SPEAKER_00 0:01

What

What If Jesus Stayed Dead

SPEAKER_00 0:02

if Jesus hadn't risen from the dead? What if I told you that this past month archaeologists uh were doing some digging somewhere in uh on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and they have came across a set of bones in a grave that they were able to DNA, somehow DNA or AI, or somehow uh point it back and prove that this was the skeleton of Jesus of Nazareth? Would would that change anything for us? Would that make any difference? Would that mean anything different for us? I've been pondering over the past couple of days. What is it about Easter Sunday? What is it about this day that is so significant for the believer, for you and I? And it's uh, you know, the day that we obviously celebrate the the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But what is it about the resurrection itself, that event in history, what is it about that that is so significant for you and I as believers today? So if what if Jesus hadn't risen from the dead? This

Paul’s Answer In 1 Corinthians 15

SPEAKER_00 1:31

is actually a question that Apostle Paul answers and addresses in 1 Corinthians 15. And I invite you all to open up your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Here Paul is addressing uh a line of thought that some in the Corinthian church have uh have been arguing or are holding to. And this idea that life exists after death, but that this this life is only a sp this life after death is only a spiritual life, that there is it's it's uh immortality of the soul, and that that's all that there is. There's not not an actual physical resurrection from the dead in a restored physical body. Paul argues that if there is no resurrection, no future physical resurrection for you and I, then Christ himself was not raised from the dead. And then he goes into why that matters. And he argues that it it does matter, it does make a difference, that the resurrection makes a difference. And

Without Resurrection Faith Is Meaningless

SPEAKER_00 2:54

I'd like to look at what he argues and lay out three reasons why this matters. So the number one, if Christ isn't resurrected, our faith is meaningless. If Christ isn't resurrected, our faith is meaningless. Paul says in verse 13 and 14 of chapter 15. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. So he's he's talking about a future hope of resurrection from the dead in a physical form. If we don't have the hope of that, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain. If Christ isn't resurrected, our faith is meaningless. Have you ever done something that is vain or uh meaningless? Is is probably a better way that he uh to to translate that. Have you ever done something that felt meaningless? Um like loading the dishwasher with clean dishes, or uh trying to reach the end of a rainbow, or watching the the clock tick by to try to make it go a little bit faster. It's meaningless. There's no there's no point. We would say, what's what's the point? My brother has this um this line that when he doesn't want to do something that he thinks is meaningless, uh he says, you know what, I would rather watch paint dry. And it's just there's no what's the point? Paul is saying, if without the resurrection of Jesus, what's the point? Without the resurrection of Jesus, there we would have no reason to know each other. We would have no reason to worship. Jesus would have been another man in history, would have uh been born, lived, died at the hands of the Romans, and ended up in the grave. It would have been uh just another tragedy. The cross without the resurrection is just another tragedy. But the the cross paired with the resurrection is the greatest news ever told. It's what makes the gospel meaningful. Secondly,

Without Resurrection Sin Still Rules

SPEAKER_00 5:27

Paul says if if Christ isn't resurrected, we are still slaves of sin. If Christ isn't resurrected, we are still slaves of sin. Move on down to verse 17. He says, And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. You are still in your sins. On the cross, Jesus Christ paid the price of my sin and of your sin, and he um, in a sense, took it all on himself and paid the full penalty that you and I deserved. Was that was that enough? And I this is maybe I don't want it to be a trick question, uh, because I do but I do believe, and I think Paul would say this as well, that without the resurrection, the cross would just be uh another tragedy. But it's the resurrection that makes all the difference. NT Wright says the gospel, okay, without the resurrection, the gospel with all its benefits would be null and void. Null and void. The curse of sin, the power of sin, the the uh everything that sin is in our lives in terms of its consequences, the grip that it has, that it has on us without Christ's power, um, it would still have us in its grip. We would still be under the same curse that was given to Adam and Eve back in the garden when they sinned. We would have no power to escape uh the grip and the power of sin. There'd be no hope of overcoming uh the consequences and escaping the consequences of sin. Wright goes on, he says, the point of the resurrection is not simply that the creator God has done something remarkable for one solitary individual, but that in and through the resurrection, the world is a different place, the power of sin and of the idols has been broken, and a new way of being human has been opened up. The resurrection turns sin on its on its head, it it takes away its power, it frees us from the power and the curse of sin. Because the resurrection conquers death. The resurrection proves that death does not have the final word. Thirdly,

