His Resurrection – the keystone of our faith
Resurrection Sunday – 3.23.8  Dennis Mullen   

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!  Luke 24:1-6a

            In the movie The Passion of the Christ, very little time is given to the resurrection of Jesus.  I heard director Mel Gibson say in an interview that the movie is two hours about Christ’s suffering and death, and 14 seconds of resurrection.  That sounds about right, but because of its simplicity and in light of everything that went on before, it is the most powerful portrayal of the resurrection I’ve ever seen.  The point of the film is to meditate on the sufferings of Christ, but it leaves no doubt that the rest of the story is that Christ arose.

            What a different movie it would have been without those last 14 seconds.  Without that reminder, however brief, that Christ arose, the rest of the film would have been a disaster – artistic maybe, and well-acted, but without hope or purpose.  And so it is with our faith. 

D. L. Moody said:  “The resurrection is the keystone of the arch on which our faith is supported. If Christ has not risen, we must impeach all those witnesses for lying. If Christ has not risen, we have no proof that the crucifixion of Jesus differed from that of the two thieves who suffered with him. If Christ has not risen, it is impossible to believe his atoning death was accepted.”  D.L. Moody, "Jesus Arose: So Shall We" from CT.

            Today we gather to proclaim that Christ indeed has arisen from the grave.  Today we declare that Christ was Raised to Win Our Victory.  Victory over what?  Let’s talk about three enemies over which Christ gives us victory, starting with…

            1.  Death - Before Christ arose, there had to be great doubt about death and what lay beyond the grave, even for people of faith.  And today when you meet people who don’t have faith in our Lord to sustain them, you find them carrying fear about death - doubt, uncertainty if they’ll ever see again the people they love.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:18 - Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  It goes without saying that those who fall asleep outside of Christ are lost too.  When the famous scientist and atheist Carl Sagan died a few years ago, I read the story of his death with great sadness - sadness for a soul that is lost, sadness for family and friends who have no hope of ever sharing his company again.  I always found Sagan to be a little arrogant in his ridicule of faith, but I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him and his family.  True to his creed, Carl Sagan made no deathbed conversion.  An interviewer asked someone close to him:  “Did Carl WANT to believe?”  The answer:  “Carl never wanted to believe.  Carl wanted to KNOW.”  When Sagan found out he was terminally ill, he worked harder than ever at his career, because as he said:  This life is all we have.  I want to make the most of it.  Paul said:  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. (1 Corinthians 15:19).  I meet folks all the time who have hope only for this life, and they are to be pitied.  Because when Christ blew away that stone by the power of resurrection, he gave all who would claim it an assurance that death isn’t the end; it’s only a new beginning.  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20).  “Firstfruits” means that he’s the first and most perfect of those who will rise, but only the first. 

            Have you lost someone who was a Christian?  You’ll be together again, if you also belong to the Lord.  Do you fear your own death?  Understandable, but ultimately needless if you belong to Christ.  Paul wrote near the end of 1 Corinthians 15 - When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

            "Where, O death, is your victory?

              Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-56).

            There is an old story about a young mother who was terminally ill.  She had gone through many treatments, but nothing worked.  Now the mother was willing to accept her own death, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell her seven-year-old daughter the truth.  Finally one day her minister visited her and tried to get her to quit putting it off.  “Sarah,” he said, “the doctors tell me that you don’t have long.  In fact, they say you’ll be gone before all the leaves fall from the trees this autumn.”  And they didn’t realize it, but the little girl had been listening in the hall, and a little while later they looked out the window to see her picking up leaves that the late September wind had blown off and taping them back on the trees. 

            And without Christ, all of our strategies for avoiding death are just as hopeless. 

Do you realize that there are churches meeting today (not many, I think, but perhaps meeting close by) where neither the members nor the preacher believes that Christ arose?  In their sophistication, they think it a silly superstition to believe that a man came back from the dead.  So what do they talk about today?  Maybe about how a chick comes out of an Easter egg, symbolizing new life.  Maybe about how Christ lives on in our memories.  Maybe they talk about the Easter Bunny…

Where would I be this morning if I didn’t believe that Christ arose?  Not in church, I can tell you that.  Maybe out on the lake.  Maybe cleaning my garage.  Maybe sleeping off a hangover brought on by trying the night before to medicate away the meaninglessness of life. 

