Everything's Changed

As we look into the Word of God this morning, let's pray. Father, now we come before you with hungering hearts. This is a day of hope for us. This is the day that Jesus conquered death on our behalf. Help us now as we look into your Word to do so with hope and the idea of victory. We live in a dark world. and yet because of the Lord Jesus there is great light and we can rejoice.

Help us now again as we explore the joys of our Savior's resurrection. In his name we pray. Amen. It was the first day of the week and all kinds of weird things were happening. Among the followers of Jesus, rumors were flying from house to house. Rumors that Jesus' body was not in the grave.

Some of the women who'd been very involved in Jesus' ministry were spreading the story that angels had been at the gravesite and had spoken to them about Jesus being alive. Some claimed that the Apostle Peter himself told them that the grave was empty. In fact, it was rumored that another apostle, John, had said the same thing. What was going on? Could it be that Jesus had come back from the dead?

Or were these the tortured imaginations of people whose all their hopes had been crushed? Maybe it was true. Maybe Jesus had come back. But what in the world was going on? well they would soon understand that this was much more than jesus returning from the dead they would understand that something new had become something the world had never seen and for nearly the the next 50 days you would find the apostles and many of jesus followers listening to jesus explain to them what was going on you see god had acted decisively in the resurrection of Jesus.

And that's what I want you to leave here with this morning. God acted decisively in the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, the resurrection of Jesus is the most decisive event in the history of mankind Not in the sense that His followers would change the course of world history although that did happen Not in that sense It is decisive in this sense Because of the resurrection of Jesus, everything in life changes.

Everything in life changes. Everything changes because of that resurrection. All the mundane things of life going to work tomorrow. Raising your children. All of it has been changed because of the resurrection of Jesus. Now the first thing we need to see is that God has acted decisively in that resurrection.

Turn to Acts chapter 4. Now, for some of you, this is going to sound really familiar because from this pulpit, I have said these same things three times. Maybe this will be the fourth, maybe the fifth. I don't know. But to me, this is one of the most key passages. This is a key passage in understanding the resurrection of Jesus.

It is really important to get this. So if this sounds familiar, I'm not going to apologize. I'm just going to say, get it. This is so, so important. It's from the first four verses of Acts chapter four, where we see that God has acted decisively in the resurrection of Jesus. Listen to the words.

And as they were speaking to the people, that is the apostles now, have gone out and they're preaching in Jerusalem. As the apostles were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening.

But many of those who had heard the word believed and the number of men came to about 5,000. And as you go on, you see the Sanhedrin then, the Supreme Council of Jewish Life puts them in prison for preaching the message of the resurrection. Preaching the resurrection. Now there's something about that resurrection that's utterly different. There's something about the resurrection of Jesus that is powerful and transforming.

Now what's going on here? Why should the Sanhedrin get so upset about what the apostles preach Most of the Jews of that day believed in resurrection They were committed to the doctrine of the resurrection. If you want to know that, you just have to look at the last chapter of Daniel, where Daniel talks about a great resurrection of the righteous. Now, you've got to remember something about the Pharisees and the Sadducees. they were fighting amongst themselves all the time.

These two Jewish parties, Sadducees and Pharisees. Pharisees were committed to the doctrine of the resurrection. The Sadducees were not. They did not believe in the resurrection. So if you want to look at it, the Pharisees were kind of the orthodox ones. They believed the whole Old Testament.

The Sadducees on the other hand only accepted the first five books. The Pharisees believed in resurrection. The Sadducees did not. So they always kind of were mixing it up about that. Now, do you remember as a Sunday school kid, what did you learn about the Sadducees? You remember?

They didn't believe in the resurrection, so they were sad, you see. All right. If you'd never heard that before, now you got it. Now, no doubt as you walked around the temple courts, you would see the rabbis with their pupils discussing the future resurrection of the dead. It was not a big deal. Resurrection was not a big deal.

