THE RESURRECTION
Apr
22
Written by:
4/22/2011 12:00 AM
THE RESURRECTION
April 17, 2011
(John 2:19 NIV) Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." (John 2:20 NIV) The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" (John 2:21 NIV) But the temple he had spoken of was his body. (John 2:22 NIV) After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Today is the Sunday before Easter. I became a Christian 30 years ago on the Sunday before Easter. Before I became a Christian the most important question for me concerned the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Did Jesus Christ really rise from the dead? Was the resurrection true? Is there life after death? I wanted to be sure Jesus rose from the dead before I became a Christian.
When I was in high school I received a bible from my grandmother. My name was printed on the cover. However, I did not read it. We also received a New Testament when we became Canadian citizens from the Canadian Bible Society. My wife became a Christian from reading that New Testament. Then she began to pray for me that I would become a Christian. That turned out to be a five year project. During the last year before I became a Christian I began to attend church every Sunday with my wife and our two boys. I still did not read the bible, but my wife began to place books and other materials on the table in the living room. One day a book appeared called, “Evidence That Demands a Verdict.” The book was the right book for me at that time. It showed proof that the Bible is true and that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Through reading the book I believed the resurrection of Jesus Christ was true and became a Christian.
For this message I would like to consider three reasons the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important.
(1.) The first reason is the resurrection proved beyond a doubt that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus performed many miracles during his three and one half years of ministry. The miracles included the healing of the death, blind and sick as well as the raising of three people from the dead. However, there is an important difference between raising a person from the dead and resurrecting a person. The three people Jesus raised from the dead died again. A resurrected person cannot die again. That was the main reason for Jesus appearing after his resurrection. The resurrection proved Jesus Christ was the Son of God. Rom 1:4 NIV) and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ also claimed to be God by declaring God was his father. (John 5:17 NIV) Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."(John 5:18 NIV) For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
(2.) The resurrection of Jesus is our guarantee that all believers will be raised from the dead. (1 Cor 15:20 NIV) But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor 15:21 NIV) For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. (1 Cor 15:22 NIV) For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Cor 15:23 NIV) But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. At the second coming of Jesus Christ all that belong to Jesus, that is all believers, will receive a resurrection body. That includes all believers that have died as well as all of those that are living at the time of the return of Jesus.
(3.) The resurrection ofJesusis the foundation of the Christian faith. We have the hope of eternal life because of the resurrection. The resurrection is what sets Christianity apart from other religions. Jesus is the only leader of a world religion that rose from the grave. Without the resurrection we would have no hope of eternal life. (1 Cor 15:17 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.(1 Cor 15:18 NIV) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. (1 Cor 15:19 NIV) If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Cor 15:20 NIV) But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
We should share our faith with non-Christians so they too can share in the hope we have of eternal life. Next Sunday we will celebrate the most important event in all of history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (John 11:25 NIV) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; (John 11:26 NIV) and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"