Summer in the Systematics – Christology (Part 9): The Resurrection of Christ

Transcript

JRS 49
8/18/2024
The Resurrection of Christ
Selected Scriptures
Jesse Randolph

Alright, welcome back. We’re embarking on installment number nine now of SUMMER IN THE SYSTEMATICS. Our 2024 study of Christology on Sunday evenings. It’s been a great joy to meet and be able to put this together. Hope it’s been a benefit to you. We’ll move the tassel to the other side of the cap Sunday night as we finish up our study of Christology. By way of reminder, we’ve worked through The Pre-existence of Christ. The Deity of Christ. The Humanity of Christ. The Natures of Christ. The Incarnation of Christ. The Life of Christ. The Obedience of Christ. The Death of Christ. And then tonight we’re going to look at the Resurrection of Christ.

Of course, this is a cardinal and cornerstone doctrine of the Christian faith. Consider these words from Edward Robinson. He was a nineteenth century biblical scholar. He says “The great fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, by which He ‘was declared the Son of God with power’ (Rom. 1:4) and in which God fulfilled ‘the good news of the promise made to the fathers’ (Acts 13) stands out everywhere prominently on the pages of the New Testament as one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith.” Then here’s the good old Spurgeon. “The resurrection of our divine Lord from the dead is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine. Perhaps I might more accurately call it the keystone of the arch of Christianity, for if that fact would be disproved, the whole fabric of the gospel would fall to the ground.” That’s exactly what pastor Mike said earlier when he was mentioning I Corinthians 15:14. We’ll get into that later. But without the resurrection it all falls to pieces. Or Bruce Demarest, “At the heart of the Christian faith is the claim that Jesus Christ on the third day rose from the dead and is alive forevermore.” Just to get us started. Just to get us warmed up a few of these quotes from some notable theologians to get us thinking about this.

We’ve got a lot of territory to cover this evening. This is a massive topic. So, to try to squeeze it into one hour or less is going to be pretty Herculean but we’re going to give it a go. We have eight points tonight. I think I’ve preached like 17-point messages before so 8 should be a breeze. But we have an 8-point outline. You see it on your worksheet there this evening. And we’re going to go through 8 different key biblical and theological truths related to the truth that Jesus of Nazaeth after being crucified on a Roman cross after dying, really did rise from the grave. In doing so, conquered death, and sin and Satan and in doing so, secured for the believer the hope of eternal life and as we’re going to see the reality of their own future resurrection.

Here’s our first point. Number 1 of 8. We’re going to look first at THE PROPHECIES OF THE RESURRECTION. As Acts 1:3 notes, “the resurrection of our Lord was demonstrated by many “convincing proofs.” “He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs.” Now recall that scene in Luke chapter 24. The road to Emmaus scene and the recently resurrected Jesus is there on the road to Emmaus and He’s walking along side two of His disciples. But they don’t realize it’s Him initially. Not only did they not realize it’s Him, but they’re also confused, and they’re perplexed, and they’re discouraged. That’s the whole set up there. They’re discouraged over what had been happening in Jerusalem in recent days. Jesus, the One they had been following, had been crucified. He had died. He’d been buried in this tomb. Though He was standing right there in their midst, they don’t recognize it. Look at how Luke records their words of discouragement. This is from Luke 24 where these two disciples note “how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, (they’re saying this as He’s right there with them) and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.” You can sense the disappointment. Well, eventually, it clicks for them and eventually they realize they were in the presence of the risen Lord. They did so as Jesus in His resurrected state, explained the Scriptures to them and how the Scriptures all pointed, in some sense, to Him and to His resurrection. He says this in Luke 24. “’These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened up their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.’” Now Luke here doesn’t record which Old Testament texts Christ was referencing here when He says, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.” But as we’re going to see here momentarily, there were several Old Testament passages that He could have been referring to there.

Or then consider the Apostle Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa, in Acts chapter 26. He says this after being seized and arrested and taking his appeal. He says, “I stand here bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that as first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” So, like Jesus in Luke 24, Paul here doesn’t specify which section of “the Prophets or Moses” he’s referring to that referred to Christ rising from the dead.