They believed in it. The disciples had even witnessed resurrections. They wrote in the Gospels about Jesus raising people from the dead. The biggie, of course, was from John chapter 11 with the resurrection of Lazarus. And so they and others had indeed witnessed corpses resurrected, Physical life restored to dead bodies. The Sanhedrin, or at least the Pharisees, also believed in the resurrection.

They read about it in their Bibles. They read about Elijah and Elisha raising people from the dead. Right? They read about these things. They believed in the resurrection. So why would the council arrest these men for preaching something that they believed in? because the apostles were not preaching what they were believing.

They were not preaching what the Sanhedrin believed. They preached that the resurrection of Jesus and this is key for us now this is key they were preaching that the resurrection of Jesus was not merely the resuscitation of a corpse It was not God reversing the laws of nature They were not saying that. This was something unheralded. This was something that was not the same as what the Pharisees believed.

Why was the council so exercised with these men? I mean, they had debated this thing amongst themselves many times. Without this kind of passion, without throwing one another in jail, what's going on? Because the message was different. Listen, it challenged the very core of Jewish belief, which was this. The resurrection happened on the last day.

The resurrection happens in the future. Not now. It was to be the last redemptive act of God for his people. On the very last day, the day of judgment, they believed that God would resurrect his people. Alright? Right?

But these disciples of Jesus preached that this resurrection that they were looking forward to had already occurred in the person of Jesus. The last day resurrection had arrived in Jesus. Now note carefully what the text says. I have this highlighted in my Bible. They were greatly annoyed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus, note, what does it say?

The resurrection of the dead. They weren't just saying, hey, Jesus has been resurrected. They were saying, the resurrection has come in the person of Jesus. That last day resurrection that you're all looking forward to, it's happened. It happened in Jesus. The resurrection.

The resurrection of the dead had occurred in the very one that they had convicted of what? Blasphemy, right? The one that you said was a blasphemer of God, he has experienced the last day resurrection that you're all looking forward to. So they weren't proclaiming the return of their beloved. teacher Jesus, but God had acted decisively in Jesus in bringing about the final resurrection and no one could ignore it or remain neutral.

The future had arrived. God has acted decisively in the resurrection of Jesus because in it you see the emergence of an entirely new order of life. Something totally different than anyone has ever experienced. God did not merely cause the disturbance of the normal course of events. Rather, he had ushered in something entirely new. And so when we talk about the resurrection, let's not talk about resuscitation.

Let's not even talk about rebirth as if Jesus has come back again like he was before. Or we need to talk about resurrection. Jesus has arrived. The last day resurrection has happened in Jesus. So that means there is one human being who right now is experiencing what we will experience someday. Not just living forever, but living forever in bodies.

Get this. In bodies that will never ever again experience sickness or death. Will never experience weakness. In a body that will be glorified. It's happened. What we're looking forward to, it's already begun.

It's begun in Jesus. They were preaching the resurrection of the dead in Jesus. That's why we must say God acted decisively. not reversing the laws of nature but actually bringing about the last day resurrection all right he's begun jesus inaugurated what is we will yet experience so because god has acted decisively in jesus there's a difference it changes everything because god acted decisively in jesus you can have hope it's the first thing i want to communicate to you this morning You can have hope You have the hope of reconciliation with God 1 Corinthians 15 Turn there 1 Corinthians 15 Now some of you if you don know that much about resurrection this is the chapter to go to 1 Corinthians 15.

This is the Apostle Paul's defense of resurrection of the dead. Someone had brought into the church an idea that, right? Let's be scientific. We all know that dead people can't live. there's no such thing as resurrection from the dead. Let's just make that clear. That had been brought into the church.

And so 1 Corinthians 15 is Paul's great defense of the idea of resurrection. And he hinges everything on the resurrection of Jesus. And here's what he says in the first eight verses. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, that is Peter, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. then he appeared to James then to all the apostles last of all as to one untimely born he appeared also to me drop down to verse 16 in which he says for if the dead are not raised not even Christ has been raised and if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile and you are still in your sins then then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished if in Christ we have hope In this life only we are of all people most to be pitied. The gospel that saves, the gospel you must believe in order to be saved from the wrath of God.