Without Resurrection There Is No Hope

SPEAKER_00 8:14

if Christ isn't resurrected, we have no hope of life after death. Cordell, I really love the song that we we sang with the refrain, Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. And we sing that with with such hope and joy because we know that when we die, that's not the end. Verse 20 through 23. In fact, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, or those who have died. For as by a man, Adam, came death, by a man, Jesus, has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all died, so also in Christ all shall be made alive, but each in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. How many of you have been to a funeral service in the past year? Raise your hand. Okay, a handful of you. I imagine most of us have been to one in the course of our life. And I'm always struck by the finality of the gravesite service. You know, you see the the coffin being lowered down into the into the ground, then the the the sound of the dirt clods hitting the top of the of the coffin, and the final turning away of the crowd as they they walk back into the church house to eat their potluck meal. Um it's so it's it feels so final. It's solemn, it's heavy, it's sorrowful. But for those who are in Christ, there's a it's it's touched with a joyful hope. Why? It's because Jesus Christ's resurrection unlocks the promise of our own future resurrection. It unlocks uh the the promise of our own future resurrections. Paul says Christ is the first fruits of those who have died. What that means is Christ is is the first in line of many resurrections to come. He he was the key that unlocked the hope of resurrection. It took him facing death and conquering it through his own resurrection. His resurrection is the model or the blueprint that you and I get to experience someday. He closes this passage with this future vision, this future hope that you and I have.

Death Swallowed Up In Victory

SPEAKER_00 11:12

1 Corinthians 15, 52 through 55. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, and let's read that together. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Brothers and sisters, it's because of the resurrection that we can read those words, sing those words with uh, I don't want to say a cockiness, but with a with a confidence that death has got nothing on you and I if we are in Jesus.

Yellow Jackets And Fearless Faith

SPEAKER_00 12:17

I do gutters for a living, and and every summer I battle with, I have this ongoing battle with yellow jackets. Whenever we get to a job site that we get where we have to remove the old gutters, we're always on the lookout for yellow jackets, wasps, honeybees. And we go through cartons of bee spray. I know some of you might be offended by that, but uh there's something so empowering and invigorating uh after a whole morning of fighting off these these yellow jackets who are trying to sting you and do sting you, of getting a can of bee spray and just unloading it on them. And they're just like, take that. You have nothing on me. I have the power. Paul is saying here, and this is the hope that you and I can have about when we think of death, when we face our own inevitable death, every one of you will die someday. We don't know when. But if you are in Christ Jesus, if you are a believer, if you're born again, if your sins have been covered by his blood, because of his resurrection, you can think of your own future death with that type of confidence. Uh take that. I'm not afraid of you. Death has lost its sting, you've lost your sting. You cannot, you cannot harm me. I'm not afraid of you. That's the confidence that we have, and it's the resurrection that makes the difference. We have the upper hand because we have a risen king, we have a conqueror of the grave on our side. Death is not something we need to fear.

Recap Why Easter Matters

SPEAKER_00 14:05

So just to recap, if Christ isn't resurrected, our faith is meaningless. If Christ isn't resurrected, we are still slaves of sin. And if Christ isn't resurrected, you and I have no hope of life after death. The inverse of this is true as well, and I'll leave you with this. Because Christ was resurrected, because we have that hope, our faith is ultimately meaningful. Because Christ was resurrected, we are no longer slaves of sin. And because Christ was resurrected, you and I can have hope of life after death. And that's why today matters. That's why Easter matters. The cross without the resurrection, it would just be another tragedy. But it's the cross paired with the resurrection that makes all the difference for you and I today. I invite you all to stand and uh Cordell, you can make your way up here. Let's Cordell, would you mind?