If you have any doubts as to the historical fact of the Resurrection, I’ll
be sharing about that in the morning services.In a way, I probably should be sharing that message first, but I want to
save it for the morning services.For
now, I’m assuming that most of you here this morning already understand that
the Resurrection was indeed a real event.
I want to share some thoughts on why the Resurrection of Jesus is so
important to us.
1. I Serve a Living Lord
The angels said to the women:
(Luke 24:5b-6a KJV) …Why seek ye the living among the dead? {6} He
is not here, but is risen…
Jesus is not dead.
He is not some picture on a wall or a statue in a garden.
He’s alive and well and we can have a living relationship with Him.
When you pray, your prayers are heard by a REAL person who is alive, who
knows you, and who loves you.
2. I know where I’m going
We have the hope of heaven
Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we too will be raised from the
dead.
(1 Cor 15:17-20 NLT)And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you
are still under condemnation for your sins. {18} In that case, all who have
died believing in Christ have perished! {19} And if we have hope in Christ only
for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world. {20} But the fact
is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a
great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
We live in a society that does everything it can to avoid thinking of
death, and for some of us, it’s the last thing we want to think of.
But when you have a loved one gets sick or dies, this is going to be VERY
important to you.
This is at the very heart of what we believe.Jesus’ own resurrection is proof that when He
promises us eternal life, He can keep that promise.
(2 Cor 5:1-2 NLT)For we
know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down--when we die and
leave these bodies--we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us
by God himself and not by human hands. {2} We grow weary in our present bodies,
and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new
clothing.
3. I know I’m forgiven
Paul wrote,
(1 Cor 15:17 KJV)And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your
sins.
He’s paid the price for my sin.
When Jesus died on the cross, He died for the purpose of paying for my
sins.
The fact that He was able to rise from the dead demonstrated that He not
only paid for the sins of the world, but He had some “life” left over.
You might think that you’ve committed the one sin that can’t be forgiven,
but it’s not true.Jesus rose from the
dead to show that He had paid for ALL of the sins of the world.
4. God keeps His promises
Again, the angels said,
(Luke 24:6-7 KJV)He is not
here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, {7} Saying, The Son
of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and
the third day rise again.
Jesus had promised that He’d rise from the dead.
Yet there came a day when the disciples had to face that their Master had
been arrested and put to death.
Jesus kept His promise.
We too might go through times that seem pretty dark and hopeless.
But God keeps His promises.Look to
the Resurrection.
(2 Cor 4:16-18 NLT)That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits
are being renewed every day. {17} For our present troubles are quite small and
won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that
will last forever! {18} So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now;
rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see
will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.
The Resurrection shows us hope.God
keeps His promises.He hasn’t forgotten
us.
5. I have power over sin
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can give us power over sin.
(Rom 8:10-12 NLT)Since
Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your
spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. {11} The Spirit of
God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ
from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living
within you. {12} So, dear Christian friends, you have no obligation whatsoever
to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
The resurrection not only affects our future, it affects us right now.
Right now we have a power available to us, right at our fingertips.It’s available to help us have victory over
our sin nature.
With His death on the cross, He broke the chains of sin on our lives.With His resurrection, He gives us the power
to live victoriously over sin.
Illustration
Do you remember what it was like a couple of years ago when we had the
“power crisis”?Do you remember what it
was like that one afternoon when the power was shut down for a couple of hours?
Right now in Baghdad the people
are quite upset because they have been without power for a couple of
weeks.They know what it’s like to be
powerless.
What if you had the power on in your house, and you had all the coolest
electric gadgets, but were never able to use them simply because you never
plugged them into the wall?
God offers us power in our lives.He
offers us the power of the resurrection.Plug in.Trust Him.