The wrath of God that will be expressed against all sinners of which, by the way, let me just say this, the Bible makes it clear, from this guy here to everybody out there and everybody outside these walls, everyone has sinner branded on their chest. and God's wrath will be expressed against all sinners except for those who have entrusted themselves to Jesus Christ And the gospel that saves us from that wrath includes the truth that Jesus was raised from the dead Why is that true that if Jesus was not raised, you're still in your sins and under the wrath of God? That those who died in Christ have perished? Why is that true?

Because death is the penalty for our sin. The Bible makes it clear. People die. Why? because we've been branded sinners and all sinners have to pay the curse. They pay the penalty of death. And Jesus died because the sins of sinners were put on him and the wrath of God was poured out on him in their place.

And that's why he died. But if Jesus never emerged from the grave, if his bones had rotted in that grave, if Jesus had never come out of that grave, then what would we conclude? Jesus himself was just like us. just another sinner. That's what you'd have to conclude. If he never came out of the grave, he's no different than any other human being. He too is a sinner.

But Jesus came out of that grave proving that God was satisfied with the payment so that there is hope that we are reconciled to God. Now I'm old enough now and maybe this is part of being an old man. I look back now over the last 36 years just being a pastor. And I have tons of regrets of things I did and things I did not do. And I could enumerate them.

I could tell you why all those things. And there's a great temptation to wallow in that. But I know this. Jesus paid for all those failures on my part. And I don't have to look back with regret. I don't have to look back and wallow in my sin because it has all been wiped clean.

God will not hold any of those failures to my account, nor will he hold yours if you've embraced Jesus in faith because Jesus came out of the grave and God is satisfied. And you don't have to make it up to God. I don't know where you are in your life. some of you here may be looking at yourself and saying I'm nothing but sin because Jesus has been raised from the dead you can be reconciled to God he becomes your friend he becomes your father He no longer is your judge And you can rest in that Not only does the resurrection give us hope of reconciliation with God, you have hope in the face of suffering and death.

Same chapter, verse 20. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. for as by a man came death by a man came also the resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all die so also in Christ shall all be made alive but each in his own order Christ the first fruits then at his coming those who belong to Christ then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet the last enemy to be destroyed is death for God has put all things in subjection under his feet but when it says all things are put in subjection it is plain that he has accepted who put all things in subjection under him when all things are subjected to him then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him that God may be all in all you have hope in the face of suffering and death what hope do you have when you have a terminal illness and you know this is the last Easter you're going to see I can remember sitting I can remember sitting with a dear saint from this congregation one time he had a terminal illness I was sitting with him in his living room as we talked about the promises of God I remember looking out the window and seeing a combine go across my field of vision harvesting the corn outside his house and a thought occurred to me this is the last time this man will ever see that you think that thought this is the last time he will ever see it he will never see this again he's going to die what hope is there in that moment what hope is there in that moment you know what hope there is that is not the end that he will be resurrected someday to live in a body that will never die and he will see things with his eyes that he never imagined that's hope when you're looking face to face with death now listen I don't know what God has in store this next this coming year I may be sitting at your bedside as you're breathing your last and I have been there Many times, I've been with saints as they cross that line. And if the resurrection of Christ is true, then we need not fear it.

We know that someday we'll be raised with a body that will never decay. and I can hold on to that promise as I cross that divide. Who knows? Maybe I'll be crossing it this year. You know, you grow older, you grow frail, and you're failing, and you can feel your life ebbing away, realizing that there's no going back. But hope is there. You have hope if you've lost your spouse.

What hope is there? There's great hope. There's great hope in the resurrection of Jesus. You see, God acted decisively in the resurrection of His Son, bringing the preview of a body that will never die, a body of youth and vigor forever. And that's no theoretical speculation. It's been seen.

It's showed up. We know it's going to happen. Let me just add one more hope you can have here. You can have hope in justice. You can have hope and justice. Turn over to Acts again.

