Good morning again, church. Did you hear that
lyric? I will gaze upon my Jesus and thank him
for the cross. Someday, someday we will gaze
upon him and thank him for that. I'm not sure
that any of us can fully grasp just how important
the story of the cross and the resurrection are
to the lives that we live today. What we're going
to be looking at this morning is assuredly the
most consequential three days in the history
of the world. Let me say that again. The most
consequential three days in all of human history.
If there were no cross, there would be no way
for human sin to be forgiven. If there were no
empty tomb, there would be no path to eternal
life for anyone. Everything that we as human
beings know about goodness and about love and
about sacrifice, and about freedom and dignity,
about equality. It all has come down to us from
the God who made us in his image, from the God
who looked down and saw our greatest need as
humans and acted to meet that need by sending
his own son to take on flesh and to live and
die for us. That story never gets old, does it?
That God would do that for us. Where would we
be without Jesus? What hope would we have? in
this world. This morning, we're gathered together
to celebrate the centerpiece of what God has
done in human history to reconcile us to himself,
the resurrection, which means we're here today
to celebrate life itself. Jesus, the way, the
truth, and the life. Jesus, the resurrection,
and the life. And for those of us who belong
to him, who have trusted in him, for us, we also
have this thing we call resurrection life. this
morning which means new life in the present and
eternal life in the future so what we're going
to do this morning is if you're with us on friday
night at good friday what we did was we did a
full reading of the entire story of jesus's arrest
and trials and crucifixion and burial. And what
I did was I pieced together all four gospels
to give us that sort of full story. And what
I want to do this morning is to finish that story
by doing the same. Directly from the text of
the four gospels, we're going to read the story
of the resurrection. And then after that, what
I'm hoping to do is to give you some insights
and some commentary on the story itself. And
then we will briefly look at John 14, 6, which
is our theme verse. for Passion Week and talk
about what resurrection life, what difference
that makes in our lives as we go out into the
world. So let me read to you the story of the
resurrection. Now, again, I'm piecing this together
from all four gospels, so you really can't follow
along in any one of them. So maybe just listen,
if you want to close your eyes, that's fine,
or just listen carefully and let's hear what
God, how God himself has described this part
of the story. Here's the word of the Lord. It
says, when the Sabbath was over, At early dawn
on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome came to
the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared
in order to anoint him. And they were saying
to one another, who will roll away the stone
for us from the entrance of the tomb? And they
came to the tomb when the sun had risen, and
behold, a severe earthquake had occurred in the
night. For an angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled away the stone and
sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning
and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards
shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
Upon arriving, the women found the stone already
rolled away from the tomb. But when they entered,
they did not find the body of Jesus. And they
saw a young man sitting at the right wearing
a dazzling white robe. And they were terrified.
and bowed their faces to the ground. And the
angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for
I know you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,
who's been crucified. Why do you seek the living
one among the dead? He's not here. He is risen,
just as he said. See the place where he was lying.
But go, tell his disciples, he is going ahead
of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just
as he told you. And they left the tomb quickly
with fear and with great joy and they ran to
report it to his disciples. And they came in
to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom
Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken
away the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know
where they've laid him. So Peter and the other
disciple went forth going to the tomb. The two
were running together and the other disciple
ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb
first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the
linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go
in. Simon Peter also came following after him,
and he entered the tomb, and he saw the linen
wrappings lying there and the face cloth which
had been on his head, not lying with the linen
wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.
So the other disciple who had first come to the
tomb then also entered, and he saw and he believed.
And they went away to their homes, marveling
at what had happened. But Mary remained outside
the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped
and looked into the tomb and she saw two angels
in white sitting, one at the head and one at
the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying.
And they said to her, woman, why are you weeping?
She said to them, because they've taken away
my Lord. I don't know where they've laid him.
When she had said this, she turned around and
saw Jesus standing there, but did not know it
was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, woman, why
are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing
him to be the gardener. She said to him, sir,
if you have carried him away, tell me where you
have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus
said to her, Mary, Mary. And she turned and said
to him in Hebrew, Teacher. Then Jesus said to
her, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers
to leave for Galilee, and there they will see
me. And Mary came announcing to the disciples,
I've seen the Lord, and that he had said these
things to her. But when they heard that he was
alive and had been seen by her, they refused
to believe it. These words were as nonsense to
them. So when it was evening on that day, the
first day of the week, and when the doors were
shut where the disciples were for fear of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and
said to them, Peace be with you. And when he
had said this, he showed them both his hands
and his side. And the disciples then rejoiced
when they saw the Lord. But Thomas, Thomas, one
of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples were saying to him, we
have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless
I see in his hands the imprint of the nails and
put my finger into the place of the nails and
put my hand into a side, I will not believe.
