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Study given Easter Sunday March 31, 2024
We'd love to hear from you. Message us here.
Study given Easter Sunday March 31, 2024
All right. Well, you guys can start turning to Philippians, chapter 3, verse 10 is where we'll be today. Philippians, chapter 3, verse 10. Let's see if actual pages will stay put today. Probably not All right. Well, today we remember the fact that the tomb is empty.
Speaker 1:Jesus died on the cross. Three days later he rose again, just like he said, and you can pick any gospel account and read about it. You could feel the despair of his friends, the disciples. You could see them locked in an upper room, scared of what might happen to them. You could feel the excitement as they begin to hear and get word that jesus isn't in the tomb anymore. The body is gone. The angel said that he's alive. You could see peter and john racing towards the tomb and john in his gospel making note that he got there first. You could see Mary thinking that Jesus was the gardener and asking him with such sincerity where have they put my Lord, where have they put his body? And when he just spoke her name, she lost it and put him in such a hug that he said let me go, I'm not ascended to the Father yet. You could feel just the joy kind of trickle down as they realized that he wasn't dead, he was alive.
Speaker 1:There's doubting Thomas and Jesus' special appearance to him, and it's beautiful. They were at the point of despair and his resurrection changed all that and it's a nice story. It's not just a story, it's an account. It's a historical account. But what does it mean for us? Years later, god would get a hold of a guy named Saul, aka Paul, a Pharisee, and he would live his life to tell everybody about Jesus and what he had done.
Speaker 1:And here in Philippians, chapter 3, paul takes some time to do a little bit of senseless boasting because people were challenging him. And he talks about his pedigree and his education and all these things that he could potentially boast about. And he says but compared to knowing Jesus, it's trash, it's all worthless compared to knowing Jesus. What do I want? Paul, would say here in Philippians 3. Let's look at verse 8. Yet, indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ, though he says what do I really want now in life, now that I've been through all that? What do I really want now in life, now that I've been through all that? What do I want? I want to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death. Paul says after all these things, what do I still want in life? I just want to know Jesus, I want to know him more and I want to know the power of his resurrection. And that's, of course, what we're talking about today, the resurrection.
Speaker 1:But Paul here says in the resurrection there's power. And that word power we took and used that Greek word dunamis for power, power for dynamite. When dynamite was developed, we said what is it like? Well, it's power, it's like dunamis power. And that's not really a great illustration in the end, because what does dynamite usually accomplish? It's explosions, it's chaos, it's all these things. But it's power to get things done. Is what that word means Power to accomplish something good. And so Paul here says I want to know the power of Jesus' resurrection. The Jesus' resurrection isn't just a nice thought or an end of the story, it's some real power. So what is that power? I just want to look at that for a few moments and hope you can follow along.
Speaker 1:The resurrection is a proving power. You know, it's hard to tell what's real anymore. Man, isn't it scary with AI? I'm not afraid of AI, but it's freaky, right, what you can just create right now on your phone by typing in a little something of you know make me a picture of, and then spell it out. And then poof, there it is. And you know videos, make me a video of, and you spell it out, and then there's a video. And it's hard to know what's actually real anymore. It's hard to know what pictures have actually been painted or photographed. It's hard to know what videos are actually sincere, with the real person saying what they said. They have to make programs now right, to tell whether the English essay was actually written by a human or by a computer, and they can figure it out. So be careful, right, but it's hard to prove what's real anymore. It's hard to prove what's true. And yet the resurrection proves that what Jesus said and what Jesus claimed was actually true. Lots of people make lots of claims. You know I can claim a lot of things, but it doesn't mean it's true. But the resurrection now check it out.
Speaker 1:The resurrection was a stamp of authenticity, that what Jesus said in his ministry was true. And there's so many things you could look at that Jesus said. He said I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me. Is that true? Well, the resurrection shows that what Jesus said was true. Shows that what Jesus said was true. Jesus said let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you I'm going to prepare a place for you, that, where I am there, you may be also. Is that just nice words or is it true? It's true, jesus said it and it's true Now.
Speaker 1:Jesus also made claims that he would die, that he would be crucified and three days later he would rise again. Now you could say I'm going to die because we're all going to die one day, right, and that you could kind of plan your own. It's not a good thing to do, but people could do that. But you cannot say and three days later I'm going to be alive again. You can't fake that. You can't make that happen with good thoughts. And yet Jesus said it and it actually happened. Well, how do you know that the resurrection actually happened? It's important that we know that this is true. Turn to 1 Corinthians and you can actually just turn there.
