“Is It In You?”
April 12. 2009
Easter Sunday
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
Gardenview Baptist Church
Jacksonville, FL
“Is It In You?”
1 Corinthians 15
Pastor Steve N. Wagers
April 12. 2009
Sermon Outline
1. Resurrection’s Irrefutable Proof!
A) Public Appearance
B) Personal Appearance
2. Resurrection’s Irreversible Purpose!
A) A Useless Faith
B) A Meaningless Forgiveness
C) A Hopeless Future
3. Resurrection’s Irreplaceable Power!
A) Raise Us Victoriously
B) Redeem Us Eternally
C) Rule Us Completely
A Sunday school teacher was teaching a group of four-year-olds. It was Easter Sunday and she asked, "Does anyone know what today is?" One little girl raised her hand and said, "It's Easter." The teacher complimented her and then asked, "Does anyone know what makes Easter so special?" The same little girl raised her hand and said, "Easter is special because Jesus rose from the dead..." Before the teacher could compliment her, the little girl added, "but if He sees His shadow, He has to go back in for seven weeks."
I am afraid the way most people will treat Easter; they really have not heard the news. Now Easter is both about bad news, but it is also about good news. In fact, it’s the bad news that makes the good news great news.
You see there is more to the news of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ than just the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. Because that news in and of itself is good news, but its good news because of the bad news, the better news, and the best news.
But, the Bible clearly teaches that when a person is born again, they are born again by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. The Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Resurrection, comes to take up His abode in our lives.
Today, I want us to look at the greatest event of human history, the resurrection, from a theological, as well as an experiential standpoint. While we might all agree that Jesus did rise from the dead, we might not all be aware of what that means for us, not just in the ‘sweet by-and-by,’ but in the ‘right-here-and-now.’
In his book, “Living the Resurrection Life,” Eugene Peterson writes, “The resurrection of Jesus creates and makes available the reality in which we are formed as new creatures in Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is a foreign concept in our ego-centric, do-it-yourself, control freakish society. However, the Christian life is a Jesus-resurrection life, a life in us that is accomplished by the power of the resurrection, the Holy Spirit.” [1]
In the Pauline writings, there are 53 references to the resurrection of Jesus. To Paul, the resurrection was the event that set, and kept in motion the entire gospel enterprise. Most of the references focus on the historical standpoint of Christ’s resurrection, or the prophetic standpoint of our final resurrection from the dead.
However, 6 of the resurrection references explicitly identify our present and ongoing spiritual formation with Christ’s resurrection. Let me mention just a few of these references.
[Romans 6: 4] “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
[Romans 8: 11] “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
[Colossians 2: 12] “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”
[Ephesians 3: 20] “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
To the apostle Paul, the resurrection was not just a doctrinal or a historic truth to be believed about Jesus; but, it was a practical/experiential reality that is received from Jesus. Simply, the resurrection not only settles our past and secures our future; but, it solidifies our present.
In their commercial advertising, Gatorade has coined the phrase, “Is It In You?” I want to borrow that phrase, as it relates to our text, and ask the same question from a resurrection standpoint. Concerning the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ, Is It In You?
In this most excellent doctrinal thesis, the apostle Paul outlines 3 indelible marks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, there is:
1. Resurrection’s IRREFUTABLE PROOF!
Arnold Hamack said, “Christ’s grave was the birthplace of an indestructible belief that death is vanquished and there is life eternal.”
We know, from Acts 1: 3, that Jesus,
“Shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days.”
There are a number of things which prove Jesus did rise from the dead, but Paul gives a couple of irrefutable proofs.
A) His PUBLIC Appearance
[3-7] “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. [4]And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. [5]And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. [6]After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. [7]After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
Robert Gromacki comments, “Paul did not list all of the post-resurrection appearances, but rather a sample selection which would be adequate to prove the reality of the resurrection.” [2]
Those public appearances NOT mentioned by Paul were:
His appearance to Mary Magdalene (John 20: 14-18)
His appearance to the women (Matthew 28: 8010)
His appearance to Peter (Luke 24: 34)
His appearance to the 2 on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24)
His appearance to the apostles, without Thomas, in the Upper Room (John 20: 24-29)
His appearance to Thomas (John 20:26)
His appearance to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberius (John 21)
His appearance to the 11 apostles at His ascension (Acts 1: 8)
Paul mentions a couple not found in the Gospel records.
