THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION
Pastor James J. Barker
Text: I CORINTHIANS 15:12-19
INTRODUCTION:
- The bodily
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the crowning proof of
Christianity.
- If the Lord
Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead, then He is not
God.
- If the Lord
Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead, then the Bible is not trustworthy,
and the Christian religion is just another major world religion, like Buddhism,
Hinduism, Judaism, or Islam.
- However, if our
Lord's resurrection did take place, then Jesus Christ is God, the Bible
is the inerrant Word of God, and the Christian faith is absolute truth, and
indeed the only true faith.
- Philip Schaff,
the church historian put it this way, "The resurrection of Christ is therefore
emphatically a test question upon which depends the truth or falsehood of the
Christian religion. It is either the greatest miracle or the greatest delusion
which history records."
Wilbur M. Smith
wrote, "The resurrection of Christ is the very citadel of the Christian faith.
This is the doctrine that turned the world upside down in the first century,
that lifted Christianity preeminently above Judaism, and the pagan religions of
the Mediterranean world. If this goes, so must almost everything else that is
vital and unique in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ: 'If Christ be not
risen, then is your faith vain' (I Cor. 15:17)."
A.T. Pierson
said the resurrection of Christ "is the miracle that stands at the base of the
whole system of gospel truth and fact."
Many famous and
influential men have walked across the stage of life, and they have had a
profound impact in one way or another -- Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Mohammed, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Karl Marx,
and many others.
Good men, bad
men, famous men, religious leaders, military leaders, philosophers, founders of
major world religions and great movements have all come and
gone.
And they have all had one thing in common -- they have
all died, and today their bodies are in the graveyard.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is alive
today!
Our Lord says in Revelation 1:18, "I am he that
liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and
have the keys of hell and of death."
My message this morning is entitled, "The Importance of
Christ's Resurrection," and I am going to give three reasons why I believe it is
vitally important.
I.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO HIS
PERSON
- If our Lord did
not rise from the dead, then He would be a liar, because He often said that He
would be raised from the dead (cf. John 10:14-18).
- Our Lord
frequently asserted that He was going up to Jerusalem to die at the hands of the
religious leaders of Israel, but that after three days He would rise again
(Matt. 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:18, 19; cf. 27:62-66).
- Early in His
public ministry our Lord predicted that He would be killed but that He would
rise again (cf. John 2:18-22).
- Later on this
prophecy was used by our Lord's adversaries as a basis to falsely accuse Him
(cf. Matt. 26:59-61).
- Our Lord said
His resurrection was the "sign" from God that He was the Messiah (cf. John 2:18,
19; Matt. 12:38-41).
- Therefore,
since our Lord gave no other sign, except the sign of His resurrection from the
dead, it must be very important.
- Everything
depends upon it -- His truthfulness, His deity, the veracity of Scripture, and
our salvation.
- William Evans
said, "The raising of Jesus from the dead was the seal of the Father's approval
on the work of His Son in connection with the offering of His life as an
atonement for sin. The resurrection was the Father's 'Amen!' to the Son's 'It is
finished!'"
- Wilbur Smith
said, “No man has ever written, pro or con, on the subject of Christ’s
Resurrection, without finding himself compelled to face this problem of Joseph’s
empty tomb” (Therefore Stand).
- Psalm 2:7 says, "I will declare the decree: the LORD
hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten
thee."
- At first glance, this seems to be a prediction of the
Messiah's birth. But when we get to Acts 13:33, 34, we see Peter preaching the
Gospel of Christ, and he says, "God hath fulfilled the same unto us their
children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in
the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him
up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise,
I will give you the sure mercies of David."
- Therefore, Psalm 2:7 is a prophesy of the Messiah's
resurrection.
- Peter also quotes Psalm 16:10 (Acts
13:35-38).
II.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO HIS
WORK
- The greatest
field of study is not science or mathematics, though these are very important
subjects.
- The most
important subject is theology, the study of the Word of God. And it takes a lifetime to study the
Word of God.
- When he was on
his deathbed, the great Scot poet and author Sir Walter Scott, cried out to his
son-in-law Lockhart, "Bring me the Book. Bring me the
Book!"