Acts chapter 10. Here's the Apostle Peter talking to Gentiles. And he brings up the resurrection. And in this sermon, he says this. Acts 10 verse 42. Just a little snippet out of this sermon.

And he commanded us, that is Jesus, to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Do you ever get depressed? Well, by the way, he says the same thing. Look over at Acts 17.

I was thinking about this earlier this morning. He says the same thing in Acts 17, verse 30. Here he's talking to the Athenians. Again, some Gentiles. This is Paul this time. And he says, the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead Do you ever get depressed over the injustices you see all around us? This last year, we have all cried to the heavens about the injustice of about everything. Whatever. Whether it's unjust or not.

But, you know, there were riots this last summer. Riots. Why? Because of the perceived denial of justice. There was a storming, the very storming of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. because of the perception that we've been betrayed. And I'm telling you right now that Jesus is coming to right all wrongs, to balance the scales of justice.

There is not one wrong that will be overlooked. And you know what that means? That means you don't have to riot. That means you don't have to storm the Capitol building. That means you can love your enemies. Why?

Because justice is coming. I don't have to worry about that. I can love the people who treat me badly because unless they're converted, they will face judgment. I don't have to take it out on them. I can love my enemies. You see, the justice of God in person of Jesus Christ gives us hope where we don't have to respond to injustices like the rest of the world.

All because Jesus has been raised to one day rule and to judge with righteousness. And no one will sway that judge. You see? You have hope for justice. So because God acted decisively in Jesus, you have hope. Because God has acted decisively in Jesus, you have life.

Alright? Colossians. Turn to the book of Colossians. Chapter 2. This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I'm only going to take one verse out of this great passage.

Verse 13. And you who were dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. All of us are born dead. All of us are born dead. Dead in our sins. By the way what kind of food does a dead man appreciate What kind of music does he like What sort of things catch his eye None We're born spiritually dead.

We cannot taste the goodness of God. We could not see the beauty of Christ. We could never appreciate the music of His words. We're dead. In fact, we are so dead we have no desire for any of those things. but what did God do he made us alive together with him that's the resurrection God made us alive with Jesus who is alive he unites us to Jesus now when you get married something happens now I'm pull pull your mind back okay yeah lots of stuff happened but pull your mind back here Here's what I'm saying.

When you get married, something happens. You become united to another person in such a way that your life changes forever. That your life changes forever. It is decisive. I cannot, I must say this. one of the couples that beck and i had the privilege of doing premarital counseling with and and sometimes you know the premarital counseling goes in after the wedding sometimes we do that and one of the one of the new wives was with her friends and they said to her what what what is married life like what is it like the single girlfriends were saying and her response was this it's like waking up in bed and you're paralyzed some of them got it I didn't get that what she was saying is it's like your life changes forever it's like a paralyzed person your life just changes forever it's not going to be the same ever again all right when you're United to somebody your life will never be the same again it's changed dramatically you know when we came here in 1985 we came here without Becca ever seeing anything here right why in the world did she jump because she was married to me she moved here why because she was married to me the same thing is is true you you were alive with jesus thing has something has changed in you united to jesus you receive like a new life principle Something animates you now that did not before so that everything feels and looks and is understood differently.

In 1975, oh my goodness, even saying that makes me think I'm ancient. I was a young guy then. In 1975 is when, I can tell you, is when I fell in love with Beck. That was the year. That was it. I was a goner with her.

Right? And life never was the same after that. everything changed for me there was a whole new way of looking at things now that may be a silly illustration of new birth but because you're united to Jesus you understand the world differently you now love what you once hated you now hate what you once loved things have changed now you can be different now you have the capacity to be transformed you can become a different person you know I look at a dear friend of mine who used to be a cruel, sarcastic, physically violent man. His name?

Dave Durnland. Now how many of you would connect with that name? One of our missionaries. How many of you would connect with the name Dave Durnland? Sarcastic, cruel, physically violent. None of you would.

Why? Because Jesus was raised from the dead and utterly transformed that man. There's capable of unbelievable changes because of the life we have. One last thing. Because God has acted decisively in Jesus, you have purpose. 1 Corinthians 15.