After eight days, his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them. And Jesus came, the
doors having been shut, and stood in their midst
and said, peace be with you. Then he said to
Thomas, Reach here with your finger and see my
hands and reach here and put your hand into my
side and do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas
answered and said to him, my Lord and my God.
Jesus said to him, because you've seen me, have
you believed? Blessed are they who did not see
and yet believed. May the Lord bless this reading
from his word. So let me share some thoughts
about what we've just heard and also try to connect
some thoughts from Good Friday as well. Obviously,
we know the timeline here. Jesus is crucified
and buried on Friday. He's raised from the dead
on Sunday. What has always fascinated me, and
maybe you've thought of this as well, is what
happened on Saturday. Right? What happened between
the time that he was laid there in the tomb and
the moment his body was revivified or reanimated
and that stone was rolled away? What was going
on there? So let's go back to what we know from
the Gospels. From Mark's Gospel, we know that
Jesus was confirmed physically dead, and that's
an important point. Physically dead by the centurion
who was on watch, and that news was taken back
to Pontius Pilate. We also know that the two
criminals that were crucified on either side
of him had their legs broken to speed up their
deaths on the cross because Passover was coming
and they needed to wrap up that execution site.
So they broke their legs so that they would die
quicker. But we're told by John that Jesus was
dead prior to that moment. So when the centurion
came to him, they didn't need to break Jesus'
legs. And that is an important fulfillment of
prophecy. And we should know this. It's a fulfillment
of the prophecy concerning the Passover lamb
in ancient Israel from the Torah. In fact, I'm
going to warm this up here. So two passages that
show this in the Torah. First of all, Exodus
12, 46. Alex, can you hit that? There you go.
It says the Passover lamb is to be eaten in a
single house. You are not to bring forth any
of the flesh outside of the house. nor are you
to break any bone of it. That's the Passover
lamb. And then from Numbers chapter nine, you
shall leave none of it until morning, nor break
a bone of it. Jesus, the Passover lamb, could
not have had his bones broken to fulfill this
prophecy. So Pilate released the body to the
one man who asked for it, right? His name was
Joseph of Arimathea. And remember, he was a member
of the Sanhedrin. He was a prominent... member
of the council there in Israel, but had become
a follower of Christ. Secretly though, because
he feared repercussions from the Jews. Now, the
rest of the day, the next day, Saturday, was
of course the Sabbath. And on the Sabbath, no
physical work could be done. So Joseph wanted
to get the body down from the cross before sundown
on Friday so that he could give Jesus a proper
burial and to fulfill all the standard Jewish
customs related to how a body is treated. That
was Joseph's goal. And we're told that Joseph
honored Jesus greatly by granting him his own
tomb. which was a big deal in ancient Israel.
Tombs were expensive. Family tombs were expensive.
And apparently, Joseph had just recently carved
his tomb out of the limestone rock in that area.
And we know this because John tells us that this
was, quote, a new tomb in which no one had yet
been laid. Nobody. And in that day, Tombs were
entire burial complexes for all of your relatives,
generations and generations. So the fact that
nobody had ever been there means it was absolutely
fresh, never occupied by anyone. Now again, Joseph
was a prominent man in Israel. He was wealthy.
And that too was a fulfillment of prophecy. Comes
out of this great chapter in Isaiah 53. His grave,
the Messiah, his grave was assigned with wicked
men, meaning he was buried with the masses. yet
he was with a rich man in his death, because
he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found
in his mouth. Now John also tells us that this
tomb was located in a particular patch of land
in Israel, and he is the only one of the four
gospel writers who says it was a garden, which
for centuries has puzzled scholars until just
the last few years. I'll come back to that in
a second. John also tells us that Joseph's tomb
was near the execution site, right near Golgotha.
And according to extensive surveys that have
been done there, it's just a short walking distance
between Golgotha and the tomb of Joseph. Now
here's why I say until recently. Here's a photo.