Speaker 1:We'll spend probably the rest of our time going back and forth with 1 Corinthians 15 a little bit, still talking about the power of resurrection. But look at what Paul says here in the whole deal 1 Corinthians 15, verse 13. Paul says this this is important because if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. So people were telling the people in Corinth, some were coming in and saying well, there is no resurrection Once you're gone, you're gone. That's it Not true? And Paul says but it's important that you understand that there's a resurrection. Because notice here, if there's no resurrection, then Jesus hasn't resurrected. Now check it out. If Jesus isn't alive, now listen. If Jesus isn't alive, then everything we're talking about is worthless. Why are we even meeting on a Sunday morning if Jesus isn't alive? The whole thing is a lie, right, and so it's important that we understand that this resurrection proves these things are true. Now stay here and notice.
Speaker 1:In verse three Paul gives a little bit of these proofs in verse three, for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And he was seen by Cephas that's another name for Peter then by the twelve. After that he was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep, some have died. After that he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. After that he was seen by James and then by all the apostles. Then, last of all, he was seen by me, also as one born out of due time. So check it out.
Speaker 1:Paul here says the disciples saw him and over 500 people at once saw Jesus after he rose from the dead. Some have gone on to heaven, but most of them are still alive. And all this is to say that people saw it with their own eyes. Well, so what Right you could say you saw anything? What does that mean? Well, check it out. The ones that saw him were willing to die for that fact. Now come back and listen that the ones that actually saw him were willing to die for the fact that he was alive. Take it to the disciples, right?
Speaker 1:If anyone knew if Jesus was alive, the disciples knew if he was alive or if he was dead. They're the ones that kind of spread the whole story out there. Right, if he was alive or if he was dead. They're the ones that kind of spread the whole story out there, right, they died brutal deaths. The only one really that didn't was John, and they tried to boil him in oil, but he didn't die right. And yet none of them broke. Why would you die for something you knew was an absolute fake? Somebody's going to break. You know, when you're crucifying Peter upside down, somebody is going to break. In all these things, what's it for? And yet they knew. How can I say anything different? I know he's alive. I absolutely know he's alive, and so the resurrection adds proof to the whole account of Jesus. Every word that he said, every promise that he made, it says this is the real deal. It's also, though, it's, a proving power, but it's also a purifying power. Now check it out. It shows that what Jesus did on the cross was enough to pay the penalty that was owed. What was the penalty owed?
Speaker 1:Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death. Now, sin, right. What is sin? It's like a religious word. Sin is missing the mark. It's what we all do. None of us is perfect, not do. None of us is perfect. Not a single one of us is perfect. We're not perfect. From the moment you sat down to even now, you've probably engaged in some kind of sin. Right, we all have. Maybe it's pride, you know. Maybe it's a little bit of bitterness that we're struggling with in our heart. It just means we're not perfect. But the wages of sin is death. We don't like to hear that right, that my sin, one sin, mine, deserves absolute separation from God and death.
Speaker 1:You know what's funny when I'm in the midst of sin, right, maybe, I mean, maybe I don't need to confess all this, but you know, sometimes I consider sin. You know what I mean. I go, I kind of want to do this. I know it's wrong. I really go through the thoughts in my head because I'm a human being and you know what I think sometimes. Yeah, it's not such a big deal. You know what I mean. I'm going to do this thing, I'm going to think this thought. You know I'm going to gossip or whatever, and I go. Well, it's not really a big deal, just kind of let's sweep that under the carpet, not a big deal. But the cross shows us that death is what every single one of our sins deserves, just one of them Heaviness, death. But Jesus this is the good news Jesus paid the price for our sin, for your sin, on the cross, when he said you remember? When he said it is finished. We think of that and we think finished like a finish line of a race. Jesus was running his race and he was at the end of his race and he goes finished.
Speaker 1:You know, it's not actually that, it's more of a business term. When you finish out a loan, right, most of you kids are like what's a loan? You know you have a loan for a car or a house or something you can't afford and you pay your payments and that kind of thing. And you get to the end and it's kind of funny. You go to the bank and they almost have a little party for you when you're there, like congratulations, last payment. You know confetti and stuff. Would you like to take out a loan for something else? Now, you know confetti and stuff. Would you like to take out a loan for something else? Now, you know and, and, and you know you finish the loan and you go it's done, it's all done, it's paid in full, and check it out. That's what that it deserves is death. Jesus paid it on the cross and he said guys, it's paid in full.
