Redemption- Redemption in the Resurrection.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Good morning. You can have a seat.

[0:04] It’s good to see everybody here. My name’s Steve. [0:06] I am one of the pastors here at the village.

[0:10] Happy Easter. [0:11] I don’t know any other way to start it off this morning. [0:14] If this is your first time with us, [0:17] we gather here every Sunday morning, [0:19] and we worship Jesus. [0:20] We sing songs like that.

[0:22] Interesting about that song is that song was actually written [0:25] in the first century by the early church. [0:27] They don’t know exactly who wrote that song, [0:30] but over the centuries it’s been sung in one form or another. [0:33] And what James was saying is so amazing [0:35] that in the first century,

[0:37] the early church who knew specifically [0:40] where the tomb of Jesus was, [0:42] because they had been there, [0:43] they had seen Him crucified, [0:45] they had seen Him laid in the tomb, [0:46] and then they had seen the empty tomb

[0:48] after He had risen from the dead, [0:50] the church would go back there under the cover of night, [0:54] and they would stand around that tomb, [0:56] and they would put a candle on the inside [0:58] to light their way, [0:59] and they would sing about the fact

[1:01] that they basically had to come under the cover of night [1:06] so that they wouldn’t be persecuted. [1:08] Because they couldn’t go during the day [1:10] because then the Roman soldiers would see them, [1:12] and they would be persecuted either by Rome [1:14] or by the leaders of Judaism.

[1:17] And so they would come under cover of night, [1:19] and the focus of that song is how Jesus ends the night. [1:24] That even in the evening, [1:26] He is the light that is guiding them, [1:28] and that they live for the glory of Him, [1:30] and then they praise the Father, the Son,

[1:32] and the Holy Spirit. [1:34] And that’s what I want to do this morning. [1:35] That’s the focus of why we’re here, [1:38] and that’s what our culture has done [1:40] for the past few hundred years, [1:42] is that the church has basically taken what was,

[1:45] and let’s be honest, [1:46] Easter used to be a pagan holiday. [1:48] It used to be about false gods. [1:51] It used to be about fertility gods. [1:53] That’s the point of the Easter egg, [1:56] if you didn’t know that.

[1:58] But what the church did was the church found this day, [2:00] and the church said, well, let’s take that, [2:04] and let’s make it about the resurrection of Jesus. [2:06] Jesus may not have literally [2:08] risen from the dead on April the 4th, [2:10] but we know that He did rise from the dead,

[2:12] and that’s what we’re gonna be talking about today. [2:14] If you notice, we’re starting a new series today. [2:17] The series that we’re starting today is called Core. [2:19] And what we’re gonna do over the next 10 weeks [2:21] is we’re gonna talk about the core values [2:23] there at the village church.

[2:24] But not just the core values of the village, [2:26] but what the values that the church at large must hold to. [2:31] What is God’s vision for His church? [2:33] What is the purpose of church? [2:36] Because it’s something that many of us, [2:37] especially in the southern states,

[2:39] we spend a great deal of our life going to church. [2:43] But for the younger generation such as myself, [2:46] we sometimes lose sight of why we even do this. [2:50] Is the church simply just a place [2:52] where we come on Sunday mornings, [2:54] sing a few songs, we spend our holidays there,

[2:58] we come and it’s just something that Jesus died [3:00] so that we could come together and just have a service, [3:04] or is there more? [3:06] Is there more to the church of Jesus Christ [3:09] than just what we do here on Sunday mornings? [3:11] Because quite frankly, those out in culture

[3:14] who don’t follow Christianity, [3:17] they may not see it as any more than that. [3:19] Because quite frankly, over the past few decades, [3:22] I don’t know that the church has really shown the world [3:25] the point of why we do this. [3:27] What is the church?

[3:29] And here at the village, we’ve boiled it down to four things. [3:32] We exist for redemption, mission, community, and culture. [3:37] If you were to ask one of the staff members [3:38] here at the village or one of the members, [3:40] hopefully they would be able to tell you [3:41] that the village church exists to connect people to God

[3:45] through the hope that is found in His Son Jesus, [3:47] and then to teach them to live His mission in this culture [3:51] in order to reproduce their faith in the lives of others. [3:56] And what happens when we do that is this vision [4:00] that when that mission comes into fruition [4:04] and we see it accomplished,

[4:06] we see lives that are filled with redemption. [4:09] We see lives that are filled with mission. [4:11] We see communities formed around the gospel of Jesus Christ, [4:15] and then we go out into the culture [4:17] in order to build the church the way that God would have it to be built. [4:22] And you may say to me, that sounds good,

[4:25] but what does that actually look like on a practical level? [4:28] And that’s what we’re going to spend the next few weeks looking at. [4:32] What is the point of what we’re doing here? [4:34] Because we are a new church. [4:35] We came, we started this church. [4:37] As you can see, we have to take an elementary school every single week

[4:40] and turn it into a church sanctuary [4:42] so that we can have an auditorium where we can gather and worship. [4:45] And then during the week we meet in community groups. [4:48] But why do we do these things? [4:50] And in order to really start, we have to start with redemption. [4:54] And in order to start with redemption,

[4:55] we have to start even more basic than that word. [4:58] We have to start with one key component, and that’s Jesus. [5:02] We must start with the fact that Jesus is God. [5:06] If you were to ask me, why do we even do any of the stuff that we do, [5:11] apart from this key component, it’s pointless. [5:14] It’s useless.