You knew we had to do some archaeological work
on Easter, right? Sorry. There's no maps today,
I'm sorry. But we do have pictures. This is the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. in the center of
the old city of Jerusalem, a very important place
that I know I've been there a number of times.
Some of you guys have been there as well. In
spite of the fact that I'm not a fan, that they
built a church over this spot, that church is
an ancient relic itself. It was built back in
the year 335 by Constantine and his mother Helena,
who had surveyed the land. So it's an important
building. And by all accounts, it is built over
the correct spot. where Golgotha was and where
the tomb was as well. Now, here's what's interesting.
In 2022, just a few years ago, workers started
to do renovation of the flooring in a part of
the church. And as they tore things out, what
they discovered underneath caused them to call
in all of the archaeologists. What they found
were botanical remains. They found seeds. They
found plant traces. They found pollen. Things
that tell archaeologists that in past centuries,
you know what was under that church? Olive trees,
grape vines, all kinds of things. Guess what?
John had it right. In spite of what all the scholars
said, it was a garden at one point, and that's
where Jesus was laid. Now, when you pull out
from this and look from overhead, you can see
this is the same church, and there's two gray
domes there. The larger dome was built over the
site of Golgotha. And the smaller dome was built
over the site of Jesus' tomb. So you can see
how close they actually were together. Now this
was once outside the city walls. In the first
century, this was outside the walls of the city
of Jerusalem because Jesus was put to death outside
the walls. Today, because the city's been built
up so much, it is smack dab in the middle of
the city. When you go inside this church, you
can see, and it drives me crazy that they've
done this. That is the rock of Golgotha. It's
now covered in glass because they're worried
about people, you know, sort of damaging it.
But that is the actual rock that they have uncovered
underneath the church itself. And this is where
the tomb of Jesus was. It's now built around
this kind of funny looking structure. It is,
that ceiling is magnificent. The sun light comes
in through those windows and it is an amazing
thing to see. But that is the spot they believe
where the tomb actually was. So if you go to
Jerusalem, it's worth a look. So Jesus' body
was then carefully laid in Joseph's tomb and
we're told that it was wrapped in strips of linen,
what we call his grave clothes, and also that
there was a face cloth that covered his head.
And remember, John tells us that Nicodemus also
came to help with the burial and that he brought
something around 100 pounds of spices to anoint
the body. And part of it, we're told, was a mixture
of myrrh and aloes. Now, when you hear the word
myrrh, that's a callback to what? The time of
Christ's birth. One of the great gifts that came
from the Magi was myrrh. And we know that that
was a foreboding dark sign for Mary of what was
to come, that myrrh would be present at the time
of his death. We know from the customs of the
day that first the body would have been anointed
with oils, with fragrant oils. And then the spices
along with the oil would be placed between the
strips as they were laid on the body. And then
probably also spices were put in jars or in bundles
around the body, particularly around the head
and around the chest area. And my guess is that
Joseph and Nicodemus helped the women. Remember,
sundown's coming. They've got to get this done.
They finished the task, and then they rushed
home in preparation for the Sabbath. But then
we're told that Mary Magdalene and Mary, the
mother of James, lingered outside the tomb. They
stayed there. And I can only imagine why, if
you have ever had to bury a loved one, one of
the hardest things that you do at the end of
the service, is to walk away from that casket
because you don't want to leave. You don't want
to have to say goodbye for this final time. And
it's hard to just leave. And so the Marys, they
don't want to leave their master. And so they
stay there in the garden. They continue to mourn
because they're having a hard time saying goodbye,
which is understandable. Meanwhile, Matthew says
that the chief priests paid a visit to Pilate
that afternoon and they asked him to put a guard
by the tomb. Why? Because they were very aware,
because they'd been studying Jesus' words. They
knew that Jesus had openly said that he would
rise from the dead on the third day, and they
were worried about it. And so Pilate, being a
pragmatist who didn't want any more problems
in Jerusalem, just wanted this whole thing to
be over, grants their request for a detachment
of soldiers to guard the tomb, and he allows
them to set a royal seal. Over the stone that
covered the tomb itself. And that's the way things
sat over the Sabbath. From sundown on Friday
through all Saturday, all of that frantic activity
that had happened at Golgotha, the execution
site, it had all fallen silent. If you'd walked
by at that time, you would have seen the crosses.
