The Event That Changes Everything!

From the mouths of infants and babes, and earlier today one of the youngsters in our congregation, I think, captured it well, what this Sunday is all about, right? Have you forgotten the beginning of the service? Yeah, good, after the choir is done singing. That captures what this Sunday is all about. I want you to bow with me in prayer as we look into the scriptures this morning about the importance of what happened so many centuries ago on this day.

Let's pray. God of heaven, you are ours only because of Jesus. We are yours because of Him. We have no right to come into your presence right now. You are holy and we are sinful. And yet, you sent Jesus to take our place. put upon Him our sin.

And He paid it in full. And You attested to that fact by raising Him from the dead. You raised us to life. You've given us hope. You've given us purpose. And we only have that because Jesus came out of the grave and pressed that upon us today.

Lord, I pray this would not just be a time where we do a religious thing, a traditional thing, but we would indeed see the living Lord Jesus Christ and be challenged to be united to Him by faith and to live for Him. Give us insight, we pray now. We ask this in His victorious name. Amen. Amen. it's 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 grave site and that angels had actually talked to them at those angels and said that Jesus was not in the grave.

Some claim that the apostle Peter himself told them that the grave was empty And even more were claiming another rumor that another apostle John had seen a grave that was empty the grave where Jesus was laid What was going on? Could it be that Jesus was really raised from the dead? Or were these just the tortured imaginations of people who had seen their most cherished hopes dashed to pieces? maybe it was true and Jesus had come back to them and he was going to fulfill their hopes after all what in the world was going on well they would soon understand that indeed Jesus had come back but it was much more than just returning from the dead they would understand that something new had begun something the world had never seen the next 40 days 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 Jesus. God had acted decisively in the resurrection of his son. In fact, the resurrection of Jesus is the most decisive action in the history of mankind. Not in the sense that his followers would turn the world upside down because they believe that. Not in that sense. It is decisive in this sense.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, everything changes. And not everything back then, but everything today. It's not that things changed for those particular people back then. but things had changed forever from that moment when Jesus came out of the grave. Things are different now. And I want to talk about that this morning. Now the first thing we have to see is that God did act decisively in Jesus in raising him from the dead.

I want you to skip ahead. The story from the Gospels now goes ahead. Let's go to the book of Acts, okay? Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. the apostles had become so convinced of Jesus' resurrection, in fact, they claimed they saw Him. They claimed they spent 40 days with Him.

And He taught them many things. And so now they've gone out. And in John chapter 4 we find some of the apostles preaching You follow along as I read and as they were speaking to the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the 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 the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family.

And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, By what power and by what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we're being examined today concerning good deed done to a crippled man by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. Let's just stop there.

There's something about that resurrection that is utterly different. In fact, something that is powerful and transforming. What's going on here? Why should the Sanhedrin get so upset that they were preaching about the resurrection of Jesus? Why were they getting so exercised about that? Most Jews of that day believed in a resurrection.

That wasn't the issue. They were committed to the doctrine of a resurrection. Remember the Pharisees and the Sadducees? If you have any familiarity with the Gospels, there's these two parties. There's the Pharisees. They're the believers in the Bible.

There's the Sadducees. They're kind of the liberals. They don't believe the Bible so much. They're very rationalistic. And they're always in an argument. And the Pharisees are saying, there is a resurrection from the dead.

And the Sadducees are saying, no, that's impossible. No such thing as a resurrection. And the Pharisees were big on this. They always fought the Sadducees on this issue because the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. No doubt if you walked around the temple and you saw rabbis with their disciples following them around and listen in their conversations, you would hear rabbis teaching about the resurrection.

They believed in it. It was not a big deal. The disciples had witnessed resurrections. If you read the Gospels, you see that they had witnessed that Jesus had raised a number of people from the dead In fact the most famous Lazarus had been raised just recently within days of the events that we read here So they and others had indeed witnessed his corpse resurrected corpses resurrected physical life restored to dead bodies The Sanhedrin, the council that we read about here, also believed in those kinds of resurrections.

They had their own Bibles. They read their Bibles. In the Old Testament, they would read about Elijah and Elisha raising a couple children from the dead and some other instances. So, they believed in resurrection. So why would the council arrest these men for preaching something that they too believed? That's the point.

They were preaching something different than what they believed. They weren't preaching what they believed. They preached that the resurrection of Jesus was not merely the resuscitation of a corpse. And this is important. They were not teaching that life had returned to Jesus and it was the resuscitation of a dead body. That God had somehow reversed the laws of nature.