So where do we go then. Where do we need to search and find Old Testament Scriptures and prophecies concerning the future resurrection of the coming Christ? Well, at the top of the list would be Psalm 16. Psalm 16:10 specifically which says, “For You will not forsake my soul to Sheol; You will not give Your Holy One over to see corruption.” This is the clearest Old Testament prophecy concerning the resurrection of Christ where God through the inspired pen of David here, said that He would not allow His holy one to undergo “corruption” or decay, and how do we know? How do we say that Psalm 16 is referring to the Messiah? How do we know it was fulfilled in Jesus? Well, we go over to Acts chapter 2. Here’s Peter inspired words at Pentecost. He says “Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit of his body on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.” So, there you go. Peter, moved by the Holy Spirit, recognized, affirmed here in Acts chapter 2 that Psalm 16 pointed to the future bodily resurrection of the Messiah who we know was Jesus.

Not only that though, but in that same sermon at Pentecost, Peter noted that it was not only Christ’s death which was according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. We see that here in Acts 2:23, “you nailed Him to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death.” But it was also His resurrection that was brought about by that same predetermined plan of God. “God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death.” Psalm 16:10 is one of those Old Testament prophecies concerning the resurrection of the coming Messiah. There are also other Old Testament prophecies or “proofs” which would otherwise indicate that the coming Messiah would not only live, but He would die, and He would rise. Job 19 is often cited as one that least anticipates our Lord’s rising. “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will rise up over the dust of this world.” Or Isaiah 25:8 speaking prophetically says He “will swallow up death for all time.” That could encompass the resurrection.

So those are some Old Testament prophecies of the resurrection. Now we’re getting into our second point. Which is THE PROCLAMATION OF THE RESURRECTION. Prophecies, Proclamation, how am I differentiating the two? Well, I’m distinguishing the two at least for purposes of tonight’s lesson by saying “prophecies.” That was our first heading, to refer to those Old Testament passages which foretold the future resurrection of Christ. By “proclamation” here I mean Jesus’ own words in the New Testament, where He speaks to His own disciples’ face to face about His coming death and resurrection. As we see recorded in His Gospels and the Gospels, during His years on earth, Jesus did speak over and over about His coming death and resurrection. Like here, John 2:19. He says, “Destroy this sanctuary [or temple], and in three days I will raise it up.” He spoke of laying down His life and taking it up again in John 10. “I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.”

He also made claims that were right in line with the Old Testament in terms of what it prophesied about Israel’s coming Messiah when He says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die, ever.” Then there are several other direct statements in the Gospels like these. Some are from Christ Himself by the way. Some are from the Holy Spirit directed Gospel authors, but they all refer to the fact that Christ would not only die, but that He would rise again from the dead. Matthew 17 here says “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” Matthew 20:18, “the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” Matthew 26, “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” Matthew 26:61, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the sanctuary of God and to rebuild it in three days.’” That’s when they are accusing Jesus. Matthew 27, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’” Mark 9:9, “And as they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to recount to anyone that they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.” Mark 9:31, “For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, ‘The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise again three days later.’” Mark 10, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” Mark 14, “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” Luke 18, “For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him, and the third day He will rise again.” I’m just going to read these for 45 minutes. We could go on and on but Matthew 16, “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” One more, Matthew 17, “And as they were coming down from the mountain, (transfiguration) Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’” So those are just a few of these examples of the proclamation of the resurrection that came from the lips of our Lord or from these New Testament authors as they recorded His life in the gospel accounts.

Next, we are going to look at THE PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION. That’s our heading number 3. Notwithstanding all that I just read off for you. From the New Testament, from the gospels, specifically from the book of Acts. From Psalm 16 there have been skeptics. There have been doubters. There are not only those who outright deny that Jesus ever existed even as a historical figure. Which is historically laughable, as a matter of objective research. But there are those who admit that He lived but deny that He rose. Or at least deny that He experienced a physical bodily resurrection. But why? Why would such a person ever make an argument like that? Well, the argument that’s been out there for centuries now is there because if Jesus rose. If He is who He says He is, that means He’s owed the allegiance He demands. Sinful creatures that we are, before God regenerates us by a divine work of His Spirit, we don’t want to give Jesus allegiance. We don’t want to make Him the Lord of our life.