The primary reason we meet, not just today but every Sunday on the weekly anniversary of his resurrection is that our Redeemer crossed the river of death and slew that enemy and CAME BACK.  And because he did, we know that we shall do the same.  As Paul said:  “…if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”  And that brings us to the second enemy over which Christ gives us victory…

            2.  Emptiness - Since Christ arose, we can look forward to a meaningful eternity with him.  But if we left it there, the good news would be incomplete.  The fact is, since Christ arose and our faith is true, THIS life can now be filled with meaning and purpose.  How important is that?  Let’s just say that it gets more and more important as you get older.

When you’re young, I think it’s a little easier to enjoy life without faith, because the possibilities ahead of you seem so compelling.  This poster captures it.  It says:  “Life’s only limitations are the ones we make.” 

But as I look back on 40, I find that life is less exciting by itself, not as full of possibility as I once thought, discouraging and easy to mess up.  Some days, this poster seems more realistic.  It says:  “For every winner, there are dozens of losers.  Odds are, you’re one of them.”

Or this one:  “It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.”

This life by itself, isn’t enough to live for.

But Jesus arose and he infused this life with purpose.  Remember it was just after his resurrection that he gave his apostles and his entire church the mission with which we must be consumed for this age.  In Matthew 28:18-20 it says that “…Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  The eleven apostles who heard that Great Commission lived their lives with purpose from that day forward, and not only the Eleven, but dozens who knew our Lord did the same.  And that’s just what Jesus promised in Matthew 16:25 where he says:  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.   It’s total commitment to Christ that gives this life meaning.

            If you are young, and you are looking forward to an exciting life in high school, college, marriage, the military, a great job, and you haven’t yet really committed yourself to Jesus, listen to a middle-aged guy who feels like it was just last month that he was in high school, looking ahead:  Make Christ the center of your life NOW, and begin building that house of faith that you can live in for many years.  It’s harder when your older to turn it all over to him.  Do it now.  Don’t waste the great years of youth building a godless foundation that someday you’ll want to tear down.  Christ arose!  We have eternity to look forward to!  Let’s not play in the mud when we could be getting ready to walk the golden streets!

            Whether you’re young, middle-aged, or even if you’re at that age where you go to your high school reunion and your classmates are so old and vision-impaired they have trouble recognizing you - give your life fully to him.  You may have some tearing down to do.  You may have some heavy burdens to carry around with you today because you didn’t live for Christ when you were young.  But by God’s grace, you can do it, and in fact, he can turn those burdens into blessings.  But don’t wait.

            I talk to a lot of Christians who are 40+ who are nearly as despondent and hopeless about this life as the average non-Christian.  Why?  Well in some cases, they’ve been kicked pretty hard by this life and they need extra help and support to find their joy.  But sometimes it’s because they’re trying to live with one foot in the Kingdom and one in the world.  They haven’t surrendered it fully to Christ.  There’s still too much YOU and not enough Jesus.

            Remember that Rich Young Ruler who came to Jesus ready to serve the Lord with everything?  Well, not everything.  He was willing to keep the commandments and go to the religious services, and live a life of honesty and morality that would put many of us to shame.  But Jesus could see through to his heart, and he saw that he loved his money more than anything else, and so he told him to do the one thing he knew he couldn’t do:  “Go sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me” (from Matthew 19:16-22)  And what happened?  The young man went away sad, because he had great wealth.  He wanted to keep one foot in the world.  It wouldn’t work.

            Maybe the only reason you’re here, the only reason you haven’t “gone away sad,” is that you’ve ignored God’s call to give up the thing that is more precious to you than God Himself.  Is it money?  Is it fun?  Is it excitement?  Is it the desire to be liked?  If God said in an audible voice what he’s already said many times in his Word, “You drop that, and you’ll have treasures in heaven; then come, follow me,” would you walk away sad?  You’ve got to give everything to Jesus to find the abundant life he offers.  Jesus said that “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62).

