Everyone will see the Lord's splendor, see his greatness and power. Give strength to hands that are tired and to knees that tremble with weakness. Tell everyone who is discouraged, “Be strong and don't be afraid! God is coming to your rescue, The blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear. The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy. They will be happy forever, forever free from sorrow and grief.
-Isaiah 35:2b-4a, 5-6a, 10b (GNT)
Some of the best educated, highly influential, highly respected intellectuals of the past and present, believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ so intently that they converted to Christianity.
If you don’t believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an actual historical event, you have a major problem.
While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
-Luke 24:51-53 (NIV)
Why did thousands of Jews and Greeks overnight change their whole worldview and start to believe in Jesus?
The only plausible explanation: Jesus rose from the dead.
Your denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with fact.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ:
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ’ Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
-Luke 24:1-12 (NIV)
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’
-Luke 24:37-39 (NIV)
One: The Resurrection is an historical event that changes everything!
It is not merely a symbol of the truth that we must always have hope.
It is an actual event—rooted in history—that changes everything!
Two: The Resurrection is an historical event that explains all of history (His-story).
It tells us what God has been doing from the very beginning.
It answers the deepest questions of the human heart!
The Road to Emmaus:
He said to them, ’How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
-Luke 24:25-27 (NIV)
Isaiah: there is a great King who will come someday, but the great King is also described as a suffering servant. (Isaiah 53:3–7)
The Sacrificial System: the blood of goats and lambs could never really completely atone for sins; this was a mere foreshadowing of the ultimate lamb
Ezekiel and Jeremiah: a new covenant where God writes His law on the hearts of men and women among every people group.
- A day would come when we will not need a priest or sacrifices or a temple.
- One will come who will be the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate temple, and he will make us a kingdom of priests!
Abraham: all the nations—not just Israel—would be blessed
He said to them, ’This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, ’This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
-Luke 24:44-48 (NIV)
God told His story again and again through archetypes:
Jesus is a greater Moses who stretches out His arms and brings us out of the ultimate slavery into the ultimate promised land.
Jesus is the greater Noah who takes us aboard and saves us from the waters of the judgment of God.
Jesus is the greater Jonah who is thrown into the waters of God’s wrath so that you and I could be saved from the ultimate storm of sin and death.
Jesus is the ultimate Isaac, the beloved son of God, who was marched up to the hill of Golgotha, who was not spared—who is the Lamb that Abraham knew would someday be provided.
Jesus is the ultimate Joseph in that what men meant for evil, God used for good—the salvation not merely of a nation but of the world.
He is the victorious and noble King David bringing by His hand all the rebellious powers under His authority.
Jesus is the magnificent and triumphant King Solomon governing His kingdom in peace and prosperity.
He is the strong and powerful Samson who by His death overwhelmed all His enemies.
Jesus is the ultimate Good Samaritan! He comes to heal us, restore us, and set us free, at great cost to Himself.
Third: The Resurrection is an historical event that is transformational.
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. He told them, ’This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
-Luke 24:33-35, 46-48 (NIV)
How is it possible that the populists in three short generations in the Greco-Roman world turned away from classical culture and embraced Christianity?
The only plausible explanation? The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When you pair the cross with the resurrection you bring the message the world has been waiting for.
1) The resurrection shows you the power of God: It’s the place where you discover that life does not end in death.
2) The cross shows you the holiness and love of God and reminds you that you are held in the highest regard.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
-John 3:16 (ESV)
The historical reality of the resurrection grants us the assurance that all loss is temporary.
It tells us that all losses will be restored to an infinitely greater degree.
Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’
-Revelation 21:1a, 2a and 3-4 (NIV)
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
-Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
Revelation 21: God will remove the effects of sin and death and will bring ultimate restoration!
What does the resurrection give you today?
Hope and Assurance.
The resurrection is something much different than what other religions promise.
The resurrection is not a consolation prize to the pain you have suffered. No, Jesus offers the restoration of all you have lost.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-John 3:16 (NIV)
The Resurrection as proof of the Great Reversal:
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, Justice was satisfied and transcended at the same time.
- And reality itself started to reverse its course.
When Shira’s parents gave their lives to Jesus, the curse of sin reversed, and now, the count is moving toward the day when….
The blind will be able to see,
and the deaf will hear.
The lame will leap and dance,
and those who cannot speak will shout for joy.
Make a Decision