You would have seen probably nails and hammers
and rope scattered all over the place. You probably
would have been able to smell. the lingering
scent of dried blood that would be all over that
execution site. At the tomb on Saturday, I'm
sure all things were quiet other than the sound
of these guards who were going about their duties.
I have no doubt they were wondering, what am
I doing here? Why did I get this assignment?
This is boring. I'm guarding a dead Jewish guy.
It probably made no sense to them whatsoever.
But sometime between that moment on Saturday,
And the dawn of Sunday morning, something wild
took place that, man, if we could just get some
video of how this went down. A mighty angel is
sent from heaven. He breaks out of the spiritual
realm into the physical world. And the sound
of his arrival causes an earthquake to strike
the region. Think about that. And I've always
wondered to myself. Was this Michael who came,
right? The prince and protector of Israel. Was
this the archangel who came with this duty? I
don't know. I can't prove it, but wow. The sound
of his arrival shakes the earth. What we do know
is that the sight and sound of him definitely
affected the guards. Could you imagine, right?
They fall into such a state of fear that they're
basically put into a catatonic state, frozen
in fear and unable to move. I can imagine why.
And we're told that this angel rolls the heavy
stone away, not a problem for him, and he sits
down on it. Now, my guess is the guards eventually
sort of come to, and they, what would you do?
You flee the scene, man. They run off in panic.
It's interesting, Matthew records that later
those soldiers were bribed by the chief priest
to make up a story. To say that, well, the disciples
came by and stole the body while we were all
asleep. And fearing for their own safety, the
soldiers took that bribe and spread the story
in Jerusalem. You would probably do the same
because if you don't toe the line, you're probably
a dead man. But is anybody really buying that
story? Come on. A whole detachment of soldiers
all fall asleep at the same time? And a bunch
of guys sneak up on them, right? Sneak past them
and then roll the heavy stone away and none of
them wakes up? Come on. These are soldiers. Nobody's
buying that story. So come Sunday morning at
dawn, these beautifully, wonderfully faithful
women who are really at the center of the story.
And what a grace that is. that God has seen fit
to use these women in such an amazing way in
the story. They head toward the tomb. They're
still aching over the loss of their Lord. We're
told that they're concerned about how are we
going to move that stone? And I sort of picture
them going, well, we'll figure it out when we
get there. We'll see what God will do, right?
They just don't know. And then you can picture
them coming around and the tomb is in sight,
right? And they are shocked by what they see.
Put yourself in their sandals for a moment. You
have expectations of what you're going to see
when you get to the tomb, and it's wide open.
The tomb is wide open. Nobody's there. Nobody's
around. It's early. No guards, not anybody. What
would you have thought? Put yourself in their
sandals. Bugs. Put yourself in their sandals.
What would you have thought in that moment? Grave
robbers? I don't know. So they do what I think
exactly what all of us would have done. They
cautiously approach the tomb and they peek inside.
What do you think they expected to see? Sometimes
when we read the flat page in the Bible, it's
good to ask those questions like how would we
have reacted? What were they thinking in that
moment? Did they expect to see Jesus' body still
there? I guarantee you they didn't expect to
see what they saw. which was this angel dressed
in dazzling white. Later, Mary would see two
angels when she went back to the tomb, two angels.
And I want to share with you my theory on this.
And I admit that this is some speculation, but
it is based on some data that we find in other
places in the New Testament about how angels
operate. I think multiple angels were sent to
watch over the body of Christ as soon as that
stone was rolled into place. I think they were
there inside the tomb on Friday and on Saturday
and right up until the time that the women got
there. And to me, picture the scene and see the
symbolism in this. Pilate and the chief priests
think they are so strong and powerful and clever
that we're going to put a human guard outside
the tomb and that'll do the trick. Meanwhile,
God laughs in heaven and says, I have a much
more powerful guard inside the tomb that you
don't even know about. I love that picture. And
think about the function of angels. Think about
the various places where angels were sent to
minister to and guard the incarnate Son of God
during his life on the earth. First at his birth,
right? The angels are sent, this heavenly chorus
announcing his arrival. Then Jesus is sent into
the wilderness, right, to be tempted by Satan.