[5:15] If Jesus is not God, I might as well just go play golf right now [5:19] and stop wasting my time reading the Bible. [5:22] If Jesus is not God, I’m hopeless. [5:24] If Jesus is not God, I do not have a basis for my life. [5:28] I have nothing. I’m left with nothing. [5:32] This key phrase here though, the fact that Jesus is God,

[5:35] is a phrase that has split history in half. [5:40] Because what it does is, is it polarizes people. [5:43] In this culture, it’s okay to say that Jesus is a wise man. [5:47] Jesus is a good teacher. [5:49] Jesus is a good role model. [5:50] Jesus is a great man.

[5:52] Or even, you can even tell some people, and it would be perfectly fine, [5:55] to say that Jesus is a con artist. [5:58] He was a liar. [6:00] Because that’s why he was killed. [6:02] He was killed because the governing authority said he was a liar, [6:06] and he was masquerading as the Son of God,

[6:09] when in fact, that was blasphemy to them, because no man can be God.

[6:14] And so the phrase, Jesus is God, means so much, [6:17] but in this type of context, we even have to say, [6:20] what does that mean? [6:22] Because if you were to go to some cultures around the world [6:25] and say that Jesus is God, they would say, [6:27] absolutely he’s God,

[6:29] along with all of the other gods that I worship.

[6:33] So if you just say, Jesus is God, [6:36] you even have to clarify that even more. [6:39] And that’s the beauty of today. [6:42] That’s the beauty of Easter Sunday. [6:45] Is we have the opportunity to really flesh out for the world around us [6:49] what it means to say that Jesus is God.

[6:53] Because saying he’s God doesn’t change our lives. [6:57] Because Jesus can be God, and he can have nothing to do with us. [7:02] Jesus can be God, and he can be completely separate. [7:05] From us. [7:09] But we have a story in Scripture [7:11] that tells us that Jesus is God,

[7:15] and he is very interested in this earth, [7:18] and the way that people live their lives. [7:21] Jesus is God, and he chooses to involve himself in human affairs. [7:27] That Jesus is God, [7:29] and as we read earlier today in Colossians chapter 1, [7:32] the reason I wanted us to read through that,

[7:34] is Jesus is a creator god.

[7:38] Jesus created the entire world. [7:41] That verse in the Greek says that he is preeminent, [7:45] over top of all of creation. [7:48] And that nothing that exists in creation, [7:51] has existed apart from the hand of Jesus Christ himself. [7:55] And you say, but that doesn’t make sense.

[7:57] Didn’t God the Father create the earth, [7:59] and then Jesus just came to die for the earth? [8:02] No. [8:03] See, if you rewind all the way back to the book of Genesis, [8:06] and we start at the very basics of the Scriptures, [8:08] we see in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

[8:12] So God spends all of Genesis chapter 1, [8:15] creating the heavens and the earth, [8:16] and then it says on the seventh day, he rested. [8:19] But then if you fast forward, [8:20] and look into God creating man, [8:23] what does God say about himself?

[8:25] He says, let us create man in our image. [8:32] If God is just a singular term, [8:36] how can he refer to himself in the plural? [8:39] Does he have a crowd with him, watching him? [8:42] Does he have a crowd taking part? [8:44] No, God is one.

[8:46] But he is triune, [8:48] is the Bible word that most people use, [8:50] and many of us are like, [8:51] that’s a pretty big word on an early Sunday morning, [8:53] haven’t had any coffee yet. [8:55] God is Trinity.

[8:56] He is Father, he is Son, he is Holy Spirit, [8:58] yet he is still one. [8:59] And so it wasn’t just a separate God that created the earth, [9:04] and then Jesus is some other God [9:05] that had to come and die for the world, [9:07] such as Greek mythology might tell us.

[9:10] But instead, God is creating in one, [9:13] and Colossians says that God himself was in Jesus [9:17] from the very beginning, [9:19] and Jesus took part in creation. [9:22] And we as the people, represent who God is. [9:26] But something went drastically wrong

[9:29] when we sinned against God. [9:31] Hopefully you’ve all heard the story, [9:32] and you’re familiar with the story of Adam and Eve. [9:35] The scripture says that through Adam and Eve, [9:38] sin came into the world. [9:40] And we have been in rebellion against God ever since.

[9:46] Let’s fast forward. [9:49] Because we all know that we’re sinful. [9:51] I don’t think I have to prove to you that you’re a sinner. [9:53] I’m not going to spend the next half hour yelling at you, [9:56] that you’re a sinner, because I think you already know. [9:58] And I know that you know that, because I know that.

[10:01] Because I know I’m a sinner. [10:03] And if you sit there and you say that you’re not a sinner, [10:06] I’ll just tell you that you’re a sinner, [10:07] and I know that you’re a sinner, because I’m a sinner. [10:10] And if you tell me that you’re not a sinner, [10:12] I come before you and I just ask you a couple of questions.