So, a natural point of attack for the unbeliever is to go after His resurrection and to deny that Jesus rose physically from the tomb in which He was laid. All sorts of arguments have been offered out there throughout the years, to argue against the biblical testimony, the proofs that we just looked at concerning the resurrection of Jesus. Some will argue that Jesus never died. Now they’ll call it “The Swoon Theory.” The whole idea is that through the pain, through the agony, through the lashes and beatings and nails and the rest, He just lapsed into a state of unconsciousness. But He didn’t die. Then what happened they would say is that He was then placed in the cooler air of the tomb and then in the cooler air of the tomb He revived, and He woke up and then rolled back the stone and walked out, only to eventually die again.

Well, that view ignores many details. But what about the fact that a spear was driven into His side. That would have been the “kill shot” to somebody who was in such a weakened condition as He was at that point? Or what about the fact that the Roman soldiers who were experts in brutality and death, didn’t bother to break His legs because they were so certain that He was dead? Or what about the fact that there was an armed Roman guard there guarding carefully the tomb, keeping watch over it to make sure that very thing the skeptics say happened, wouldn’t happen. It doesn’t add up.

Another theory that’s offered there is that the resurrection was just this fabricated story told by Jesus’ followers; kind of a warm memory that they wanted to keep alive. They didn’t want to lose their memories of the good times. So, they wanted to perpetuate the telling of His story. His miracles. His good teaching for future posterity for generations to come. But that theory also makes no sense as it’s completely undermined by the way those very followers lived after Jesus rose. Right? They went from fleeing in fear once He was was put to death to boldly proclaiming His resurrection. Not even the threat of death or losing family or losing limbs could slow down their proclamation of the risen Lord. What brought that about? The reality of His resurrection. The reality that He rose. Their bold stand. Their witness. Their willingness to die for what they had seen with their own eyes and what they heard with their own ears. Even touched with their own hands proved that they weren’t “living for a lie.”

J.P. Moreland notes, “They were willing (speaking of these post resurrection witnesses) they were willing to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming this, without any payoff from a human point of view. It’s not as though there were a mansion awaiting them on the Mediterranean. They faced a life of hardship. They often went without food, slept exposed to the elements, were ridiculed, beaten, imprisoned. And finally, most of them were executed in torturous ways. For what? For good intentions? No, because they were convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that they had seen Jesus Christ alive from the dead.” There’s Simon Greenleaf, he was actually a law professor. He says, “It was impossible that the disciples could have persisted in affirming the truth of the Resurrection had not Jesus actually risen from the dead.”

Well, there are many other false theories out there which have been put forth over the centuries by those who reject the idea that Jesus underwent a true physical bodily resurrection. We don’t have time to go into all of those but ultimately, for those who claim that Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead. That He didn’t resurrect. What they’re doing is rejecting Scripture. They’re rejecting the very words of the living God; and in doing so they are rejecting God Himself because the Scriptures are indisputably clear that Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

Now, so far, I’ve just laid out the counterarguments. Things like the Swoon theory or the Friend theory. Just preserving the good memories of Jesus theory. Well, let’s just look at some of the biblical proofs which establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus really did rise from the grave, and He really did rise physically in bodily form. First of all, He was taken from the cross. John 19, “Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So, he came and took away His body.” Not His Spirit, His body. Also, in John 19 we would say that Jesus was placed in the garden tomb. “Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” We also know here from Matthew 27 that that tomb was guarded by soldiers who were there specifically to prevent anybody from removing or tampering with or having access to the Lord’s body. Then we see, and we are going to get into this in much more detail later, that He appeared. He appeared alive in bodily form to many eyewitnesses. Acts 1, “He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs.” Ryrie notes “The number and variety of people in a variety of circumstances who saw the Lord after His resurrection give overwhelming proof that He did rise from the dead.”

