SESSION 7: The Resurrection of Jesus

--- Hello and welcome back to Session 7 of Knowing What You Believe. In this session we're going to be talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And essentially the entire session is going to be centered around the very simple question, why is the resurrection of Jesus so important? And along those lines we'll be looking at six statements that answer that question. Let's begin with statement number one. The resurrection is a reminder of His absolute sovereignty and ability to grant eternal life. You know what's interesting about whenever we talk about the resurrection, or frankly resurrections in general, we realize that the resurrection of Jesus wasn't the first time in the Bible by a long shot that someone was raised from the dead. There are three instances in the Old Testament alone. One of them by the prophet Elijah, which is talked about in 1 Kings, and then in 2 Kings his assistant, Elisha, later raised someone from the dead. And then you'll remember that crazy story where a man died and was buried in a tomb, and when his corpse touched the bones of Elisha, that man too was revived and resurrected. Those are some crazy stories. And then in the New Testament, even before the resurrection of Jesus, we have Jesus Himself raising people from the dead. Of course, His good friend Lazarus. There was the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. And then there was also the son of a widow who Jesus raised from the dead. Now all of these people were raised miraculously before the resurrection of Jesus. So here's the question that we need to tackle. What makes the resurrection of Jesus so special? Very simply, the people who were raised prior to the resurrection of Jesus, and frankly even some of them after, had to die again. In other words, they were raised from the dead, surely enough, but they had to experience death all over again. Not so with Jesus. His resurrection was entirely unique in this very one sense. Let me show you this passage. It's from Colossians chapter 1, and it says, He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. When Paul uses the term firstborn here in Colossians chapter 1, he's not speaking of firstborn like you and I would consider a family who had children, and among their children one of them was the firstborn. That is firstborn in order. But when Paul uses this particular Greek word, it speaks of uniqueness, supremacy in rank. And Jesus, he says, is the firstborn because He is the agent of the new creation. In other words, He begins the process of resurrection unto eternal life. Or if you will, resurrection with no dying afterwards, but just life. So the resurrection of Jesus is, first of all, a reminder of His sovereign ability to bestow eternal life upon all those who are raised from the grave. Secondly, the resurrection of Jesus Christ validates His identity both as Messiah and Son of God. There's a prophecy given in the Old Testament in the book of Psalms that goes like this, For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption. That idea of not letting the Holy One see corruption is really another way of saying you will not let His body decompose. Kind of an interesting thought, isn't it? He won't be abandoned to the grave. So it gives you the very real sense that He will be in the grave, but will not be abandoned to the grave. Well, we know that's exactly what happened with the resurrection of Jesus. So He fulfills this prophecy in Psalm 16 as the Messiah. And then we have the many predictions by Jesus Himself that He would be raised from the dead. In fact, did you know that Jesus even claimed that He would raise Himself? Let me show you. From John chapter 2, So the Jews said to Him, What sign do You show us for doing these things? Jesus answered, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days? But He was speaking about the temple of His body. And then in John chapter 10, we read, For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again, this charge I have received from My Father. What we learn by looking at these passages is that the resurrection validates these prophetic claims that Jesus made. And it also goes on to declare His deity. Look at this passage. From Romans chapter 1, Paul writes, Regarding His Son, who as to His human nature was a descendant of David, 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. The reason this passage is so important is because Paul tells us that Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God. Now in today's understanding of that term, that doesn't necessarily mean that He is equal to God. But in the understanding of the Bible, to be one's Son is to be equal with the Father. And so, when it refers to Jesus as the Son of God, it is saying that He is equal to the Father. Remember that every time you see that term, Son of God. Next, the resurrection of Jesus defines what He accomplished for us on the cross. We're going to take a look at a passage that we looked at in a previous study that now speaks to this study, and it goes like this. Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. We talked in an earlier study about what justification means. And so we see now, according to this passage in Romans chapter 4, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is literal proof of our acquittal from all sin. When we believe in the resurrection and embrace it for all it means, it underscores and validates that our sins have been entirely forgiven by God. Fourthly, the resurrection of Jesus is the picture of our new life in Christ and the mechanism by which that new life begins. Check out this passage from Romans chapter 6, again, another passage we looked at in a previous session. It says, We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. So the resurrection is a constant reminder to you and me that we have new life, not just new life someday, new life today. And just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we too have been raised today to live that new life. He's given us His Holy Spirit, He's given us everything we need for life and godliness, and we can be new creatures today. The resurrection of Jesus also speaks to what is to come for all believers. There are some great passages, particularly in Corinthians, where the Apostle Paul talks about what is to come, what is yet to happen as it relates to our lives because we have now joined with Christ. in the promise of that resurrection. Let me show you. First Corinthians 15 says,

This is a wonderful passage where the Apostle Paul is explaining what it's going to be like, both for those who have died in Christ in the hope of a resurrection, and those who are still alive at the time that Jesus comes for his bride. And he says, for those of us who have died, we're going to be raised first. For those who are still alive when Jesus returns, Paul says, we will be changed, transformed in the twinkling of an eye. So literally, those who are still alive on the earth when Jesus comes, they will go from having a body that is finite and corruptible, and they will be transformed just like that in the twinkling of an eye, and they will receive their new resurrection body that will be eternal and immortal. Pretty crazy thought, huh? And he says, we will all be changed. Well, the sixth and final statement that we're going to be making about the resurrection of Jesus is probably the most important point of them all, and it goes like this. The resurrection of Jesus is the point on which all Christianity rests. This is a pretty incredible statement, I know, but it is absolutely true. The resurrection of Jesus is the truth, the belief that the entire scope of Christianity rests on. Let me show you this statement from the Apostle Paul. He says,

I don't know how much comment is even necessary after reading that verse, because the Apostle Paul lays it out very clearly. If Jesus has not been raised, Christianity means nothing. Our faith is futile. It's even ridiculous, and we are still in our sins. Nothing has changed. No redemption has taken place. We are lost. You can see why the enemies of Christianity love to attack this particular truth. If they can somehow prove that the resurrection didn't take place, they can undo everything related to Christianity. I mean, it literally all falls apart. That's what Paul is telling us here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and that's why it is so important that we understand the resurrection of Jesus and are able to defend it. As we close, I want you to remember what Jesus said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus. He said this, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. In this single statement, Jesus claimed to be both the resurrection and the life. He didn't just say he would give us a resurrection. He said I am the resurrection, and he didn't just say I will give you life. He said I am the life. In other words, there is no resurrection apart from the person of Jesus Christ. That's an incredible statement, isn't it? But I've always loved the way Jesus made these statements. Jesus does more than give life. He is life. Jesus does so much more than just raise us from the dead. He says I am the resurrection. I am those things. So you see, we don't put our faith in a doctrine or a specific belief. We put our faith in a person. It's all about the person of Jesus Christ. Well, that's where we're going to wrap up this session. Next time in our eighth and final session, we're going to talk about the rapture, the second coming, and final judgment. Until then, God bless you. ---