[10:14] Question number one is,

[10:18] have you ever seen the Ten Commandments? [10:20] And if you’ve been with us, [10:21] we went through the Ten Commandments pretty in detail [10:23] throughout the book of Galatians, [10:24] but I just want to ask you one question. [10:26] Have you ever told a lie?

[10:29] Just one single lie. [10:33] I remember the first time I lied. [10:35] I’m going to be brutally honest with you. [10:36] My mom, when I was about six or seven, [10:39] I probably lied way before that, but this is the one I remember. [10:41] She had this decorative little broom,

[10:44] and I was not allowed to play with that broom. [10:47] Okay? [10:48] But when her mom wasn’t looking, I would take it, [10:50] and I would ride it like a horse. [10:53] Now this wasn’t a broom where you would actually sweep the floor. [10:55] It kind of hung on the wall,

[10:57] and it was one of those pretty southern living little brooms [11:00] that some people like. [11:03] I don’t have any of those. [11:04] And I took it off one day. [11:05] She wasn’t watching. [11:06] I started riding around the den,

[11:08] and I took a bad turn, and I hit a table, [11:11] and it snapped in half.

[11:14] And at seven years old, that’s huge, [11:18] because life is going to end as I know it. [11:22] And so I looked at it, and I said, [11:24] What do I do? [11:25] And the first thing that came to mind, [11:27] don’t let your sister know what happened.

[11:28] She’ll tell on you. [11:30] So I’m like, where’s my sister? [11:32] Okay. [11:32] So I took it, and I tried to put it back together, [11:35] and I put it back to where it was, [11:38] and I left the room,

[11:40] and then the next thing I hear about ten minutes later, [11:43] Steven!

[11:46] I didn’t do a good job putting it back together, [11:47] and it just fell right apart. [11:50] And she comes to me, and my mom does, [11:51] and she says, Did you break my broom? [11:53] I’ve seen you ride it. Did you break it? [11:56] No.

[11:57] No, Mom.

[12:01] Well, ladies and gentlemen, that’s a lie. [12:03] I fully knew, fully well, that I had broken that broom. [12:07] You’re like, well, that’s just one lie. [12:08] You were an innocent kid. [12:09] Let me ask you a question. [12:10] How many lies do you have to tell before you become a liar?

[12:14] Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, [12:16] then a big stamp comes down from heaven, and you’re a liar? [12:18] No, quite frankly, you just have to tell one. [12:22] One little lie, and that innocence that we see in little children. [12:27] If you’re a child in here today, [12:28] I know you’re hiding something from your mom and dad.

[12:32] Alright? So you’re not getting out of this either. [12:33] All of you. [12:35] Parents, there’s something your child is not telling you. [12:40] Alright? Some of you are going to go home and get interrogated because of me this afternoon. [12:43] I apologize for that. [12:45] But we struggle

[12:48] with being people who are completely honest. [12:53] We struggle with these little lies, and sometimes we lie to ourselves. [12:57] We go to the mall, we put on an outfit, we look in the mirror, and we say, we look good.

[13:03] No, some of us don’t.

[13:07] Speaking from experience, I went to the mall last week. It wasn’t pleasant. [13:11] Things don’t fit, and I don’t know why. [13:14] That’s a lie. I do know why.

[13:18] Quite frankly, I’ve had some bad food this week, and the week before that. [13:23] Well, all the weeks before that as well. [13:26] Maybe you’re with me. [13:28] But here’s one big key that I want you to hone in on is that [13:32] we think that’s funny, and I know it’s funny because I said it, [13:34] but the big key indicator in that is that we lie.

[13:39] And that’s one.

[13:42] That’s one little commandment that God gave us. [13:45] He said, don’t lie, and everything will be better. [13:49] And as soon as he says, don’t do that, Moses comes off the mountain. [13:53] They’re worshiping an idol, and he looks at his brother who’s in charge. [13:56] He says, Aaron, what’s going on? He’s like, I have no idea. [14:00] We threw a bunch of gold in a furnace, and that popped out.

[14:04] As soon as God gives that command, Moses comes off the mountain. [14:08] There’s lying going on. [14:11] There’s worshiping of gods that are not the real God. [14:14] There’s a graven image right there. [14:16] And most of us spend our entire lives in this denial, [14:20] trying to convince ourselves that everything’s okay,

[14:23] and we’re not bad, [14:26] when everything that we do in our lives, when no one’s looking, [14:30] stands as a testament to the fact that everything’s not okay. [14:34] And I’m not as good as I think I am. [14:37] And I am a sinner. [14:42] I do things that I shouldn’t do.

[14:46] In my heart, God has written these laws, [14:49] and I have this thing called a conscience, [14:51] and when I do certain things, I know immediately, [14:55] I shouldn’t have done that. [14:58] Or, yesterday, I shouldn’t have said that to my wife.

[15:03] Men, you know what I’m talking about. [15:06] But here’s the big key. [15:08] We sin. [15:10] And you’re not alone.

[15:13] I’ll join the club with you.