Do you remember how Satan led him to the pinnacle
of the temple and said, throw yourself off? Satan
knew something about God. What did he say? If
you do that, if you are the son of God and you
throw yourself off the temple, won't the father
send angels to guard you and keep you safe? Now,
Jesus doesn't fall for that trick, right? But
he also didn't have to jump off the temple to
know that, yes, angels would have rescued me.
And as soon as Satan has been defeated and he
leaves, we're told that... Angels came to Jesus
and ministered to him in the wilderness. And
guys, I suspect they were there all along, guarding
the Son of God, making sure that Satan didn't
cross boundaries and harm him in any way. Angels
have always ministered to the incarnate Christ.
Then there's Jesus' most desperate moment of
human grief in the Garden of Gethsemane, right?
He prays that the cup might pass from him. And
we're told what? An angel was sent. to strengthen
him in that moment of need. Even at his arrest,
remember you hear Jesus saying, don't you realize
I could call on 12 legions of angels to stop
this if I wanted to? And so angels seem to play
a huge role in watching over the incarnate Christ.
So it seems logical to me that the reason angel
was inside that tomb on Sunday morning is because
he has been there all night, guarding the body
of Christ. And catch this. Again, put yourself
into the story. Think about this. That angel
would have been an eyewitness to Jesus' body
being reanimated. Man, would you like to have
video of that? Coming back to life. How? Through
the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit. That's
what we're told in Scripture. Can you imagine
what that would have looked like? And it makes
sense. Remember it was the angel Gabriel who
first appeared to Mary to announce that she was
with child and she said, how could this be since
I'm a virgin? Do you remember what he told her?
He said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.
He will produce that life in your womb. The power
of the Most High will overshadow you. So the
Holy Spirit is the author of Jesus' life in the
womb, and according to Romans 8, 11, he is also
the author of Jesus coming back to life in the
tomb while the angel looks on. What a picture.
It's the power of the Most High. On display once
again. So by the time the women arrive on Sunday
morning, the angels have done their job. They've
completed their missions. The Holy Spirit has
raised Jesus back to life. And it appears that
he has come straight through the grave clothes.
Even the head cloth is separated and rolled up
all nice. He's a tidy Messiah. I like that. Here's
the thing, you guys. And here's the true message
of Resurrection Sunday. It couldn't be otherwise.
God the Son could not have stayed dead. God the
Son could not have stayed dead. Remember, every
animal that had ever been sacrificed in Israel
had stayed dead. But not Jesus. And there are
biblically logical reasons for why that's true.
First of all, he committed no sin in his life.
So death had no claim on him. Death had no power
over him. He was a sinless man. In fact, if you
think about this, and again, my brain goes to
all kinds of places, but think about this. If
he hadn't willingly accepted the imputation of
our sins upon him, Jesus never would have died.
He never would have died. So when unbelievers
say, how can you believe in the resurrection?
My answer is, how can I not? The guy committed
no sins. Of course he came back to life. It's
just biblically logical. The second reason Jesus
had to come back to life was for his vindication.
And honestly, this probably deserves a whole
sermon to itself, but think about what was required
for God the Father to announce to the world his
full approval of the Son, to vindicate the character
of his Son in spite of what the world saw. Because
remember, it was seen by the human eye that he
died as a criminal. He died becoming sin. So
how do you set the record straight? Well, you
bring him back to life. That's how God vindicates
his son, by bringing him back to life. By the
way, this is what Paul writes in Romans 1 -4.
Jesus was declared the son of God with power.
How? By his resurrection from the dead. God declared
that as my son. By raising him from the dead.
And you can run through all kinds of passages.
What you're gonna see is that Jesus, not only
being vindicated through the resurrection, but
being vindicated by being exalted to the right
hand of the Father and being vindicated by being
declared the ruler over creation and the head
over the body of the church. And lastly, Paul
says to the Athenians in Acts 17, by God declaring
that Jesus has been appointed, ready, the judge
over all. And he says this, he says, God has
furnished proof of this to all men by what? By
raising him from the dead. The father has vindicated
his son. In each of these things, God has said
to the world, this is my son, he is an unblemished
lamb, and all the charges that were brought against
him were false. Jesus offered himself. to satisfy
the demands of God's justice and righteousness.
And by raising him from the dead, the father
declares, I accept his offering. Jesus is vindicated.
That's why he had to come back to life. Listen,
Jesus is Lord because Jesus is alive. He is the
living God who still to this day retains his
glorified human body and will have it forevermore.