- "Sir," replied
his son-in-law, "Which one? There are thousands of books in your
library."
- Sir Walter
Scott answered, "There is only one Book, bring me the
Bible."
- In the olden
days, theology (study of God) was referred to as "the queen of the
sciences."
- Theology was
known as the queen of sciences because it was thought that the study of God, who
is the source of all truth, informed and illuminated all other branches of
knowledge.
- When we study Bible doctrine or systematic theology, we
notice that the doctrine of Christ is usually divided into two major sections --
His person, and His work.
- When we speak of Christ's person, we are
referring to His incarnation, His sinlessness, His divine attributes, His two
natures, and His earthly ministry.
- When we speak of Christ's work, we are referring
to Christ's substitutionary death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead,
and His ascension into heaven.
- Not only is the resurrection of Christ vitally important
to our Lord's person, it is also vitally important to His
work.
- For example, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then
we are still lost sinners (I Cor. 15:17).
- And, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then of
course, He could not have ascended into heaven, for all accounts of our Lord's
ascension link it together with His resurrection from the dead (cf. Mark
16:14-19; Luke 24:46-53; Acts 1:3-9).
- If Christ did not rise from the dead, then of course, He
would not be alive to perform all of His post-resurrection miracles and
ministries.
- If Christ did not rise from the dead, then His ministry
would have ended at the cross. But
our Lord said, "It (referring to His vicarious, sacrificial death) is finished"
(John 19:30).
- He did not say, "I am
finished."
- If
Christ did not rise from the dead, He could not dwell within believers today,
but He certainly does. Galatians 2:20 says, "Christ liveth in me" (cf. Col. 3:1-4).
- If Christ did not rise from the dead, He could not be up
in heaven at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us right
now.
- Hebrews
7:25 says, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them."
- If Christ did not rise from the dead, then He could not
have visited the apostle Paul and Ananias (cf. Acts 9:1-16; 18:9, 10; 22:18-21;
23:11).
- If Christ did not rise from the dead, then He could not
have appeared to John on the isle of Patmos (Rev.
1:9-18).
- Furthermore, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then
He is not coming back (Rev. 1:7).
- But
thank God, Jesus is alive, and He is coming back (cf. John
14:1-4).
- A while
ago, a church member wrote a letter to an advice column in his local
newspaper.
- "Dear
Sir: Our preacher said, on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that
the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely,
Bewildered."
- Here
was the reply, published a few days later:
- Dear Bewildered:
Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a
cross; hang him out in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his heart;
embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for three days and three nights, and then
see what happens."
III.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO OUR
SALVATION
- It is important to the Gospel, because there is no
Gospel apart from the resurrection of Christ (I Cor.
15:1-9).
- Churches which deny the literal resurrection are
preaching a false gospel.
- The apostle Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia,
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another;
but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ"
(Gal. 1:6, 7).
- The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is an
essential part of the Gospel, as can be seen by reading the four Gospels, the
book of Acts, the epistles, and the book of
Revelation.
- The apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 15:14,
"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain."
- "And if Christ
be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (15:17). Therefore, if Christ be not risen, we
cannot be saved.
- Paul says in
Romans 10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved."
CONCLUSION:
- Back in 1815,
the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. News of this famous battle came by a
sailing vessel to the south coast of England.
- From there it
was to be relayed by signal flags to London. When the report was received at
Winchester Cathedral, the flags on the cathedral began to spell it out:
"Wellington defeated...."
- Before the
message could be completed, however, a heavy fog moved in and obscured the
complete message. Gloom filled the hearts of the people as the incomplete news
spread throughout the surrounding countryside.
- As this sad
news spread, the people were very discouraged and heartbroken. But after a while, the fog lifted, and
once again the flags could be seen.
- Now the
complete message could be clearly seen by all: "WELLINGTON DEFEATED THE
ENEMY."
- When our Lord
was crucified, darkness covered the land for three hours. Then our Lord cried
out, "It is finished," and His disciples were
discouraged.
- For three days,
His body lay in the grave, and many people were thinking the message was, "Jesus
defeated."
- But after three
days, He rose victoriously from the grave, and now we know the complete message:
"JESUS DEFEATED THE ENEMY" (cf. I Cor.
15:20-26).
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