For April 19

 

Sermon Notes: Resurrection Impact

Intro: Two weeks ago, believing Christians celebrated Easter, the holiest day of the Christian calendar. It’s a unique event, celebrating an event no other people do, because it’s something no human has the power to do.  Only In mythology do even fictional gods come from their heavenly realms to interact with humans for their own purposes and pleasures, and return at will. But our living God sent His Son to earth to interact with His human Creation to better our lives, restore a broken relationship with Him so we can join Him in His heavenly realm. The Son who came in human form, lived as human, before humans crucified Him, and buried Him. Other religions may celebrate the birth of a special hero, who lived and died a very good life.  But death is inevitable, and the memory of that hero impacts only those who remember that one.

I.  But Our God. .

A. Our God sent His Son to more fully reveal Himself to us through His Son, who lived a life that reflected His Father’s perfection. Born as human, He deliberately led His life to fulfill centuries of prophecies of His identity, before willingly going to the Cross where He would die, and then be buried. Humans may have put Him on that cross, but it was God’s Plan from the beginning for Him to be there. Humans didn’t kill him, He surrendered His life to pay the penalty for the sins mankind could never pay. Without His radical, unprecedented Resurrection, His death might have been significant, but He still would have died the inevitable death of humanity, regardless of the circumstance, the ultimate destiny of each of us. There would be no hope of anything more than to live these few short years before ceasing to exist.

B. But that’s what makes Him our Messiah, our Savior. He, and throughout history, only He returned to life  A power no other human or created God has ever shown. We stated our faith beliefs about our God in the Apostle’s Creed earlier this morning. The Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth. The Son born in this world to a virgin, crucified, resurrected on the third day, ascended into heaven and seated at the Father’s right hand, which symbolically is seen as the strong hand. And The Holy Spirit, who carried on the work of the Son for us in this world. Easter Resurrection was a one time event, remembered and celebrated each year, but it’s what gives all the other events of His prophesied coming, His birth, His teachings, even His Crucifixion, meaning. Our continuing hope that gives our lives meaning even beyond the grave. That’s the radical impact of Easter.

D. So, this morning, let’s look at how radical the Resurrection was, is, and will continue to be. Resurrection doesn’t simply mean resuscitation – like reviving a person by shocking their heart, which is done frequently in our times. But the Greek word for resurrection is anastasis. It’s used almost exclusively concerning Jesus’ Resurrection and it literally means “raised to live in a different world.” In Acts 26:23,  Paul, says “the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.” This isn’t referring to resuscitation – it’s transformation! More of the radical impact of Easter.

II. Genesis 22:1-14

A. To gain a better understanding of God preparing mankind for the Crucifixion, the launching pad of the Resurrection, we must begin with our OT lesson taking us back to Abraham. Abraham’s obedience to God resulted in God’s covenant to make him the father of many descendants. Although Abraham and Sarah had been given only one son, Isaac, God tells Abraham to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.

B. God had established a system of sacrifices going back to Adam and Eve after they were evicted from the Garden of Eden. Sacrifices were to be offered for various reasons, such as thanksgiving, asking forgiveness, or appealing for God’s help. Appeals for forgiveness specifically required an animal sacrifice, which only applied to past sins. It would be a prophetic preview of Jesus as the ultimate, permanent sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. The Passover sacrifice of a perfect lamb, whose blood was painted on the doorposts of dwellings so the Angel of Death would ‘pass over’ further foretold the future of Jesus as the permanent, perfect sacrificial Lamb.

C. God requiring Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son, would have been radical. You can’t have generations of descendants without a child, preferably a son. But just as Abraham’s knife is about to plunge into Isaac, God stops him, directing him to a ram caught in a nearby thicket, given as the substitute sacrifice for Isaac. Again, it’s a preview of the Father’s substitution of His only Son for us. God sacrificing His only Son in our place for the forgiveness of our sin is radical enough, but Jesus’ sacrifice was even more radical, because after becoming the required sacrifice, Jesus was resurrected, coming back to life.

D. There are other resurrections in the Bible. Jesus Himself resurrects Lazarus after having been dead for four days, the telltale stench offering proof of death. Jesus raises Jairus daughter, sending away the professional mourners already proclaiming her death. Jesus resurrects a widow’s son being carried to his burial site.  Even in the OT, Elijah resurrects a widow’s son. So, resurrection was not new or radical by itself.  But, all those who were resurrected, died again.

E. Resurrection was especially radical to the two religious factions in Jesus’ time, the Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees didn’t believe in miracles or life after death. They believed miracles could be explained, and death was permanent.  But when Jesus raised Lazarus, who was undeniably dead after four days. It was an unexplainable, radical miracle that rocked the world of the witnessing Sadducees.  Their only recourse was to have Lazarus – and Jesus – killed to eliminate the evidence of what they couldn’t explain. The longer Jesus lived, the more of a threat he was to their control. They could justify their actions by the laws they had added in the name of God to solidify their positions of authority. Jesus publicly exposed their corruption, self-promoting laws, and false theologies. Their seat of power was the Temple, where Jesus had radically attacked their use of the Temple, clearing it of the profitable vendors selling there.  Sadducees were the main force compelling Pilate to crucify Jesus.  They breathed a sigh of relief watching Jesus die on the cross. But it was a short lived relief when talk of His Resurrection began to spread, which began to erode Sadducee’s power. After a Jewish revolt some 35 years later, the Romans destroyed the Temple, and the Sadducees’ control.

