:03,900 In defeating death, it was imputed to us 624 00:32:03,900 --> 00:32:06,220 that we too could overcome death. 625 00:32:06,220 --> 00:32:09,580 He broke the hold of death. 626 00:32:09,580 --> 00:32:12,500 The reason that he rose from the dead 627 00:32:12,500 --> 00:32:16,020 was because death no longer had any right over him. 628 00:32:16,020 --> 00:32:18,300 He had paid the penalty for sin. 629 00:32:18,300 --> 00:32:21,420 We said earlier that the penalty for sin is death, right? 630 00:32:22,340 --> 00:32:24,460 Well, if you commit a crime 631 00:32:24,460 --> 00:32:27,260 and the penalty for that crime is two years in prison, 632 00:32:28,340 --> 00:32:30,500 well, then you've committed the crime 633 00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:32,900 and that crime has to be paid for 634 00:32:32,900 --> 00:32:36,540 and therefore prison has a hold on you for two years, right? 635 00:32:36,540 --> 00:32:39,100 You go to prison for two years, you can't get out. 636 00:32:40,300 --> 00:32:41,860 But what happens on that last day? 637 00:32:41,860 --> 00:32:44,140 What happens on the day after the last day 638 00:32:44,140 --> 00:32:46,180 of your two year term? 639 00:32:46,180 --> 00:32:47,140 You're released, right? 640 00:32:47,140 --> 00:32:50,860 You're free and prison can no longer have a hold on you. 641 00:32:50,860 --> 00:32:53,540 The prison guards can no longer tell you what to do 642 00:32:53,540 --> 00:32:55,540 or what you can't do or can't do. 643 00:32:55,540 --> 00:32:59,420 Prison no longer has its hold on you. 644 00:32:59,420 --> 00:33:02,260 It has no power over you. 645 00:33:04,420 --> 00:33:07,340 Well, Jesus went to the grave 646 00:33:07,340 --> 00:33:09,180 and Jesus defeated the grave 647 00:33:09,180 --> 00:33:13,180 and he paid the penalty for all of our sins 648 00:33:13,180 --> 00:33:17,700 so that sin and death could no longer have its hold on us. 649 00:33:17,700 --> 00:33:21,020 We are that next day after our sentence has been paid. 650 00:33:21,020 --> 00:33:24,460 We live in that day after, the freedom day, 651 00:33:24,460 --> 00:33:27,700 the day where no more is our sin counted against us, 652 00:33:27,700 --> 00:33:31,260 no more do we owe for the penalty of our sin. 653 00:33:31,260 --> 00:33:34,060 Yet Jesus has completely freed us and released us 654 00:33:34,060 --> 00:33:36,140 through his death and his resurrection 655 00:33:36,140 --> 00:33:39,260 and we can live in that new life today. 656 00:33:39,260 --> 00:33:42,580 We can be so confident of God's power and his love 657 00:33:42,580 --> 00:33:47,140 that no fear of worldly loss and no greed for worldly gain 658 00:33:47,140 --> 00:33:52,140 can lure us out of his obedience to who he is. 659 00:33:52,140 --> 00:33:54,660 We can live our lives no longer afraid 660 00:33:54,660 --> 00:33:57,060 of what is because this is not it. 661 00:33:57,940 --> 00:34:01,980 If you live your life as if this life is it, 662 00:34:01,980 --> 00:34:03,860 then you're in prison to that. 663 00:34:04,860 --> 00:34:06,500 You're in prison to what you can accomplish 664 00:34:06,500 --> 00:34:08,380 or what you do within this life. 665 00:34:08,380 --> 00:34:09,780 But if you live and you understand 666 00:34:09,780 --> 00:34:11,620 that Jesus has freed us from death, 667 00:34:11,620 --> 00:34:13,860 death's no longer the end of it all, 668 00:34:13,860 --> 00:34:16,180 but it's just the beginning in a sense, 669 00:34:17,300 --> 00:34:20,260 that we can be free to love, 670 00:34:21,060 --> 00:34:23,940 to go with no fear into this world. 