Then there are all the post-resurrection appearances to individuals. Where Jesus appeared bodily. We see here to Mary Magdalene, “After He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and crying.” Then He appeared to Peter, Luke 24, “They stood up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together the eleven and those with them, who were saying, ‘The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon. (To Peter.)’” He appeared to, we saw this earlier, the disciples on the road to Emmaus. “And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself approached and was going with them, (though they didn’t recognize Him initially)” He appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room. “And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself approached and was going with them.” (I just did Luke 24 again, I’m sorry, wrong quote) He appeared to the seven of the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. “After these things He manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.” He appeared to the apostles and more than 500 brethren and to James, His half-brother, the Lord’s half-brother. “After that (I Corinthians 15) He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” We know from Acts 1:9, He appeared to those who witnessed His Ascension. “And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

Now, one account of course of a post-resurrection appearance that I’ve left out so far is that of Thomas. “Doubting Thomas,” as he is affectionately known in our day. He deserves his own special treatment here. Recall that Thomas had this tremendous uncertainty about the bodily resurrection of our Lord, and what was Jesus’ response? Well, He gave Thomas the chance to put Him to the test. John 20, “And He said to Thomas, ‘Bring your finger here, and see My hands; and bring your hand here and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving but believing.’” Then at that point, Thomas is convinced that Jesus had risen. That He had conquered the grave and that He was Thomas’ Lord and God in the flesh. “Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” After touching the side.

So, the Christian’s claim then, our claim that Jesus rose bodily from the dead doesn’t just rest on one isolated shred of evidence. It doesn’t rest on the testimony of a singular witness. No, we see as we work our way methodically and carefully through the gospels, that over this period of many many days on multiple different occasions as recorded in a variety of different Scriptures, Jesus appeared alive. Sometimes it was to one individual. Sometimes to two. Sometimes to larger groups. Sometimes as we saw in I Corinthians 15, even to groups of hundreds of people. Which is why Thomas Arnold would note that the resurrection is the “best attested fact in human history.”

Not only were there the appearances, but there were also the acts that the risen Lord performed which pointed to the reality that He truly had risen bodily through His resurrection. Like He had breakfast, He prepared breakfast for His disciples. “Jesus said to them, ‘Come, have breakfast.” Spirits don’t typically fix up the bacon and the eggs. I know it was fish, but you get the point. He ate fish. Luke 24, “And while they still were not believing because of their joy and were still marveling, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and He took it and ate it before them.” Spirits don’t do that. Peter even said that Christ ate and drank with His disciples after the resurrection. Acts 10 says “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.” He invited His perplexed disciples to examine the nail marks in His hands. “See My hands and feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” As we just saw with Thomas, He invited him to touch the spear wound in His side. These aren’t the actions in other words of a disembodied spirit being. These are the actions of a person with a body, and they point conclusively to the fact that Jesus rose bodily. Roland McCune notes that, “Only by tampering with the biblical evidence, impugning the testimony of the numerous eyewitnesses and disclaiming the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures can the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth be denied.” Amen.

So those are some of the proofs of the resurrection. Next, we’re going to get to our fourth point here which is THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION. That’s your fourth heading there. We’ll treat this one briefly. But it’s important to note that the resurrection of our Lord was undergirded by and was a demonstration of God’s mighty hand of power. Now God’s mighty hand of power was on display throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, we know that. It was His mighty hand of power which caused the Red Sea to part. It was His mighty hand of power that caused manna to fall from the sky. It was His mighty hand of power that caused an axe head to float. It was His mighty hand of power that caused seemingly insurmountable enemies of Israel to be defeated. But all of those manifestations of God’s power stand in the shadow ultimately of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the divine power which undergirded that specific event. Recall the words of Paul, how we wanted the believers there in Philippi to “know Him and the power of His resurrection (Christ’s resurrection) and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” The power He’s noting here of the resurrection. Note that Paul here isn’t saying I want you to note the power of the Exodus out of Egypt. He’s not asking that they would know the power of the floating axe head. He’s not wanting to know the power of Israel’s military conquest of the “You name the ites.” No, He wanted them to know the greatest form of power this world has ever seen, namely, the power of resurrection.