You can't say that about Moses. or Muhammad,
or Buddha, or Joseph Smith, or any other man.
All those guys have rotted in their graves, right?
Only one man has ever been raised from the dead
and remained alive forever. Only one guy. There's
nobody to match him. There's nobody to compare
him to. The one man who is now declared to be
the only mediator between God and us as human
beings. the man Christ Jesus. He is King of kings
and Lord of lords, risen indeed. Amen? Amen.
Now, I know it's kind of late in the message
to do this, but grab your Bibles. I'm going to
keep this short because I know it's a family
service, but we need to look at our theme verse,
our theme passage for the Passion Week. John
14, verses 1 through 6. So turn there. By the
way, Adam did a great job expositing this part
of the text last Sunday, so I won't go into too
much detail. If you missed the Palm Sunday message,
go back and listen. It's worth it. Because this
is such an important passage for us to understand.
John 14, beginning in verse 1. Remember, these
are tense moments between the Lord and his disciples,
right? And Jesus looks at these men whom he loves
so much. And he knows he's about to have to say
goodbye. You're going to flee. You're going to
run away. And I'm going to go to the cross. And
this is a difficult moment for him. And so he
looks at them and says, do not let your heart
be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in
me. Do you see the deity being connected there?
Believe in God. Believe in me. In my father's
house are many dwelling places. If it were not
so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare
a place for you. Isn't that comforting? Isn't
that great? And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you to myself.
He's gonna come and usher us into one of the
Father's rooms. And there, so that where I am,
there you may be also. And you know the way where
I'm going. And Thomas said, Lord, we don't know
where you're going. How do we know the way? Adam
talked about that last Sunday, right? Very important.
Verse 6 is the key. Jesus said to him, I am the
way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father but through me. That is, guys,
one of the most powerful statements that Jesus
made during his days on the earth. Listen now.
It is an airtight, unrelenting statement that
opponents of the gospel will always despise because
it leaves no room for pluralism. They will always
hate this statement. And therefore, you should
memorize it. They despise it because it leaves
no room for this idea of a big tent salvation
scenario where everybody can find their own path
to God. And they can do it their own way. And
they can do it on their own terms. No, no, no.
Jesus doesn't leave room for that. He could not
have been more clear. If you want to know the
way or the path that leads to heaven, it runs
through me. Period. I am, I embody the way. And
if you want to know what truth is, what is true
about the big issues of life and death and everything
in between, especially if you want to know what
the truth is about atonement and the forgiveness
of sins, look to me, look to my word because
I am the truth. I embody the truth. It's in a
person. And if it's eternal life that you're
seeking rather than judgment and wrath, then
listen closely, I am that life. To reject Jesus
is to reject life and to choose death instead.
I am the life, he says. I embody it. Listen,
if you're here this morning and you don't know
Christ as Savior and Lord, but you're serious
about finding a way to God and to eternal life,
the news I have for you is this. There's no other
option but Jesus. You can listen to every podcast.
You can read every book. You can listen to all
the so -called experts out there. I implore you
to look to God's word. There is no other option
but Jesus. He is the only begotten son of the
Father who existed as God yet took on flesh to
live a perfect life and die as a substitute for
your sins. Will you receive it? This is an utterly
exclusive statement. that Jesus makes here. Ignore
it at your peril. Don't believe that you can
find your own path to heaven. Don't believe the
lie that the world tells you that if you just
do enough good things that you will earn a spot
in heaven. Isn't that the like, isn't that the
way the world see things? Oh, everybody who dies,
every funeral, such a good person. He's in heaven.
That's not what the Bible says. Don't believe
the lie that's out there that if I just do enough
good things, I earn a spot up there. Don't think
that by being a good person, whatever that means,
right? What does it mean to be a good person?
Don't believe that by being a good person that
you get a free pass. Because without having a
sacrifice for your sins, you still owe a debt
to God. How are you going to pay that? What's
the currency that you have to pay the debt that
you owe for all the things that you've done?
How are you going to take that beyond physical
death? How do you do this? The only question
is, who's going to pay the debt that you owe?
Is it going to be you with your eternal soul
or is it going to be Jesus as your substitute?
But mark my words, the debt will be paid because
God's perfect justice demands that it be paid.