That's not what they were saying. This was something unheralded. Why was the Sanhedrin so exercised about what these men were saying? They also believed in a resurrection. They debated that, but they didn't have this much excitement. Why are they so angry? because this message was different because it challenged their view of the resurrection.

You see, they saw the resurrection as happening on the last day. And that was still future. It was to be the last redemptive act of God for his people. That's what they believed. But these disciples of Jesus preached that that resurrection, the final one that was supposed to happen at the last day, they're preaching that it already had occurred in the person of Jesus.

I want you to look at the text again and note some words very carefully. verse 2 of Acts chapter 4 they were greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus note the resurrection from the dead the resurrection of the dead had occurred in the very one that this council had declared and Executed as a blasphemer. So what the apostles were teaching was the resurrection of God's people in the last day. It already happened in Jesus.

The one that you say is a blasphemer. They weren't proclaiming the return of their beloved teacher Jesus. but rather that the longed-for resurrection that they were looking for had already occurred in the person of Jesus Christ. The future had arrived. The resurrection of the dead was no longer a theological hope for the future, but God had acted in Jesus and had already accomplished it.

And so, you can't ignore that. You cannot remain neutral to that. If Jesus has embodied what was yet to come, there's no way you can ignore that. Because it's not just the resuscitation of a corpse. The future is now. Well, God had acted decisively in the resurrection of Jesus because in that resurrection is the emergence of a new order of life. you see God didn't merely cause a disturbance of the normal events rather he had ushered in something entirely new now I think that's important for us to understand the future is now the end has come the resurrection that everyone's looking forward to has already occurred in one person Jesus that means if you think that Jesus has just got life back again and started walking around, you're wrong.

It's not what it's about. The final act of God has occurred in Jesus. You can't ignore that. No one can ignore that. Well, what does that mean then? Because God has acted decisively in Jesus, you have hope.

You have hope. Turn over to 1 Corinthians. I'm going to tell you right now, we're going to be looking at a number of different passages. because, you know, as I thought about Easter Sunday, and if you don't know this, pastors agonize over Christmas and Easter all the time. What am I going to say this year? And as you think about it you say what am I going to preach about The problem is not that there too little but that there too much because the whole New Testament is about the resurrection of Jesus Without the resurrection of Jesus, the whole New Testament collapses.

The gospel ceases to exist. So because of that, we're going to be going to a number of different passages, just because I'm kind of a wishy-washy guy and I can't just land on one passage. This year at least. I want you to look with me at 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to look at the first 18 verses. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached 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, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than 500 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. Alright? the gospel that saves the gospel that you must believe in order to be saved from your sin and from the wrath of god includes the resurrection of jesus why is it true that if jesus is not raised from the dead you are still in your sins why is that true because death is the penalty for sin. Jesus died because the sins of sinners was put on him and the wrath of God was poured out on him.

God punished the sin of sinners in Christ. But if Jesus never emerged from the grave, we can only conclude one thing. Jesus was himself a sinner. And he endured the punishment due to all sinners. But the fact that he came out of the grave in a body that would never die again is to say that what he did was enough If he didn come out You know I preach this all the time When I preaching in funerals can I tell you a story I don know if I told this congregation this yet but I preached at a funeral of someone who's very well respected in our community.

And as in every funeral, I preach this. People die because they're sinners. and some people connected the dots and said you're saying that this well-respected person of our community was a sinner well i wasn't exactly saying he's a sinner but they connected the dots in the right way i was trying to say we're all sinners and we're all gonna die all right i was hated for a little while there and that's okay but the point i'm trying to make is this. If Jesus hadn't come out of the grave, he would be no different than you and me.

All right? He'd be no different than you and me. But the fact that he came out of the grave says he is the son of God and that the payment that he made is enough. And that if you believe in Jesus, it is not in vain. But if he did not come out of the grave, you're still in your sins. That's the bottom line.

You know what? I'm old enough now to look back on my life. I've got a life to look back on now. I'm not a 30-year-old any longer. I'm old enough to look back. And I can tell you right now, I have lots of regrets.

I see a lot of sin. I see a lot of things undone for Christ that I could have done and that I should have done. But I'm also convinced of this. I'm not only convinced of my failures, I'm convinced that because Jesus has been risen from the dead, God, and my faith in Jesus, God will not account one of those failures to my record. you can have hope of reconciliation with God because of the resurrection.