671 00:34:23,940 --> 00:34:27,620 If death is overcome, then this world and this life 672 00:34:27,620 --> 00:34:29,540 isn't all there is. 673 00:34:29,540 --> 00:34:32,260 And in fact, in view of eternity, 674 00:34:32,260 --> 00:34:34,460 this life is actually pretty small 675 00:34:34,460 --> 00:34:36,180 and insignificant, isn't it? 676 00:34:36,180 --> 00:34:39,260 If it's true that Jesus rose from the grave, 677 00:34:39,260 --> 00:34:44,260 then everything is different and nothing is impossible, 678 00:34:44,340 --> 00:34:47,100 and everything will be okay for you and I. 679 00:34:49,300 --> 00:34:52,540 George Herbert, a 17th century poet, 680 00:34:53,380 --> 00:34:56,460 says that death used to be an executioner, 681 00:34:57,980 --> 00:34:59,300 but because of Jesus Christ, 682 00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:02,140 the gospel has made him a gardener. 683 00:35:02,140 --> 00:35:04,140 Death used to be an executioner, 684 00:35:04,140 --> 00:35:06,340 which means that when I died, 685 00:35:06,340 --> 00:35:09,660 I knew I was just going to nothing. 686 00:35:11,060 --> 00:35:13,260 Or if I was religious 687 00:35:13,260 --> 00:35:15,620 and I believed in some sort of life after death, 688 00:35:15,620 --> 00:35:17,660 I probably feared that death, 689 00:35:17,660 --> 00:35:19,220 because after death, 690 00:35:19,220 --> 00:35:21,660 there might be something like an eternal death, 691 00:35:22,620 --> 00:35:25,100 some kind of hell awaiting me. 692 00:35:26,380 --> 00:35:28,980 And so we would be in a state of eternal death, 693 00:35:28,980 --> 00:35:32,380 and there might be a hell awaiting me. 694 00:35:33,140 --> 00:35:36,860 And so we walk around as humans desperately afraid. 695 00:35:37,860 --> 00:35:39,860 But if you believe in the death and resurrection 696 00:35:39,860 --> 00:35:42,700 of Jesus Christ, and you put your hope in that, 697 00:35:42,700 --> 00:35:45,180 then death is now a gardener, 698 00:35:46,620 --> 00:35:49,620 meaning all that death does is plants us. 699 00:35:51,300 --> 00:35:54,180 It puts us into the ground like a tulip bulb. 700 00:35:54,180 --> 00:35:57,480 All it can do now is make us better. 701 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,480 Question this morning on this Easter is can you believe it? 702 00:36:04,660 --> 00:36:07,180 And if you believe it, if you say, 703 00:36:07,180 --> 00:36:10,900 I believe, I believe in the resurrection of Christ. 704 00:36:10,900 --> 00:36:13,320 I believe that his claims were validated. 705 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,380 I believe that God was making everything. 706 00:36:15,380 --> 00:36:16,300 If you can believe that, 707 00:36:16,300 --> 00:36:20,620 can you reorient your life around that truth? 708 00:36:20,620 --> 00:36:24,060 Can you live into that truth? 709 00:36:24,060 --> 00:36:26,540 Can you allow his life into you 710 00:36:26,540 --> 00:36:30,080 and allow him to transform you within? 711 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:32,140 The same power that God worked to raise 712 00:36:32,140 --> 00:36:35,180 the dead body of Christ is available to everyone 713 00:36:35,180 --> 00:36:38,780 who believes to completely change our insides 714 00:36:38,780 --> 00:36:40,180 and to make us new. 715 00:36:41,340 --> 00:36:46,340 The fact of his resurrection is the hope of ours 716 00:36:46,340 --> 00:36:55,340 that one day we too will be raised to life anew. 717 00:36:55,380 --> 00:36:58,420 Our series was titled Ain't No Grave. 718 00:36:58,420 --> 00:37:01,820 I think it's Ain't No Grave gonna keep his body down. 719 00:37:02,780 --> 00:37:03,620 And if that's true, 720 00:37:03,620 --> 00:37:18,620 then Ain't No Grave gonna hold my body down.