He expressed similar sentiment in Ephesians 1. He says “so that you, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of the might of His strength, which He worked in Christ, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” Note the reference there to God’s power and might and strength and how God’s omnipotence was displayed in raising Jesus from the dead. I agree with McCune again. He says, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most colossal demonstration of the power of God of all time.”

That takes us to our next point. Point number 5, where we’re going to look at THE PROSPECT OF THE RESURRECTION. We’re already turning over the sheet. We’re right on time. The Prospect of the Resurrection and by that, I mean that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead paved the way for our own resurrection, our own future resurrection unto life. To build out this idea, we’ll start here. I Corinthians 15:20, it says, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Here Paul is borrowing from the Old Testament. “First fruits” under the Mosaic Law referred to those first heads of ripened grain which were dedicated to God, and they were dedicated to God anticipation of His expected blessing of provision when the whole harvest or the full harvest came in. So, the “first fruits” when a first fruit deposit was made, or a first fruit offering was made it was like an earnest deposit. A down payment, if you will. To thank the Lord for the harvest that was to come. See the idea here in Exodus 23, “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God.”

Now in a similar manner, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the “first fruits” of all men. According to Paul, Jesus’ resurrection paved the way for future the resurrection of all people. Including those who will be resurrected unto a resurrection of judgment and those who will be resurrected unto a resurrection of life. We see both resurrections mentioned in this passage and the next couple of passages. I Corinthians 15 again says “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” That’s a resurrection reference. Or John 5:28, it says, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

But the first resurrection though, the “first fruits” is that of Christ Himself. I Corinthians 15 again says “But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, and after that those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.” Or Acts 26, “Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that as first of the resurrection from the dead, (there’s that first fruit idea again) He was going to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” Now in what sense was Jesus’ resurrection the “first” as it says here in Acts and also over in I Corinthians? Well, the word could mean in some context chronologically first. But in the context of the overall New Testament witness, what would be more likely is this is referring to “first” in prominence or first in preeminence.

We have to remember as we look at the whole of the Old and New Testament, there were other individuals who died and who came back to life. Both in the Old and New Testaments. There’s the son of the widow of Zarephath in I Kings 17. The Shunammite’s son in II Kings 4. Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5. Tabitha in Acts 9. Eutychus in Acts 20. Lazarus in John 11. But each ultimately then had to go face death all over again did they not? Yes, they did. None of those who rose, none of those who came back to life, none of those who were quickened had a total triumph over death. No. Every single one of those individuals I just mentioned would die again and none of those individuals received a glorified resurrection body the way that Christ did. No, Christ, who is preeminent over all things, as we saw last year in our study of Colossians, is also preeminent in His death. And preeminent in His resurrection. He is the only One to have died but to never to die again.

Now as I alluded to earlier. Because Jesus rose from the grave, because He was resurrected, we know that we will one day be too. I Corinthians 6:14, “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.” II Corinthians 4:13, “But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed; therefore, I spoke,’ we also believe; therefore, we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.” I hope you hear me. Especially if you are newer at church or newer to our study here or just haven’t heard some of these truths before. If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, our ultimate hope is not just that we’ll go to heaven and live in some sort of ethereal float around on the clouds and pass-through walls sort of experience. That’s not the ultimate hope. No, our hope and our confidence are that one day we will be given a new body, a physical body, a glorified body. Not one like this one that falls apart and breaks down and the eyes go bad and everything else. But a perfect body at our own resurrection. That’s our ultimate end game hope.

John Kennedy, not that one, said, “The resurrection of Christ is not only a prophecy of our resurrection, but its guarantee, its earnest and pledge, its first fruits.” It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ that guarantees that every believer again will one day be raised from the dead. Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Philippians 3, “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by His working through which He is able to even subject all things to Himself.”

