Sunday
Morning Bible Study
April
24, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the
broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a
decision
It’s a Wonderful
Life
In 1946, Frank Capra made a movie based on a short story, “The Greatest
Gift”. It followed the life story of a fictional man named
George Bailey. We follow George’s life
as he saves his
little brother’s life, keeps
his boss Mr. Gower from accidentally killing a young boy, and grows up to help the
little town of Bedford Falls through the Great Depression by running his
family’s Building and Loan Company and helping people like Mr. Martini to buy
his first house.
But George runs
into a rough spot in his life and begins to feel like his only answer is to
take his own life. That’s when we meet Clarence
Odbody, Angel Second Class. Clarence is
George’s guardian angel. When George
wishes he had never been born, God grants George’s wish. George begins to get a
glimpse of what the world would have been like if George Bailey had never been
born.
Play “It’s a
Wonderful Life” clip 1 (1:49:00 – 1:51:00)
George tries to find Mr. Martini’s house and sees more of what the world
would have been like …
Play “It’s a
Wonderful Life” clip 2 (1:57:45 – 1:59:10)
Why am I
reminding you about a classic Christmas movie at Easter time?
When Paul is
writing to the Corinthians, one of the issues he deals with is the subject of the
resurrection. Apparently some of the Corinthians had
trouble with the idea that anybody could be raised from the dead, including
Jesus.
Paul responds to the Corinthians by posing a question similar to George
Bailey’s question in “It’s a Wonderful Life”
What would the
world be like if Jesus had not risen from the dead?
(1 Co 15:14–19 NKJV) 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and
your faith is also empty. 15
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified
of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead
do not rise. 16 For if
the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is
futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have
perished. 19 If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Four things I want to point out in the text – things that would not be the
same if Jesus had not risen from the dead.
But I want to flip them over and point them out as four things that are true
because He is indeed risen from the dead.
Because He is risen …
Lesson
The Bible is true
Paul had written,
(1 Co 15:15 NKJV)
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God
that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not
rise.
Except for
John, every one of the apostles went to their grave, dying horrible deaths, claiming
the same thing: They all proclaimed “He is risen”. Were
they telling the truth?
Some people think that believing in the resurrection isn’t that big of a
deal – yet the apostles were willing to die rather than deny what they had
seen, that Jesus rose from the dead.
Some people like to pick and choose what parts of the Bible they will
believe in.
But the New
Testament was written by these men who claimed first of all that Jesus rose
from the dead.
Why would you believe ANYTHING they wrote if they were crazy men who
believed in something that was false?
But if they were correct, shouldn’t you pay attention to what they wrote?
If you do your homework, you will find that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the best attested facts in history.
And the Bible is true.
Because He is risen …
Lesson
My sins are forgiven
Paul write,
(1 Co 15:17 NKJV) And
if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
The Bible says that the penalty for our sin is death, eternal separation
from God (Rom. 6:23)
We believe that
when Jesus died on the cross, He was dying to pay the price for our sins. He was paying a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we
couldn’t pay.
But how do I know that this is what really happened? How do I know that Jesus paid for my sins?
Because He not
only picked up the “tab” for my sins, but He had some “change” left over.
He not only died in my place, but had enough “life” left over to come back
from the dead.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a Christian for a long time. And I’ve learned to experience God’s
forgiveness over my sins.
But what if it wasn’t true? Could
you live with yourself knowing that all that you’ve ever done would now come
back and accuse you before God?
Where are you
with God right now?
Have you been thinking that when you die you’re going to just try and talk
your way into heaven?
Have you actually been thinking that you might be good enough to get into
heaven? Don’t fool yourself. By yourself you don’t have that kind of
credit.
We all need God’s help to be able to get to heaven. We need God’s forgiveness.
That will only come from you asking for help and trusting
God to forgive you.
God is willing to forgive you because He has already paid
the price for your forgiveness.
Jesus proved it when He rose from the dead.
Because He is risen …
Lesson
My loved ones are safe
Paul wrote,
(1 Co 15:18 NKJV)
Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
He’s talking about people who had trusted in Jesus and had
already died.
If Jesus rose from the dead, we can trust Him to raise them
as well.
If there is no resurrection, then people simply die and are gone forever.
I have to tell you that the older I get, the more precious this truth is to
me.
As you grow older, you will find yourself facing time and again the truth
that this life on earth is only temporary.
Unless Jesus comes back, everyone will one day die. You have people close to you who will die.
Have you paid
attention to Greg Laurie’s teaching since his son Christopher died in a tragic car accident three
years ago?
Greg gets it.
Listen to a snippet from his email devotional yesterday:
“I don't know how you might describe your life this
Easter. Maybe you are full of faith and looking forward to joining your family
and friends at church and perhaps a special meal later in the day. If
everything is going well for you, then praise God for that. For others, it might be a different story.
Easter might be a reminder, like Christmas, of someone who is no longer with
them. And with every year that passes, they are remembered and missed. So, for
some, Easter is a bittersweet day.”
Greg understands how precious this truth is. He understands what it is to lose
someone. But he also understands that he
will see Christopher again.
I will see my dad again.
Because He is risen …
Lesson
There is hope
Not just hope for our loved ones, but hope for us. Paul wrote,
(1 Co 15:19 NKJV) If
in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
If we’ve trusted in Jesus and it’s all a sham, then we are “most pitiable”
What could be more pitiable than spending your life saying
“no” to the pleasures of sin, trying to live a life pleasing to God, and then
to find out it wasn’t true?
That would be most pitiable.
Paul writes later:
(1 Co 15:32
NKJV) If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,
what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for
tomorrow we die!”
In other words, Paul was taking a lot of risks and doing a
lot of dangerous things, counting on the fact that there was life after death.
If there is no life after death, then we should all just
“party like there’s no tomorrow”.
But Jesus rose from the dead, and we can KNOW that there is life after this
life is over.
This Christian life is NOT a waste of your time!
Yesterday on
Facebook, I asked the question: How has the resurrection changed your life?
Olivia Hurtado
wrote:
The resurrection has given me a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) that I never had before!
Kathy Franz
wrote yesterday:
The resurrection has changed my life because it gives me a
daily hope of having eternal life with my heavenly Father. It also gives me
daily strength to handle the earthly things that happen in the here and now… I
can never be thankful enough for what He did for us.
There is a
future to live for.
Jesus said,
(John 14:3 NKJV) "And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that
where I am, there you may be also.
Jesus was talking about heaven. He has gone before us to prepare an eternal
home for us in heaven.
Heaven is for real.
You ought to be planning on spending eternity there.
Jesus did rise
from the dead. And it’s a Wonderful
Life.
Prayer for salvation