            Are you not finding the joy we talk about in church?  Maybe it’s time you lose your life for him.  Now in truth, it’s actually impossible to GIVE anything to God because he gives us so much more than we ever give him.  He didn’t tell the rich young ruler to get rid of his money and be miserable, but that he would be investing in eternal treasure.  And if he’s telling you to surrender your popularity (or the sin that creates it) or your security or your anger or your tight grip on your family, it isn’t to rob you of joy, but to remove the thing that is blocking your joy.  Surrender it to him, and find true life.  Commit.  Get that one foot out of the world and into the kingdom. 

            And all of this makes sense because Christ arose.  All these things he said in Scripture about dying to self would be madness if he died and didn’t arise because he wouldn’t be Lord.  But he arose, and therefore he is Lord, and therefore he has your joy waiting for you.  Let go of lesser things that hold you back, and RUN to him.  That’s where freedom from meaninglessness lies.  Like the old song says:

Rise up, O men of God
Have done with lesser things!
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the king of kings!

There’s one more enemy I want to mention over which Christ has given us victory, and that’s the enemy called:

3.  Sin – Actually a lot of what we said already about death applies to sin as well, because sin and death are tightly linked.  Romans 6:23 says:  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Again young people tend to think differently about sin than older people do.  When I was a kid, I thought of sin as the things of this world that are fun, that all the popular people get to do that I’m NOT allowed to do, and the only reward I could really understand was that someday I would go to heaven where I would be able to lean over the balcony and stick my tongue out at all the people who had so much fun on earth while I was slaving away at righteousness!

But now I tend to think of sin as a trap, a pit that’s easier to fall into than to get out of.  It looks pleasant and enticing at first, but its appeal isn’t that different from flypaper or a baited mousetrap.  I no longer see it as freedom, but as bondage, and I realize how powerless I am to escape it.

Thomas Costain wrote a popular history book in 1958 called The Three Edwards.  In it he tells about two brothers in the fourth century who were royalty in what is now Belgium, had a violent quarrel.  The younger brother, Edward, won, and he imprisoned his older brother, Raynald in an unlocked room.  Unlocked?  Yes, and the room had several windows and doors of a size that was just a little smaller than normal.

But the catch was Raynald weight.  He was extremely heavy.  Now all he needed to do to regain his freedom was to lose weight, but Edward knew his older brother well, and so each day Edward had platefuls of delicious food delivered to Raynald.  And instead of dieting his way to freedom, Raynald grew fatter.

When Edward was accused of cruelty, he had an answer:  “My brother may leave when he so wills.”  But Raynald stayed in that room for ten years, and was released only after Edward was killed in battle.  By then his health was ruined and he died within a year…a prisoner of his own appetite (pp. 166-67).

That is how I see sin today, and if I want to escape, Jesus is the only hope I have. 

            Paul makes the link in Romans 6:5-7 between Christ’s resurrection and our victory over sin, saying:  If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

            And today we proclaim that Christ was raised to win our victory over sin.  If you want to be free from sin’s prison, Christ and Christ alone has the key.

Today we also proclaim that Christ was raised to win our victory over emptiness.  If you are failing to find satisfaction in work or play or popularity or in life itself, know that Christ and Christ alone offers deep and abiding meaning.

Today we also proclaim that Christ was raised to win our victory over death.  If you want to live forever in a sinless world as you were meant to do, Christ and Christ alone is the Way.

Do you belong to Jesus Christ?  Today would be the perfect day to turn from sin and make him your Savior and Lord.  And today would be the perfect day for you to return to him and begin living in His victory once again.

And if you are an immersed believer and feel that God is calling you to make the commitment of church membership, what a perfect day to do that!    

Morrison Hill Christian Church
P.O. Box 59 - 1008 E. Race St.
Kingston, TN  37763   (865) 376-5205