F. Although the Pharisees did believe in miracles and in life after death, they too, had prestige and power over the Jewish people. Unlike the Sadducees, they functioned throughout Israel, not just in Jerusalem. But, like the Sadducees, their positions on the ruling council, the Sanhedrin, was a purchased seat of influence rather than by spiritual merit. They believed following the Law of Moses was essential to receiving God’s approval, believing their wealth and status were affirmations of such approval. They too had witnessed the miracles of Jesus, even the resurrection of Lazarus, but with the exceptions of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, they also wanted Jesus dead for opposing their values and man made laws. Paul, a well-educated Pharisee, zealously persecuted Christians, believing he was acting on behalf of God, until he met the Resurrected Jesus. The impact of the radical Resurrection transformed Paul into one of the greatest evangelists for the risen Jesus.

G. Jesus’ own disciples had initially failed to grasp the impact of the resurrection Jesus had been trying to get them to understand. They hid during the Crucifixion, not wanting to face the same death of their former Master.  But when they too met the Resurrected Jesus, touched the wounds on His Resurrected body that bore witness that this was the risen Christ, the impact of the Resurrection began their transformation to powerful evangelists. Prior to His Ascension Jesus further commissioned them to baptize people of all nations, empowering them by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The radical impact of Jesus’ Resurrection had transformed them from fearful followers to bold, witnessing  leaders of His Church.

H. The Resurrection even had a special radical impact on the women followers of Jesus as well. Women of those times had no standing, no rights. Even throughout the first century world, women were not trusted in courts of law, in the court of public opinion, or in important deliberations. They were never considered to become disciples of a rabbi. Although Jesus chose men to be His disciples, Mary Magdalene, seemed to have a special place among His followers, and was the very first person Jesus spoke to after His Resurrection. The impact of His Resurrection on her was immediate. Assuming His body had been stolen, there was something in the tone of His voice calling her by name, that let her know this was Jesus!  Her risen Lord. She ran to tell the disciples, but they dismissed her witness as foolish, so that Peter and John raced to the tomb to see for themselves.  But all they found was the empty tomb, and the linen strips left behind, not sure of what to make of what they saw, still skeptical of Mary’s eyewitness of the risen Jesus. And it was the women who went to the tomb that Easter morning and first saw the empty tomb. Their witness did much to circulate the news, and impact of His Resurrection. Although the culture of those times put women in a second class citizenship, the impact of the Resurrection did not escape them. Women were a significant part of Paul’s ministry, mentioning many of them by name.

I. Jesus even spoke about resurrection to Mary about the apparent death of her brother Lazarus, telling her, “Those who believe in me, I AM the resurrection and the life, though they die, will live again.” Jesus wasn’t only talking about eternity and heaven, He was talking about life right then. She had faith to believe her brother would rise again in the future Day of Resurrection. By telling her I AM The Resurrection, Jesus wasn’t just giving her future hope of eternity for her brother, but that in Him was Resurrection beginning with Him and into eternity.  That believing in Him meant relationship with Him continuing into eternal life, and that death is not the end for believers.

J. There are many people like the Sadducees, who say, or even live like there is nothing when we come to the end of this life. For people like that, death is being swallowed up into blackness. Some even perceive death as being like the Buddhist Nirvana, existing in a state of perfect peace, like a drop of water in the ocean. But we Christians say, "No! That`s not true". Because we believe and trust in Jesus, we know that, when we pass from the darkness of life into the glory of life beyond death, there will be a great transformation. We will be changed into something beyond our wildest imagination. Life with our Creator God.

III. I Corinthians 15:35-44

A. Paul wrestled with this when he was questioned,  "How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have? His answer was to look at a seed put into the ground. That seed doesn’t grow into a plant unless it first dies. Then, when the green shoot comes out of the ground, it’s very different from the seed that was first planted. God has given it a beautiful new body - just the kind He wants it to have. That’s how it will be with us. These earthly bodies will be very different from our heavenly bodies, when we come back to life again. Here, our bodies are natural, human bodies. There, they will be supernatural, spiritual bodies.

 

Conclusion. Good Friday represents the worse man could do. But Resurrection Sunday represents the best God can do! When Jesus pronounced from the Cross, “It is finished”, He had fulfilled all prophecy concerning His life, and His purpose in dying to pay the full penalty of sin. What was finished on the cross, now began at the Resurrection! To all believers the resurrection represents Jesus’ triumph over death, the promise of eternal life, and the renewal of a right relationship with God to anyone who believes.  Resurrection means our coming back to life in Him and staying alive! As believers we must live the resurrection! To be in the Resurrection! We must be the resurrection! The world must see the resurrection in us! It’s our calling! Amen