[15:16] And because of this life of sin, [15:18] throughout this story that God writes throughout Scripture, [15:22] we have this huge testament to the sinfulness of man. [15:27] God even reveals Himself to a group of people called Israel. [15:32] And He takes them, and He saves them out of slavery. [15:35] And then He gives them a land.

[15:37] And then He writes this book called Judges. [15:41] And in this book of Judges, we see a cycle go out across with God’s people. [15:47] We see them completely rebel against every law that God has ever written. [15:52] And then we see them find themselves in captivity to other countries because of that sin. [15:57] And then they say, oh man, we’re in captivity because we sinned against God. [16:01] God, we’re sorry, we won’t do it again.

[16:03] And then so God saves them out of captivity. [16:05] And as soon as they’re back in the promised land, guess what? [16:09] They start worshipping another God again. [16:10] They start being immoral. [16:11] They start doing everything that God said not to do. [16:15] And then they find themselves right back in captivity.

[16:18] And it’s a cycle that happens over and over and over and over again. [16:25] Throughout the entire Old Testament. [16:28] Some of you are like, I’ve always wondered why we don’t hear much preaching out of the Old Testament. [16:33] It’s not a very happy book. [16:35] We have the songs and some of those aren’t even very happy. [16:40] Because the Old Testament stands as this huge monument to one thing.

[16:46] You are a sinner. [16:49] That’s what the Old Testament stands as. [16:50] That’s the story that the Old Testament unfolds. [16:53] And it seems hopeless. [16:55] And then you get to the very end of the Old Testament. [16:58] And at the very end of the Old Testament, God says,

[17:00] I’m taking my spirit away from you people.

[17:05] And the book is shut.

[17:09] All hope is gone. [17:12] Everything seems like it’s come to an end. [17:16] God seems like he has lost control. [17:19] It seems like God has no control over his people. [17:22] God’s done with humanity. [17:23] He might even kill the whole world through another flood.

[17:28] Then we have this book, the very beginning of the New Testament called Matthew.

[17:35] And Matthew starts, and what the book of Matthew does is the book of Matthew goes through the history of the Old Testament in chapter one. [17:44] It goes through this bloodline. [17:47] We have a couple books in the Old Testament that we avoid like 1 and 2 Chronicles. [17:50] They do the same thing. [17:52] But in Matthew it only does it one time. [17:55] And then at the end of chapter one, it leads this bloodline throughout the Old Testament.

[18:00] There’s a ton of names in there that we’re very familiar with from these Bible stories. [18:04] And then at the very end of that bloodline it says,

[18:08] And Mary had Jesus.

[18:14] See the Old Testament, if we just look at it by itself, [18:19] It’s a book that’s just about death. [18:22] People die all the time in it. [18:23] People are judged by God all the time in it. [18:26] People are redeemed but then they die again. [18:28] Even the kings that God puts in power,

[18:31] They end up rebelling against God. [18:33] Even the wisest man that ever lived, his name was Solomon. [18:36] He had a son that he did not raise very well named Rehoboam. [18:39] And as soon as Solomon dies and his son goes into power, guess what? [18:43] Israel splits in half and they leave him.

[18:48] But you see, the key that you have to understand about this book right here, this Bible, [18:54] Is it is not a book of disjointed stories, [18:58] And books that were simply thrown together at random, [19:01] To give us inspirational stories to read while we live this life. [19:05] But rather it is one book. [19:09] Genesis to Revelation.

[19:11] It’s one story. [19:13] It’s the story of God and his relation to humans. [19:17] And then in the book of Matthew chapter 1, [19:20] God begins to unfold the entire point of the Old Testament. [19:26] That everything in the Old Testament was leading up to one climactic event. [19:34] And that is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

[19:40] And in the book of Matthew, he unfolds Jesus to his people from the Old Testament. [19:45] Israel. [19:47] And you see Jesus constantly fighting them. [19:50] Constantly arguing with their religious leaders. [19:53] You see Jesus do things like heal a man who was lowered into a room where he was teaching in, [19:59] Because his friends couldn’t get in so they cut a hole in the roof.

[20:02] And they lowered Jesus in. [20:05] And then when he hits the ground, Jesus sees him and says,

[20:11] Rise. [20:13] Your sins are forgiven.

[20:16] And then the Pharisees, the religious leaders who were in there, look at Jesus and say, [20:20] Only God has the authority to forgive sins. [20:24] They overlook the fact that this is a guy who is paralyzed. [20:28] And now he can walk again. [20:30] And they focus on the other thing that Jesus said, [20:32] Because that is how Jesus is revealing to them who he really is.

[20:35] And they say, only God has the power to forgive sins. [20:40] And throughout the life of Jesus, we have this interesting authority that everyone begins to question. [20:47] And we see this is not an average rabbi. [20:50] This is someone else. [20:53] And as we walk along the story, we see Jesus, [20:57] Butting heads with the religious elite of that day,

[21:01] Because he forgives sins. [21:02] He gives sight to the blind. [21:07] He makes it so the deaf can hear. [21:09] He makes it so the lame can walk. [21:10] He even raises one of his close friends from the dead. [21:15] And the one thing that is said about Jesus over and over and over again,

[21:20] Is this guy seems to be operating under his own authority. [21:25] He has an authority inside of him that no other teachers seem to have. [21:30] And he is doing things that we have never seen anyone else do.