Turn back. I know I'm wearing you out, but turn back there anyway. 1 Corinthians 15. Now here is the end of the resurrection chapter. How does Paul conclude this chapter on resurrection? That Jesus has been raised from the dead.

Here's what he says. Therefore, my beloved brothers. I'm sorry. Verse 58. The very end of the chapter. Therefore, my beloved brothers.

Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, nothing you do for Christ is ever in vain. You can throw yourself into serving Him. because nothing that you do will be in vain. As I was thinking about this sermon, I asked myself, how does the resurrection intersect the lives of the people in this church?

And so I went back to the hallway and I looked at the board and I looked at your pictures. how has this changed life for you? All of you who are single, because Jesus lives, you have a greater purpose than just living for yourself and for freedom and fun. You've got a higher purpose now, one that's much more satisfying. You who are just married, life's an adventure now, but you have much more adventure if you join together to serve the living Lord Jesus Christ, your married life can be better than what you ever imagined if you live it for Him.

Some of you are parents. Your work for your children that seems right now not to accomplish much is not in vain. It's not in vain. And you say, but I'm past that. And my children have never come to Christ Was it all in vain none of it was If you did it for Christ it not in vain You have purpose You older folks, you look back and wonder if you didn't, if you...

Okay? You look back and you wonder, did I do anything right? Right? Did I do anything right? But if you did it for Christ, it's not in vain. you widows some of you widowers the companion of your life is gone but you can still serve Jesus who is alive and with you is it worth it absolutely it's worth it he says so some of you experience the horrors of divorce you wonder if you can go on sometimes what lies ahead and the hurt that you felt, Jesus is still worth the effort to serve.

Some of you are the lone believer in your family. It gets hard and discouraging to live with those who care nothing for your Lord. But you can remain steadfast and immovable. Because no matter what you do for Him, it's not in vain. Some of you today have limited time on this earth, and you know it. But look, it's not time to quit yet.

Jesus is worthy, and the little time that you have left is not in vain. Some of you have grown up here. This is all you know. And maybe you're looking on the other side of the fence at what the world has to offer. And you're saying, the grass looks greener over there. And I'm here to tell you, no. it's not living over there is empty but living for Christ is full And you will never regret it because whatever you do for Jesus is not in vain.

Jesus lives today. And you can serve Him, because no matter how big or how little it is that you do for Him, it's never in vain some of you here today have never come to Jesus in faith you're here because it's Easter you're here because maybe you want to please your parents or whatever the case may be I want to talk to you for a moment no matter what you think you have no hope no life and no purpose I'm telling you right now without Jesus you have no hope you have no life and you have no purpose. You don't believe any of this.

You don't believe anything I've said today. Let me say to you, be honest then. You have no purpose in life. Face it. Be honest. You've got no purpose.

What happens? You're going to work hard and you're going to gather stuff or you're just going to blow it all and have fun party after party, but you're going to live your life and what happens? You get swallowed up in death. So tell me, why is it worth it? Why? Face up to the fact.

If you don't believe Jesus ever came out of the grave, your life has no purpose. Why even go on? Death yawns at the end of your life, waiting to swallow you. It doesn have to be the case you can come to a Savior who this day will give you purpose and this day will give you eternal life and give you a whole new way of looking at the world and at yourself.

You've got to believe it. You see, Jesus' resurrection changes everything. Christian sometimes we can despair can't we there are days when we just say I don't know can't go on but you know what Jesus is alive and he'll never abandon you there's purpose always will be there's always hope for you there's always life because Jesus' resurrection changes everything.

Father, thank You for Your Word. Lord God, Your Word just rips us open and exposes us. But it doesn't just do that. It presents to us the living Lord Jesus Christ who is alive today and ready to save anybody who comes to Him. And the one who is alive today will never turn anyone away. Lord thank you help us to look to Jesus as the resurrected Savior help us to serve him to love him and to know that his resurrection changes everything we thank you in the name of the resurrected Lord Jesus Amen Thank you.