Why Did Jesus Have to Rise Again?
Part 2 of Easter Sermon Series that I am speaking about at our church.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures
Earlier I discussed the subject “Why did Jesus have to die”? I used the acrostic,
C-Conquest
R-Reconciliation
O-Offering
S-Satisfaction
S-Substitution
To give the scriptural reasons why Jesus had to die, and what the means for us. In summary, Jesus was our substitution, he died for our sins, and when we respond to this Gospel (Good News) by repenting (turning from) of our sins and trusting Jesus, by being baptized, we are forgiven and new life is possible.
But that is only part of the Good News, according to
1Corinthians 15:4, Jesus rose again on the third day, and his resurrection was according to the scriptures (plan of God).
Today, on Resurrection Sunday, we want to look at “Why Did Jesus Have to Rise again”? And what difference does that make in my life?
Again we will use an acrostic to help you remember why Jesus rose again.
R-Reveals God’s Purpose
I-It fulfills Scripture
S-Satisfies Proof
E-Experience the Power of God
N-New Life
The Resurrection of Jesus has profound implications:
Reveals God’s Purpose
Acts 2:22-25
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
In our land, we have a lower courts, state courts, federal courts that our separated by districts, their laws and decisions are binding the districts where they have jurisdiction. Except when their decisions are appealed to a higher court or the highest court in the land where the decisions are final and there is no appeal.
That is what happened during the resurrection of Jesus. Sinful men, both Jews and Gentiles, thought they were doing the right thing crucifying Jesus, putting him to death. Their true and rightful King they rejected and put to death. In his resurrection God, reversed the decision by evil people and gave Jesus a just verdict by the resurrection. The resurrection was God’s approval or vindication of Jesus.
Just as signs, wonders and miracles were a vindication of the life of Jesus (
Acts 2:22), the resurrection of Jesus was God’s approval of his death for our sins (
Acts 2:24).
God had foreknowledge of Jesus’ death. God wasn’t wrong-footed by it. God’s purpose wasn’t thwarted by the schemes and treachery of evil people. All this happened ‘by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge’ (
Acts 2: 23, NIV). God anticipated it. God used Jesus’ death to bring us forgiveness, his rejection to gain our acceptance.
The worst human beings can do is outflanked by God’s grace.
The resurrection of Jesus is the basis of the Christian’s confidence that God can bring good even out of evil. ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him’ (
Romans 8: 28, NIV). All things - even evil things - work together for the good of those who love God.
Illustration: The Life of Joseph (type of Christ)
•Both Joseph and Jesus were loved by their Father
•Sent to their brethren
•Both Rejected
•Falsely Accused
•Put in Prison
•Both Exalted after their Suffering
•Both offered Forgiveness
•Both became Saviors to their people
How do we know this? What’s the basis of our assurance that good triumphs over evil and God’s purpose wins out over human treachery? We know it because Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates that God can take the very worst that human beings can do - execute his beloved Son - and turn it to the good of humankind.
Like a master chess player God can salvage a winning move when his opponent has just cried ‘Checkmate’. The resurrection reveals God’s victory over evil.
Illustration:
As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev’s widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev’s wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband’s chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all showing that Good does triumph over Evil in the end.
It fulfills Scripture
Acts 2:25-28
‘ I foresaw the LORD always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.
The reason we know that the death of Jesus didn’t take God by surprise was because it was predicted in the Bible. Many prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus’ death on the cross, when he was utterly helpless (eg.
Psalm 22,
Isaiah 53).
We know that the resurrection was God’s intended outcome because it too was predicted in Scripture prophecy. Peter quotes
Psalm 16: 9-10: ‘My body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay’.
David was the author of this psalm.
But Peter says these words from
Psalm 16 can’t refer to David, because David died, his body experienced corruption, and his tomb is still here in this city, Jerusalem (
Acts 2: 29).
In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph. He didn’t profess to be a born-again Christian, but it seems he must have been influenced by the teaching of the resurrection of the body. Here’s what he wrote:
The Body of B. Franklin, Printer
Like the Cover of an old Book
Its contents torn out,
And stript of its Lettering and Guilding,
Lies here, Food for Worms,
But the Work shall not be wholly lost:
For it will, as he believ’d,
Appear once more
In a new & more perfect Edition,
Corrected and amended by the Author.
There’s an important truth here about the nature of the resurrection. The biblical understanding of resurrection involves incorruptibility. Jesus’ body unlike Ben Franklin’s body did not experience corruption or decay.
Jesus’ resurrection is not only the triumph of life over death. It is the triumph of life over corruption - decay, decadence, disintegration, decomposition. Life has conquered death. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Christ has been raise incorruptible.
But the good news is that because Jesus was raised from the dead, if we die in Christ Jesus, we will be raised incorruptible as well. He was the first fruits (beta test model) of a great resurrection of the Just.
Listen again to the Apostle Paul,
1 Corinthians 14:20-23
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
We live in a culture of un-kept promises, disappointment, and unmet expectations. Because of this God wanted undisputable evidence that he kept his promises regarding the resurrection of Jesus.
Continued:
Threaded Mode