His appearance to the 500,who all saw Him “at once.” (v. 6)
His appearance to James, the brother of Jesus (v. 7)
The list shows that Christ appeared to individuals, small groups, and a large crowd. The list shows that Christ appeared at different times and in various places. The list shows that He was seen, He was touched, and He was heard.
Paul is about to lay the foundation for Christian faith, which rests on the resurrection; thus, he begins by giving irrefutable proof that He was seen alive on many different occasions, by many different people.
However, Paul now turns from His public appearance to:
B) His PERSONAL Appearance
Having not been present at many of these post-resurrection appearances, Paul could only go on what he had heard, or read. In other words, up to this point, the truth of the resurrection of Jesus was given to Paul through second hand information.
But, one day, Paul went from being a second hand informant to a personal eyewitness of the Risen Christ.
[8]
“And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”
The phrase “in due time” is the Greek word ektroma. It literally speaks of, “A miscarriage, an untimely birth.” In other words, the day Paul met the Risen Christ, it was totally unexpected. He was not looking for God; in fact, Paul was on His way to Damascus delivering letters to gain permission to continue his persecution of Christians.
However, on his way, the Risen, Resurrected Christ stopped Paul dead in his tracks. All of the sudden, Paul went from being the Hunter to the Hunted. He saw the light, he met the Lord, and his life was radically changed. On the Damascus Road, Paul didn’t run into ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter;’ he ran into GOD THE BOUNTY HUNTER!
Thus, Paul’s personal eyewitness of the Risen, Resurrected Christ was irrefutable. He was there when it happened, so I guess he ought to know that Jesus was alive forever. Because of his encounter with God, he could say:
[9-10]“For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. [10]But by the grace of God I am what I am…”
The story is told of a poor couple that got saved through the ministry of the Salvation Army. Neither one could read or write. But both were so happy that they had been saved. A revival meeting was going on and when the husband came home he seemed so depressed. His wife asked him what was wrong. He said, "Everyone at the meeting has a coat with nice letters on it. I wish I had a coat like that."
His wife said, "I believe I can do something about that. I will put you some letters on your coat." Since she couldn't read or write, she wondered what she would do. She looked out the window and saw a sign in the store across the street. She copied the letters on that sign and sewed them on her husband's coat.
The next night her husband came home so happy. She asked, "How did everyone like the letters on your coat?" He said, "They all said I had the best coat of them all." The wife had sewed the letters on his coat that read: "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!”
I don’t know about you, but I well remember the day the Redeeming, Risen, Resurrected Christ appeared unto me. I was travelling my own personal Damascus Road, not looking for Him; but, all of the sudden He came looking for me. And He found as I was, where I was, for who I was.
I never heard a voice from Heaven, but the voice in my heart said, “If you will, I will. So, I DID AND HE DID! The light came on, the lust fell off, and the Lord moved in! Ever since that day, I have been “UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!”
I don’t recall everything that happened, but I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED, SO I KNOW SOMETHING HAPPENED! Old things were passed away; and, ALL things became new.
I can only read about the many times He appeared to others; but, there was a day that “he was seen of me also.” I am a personal eyewitness to the fact that Jesus died, was buried, but “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
I can testify to what Spurgeon said, “When Jesus Christ came into my life, I lost 80 percent of my vocabulary. Now when people ask me if I have ever spoken in tongues, I tell them that I've been speaking in tongues ever since I got saved."
I can say with Alfred Ackley,
He lives, He lives
Christ Jesus lives today.
He walks with me,
And talks with me;
Along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives
Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives;
He lives within my heart!
Every blood bought, born again child of God is resurrection’s irrefutable proof.
2. Resurrection’s IRREVERSIBLE PURPOSE!
Marcus Borg, a Jesus Seminar leader, said this of Christ's resurrection, "As a child, I took it for granted that Easter meant that Jesus literally rose from the dead. I now see Easter very differently. For me, it is IRRELEVANT whether or not the tomb was empty. Whether Easter involved something remarkable happening to the physical body of Jesus is IRRELEVANT."