You will not face God as a judge if you have entrusted yourself to this one who been raised from the dead You know what You have hope not only for reconciliation with God you have hope in the face of suffering and death in this life. 1 Corinthians 15, let's jump ahead a little bit. Verse 20, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep by the way there's that first fruits the harvest has started the last resurrection has begun it began in Jesus he's the first fruits the rest well let's go on he'll tell us for as by a man came death by a man has come 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 firstfruits. Then at his coming those who belong to Christ will be raised. 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's 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 is 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 that God may be all in all you know you have hope in the face of suffering and death because Jesus has been raised.

What hope do you have when you have a terminal illness and you're asking yourself this question, is this the last Easter I'm ever going to see? Some of you may be here in that condition. You have a terminal illness and you're saying to yourself maybe this is the last Easter I'm ever going to see what kind of hope do you have what kind of hope do you have at that point right you grow older and you're starting to get frail and you're starting to fail and you can actually feel life ebbing away day by day.

Some of us are in that position. We're getting old. There's no going back. This morning at the sunrise service, which was half of it was in our garage. We're standing in a garage and all our young people are there, most of whom, not even our teenagers, these are the folks in our congregation who haven't even reached 30 yet. Okay?

I can almost remember 30. You know? There's no going back. There is no going back. Your life's ebbing away. What hope do you possibly have?

What hope do you have? You know what hope you have? God has acted decisively in the resurrection of his son, and we have already seen what the end is. The end is a body that will never die again, that will live in joy with God and with Jesus Christ. And so if this is your last Easter among us, you also know that we'll all be together again on a new earth, right?

Why? Because the end has arrived. We've seen it. It's Jesus. We don't have these theoretical speculations about life in the afterlife. we have a living representation of a body that will never die, has already been among us. We know that's what it's going to be.

You know what else you have hope for? You have hope for justice. Turn back to the book of Acts. Now, I want you to look at Acts chapter 10. Here is the first announcement, the proclamation of the gospel, the first one to Gentiles. And I won't go through the whole sermon that Peter preached that Luke records for us in Acts chapter 10.

I'm going to come to the end of that sermon, where he's proclaiming the gospel to these Gentiles. He's told them that God has raised this Jesus up on the third day, and he's appeared to a lot of people, to witnesses who are witnessing to his resurrection. Verse 42, and he, that is Jesus, this risen one, commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name There a judge The resurrection says that God has a judge.

Now, you're going to be forgiven before that judge or you're not. But this judge is going to see that perfect justice happens. Because, gee, God has acted decisively in the resurrection. There is a judge who's going to set the scales right. There's a woman in Pakistan today. I'm not sure how to pronounce her name.

It looks like Asia, A-A-S-I-A. She is in prison on anti-blasphemy laws in Pakistan because she supposedly blasphemed the Prophet Muhammad. It looks like she's going to die. And we look around and say, where's the justice in that? God, where are you? Right?

Some of you here have been through divorce. and you've been hurt badly. You've been betrayed. And now, you know, now of no fault of your own, you don't even get to see your children when you want to. Right? Some of you have suffered injustices that may not be that big, that may be larger than that. And you say, well, what use is it?

I'll tell you what use it is. There is coming a judge. His name is Jesus. and He will set it all right. Part of what the gospel does to us is makes us aware of injustice in this world. And the resurrection is a guarantee that God has not overlooked one infraction. there will be justice of course the question is on which side of justice are you going to land forgiven of all the things you have done wrong or held accountable not just in an individual way either we may look at what's going on in Libya and see the slaughter of people going on know this there is a judge He alive He knows what going on There will be justice So because God has acted decisively in the resurrection of Jesus you have hope Because God acted decisively in Jesus you have life You have life.

Colossians chapter 2 verse 13. Colossians chapter 2 verse 13. And you, who were dead in your trespasses, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him. Referring to Jesus. God made alive together with him. You know, all of us are born dead.

I don't mean you're born dying. You're born dead. What kind of food does a dead man like? What kind of music does he appreciate? What sort of things catch his eye? Answer?

None of those things. He's dead. Good. What God says here, and you, what? Who are dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh. He's saying you're spiritually dead.

We cannot taste the goodness of God. We cannot see the beauty of Christ. We are oblivious to the music of His words. in fact we're so dead that we have no desire for any of those things and he says and you're dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh we're born with the shroud of sin and flesh wrapped around us inescapably dead unable to respond to god But what did God do?