[21:38] Then, he dies.

[21:43] And it seems like the Old Testament story is just going through another cycle. [21:50] Life, hope, death, hope is gone.

[21:58] You see, the death of Jesus is not debated. [22:02] Historically, there is tons of evidence that Jesus lived. [22:05] There is even evidence that he did miracles.

[22:08] And then there is huge evidence in Rome that there was a man who claimed to be God and was killed for it. [22:15] He was crucified on a cross.

[22:19] What is debated though, is the fact that he didn’t stay dead. [22:25] That is where the story changes. [22:28] That is where everything starts to take a turn about. [22:30] Is that Jesus, who was questioned because of the strange authority that he had, didn’t stay dead. [22:37] Instead, three days after he was crucified, he rose from the dead. [22:44] And the scriptures uncovered this story.

[22:47] But what I want you to do is I want you to open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15.

[22:53] What we celebrate today isn’t the death of Jesus.

[22:58] Good Friday is set aside to celebrate the death of Jesus. [23:02] Look at the cross and see what happened. [23:04] What Easter is though, Easter is a day that we all come to church, buy new clothes. [23:09] I bought a new shirt. I am really excited about it. It is green. I don’t wear green very often. [23:13] It is my Easter shirt. It is the colors. It is beautiful. [23:18] I told you, I went to the mall. There were 17 shirts before this one.

[23:22] Man, this is the only one that could fit over this guy right here.

[23:27] But in the death of Jesus, he goes to the cross. [23:31] Before he goes to the cross, he says, I have to go to the cross because I am going to tear the temple down. [23:37] He is referring to himself. [23:38] Then he looks at his disciples and says, in three days I am going to rebuild it again. [23:41] He is referencing his resurrection. [23:43] They were kind of like us. They were kind of dumb.

[23:45] They were like, are you going to use dynamite or something? [23:49] Are we bringing in a wrecking crew? Are we going to tear a building down? [23:51] That doesn’t really make much sense, Jesus. Are you crazy? [23:55] But then after his death, he rises from the dead. [24:00] Today stands as a huge monument to the resurrection of Jesus. [24:04] In the resurrection of Jesus, we have something that we have to deal with.

[24:09] We cannot go past this. We cannot say, okay, I believe Jesus rose from the dead. [24:15] That’s good. Let’s go on with our lives. [24:17] If Jesus really rose from the dead, then we have something that splits history in half. [24:23] We have the very climax of history in the death and resurrection of Jesus. [24:28] We have something that changed the world. Our calendars are even split by it. [24:33] We have something that was such a huge event that people’s lives changed.

[24:38] His disciples went from the Garden of Gethsemane, [24:41] where Jesus was praying about the crucifixion that he knew he was going to go into, [24:45] and they couldn’t even stay awake. [24:47] Then the Roman soldiers come because Judas betrayed him, [24:50] and they turn their back and they run out of fear because they didn’t want to go to jail.

[24:57] As soon as people start saying Jesus rose from the dead, though, [25:02] it’s those disciples who were so afraid of going to jail [25:06] that they turn their backs on Jesus, and history tells us that even when they came to the cross to look, [25:13] they wore shrouds so that no one would recognize him. [25:17] The most outspoken follower that Jesus had, Peter, [25:21] he snuck up to watch the trial that Jesus went through before the Sadducees,

[25:26] and he came cloaked in the cover of night, warming his hands by the fire, [25:30] and as soon as someone recognized him, he denied that he was a follower of Jesus, [25:35] and then began to blaspheme God and curse the person who had called him out on being a follower of Jesus.

[25:46] Then these reports start to come out that Jesus had risen from the dead, [25:50] and what you see coming out of those disciples is a completely different attitude. [25:56] Over the next 50 years, they went from people who were afraid of prison for following Jesus, [26:03] to people who were willfully dying for the name of Jesus, [26:10] and defending the fact that he had risen from the dead.

[26:15] And so we come today at a crossroads, and I have to ask you the question, did Jesus rise from the dead? [26:22] If this is true, that is the most monumental fact in the history of the world, [26:28] and it is what life must be based around. [26:33] But, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we must forget everything about Christianity, [26:40] and we can just walk away and never come back, because we are as hopeless as they were in the Old Testament. [26:48] In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul starts out for the first 11 verses, and what he does is he gives evidence.

[26:54] He gives literal physical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. [26:57] And what he does there is he said that Jesus appeared before all of his followers, [27:04] he appeared then before 500 people, he appeared and ascended up into heaven, [27:10] we see that in the book of Matthew, [27:12] then it says people are living and dying for the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. [27:18] But then I want you to look in verse 12.

[27:21] Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, [27:24] how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [27:27] But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [27:32] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. [27:39] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, [27:45] whom he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised.

[27:50] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [27:55] Paul is telling them, this is a church in Corinth, it’s in an island right off the coast of Jerusalem, [28:03] he’s telling them that if resurrection from the dead is not true, then Jesus did not raise from the dead. [28:09] So why would he say that? [28:10] In Corinth it was a very pagan culture, a very immoral culture, [28:13] they were Greeks, they were not Jews, and they followed the mythology of Greece.