Speaker 1:That's good news, because if you're not a believer at this point you're sitting there and you're dealing with all the nastiness in your heart. You're wondering what do I do about my life and all the things that I've done wrong? Jesus says look, what I did on the cross for you is enough to pay the price for that sin. You can be forgiven. You don't have to live under that. You don't have to be separated from God for all eternity. But check it out, it's also an important thing if you're a believer, because we all mess up and every day the devil as a good accountant as well he comes back and he says look, I just want to go over here. You have messed up quite a bit and you know God really doesn't want you right now.
Speaker 1:That's something that happens on Sunday morning a lot of times. You know you haven't read your Bible, you had some bad thoughts. You probably shouldn't have watched that movie, you know. And the devil goes you don't have anything to do with God. You lost your cool. Have anything to do with God. He lost her cool. And God says it's not about that. I paid the price for your sin to make it just as if you never sinned. You're clean. So it's a purifying power.
Speaker 1:As we look at the cross, it's the receipt that what Jesus did on the cross was absolutely enough for your sin and my sin, the sin of the world. It's also a life-giving power. Jesus said in John, chapter 11, I am the resurrection and the life. Now check it out. If you're in Christ, if you've trusted him, you have resurrection and you have life. Because you have Jesus, resurrection and life. One day, total resurrection, these mortal bodies are going to put on immortal bodies. We're going to be in heaven. Yay, we'll talk about that in a second. But then there's also this thing of life. Right, we could talk about physical life being restored, and that's a wonderful thought. But what about spiritual life? Because spiritual life and spiritual death is really more important in the Bible's eyes.
Speaker 1:The Bible says in Ephesians, chapter 2, that we're all dead in sin. That's not a nice thought, right? We're all dead in sin. So before coming to Jesus, you're like roadkill. I mean no offense. So was I right Like roadkill? Now I know we're going to go to lunch here in a minute, you know, and have lunch and it's going to be wonderful. But picture roadkill. Real quick, right, it doesn't matter what it is, you can't have it, do a trick, you don't want to pet it on the head and go, how cute you are, it's dead. What does it do? It does dead things. Roadkill does dead things. It smells dead. It's dead, right, enough of dead, okay, but that's us before Christ. We're like roadkill. It's not surprising when we do dead things like sin. It's not surprising because that's what we do, right, the people that we love, the people that we're praying for. We shouldn't be all that surprised when they do dead things, because that's what dead things do, that's what we do. But check it out.
Speaker 1:The power of the resurrection gives us life. Life and I think that's what Paul was talking about, probably in his mind, when he said I want to know him and the power of his resurrection. He thought about those people that he had met, those people who were into witchcraft, those people that were just sinners like the rest of us, and he said I've seen God change lives. He looked at his own life and he's like I used to drag people to jail and kill them because they believed in Jesus. I was so into myself and he said then God got a hold of my life and gave me life and he became a new person. Have you ever seen the power of the resurrection?
Speaker 1:I think most in my life of my father-in-law. I've told this story many times and I've got to tell the whole story. But my father-in-law and he acted as dead as dead can be most of the time. I mean you could listen to his history and go that's pretty dead. You know and you know every time you got around him it was just anger and wrath and all these different things. He just blew up all the time. And then one day I mean I wish I could just tell the whole story.
Speaker 1:One day God got a hold of his life in a totally radical kind of way and he believed in his heart. And he's not perfect, he's still got little remnants of who. He was there. You know the way he talks and all these things are still there, right, god's working on him. But I remember when he got saved, we all just we've been praying like years for him, like like the whole time. I knew leela, we were praying for her dad and he got saved and we went nuh-uh. That what we said when we got saved. We go, nah, there's no way. Let's keep praying for him. And then to just hear him talk to his daughter I love you. That's not something he ever said before. I mean, he did love her, but he never said that kind of stuff. He was never tender in that kind of stuff in that way. And God began to change his heart. The things he did, he actually felt bad about, right, the way he treated my mother-in-law. He actually had conviction over it.
Speaker 1:And you go, what in the world? The power of the resurrection. This is the power of the resurrection to bring life. It's a life-giving power. The last one I just want to look at here is it's a hopeful power. I think that's the most applicable of all. When Jesus rose from the dead, hope conquered despair, death was swallowed up in victory. He proved that death doesn't have the final word. And Paul tells the people in Thessalonica we sorrow when people die. We sorrow, but we don't sorrow like people who have no hope. And just imagine what this life would be like if we had no hope after death. Man, what a bummer. Never going to see them again, they're just poof gone and Paul says we sorrow. Now we hear sorrow but we don't sorrow like people who have no hope. It's not just a nice word that we say that there's hope, it's actually true. The power of the resurrection.