Now we know that I Corinthians 15. I could have gone about this by just exegeting I Corinthians 15 but there so much to cover. But we know that I Corinthians 15 give us the most expansive treatment of this subject. Of the believer’s future hope and the believer’s future resurrection. Paul lays out there in I Corinthians 15, not only our hope in Jesus’ resurrection and its centrality to the message of the gospel. But it also lays out our hope in our resurrection, which is anchored in the fact that Jesus Himself rose from the grave. Addressing that passage, I Corinthians 15, note this. Charles Feinberg notes that “The fact to be borne in mind is that Paul was not trying to argue in I Corinthians 15 the resurrection of Christ. That was taken for granted among the believers to whom he was writing. Instead, he was defending the resurrection of Christians, which some at the church in Corinth were denying. Paul, proceeding on the basis of the resurrection of Christ and its apparent implications for those who are in Him, pointed out that the resurrection of believers is certain and secure.” Again, that is our hope, is it not? Not only that we’re saved though we are if we put our faith in Christ. Not only that we’re forgiven though we are if we put our faith in Christ. But that we are going on to God’s eternal Kingdom. A physical Kingdom. Where we will having put off the old will put on the new living forever and worshiping God forever in these new physical, glorified bodies.

Point number 6. We’re going to consider now THE PROMINENCE OF THE RESURRECTION. By that, I mean the importance of the Resurrection in terms of the amount of attention it’s given throughout the New Testament. For instance, the apostles in order to become apostles, had to be eyewitnesses of Christ in His resurrected condition. We see that in Acts 1 here, “Therefore, it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” They knew this was a requirement, which is why John would say things like this. Other apostles said things like this as well. “This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his witness is true.” The witness. The eyewitness idea and in giving their testimony, as Thiessen notes here, “The apostles could not have had any ulterior motive for proclaiming so stupendous a fact. They proclaimed Christ’s resurrection at the risk of their lives. The disbelieving disciples believed when they saw the risen Christ and became indefatigable heralds of the resurrection.” The prominence of the Resurrection is also displayed in how often it’s mentioned in the Scriptures, and we’ve gone through several specific examples already. But the resurrection is of course prominently recorded in all four Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. All four gospels. If you put them all together you see a very clear story of an empty tomb and then the Lord’s post-resurrection appearances in bodily form. Then His exhortations post resurrection to the disciples and then His eventual ascension into heaven.

Then beyond the Gospels, there’s the book of Acts where, again, the resurrection of the Lord is featured prominently. Here’s Peter’s second sermon following the sermon at Pentecost. He says, “you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” They continued as the witness of Christ in what He was doing expanded throughout Jerusalem. Acts 4, “And with great power the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.” Here’s Peter’s testimony to Cornelius. He says, “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us, and who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.” It was brought up at Paul’s preaching here at Antioch. “God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people.” It came up at Paul’s preaching at Athens. “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.” Then here’s Paul’s testimony before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, “But knowing that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Sanhedrin, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!’”

Last one here in Acts. Paul’s defense before Agrippa. “I stand here bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that as first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.” We don’t have time now, but you go through every single one of those epistles and you see references to the resurrection over and over and over.