[28:19] Zeus’ god, they had fertility gods, they had temple goddesses who were temple prostitutes, [28:25] to where if you went to the temple, you gave them money and you could sleep with them, and that was their religion. [28:29] It’s a very interesting religion. That was their religion. [28:33] And in Corinth, Paul shows up and begins to preach the gospel. [28:37] What is the gospel? [28:38] The gospel is the fact that God, who created the earth, came down, became a man,

[28:45] lived a perfect life, then died on the cross, taking the sins of humanity onto himself, [28:53] because Romans chapter 3 says, the wages of sin is death. [28:58] So in order for sin to be dealt with, what had to happen? Death. [29:04] That is one big key fact that sin does to us all, and we have to admit it. [29:08] We’re going to die.

[29:11] Once I hit 25, things started to go downhill physically for me, [29:16] and I can really feel, even at a young age, I feel death coming. [29:21] As soon as you’re born, you start the aging process. [29:25] And then when you start reaching adulthood, you start to notice the effects of the aging process, [29:30] and right now it takes me about five minutes to get out of bed. [29:35] Some of you are like, you’re in rough shape. I know.

[29:38] Tell me. [29:40] And I can feel the effects of sin on my life. [29:44] Now, you may not realize it, but that’s sin. [29:48] Maybe not personal sin. [29:50] I’m not saying that you lied yesterday, so you lost five years. [29:53] What I’m saying is, sin worldwide causes the aging process, and then it ends in death.

[30:00] In the Old Testament, how did God say sin would be dealt with? [30:02] Find a spotless lamb, slaughter the spotless lamb, give it this grotesque death, [30:07] spread the blood all over the place, and your sin will be dealt with. [30:11] Why would God do something so grotesque? [30:14] Because it represented what He was going to do through His Son to completely deal with sin.

[30:19] Jesus goes to the cross under the hands of the government, and He’s killed. [30:24] He dies a bloody death. [30:27] He’s beaten. He’s whipped. He’s scarred. [30:30] Nails driven through His hands. He’s spit upon. [30:33] His name is blasting, because He said, if you’re the King, if you’re God, come down off the cross.

[30:40] But He turns everything upside down, and He dies on the cross for the sins of humanity. [30:45] And on the cross, Jesus takes our sin off of us, puts it on Himself, and dies for it.

[30:54] And Paul writes to these people in Corinth, whom he had preached this gospel.

[30:59] And he tells them, if that’s where the story ends, and Jesus isn’t risen from the dead, [31:08] then the gospel that I preach to you is a lie.

[31:13] If Jesus simply died on the cross, there’s no hope in Him. [31:18] Because if He simply died, how’s He any different than me and you?

[31:24] How’s He any different than someone else that dies? [31:27] Great leaders die.

[31:31] Religious leaders even die. People who have started brand new religions, they die. [31:37] The aging process takes effect, and they either are killed, or they die a natural death. [31:43] If Jesus simply died for our sins,

[31:49] then we’re hopeless, and the gospel that is preached is false. [31:54] But that’s the big key that you have to understand. [31:57] The resurrection is the basis for our hope. [32:01] Everything in Scripture leads to and flows from the resurrection.

[32:08] You see, in the New Testament, when people are talking about the death of Jesus, [32:13] when throughout the New Testament, you see Paul focus so much on the fact that we are crucified with Christ, [32:19] they’re also having in their mind an understanding that He didn’t stay dead. [32:25] And when Paul writes here in verse 16, he says,

[32:32] He’s saying that if you believe in Christ, you also will be raised from the dead. [32:39] But if no one is risen from the dead, not even Christ raised from the dead. [32:44] In the resurrection, we have hope. [32:48] What’s the single biggest thing that most people fear in this life? Death. [32:54] But what happens on the cross is that Jesus deals with death head on.

[33:01] And He dies on our behalf. [33:05] But then He doesn’t stay there. Read on in verse 17. [33:10] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. [33:15] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ, falling asleep means died, have perished. [33:22] They’re hopeless. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. [33:30] Verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

[33:38] See, Paul gives the resurrection in this life where he says the resurrection is the basis for our very hope. [33:46] And that if the resurrection is not true, then we have no hope. [33:50] But then he continues on and he says, but Christ has been raised from the dead. [33:56] But the question you have to ask yourself right now is, what does Paul mean when he says, [34:00] if you are a follower of Christ and the resurrection did not happen, you are above all people to be pitied. [34:09] What he’s saying there is, redemption hinges on the truth of the resurrection.

[34:16] And if the resurrection is not true, we are hopeless. [34:19] What he’s saying is, is that the fact that the resurrection is true, affects the lives of the people that believe it. [34:27] And so much so, that their lives are changed forever and they base every part of their life on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [34:37] And then they base so much of their life on the resurrection, that if the resurrection were found to be false, their life is a pity.

[34:48] But you see the problem with most of us, is that we look at the death and resurrection of Jesus and we say, great.

[34:57] I get to go to heaven when I die.

[35:00] But then we live the rest of our lives with really no forethought to the resurrection. [35:08] No forethought to the gospel.