It says, God made us alive together with Him. There's the resurrection. God made us alive with Jesus, whom He also made alive. He unites us to Jesus who is alive. Jesus is our life. He's our life.

He communicates a different kind of life to us. Do you remember what it was like? Do you remember when you got married? Some of you who are married here. Life changed forever, didn't it? Boy, did it ever change.

Because what happens to you happens to him or to her. You're so united that whatever happens to you is certainly going to happen to your spouse. That's what he's saying here. He saying that by faith we united to Christ so that what happens to Jesus happens to us He raised Jesus from the dead He made you alive together with Jesus United to Jesus you receive this new life principle Something animates us now Something is different So much different that everything feels, looks, and is understood in a different way.

You know, I remember the spring of 1975. Oh, I remember that spring. Some of that's ancient history to some of you. I was very much alive in 1975. That was the spring I fell absolutely, totally, completely in love. By the way, it happened to be with the woman that I'm married to.

And you know what? Nothing looked the same. I can almost pinpoint to the day when everything turned around all right nothing looked the same there was something different about everything now that's just kind of a silly illustration here it doesn't even come close to telling the fact about your life that you have in Christ except just to say when you're united to Christ in faith there's a different life principle that now animates you.

You now feel differently. The things you once hated, now you love, right? The things you used to love, you now hate. You don't think the same way anymore. You process things differently. You understand.

You interpret. Things are different, totally different. Again, some of you who are old timers here remember the year that I can remember it's 1992 is the year one of our elders Greg was converted he was converted he was called from darkness into light and one of his friends said hey what are you doing on new year's day he says oh I'm going to church or on new year's eve what are you doing tonight he says I'm going to church what yeah I'm going to church to be with my Christian friends.

Why would you want to go to church on New Year's Eve? What had happened to Greg? Something radically different is now animating his life. The things he once loved. Do you now hate it? There's difference now.

You can be different. You have the capacity to be transformed. I look at a dear, dear friend of mine who used to be a cruel, sarcastic, physically violent man. I just spent two weeks with him. His name is Dave Durnland. Now those of you who know Dave Durnland are looking at me saying, Dave Durland sarcastic?

Dave Durland, physically violent? Dave Durland? A cruel man? Yeah, he was what happened to him? new life in fact I can tell you this story because he told it to the class when we were in Romania I'd email them and say hey, the day we fly out let's leave a little bit early Let's meet at Polaris. Find somewhere to eat. And Beck and I and you and Sue, we can have dinner together before we go to Romania.

How about we meet at 1 o'clock? He responds. You mean 1 o'clock PASMA time or 1 o'clock Dirtland time? All right? Two days later, I emailed him again about something, and he just says, I am so, so sorry for what I said to you in that email. I am just, please forgive me for saying that.

I thought it was funny. But here's what he said later. He said, I don't ever, ever want to be the sarcastic man I used to be. Something's happened to that guy, right? We've been made alive with Christ. We have hope of being transformed.

So we're not the same person. all because Jesus came out of the grave never to die again. Let me just give you one more. And again, we could go on and on. And those of you who are members of the congregation, I've only got one more point. And we know you can go on and on. Turn back to 1 Corinthians 15 again. because God has acted decisively in Jesus you have purpose you have purpose we going to look at verse 58 this is how the Apostle Paul ends this great chapter on resurrection 1 Corinthians 15 for some of you may not know this maybe this afternoon you go home and get a copy of the Bible or take a copy from here.

We don't care. Just grab a Bible, take it home. And look up 1 Corinthians 15 and read the whole chapter. It's all about the resurrection. The whole chapter. And this is how he ends it.

This is what he wants you to know at the end of talking about how Jesus was raised from the dead, how we are going to be raised from the dead. Now he tells us, here's the whole point. Here's what I want you to take away from this. Verse 58, 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. wow that's an incredible way for this resurrection chapter to end that you can give yourself because jesus is alive you can just throw yourself into serving him you just give up everything to serve christ you're steadfast you're immovable you're giving it all why because if you serve Christ, it's never in vain.

Whatever little thing you've done, it's not in vain. If the only thing you've done today was serve cupcakes in the name of Christ, it's not in vain. This last week as I was thinking about this sermon, I'm always asking myself, Easter, I always ask this question, because I think it's important. So what? So Jesus was raised from the dead. I've been trying to prove to you today, so what?

Why is this so important? And what I did is I went back to the hallway here. If you go back into the hallway back here, is this big board has the pictures of all the members of our church, along with friends of the church. Okay? And I stood in front of that board, and I said, what difference does a resurrection make for these people? I looked at that board.