And now that choice is up to you. Do you want
to pay it or do you want it late on Jesus? And
when your soul passes from this life into eternity
and you realize, my goodness, what Jesus claimed
in John 14 is true, by that time it's too late.
It's too late. And so that's why we preach the
gospel with force and clarity on a morning like
this. The motivation is love. Immense love for
every person in this room. Because I want to
see every one of you saved. I want to see everybody
in heaven. And so on a day like this, of all
days, that we preach the brutal truth filled
with love about how we can be saved. There's
only one way. There's only one way. Trust in
Christ alone. Turn from your sinful ways. Believe
the good news of the cross and the resurrection.
And be saved this morning. Now, let me wrap up
by addressing those of you who do know Christ
this morning, who have trusted in him by faith
alone. What does it mean to live in light of
the resurrection? Do you ever think about what
it means to live with resurrection power? Let
me give you a couple reasons. First of all, it
means living in light of who God says you are.
Living in light of who God says you are as a
redeemed son or a redeemed daughter. And that
means a whole bunch of things. It means recognizing
that, yes, once you were like everyone else in
the world, you were formerly dead in your sins,
and that Christ made you alive. He made you a
new creation in him. You've been born again by
the Spirit, and now you are united to Christ
in all things. You have the privilege of abiding
with him in a personal relationship. Recognize
that truth, you guys. Be who God says you are.
It's striving to live out the truth that you've
been set free from slavery to sin. You are now
able by the Spirit to live a transformed, progressively
holy life. That's who God says you are. It means
realizing that you've now been called and empowered
by the Spirit to walk in all the good works that
God has set forth in front of you to say, go
walk in these things. Show the world who I am
by doing these good things. In its most basic
sense, resurrection life means cooperating with
the Spirit and becoming more and more like the
Savior as years go by. Again, becoming who God
has declared that we are as His children. And
all of these things are a reality for us because
the tomb was empty. Resurrection power. Today,
tomorrow, this week. resurrection power. Be who
God says you are now. Second thing, having resurrection
life means maintaining this certain hope that
we have, this confident expectation that physical
death is not the end for us, right? That someday
soon God is going to raise us up to new and perfected
life with him for all eternity. That is what
we call our living hope, our living hope. It's
grounded in Jesus's own victory over sin and
death. in his own resurrection. He is our pioneer
who goes before us and shows us the way. If we
pick up our cross, dying to self, so that we
can follow after Jesus, then we'll also follow
after him in resurrection. That's the promise
that we have. And so these truths, you guys,
gives us strength and motivation to persevere
in the faith to our very last breath. It's what
gives us peace and joy in the midst of the suffering
and grief of this world. We know that someday
we will be with Christ forever, even if for a
little while we have to show patient endurance.
One last passage. Paul puts it this way in 2
Timothy. If we died with him, we will also live
with him. Have you died with him? Have you died
with him by putting your trust in him alone?
If so, you will live with him. If we endure to
the end, we will also one day reign with him.
Friends, the glorious hope of resurrection lies
right before us, and it is wondrous. Jesus Christ
is risen. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father,
There just aren't human words to fully expound
on the importance of the cross and the resurrection.
Lord, I don't think we will understand it until
we gaze upon your face and thank you for all
of it. But here on this side of heaven, on earth,
Lord, I ask that by your spirit you would lead
us and guide us into as much truth about this
as we can possibly take in. and that it would
cause us to live lives that are different, lives
filled with this thing we call resurrection power,
recognizing what you've done, who we are now,
and then just walking into that and living it
out by the power of the Spirit that you've given
us. Lord, seal those things into our hearts and
minds today. Let us be changed because we've
seen this in your word. And Father, for anybody
here this morning who was on the fence, who came
here this morning because maybe they got invited
or a family member or they just haven't yet decided
that you are real and true. Father, would you
speak to their hearts by your spirit this morning
and draw them to yourself and speak to them about
the fact that these things are real. These are
historical things. These are theologically true
things and they make a difference. Not just now,
but for all eternity. Would you save some here
this morning, Lord? Father, help us now as we
come back to singing that we would sing these
lyrics, these words, not just out of rote memory
or just from our lips, but from the depths of
our hearts because we love you so much and because
you've done so many things for us. Help us to
sing well your praise and your glory right now.
In Jesus' name, the Savior, we pray. Amen.