Paul is about to prove that not only is the purpose of the resurrection not irrelevant, but it is irreversible. Not only is the resurrection of Jesus relevant, but it is required. In the last half of the chapter, Paul is going to show us what we do have because of the resurrection; but, now, he shows us what we would have had there been no resurrection.
A) A USELESS FAITH
[14] “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”
The word “vain” is the Greek word kenos. The word was often used to speak of a shell without a kernel. Faith must be based upon fact. Thus, if there is no resurrection, then God had not done what He said He would do; therefore, their faith was like a shell without a seed.
[17] “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain.”
Here, a different word is used for “vain.” It is the Greek word mataios, which speaks of that which is “empty, profitless, or useless.” A dead, non-resurrected Christ cannot do anything for anyone. To put faith in One who was overcome by death is useless, and accomplishes nothing.
[15] “We are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up.”
B. B. Warfield said, "Had Christ not risen we could not believe Him to be what He declared Himself when He made Himself equal with God. But if He has risen, then comes the confirmation of all His claims. By it alone, but by it thoroughly, is He manifested as the very Son of God, who has come into the world to reconcile the world to Himself. It is the fundamental fact in the Christian's unwavering confidence in all the words of this life."
If Christ is not risen, then the Bible is a joke, God is a liar, Jesus is a defeated foe, and the Holy Spirit has no more power than Casper the friendly ghost. If He did not rise from the dead, then coming to church, preaching the gospel, sharing our faith, and trusting in God is absolutely useless.
B) A MEANINGLESS FORGIVENESS
[17-18] “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. [18]Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”
Again, Paul employs the use of comparison/contrast. If Christ rose from the dead, then we are free. But, if Christ did not rise from dead, we are fools who are trusting in a useless faith, and a meaningless forgiveness.
Although Christ died for sins, He was also raised that we might be redeemed, reconciled and justified. Thus, a crucified, non-resurrected Christ cannot deliver men from the penalty, the power, and ultimately, the presence of sin.
F. L. Godet comments, “If people are still in their sins, what does ‘Christ died for our sins mean? It means nothing, because His death accomplished nothing. Christ dead, without resurrection, would be a condemned Christ, not a justified Christ. Hence, if He is not justified, how could He justify others?” [3]
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then, ladies and gentlemen, faith is futile and forgiveness is foolish. Without the resurrection, we are still slaves to sin, to Satan, and to self, who can never be set free.
The greatest tragedy of a non-resurrected Christ is not only a useless faith, and a meaningless forgiveness; but:
C) A HOPELESS FUTURE
Think for a moment about a Christ who was defeated by death, hell and the grave! Think for a moment about a Christ who promised victory, but produced defeat! Think for a moment if all we could sing was ‘The Old Rugged Cross,’ without being able to sing, ‘He Lives, He Lives!’
If that were true, there could no faith, because there was be nothing, or no One to believe in. There could be no forgiveness, because the job was completed. And, there could be no future, because death and the grave would be the ultimate victor.
[19] “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
The word “hope” is used in the perfect tense, which implies that we have set our hope and continue to hope in the truth of the resurrection. Thus, Paul is literally saying, “If in this life we have set our hope on a non-resurrected Christ, and that is all; then we are to be pitied above all men.”
Ladies and gentlemen, if there is no resurrection then Christians are the most deluded, deceived, and desperate people in the world. We have set our hopes of a living Lord who has promised a life of effervescence now, and a life of eternity forever.
However, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then we have gambled and lost everything, and gained nothing. Our faith is useless. Our forgiveness is meaningless. Our future is hopeless.
3. Resurrection’s IRREPLACEABLE POWER!
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then nothing else matters. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then He is still dead, and we are all dead with no faith, no forgiveness, and no future.
But, if He DID rise from the dead, then He did what no one else had done, or could do; and, that is conquer the undefeated challenger called Death. Thus, because of resurrection’s irrefutable proof and resurrection’s irreversible purpose, we become the recipients of resurrection’s irreplaceable power.
If Jesus rose from the dead, and it is irrefutably proven that He did, then:
[21-22] “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. [22]For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
[25-26] “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. [26]The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”