[35:14] The reason that the resurrection gives us hope, is because the resurrection gives us redemption from the life of sin that we all know that we live.

[35:26] If you sin, you need to be redeemed from it. [35:31] If you can be redeemed from it, your life will be changed forever.

[35:38] Paul says that those people who believe in the resurrection are changed in such a way, that every decision they make, the way they live their life, is all about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[35:52] Because you see what the resurrection does, is the resurrection deals with our sin completely. [35:59] The resurrection redeems us completely. [36:02] See John Calvin, the great theologian said, that if Jesus had stayed dead, then our sin wouldn’t have been dealt with, because Jesus would have succumbed to the power of sin. [36:14] And redemption would be hopeless. [36:17] But here’s the big key. [36:19] In the resurrection, Jesus gives us the ultimate revelation that he is God.

[36:23] And what he does is, he shows us that God has ultimate power over sin. [36:30] And sin is not more powerful than God. [36:34] And when Jesus raises up from the dead under his own power, he comes out and sin is completely seen as defeated. [36:45] Because in the face of the resurrection, sin has no power in your life.

[36:52] But many of us live these lives where we would just say, sin is really powerful. [36:57] You have no idea the power of sin in my life. [37:00] You have no idea the things I struggle with. [37:03] You have no idea the greed that I have. [37:07] Friend, you have no idea the power of God over sin, because you don’t understand the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [37:17] When Jesus rose from the dead, it wasn’t something he had to do.

[37:23] Jesus didn’t become God when he rose from the dead. [37:26] Jesus has always been God. [37:30] Jesus simply loved us so much, the book of Romans says, that even though we were dead in our sins, he came to die for us. [37:41] And what he did in his death was God chose to take our penalty onto himself. [37:48] And then three days later, he rose from the dead and basically looked back and said, see, sin does not have power over me. [37:56] I can deal with it any way that I choose, because I am God, sin is not.

[38:04] And when you live a life where sin is more powerful than God, you are saying, Jesus, your resurrection is not more powerful than sin.

[38:15] Sin is God.

[38:21] And what that gives us is a hopeless life. [38:25] It’s headed straight for a death that’s more feared than the life that God can give us.

[38:33] And we all struggle with that. None of us are unique.

[38:41] Verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. [38:45] The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. [38:49] For as by man death came, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [38:57] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

[39:05] Do you understand what that means?

[39:09] In Christ, all can be made alive.

[39:14] Fast forward. Turn over to verse 54. [39:18] 1 Corinthians 15 is a really long chapter. [39:20] And I would love to take you through the whole thing, but I’m sure some of you would like to eat lunch. [39:25] So go over to verse 54.

[39:29] In the resurrection, all are made alive. [39:34] And then he ends it with this great prayer of praise to God. Here’s what he says. [39:40] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, [39:47] then shall come to pass the saying that is written, [39:50] Death is swallowed up in victory. [39:53] O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

[39:58] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [40:03] But thanks be to God who gives the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [40:07] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, [40:14] knowing that in the Lord your labor is in vain. [40:17] You see, the problem most of us have, if you are in here today and you say you’re a Christian, [40:21] the problem most of us have is we sort of believe in the resurrection.

[40:26] We believe factually that it is true. [40:29] But what we’re not doing is applying it to our lives. [40:32] So we’re okay with the death of Christ taking our sin away, [40:36] but we’re not necessarily okay with the resurrection of Jesus giving us the very life of Jesus. [40:43] But that is exactly what verse 54 and 55 say. [40:48] It says that the perishable can now put on the imperishable.

[40:52] The mortal can now put on immortality.

[40:57] And then he says, so poignantly, he says, death is swallowed up in victory. [41:02] O death, where is your sting? [41:04] This is why after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his followers died by the dozen. [41:11] And they walked willfully into that death. [41:14] They were not crying. [41:16] In the 1400s there was a man named John Huss, who was a great reformer of the church, a great defender of the gospel.

[41:24] And the government of that day that was controlled by a religion that did not believe the gospel, [41:30] took him, tied him to a post, put hay around him, then lit the hay and burned him alive. [41:36] And they said, John, we will shoot you as soon as the flames begin to engulf your body if you want us to. [41:45] And he looked him straight in the eyes and he said, why would you do something like that? [41:49] I don’t fear pain. I don’t fear death. I welcome it because through it I can go meet God. [41:56] And he said, you ask that is a crazy man.

[42:02] And I say, no, that’s a man who had realized he was perishable, but then he had put on the imperishable. [42:09] And he said, you can’t hurt me. This body might die, but I won’t.

[42:21] Christians for centuries have been known as people who did not fear death.

[42:28] You look at the man who wrote this, his name was Paul. He was taken to Rome. [42:32] And history tells us he was beheaded. [42:35] And he was taken to Rome because he went to a place called Jerusalem. [42:39] And in Jerusalem, he knew he was going to be captured by the Romans because he caused a lot of problems because of the Gospel. [42:47] And so people said, Paul, don’t go to Jerusalem. It’s a trap. They’re going to get you and they’re going to kill you. [42:52] He looked him straight in the eye and said, oh, you’re not telling me anything. I don’t know.