We’ve got two more points to cover. Two more blanks on your worksheet. Here’s number seven, THE PURPOSES OF THE RESURRECTION. Under this heading we’re going to explore some of what the Scriptures teach about the resurrection and how it ties into our position before God and specifically, to our salvation. To begin with, belief in the Resurrection is a bare-minimum truth, that a person must trust and believe in, in order to be saved. Romans 10:9, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That by the way is not some bald confession, that’s being referred to here. This is not merely believing in the sense that you believe that Mt. Montpelier is the capital of Vermont. It’s not just intellectual assent. No this is confessing you see it here Jesus as Lord. Which means inherently that it’s recognizing that you are not. It’s recognizing our need to be “saved.” Look at the last word there. Which stems from the recognition that without being saved we stand under God’s judgment. It’s recognizing that because He was brought to life, we can be brought to life and rendered free in Christ. But not free the way the world thinks of free like living the way you want to after you make your profession of faith in Him. But rather free from the shackles of sin which once weighed you down and now free to put on His yoke, which is gentle and light. A person though, only receives as we see here, the benefits of genuine saving faith if they have true, heart-level belief at the most fundamental level, that God truly did raise Him, raised Jesus from the dead. That’s I Corinthians 15 in a nutshell. “Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I proclaimed to you as good news, unless you believed for nothing. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Belief in the resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, must undergird any true profession of faith. We also know that belief in the Resurrection is at the heart of the believer’s justification. That is, God’s declaring Him righteous in His sight. That’s Romans 4:25, “He who was delivered over on account of our transgressions and was raised on account of our justification.” In other words, only through a risen Christ can we be deemed justified before God. Which we see summarize in these next couple of quotes. McCune again says, “Present day believers in the resurrected Christ, that is, those who exercise faith in the divine promises as did Abraham of old, are justified by being given a standing in righteousness and declared and treated as such forever by a holy God” John Murray says, “Jesus was delivered up in order to atone for our sins and was raised in order that we might be justified.” Charles Feinberg notes that “Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the believer’s justification. “The resurrection of Christ proves beyond a doubt that God has accepted His death for humankind as the full satisfaction of His claims for human justification.” One more from Feinberg, “Just as Christ was delivered up on account of people’s offenses, because they had grievously offended the holiness of God, just so was He raised to show that His death had fully and completely availed for believers and that now they stand in the presence of God the Father justified from all things.”

The resurrection plays a role in our justification and our resurrection we are going to see next, plays a role in our regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Which is just another facet of the entire salvation “transaction” if you want to call it that. Where we go from darkness to light and from death to life. I Peter 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again (that’s regeneration language) to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

The resurrection is linked to our justification. The resurrection is linked to our regeneration. Now we’re going to see the resurrection linked to our sanctification. Romans 6, (Sanctification. Growth as believers.) “Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” This is sanctification language. Feinberg again picks up on that, he says, “Through the death of Christ positional sanctification (that just means salvation) was affected for all believers; through the resurrection experimental sanctification was made possible. (That’s how we would describe sanctification. Growing in Christ.) In His death, Christ died not only for sin, but He died to sin as well. He made it possible for believers to have dominion over the power of sin.”

So, on account of our risen Lord and Savior who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” We receive spiritual sustenance. Through the same power who raised Jesus from the dead, of the one who raised Jesus from the dead, we who have believed upon Jesus Christ have been the given the ability to live for Him and serve Him and love Him. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” McCune again notes that “Spiritual life and the hope it entails are possible because Christ validated His atoning work against sin, which resulted in His death, by triumphantly rising from the dead. Resurrection life being made alive in Christ, accrues to the Christian because he has, by faith, been identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. Christ’s victory over sin and death becomes the believer’s as well.”

The last one under this heading of THE PURPOSES OF THE RESURRECTION, is that through Our Lord’s resurrection, not only has Christ been exalted, which He has. We see that here in Ephesians 1:19-21, I won’t read the whole thing. But in addition to that the follower of Jesus Christ is seen by God as being there with Christ in His resurrection. Being raised up with Him and being given an exalted position in the heavenlies with Christ. That’s Ephesians 2, “But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ, then is tied directly in with our position before God, in our salvation, in our sanctification and one day in our glorification.

That brings us to our eighth and final point this evening. Which is THE PROBLEM OF NO RESURRECTION. In other words, what if Jesus never rose? What if He didn’t rise? What if He wasn’t resurrected? What would the consequences, what would the fall-out be if Jesus actually didn’t rise from the grave. If His bones are buried somewhere in the Holy Land even today.