Speaker 1:Funny thing today would have been my dad's 91st birthday 91, he would have been, but 17 or so years ago he went to heaven one night and I miss him like crazy. I still miss him. I can't believe it. But I know, although he's not going to come to me one day, I'm going to go to him and I'm going to see him. Amongst all the other things that I'm going to see when I get to heaven, I'm going to see him. And you know what I think it's going to be like. This is just my thought. It's going to be like when you see a good friend after a long time, you know like a best friend kind of thing, and you see him after a long time and you just pick right back up where you left off. It's almost like you know, 20 years haven't gone by and you're like, hey, same old jokes, same, you know whatever. Sometimes. I think that's the way it's going to be. You know, for him, eternity, he's right there. I mean, I don't know how eternity works, but I don't think he's necessarily waiting for us. But but one day we're going to be there and Jesus is going to be there. We're all going to be there. What a wonderful hope.
Speaker 1:If you're still here, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, a great chapter to read, let's look at verse 54,. I think Paul talks about this day when we're all there. And he says so when this corruptible, this body that breaks down and all that kind of stuff, when this body, this corruptible, has put on incorruption, we get new bodies in heaven I have no idea what they're going to be like and this mortal is put on incorruption. We get new bodies in heaven I don't have no idea what they're going to be like and this mortal is put on. Immortality. Then shall be brought to pass, saying the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your sting? Oh, hades, where is your victory? And here Paul using an Old Testament reference reference I think it's from isaiah, could be wrong, but he uses this to trash talk death isn't that great when you can trash talk death. And he says death, where's your victory? Huh, where's your sting? You got nothing right. And that's the way he looked at it, because it's not just nice words.
Speaker 1:The power of the resurrection is, it's really true, this life just a vapor? It'll be like waking up from a dream. For us, this life, it's not the real thing. Eternity and Jesus. When he rose again, the stone was rolled away, not for his sake, because we already know. Later on he like appeared in rooms, went through the walls. I have no idea how that works, but he took the stone away to let us know death. It's not the final thing.
Speaker 1:The power of the resurrection Now, so much benefit in the resurrection. The power of the resurrection. It's what we're celebrating. But here's the thing you have to pay attention to. Unless you've come to Jesus at the cross and received personally like a gift Paul says like a gift you receive what Jesus did for you None of this power is working in your life. Use sorrow like someone who has no hope because you don't.
Speaker 1:I don't want to say that, but if I didn't say that I'd be lying right. It's not just a yay, all right, let's go, have a good time. If you don't receive it personally, it doesn't apply. You got to come to the cross. It's not about joining some church, signing some card or even saying some prayer. It's about finding yourself at the cross and going that's my sin. That's why Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sin.
Speaker 1:And even right now it's kind of probably echoing in your head your sin. You know the stuff you've done. I know the stuff I've done and it's like a big old burden on our back but we can't take care of it. And yet Jesus paid the price for our sin and he offers us the solution, the remedy to sin. He doesn't say try a little harder now and you can earn it. He says it's a gift.
Speaker 1:Do you want it? And I don't know how that actually happens, but it's you and God. If you tell him in your heart, if you really do receive it I don't know how it happens, it's kind of a mystery Then the power of the resurrection belongs to you and it's wonderful. God, I just pray that you would do what I can't do. God, if they're in here, they're just really struggling with the things they've done, the guilt that they have, pray that you'd remind them that you paid for that on the cross.
Speaker 1:God, if there are those that have never received that gift, god, I'm tongue-tied. I don't even know how that works, but I just pray that you would do that work in their heart, god. They would know you standing there right in front of them saying I did this for you. Do you want it, god? Whatever it takes, I just pray that you'd help them to have the grace to receive it. Whatever it takes, I just pray that you'd help them to have the grace to receive it, god, that even this resurrection day, they would know the power of the resurrection To take a dead light and make it alive, to give them hope. God, we just kind of want to sit in that hope today. We just want to enjoy that wonderful truth of what you've done for us today, that, more than anything else, that would be a reason to celebrate. So, god, take these things and make them real in our hearts by your grace and by your love. We pray in Jesus' name, amen, thank you.