[42:57] I know fully well they’re going to arrest me. [43:00] He said, if they arrest me, they’re going to put me in prison. You know who’s in prison? [43:04] Prison guards. That’s one people group I haven’t reached yet. [43:08] And I said, but Paul, they’re going to kill you. I’ve never preached to an executioner before. [43:16] I said, Paul, what you’re saying makes absolutely no sense. [43:20] And Paul looks and he replies, and in the face of the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

[43:25] Paul looks him straight in the eye and says, you don’t understand. For me to live is Christ. [43:31] He said, if the resurrection is true, then my life is governed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [43:36] And I want people to know it. [43:40] But then he says, and to die is gain.

[43:46] Because Paul didn’t fear death because he believed the words he said right here. [43:52] Death is swallowed up in victory. [43:56] Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?

[44:03] See, in the face of the resurrection, we are a hopeful people. [44:07] Because the resurrection is the basis for our lives.

[44:16] Let me ask you. If you’re a believer today, if the resurrection is not true, would it affect the way you live?

[44:30] You who claim to believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ, [44:33] let’s say tomorrow morning, they found the body of Jesus, 100%. They knew it. It was him.

[44:43] And you realized, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. [44:47] Would that change the way you live?

[44:51] It might change the way you think, but would it change the way you live? [44:55] See, for a lot of us, it wouldn’t.

[45:01] But let me tell you something. [45:04] The resurrection is true. [45:07] And if it is true, then it changes everything.

[45:14] You must deal with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [45:18] You cannot ignore it. [45:20] Either he rose from the dead and it changes everything, or he didn’t rise from the dead and it changes everything. [45:26] Because if he didn’t rise from the dead, we are hopeless. [45:31] And we are going to die, and God is going to pour his wrath on us. [45:38] But if he did rise from the dead, we have nothing to fear, not even death.

[45:42] And we can run headlong into the world, loving people freely.

[45:49] Building relationships based on the gospel. [45:52] And when we come against persecution, it’s okay, because Paul said, I don’t even fear death. [45:58] The gospel is so true in my life.

[46:02] But if you don’t believe the resurrection,

[46:07] I ask you today, then what do you do with your sin?

[46:11] What do you do with death?

[46:15] Because if you don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

[46:20] if you don’t believe there is a God, [46:22] if you don’t believe you have to deal with your sin,

[46:26] then why do we die?

[46:30] Because you are going to. [46:33] But if the resurrection is true,

[46:36] there is hope.

[46:39] And you don’t have to fear death, you don’t have to fear life, you don’t have to fear doctor’s visits. [46:43] You don’t have to fear anything. [46:47] Because we serve a risen Savior.

[46:54] And you can believe that today. [46:56] You can believe that right now. [46:59] Right now what we are going to do is we are going to do something that is so odd in this culture. [47:03] We are going to celebrate the death of Jesus.

[47:07] Why do we celebrate the death of Jesus? [47:11] Because he didn’t stay dead. [47:13] If he stayed dead we wouldn’t celebrate it.

[47:17] But in communion we celebrate it. [47:19] And you are like, well I didn’t think today was about the death of Jesus. [47:21] It’s not, it’s about the resurrection of Jesus. [47:24] But in his resurrection he tells us to celebrate his death, [47:27] because in his death he dealt with our sin.

[47:31] And he has given us a new life. [47:34] And he says that communion stands as a monument, [47:37] that we have the life of God inside of us.

[47:43] Communion, the broken body, [47:46] shed blood. [47:48] It’s an analogy of Jesus giving us his life. [47:53] Because in his resurrection what he did was he gave us his righteousness. [47:58] He gave us his life. [47:59] He gave us his love.

[48:01] He gave us a brand new lease on life. [48:03] He said you don’t have to carry the baggage of guilt anymore. [48:06] I’ve got it. I’m taking it to heaven with me. [48:09] And I’ve dealt with it. It’s gone. [48:11] I was crucified to that and so were you. [48:14] But then he said you don’t stay dead.

[48:17] Romans 6, 1. [48:19] Don’t you realize that in the resurrection of Jesus, [48:21] you also rose again to a brand new life.

[48:28] And that new life is available for me and you right now.

[48:33] If you want to start following Jesus, [48:35] if you want to start believing in the resurrection, [48:38] do it right now.

[48:40] Realize that it’s your sin that took Jesus to the cross.

[48:45] And it’s for your life that he rose again for the dead. [48:48] And believe it. [48:50] I’ll be right back there for the next few minutes if you want to talk. [48:53] I would love to pray with you. [48:55] Come up here and pray. [48:57] If you’re a believer today though, come. Take communion.

[49:00] If you’re not a believer, don’t come because it doesn’t mean anything to you. [49:04] So be pointless. [49:05] We have a few different stations for you to worship. [49:08] But as you take communion, [49:10] do it in a reflection of the truth of the cross of Christ.

[49:16] This table is open to all who believe. [49:19] Let’s pray. [49:20] Father, we come before you and we praise you. [49:26] Lord, you died for us, but you also rose again from the dead for us as well. [49:32] Lord, may we walk out of here today refreshed, renewed, [49:38] with hope that only comes because you rose from the dead.

[49:45] Amen.