Well first, His credibility would be completely shot. Trust in His Word and trust in His promises would be completely eroded. I mean think about it. If He was wrong about His own resurrection, why would we given any weight or authority to any one of His teachings on topics like God, or mankind, or sin, or judgment, or the need to repent? Why would we, any longer, accept or embrace even His claims to be God? Remember, His resurrection is linked to His deity. Romans 1:4, He’s “designated as the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” He’s designated as the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. In other words, if Jesus didn’t actually rise from the grave, we would have no reason to think of Him as anything more than a mere man. A wise man, but ultimately an incorrect man. A flawed man. A mere man. Not only that, if Jesus didn’t actually rise from the grave, the Gospel would be defanged. The message of the cross would be totally without power, and the cross would ultimately be reduced to a tragic failure. I Corinthians 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” Did you catch that? Without a resurrection there would be no forgiveness of sins because without a resurrection it means that Christ wasn’t who He claimed to be. He wasn’t truly God and if He wasn’t truly God, that means He was an inadequate substitute for the sins of the world and He was unable to pay the price of our redemption.

And further, if Christ did not rise bodily from the grave our hope again of our own future resurrection is just a sad illusion. It’s this pitiful mirage. If Jesus’ body actually decayed in some tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem. If any trace of His bones were ever discovered, we would still be dead in our sins and enslaved to the power of death. If that’s the case we, “are of all men most to be pitied.” Floyd Barackman notes, “If He had not risen, then His death would be of no value in saving sinners, and the gospel would be ineffective. A savior still dead cannot save.” But Jesus’ body we know will never be found. Not because of the ingenuity or the zeal of some Roman soldiers or Jewish authorities. Not because they dispensed of it, or they moved it, or they got rid of it. But rather because we know without a doubt that Christ was raised. We know that because right after I Corinthians 15:19, which speaks of the hopelessness and the despair of a world in which Christ didn’t rise. The very next verse says, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead.” There lies our hope. Amen! I said there lies our hope. Amen! I mean that’s it. I mean what are doing here, if I can’t get an amen out of that? There lies our hope, amen “Christ has been raised from the dead.”

Earlier this week I visited with a dear member of our church. It wasn’t Dick Bert but thank you Mike for your wonderful words and tribute for Dick. It wasn’t Dick who I visited with earlier this week, but I did visit with a member who’s in decline and his earthy tent is giving way. He’s ready for the new one and he’s ready to meet the Lord. He has the hope that we’re talking about. It was such a joy to sit with him, because he’s got oxygen in and he’s getting frailer, and he moves more slowly. But the joy is there. The joy is there notwithstanding the discomfort he’s going through. Even if it’s a little harder to move and breathe. The joy is in that man, and it is something truly to behold. It all ties back to that man’s resurrection hope. He knows that the Lord rose. He knows that He is going to meet that risen Lord. He knows He has been transformed. Philippians 3:10, by “the power of the Lord’s resurrection.” As I was driving away from that man’s house this week, I couldn’t help but think of a quote I’ve read in different settings at different times. It’s a quote from D.L. Moody, the great evangelist. He said, “Someday you will read in the paper that D.L. Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.” Amen. Praise the Lord for His death. Praise the Lord for His resurrection. Praise the Lord for our hope. Let’s pray.

God thank you for this time this evening. God, I know these studies on Sunday nights in the summer can feel like we are sitting in a classroom, but I do hope and trust that we all understand that this is reality. This is not just scribbling down verses. This is preparing for glory. God, we have that glorious hope. We have that promise that we will one day be with you. The promise that Dick had and held to that he is rejoicing in in the presence of his Savior right now. The hope that the other brother that I just mentioned is walking in right now. God if we have believed upon the name of Jesus. All because of your great love for us and preparing a way for us and making a way for us. We can have this hope. We can have the hope not only that Jesus died, which He did, and not only that Jesus rose which He did, and that our sins can be forgiven which they are, but we know that we will one day also rise and we will one day be given these perfect glorified resurrected bodies that are suitable and fit for worshipping You forever in glory. Oh, what a day that will be when we anticipate it with joy. God, I do pray that these studies would really get down to the heart of everybody here. For we who believe upon the name of Christ, I pray that these studies would just grow us in our anticipation of being with you forever. For anyone here that doesn’t know You I pray that they’d be asking the hard questions and doing some soul searching and reaching out to somebody here to ask, like the Ethiopian Eunuch. What must I do to be saved? God, I pray that you would do a good work in our midst this week. May our sights and our gaze be fixed on You in all that we do. In Jesus name, Amen.