I looked at you. I looked at the singles. What does the resurrection say to you single people It says this there more to life than fun and freedom Just having a good time because you got nobody to hold you back and you got more money than you know what to do with. God says, there's purpose in serving Christ. You give yourself to Christ and it will not be in vain.

I'll tell you what's vain. just looking for fun all the time. But you serve Christ, it'll count. What about you young married people? Life right now is an adventure. Like, man, you're going through uncharted waters as a couple. Like, you've not been a couple before.

Now, like, you're joined. No getting out of it now. And man, you're going through life, and it's an adventure. make it a greater adventure. Serve Christ together. It's not in vain. No matter what you do as a couple.

Some of you are parents. And right now you're just going, like I tell them 26 times in a day not to do that. And then when they get to be 10, you think the lesson's over and then something new pops up? And now you've got a whole bunch of new lessons to teach. And by the, you know, you're just going, am I doing any good? I can remember days of sitting in the kitchen with Becca and just putting my head on the table and saying, are we doing anything right?

And just praying, saying, God, oh God, help! Seriously. But you know what? If you raise your children for Christ, no matter what you do it's not in vain it's worth something to him it may not be worth anything to your kids it'll be worth something to him isn't that great? you older folks you look back and wonder if you did anything right with your life not just with your kids but if you did it for Christ it's not useless listen to what he says is that what he says here? your labor for the Lord is not in vain you know when you get old you know what you tend to do you tend to think I gave my life no one appreciates it I worked hard no one appreciates it Look at this younger generation We poured our lives into teaching them what right and wrong What good has it done?

So we tend to just, you know, older people tend to do this a lot. What good is it? What good is it? If you did it for Christ, it was never wasted effort. Right? What about you widows who are here today? you know what?

The companion of your life is God. But you can still serve Jesus. You've got breath in your body, don't you? You're alone, except that Jesus will never leave you. And whatever you do, without your companion, counts. What about you divorced folks?

You wonder if you can go on sometimes. What lies ahead in the hurt you felt? Guess what? Jesus is worth the effort. Don't give up on Him. Some of you are the lone believers in your family.

No one else is a Christian in your family. It gets hard. It gets discouraging to live with those who care nothing for your Lord. What does He say? Because Jesus is raised, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Don't give up.

It's not in vain. And some of you have grown up here. This is the only life you know. And you're looking on the other side of the fence. And you're thinking, the pastures are greener over there. I want to do the things that I was never allowed to do And when I get 18 and I'm out of this household, I'm shaking the dust off of this little church off of my feet.

And I'm out of here. Can I tell you something? It's not greener on the other side. Because if you serve Christ, it is not in vain. Hop over the fence. Go to the greener pastures and you're going to find nothing but emptiness. either God is true or God is a liar If you say, well, okay, I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, but I don't know if I want to take, wait a minute.

If Jesus has been raised from the dead, boy, I'm telling you, hopping over the fence is the worst thing you can do. The end has arrived. We know what it is. You can't ignore him. It's not in vain. Jesus lives today nothing's in vain when it's done for him some of you here may have never come to faith in Jesus that is to say you've never come to the point and said Jesus you will judge me unless I come to you unless I entrust myself to you unless I look at my life as empty and just entrust myself to you if you've never done that, let me tell you, no matter what you think, you have no hope.

I'm going to be honest with you. You tell me what hope you have. There's no life and no purpose. If Jesus never came out of the grave, you're doomed to die for your sin. If Jesus is not alive, you will never change. You will keep plodding down the same path of following your desires and finding that they never satisfy.

An aimless, pounding life down the path of meaninglessness. Because at the end of the day, if Jesus is not alive, at the end of the day your whole life counts for nothing Everything swallowed up in death I just have to go to the cemetery and look and say I have no idea who that person is. In one generation, you're forgotten. Unless Jesus is alive. and you've cast yourself on this living Lord Jesus Christ, then life changes radically because this is the event that changes everything.

Father, we thank You that You raised Jesus from the dead to show that His payment satisfied your righteousness. That with Him there is hope. With Him we have life. With Him there is purpose. And press that on us, I pray. Jesus is alive.

Yet there are some here who would not entrust themselves to this living Savior. Move in their hearts, I pray. for your people, Father. Just help them to see that Jesus and His resurrection has changed everything. Thank you for your Son. Father, we thank you that He is alive. We bow before Him as our Lord.

Amen. Thank you.