Apostles Church

This Changes Everything. John Stott: “Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed. “ Without it, you don’t have Christianity. Really, the only possible explanation for how Christianity began and how it took shape is the fact of the resurrection.1Cor 15.14 …if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” But Christ has been raised. And that fact changes everything. Someone once put it like this: “If the resurrection did not happen, nothing matters (death wipes it all out); if it did happen, nothing else matters.” What does the Resurrection mean?

The Resurrection Means that Jesus Alone Can Save Us. Romans 4:25 “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”  Christ died for our sins, to pay the penalty for them, to remove them from God’s sight that we might be forgiven. God raised Jesus from the dead to show us that God was satisfied with Christ’s death. His resurrection affirms that Christ death is enough for us to be forgiven and made right with God. We want this. We all know we are wrong and we desperately want to be right. JM Coetzee hit on this in his book Disgrace. David Lurie, a South African professor of English seduces a student and loses his position and everything else. He meets the girl’s parents:  “I am being punished for what happened between myself and your daughter. I am sunk into a state of disgrace from which it will not be easy to lift myself. It is not a punishment I have refused. I do not murmur against it. On the contrary, I am living it out from day to day, trying to accept my disgrace as my state of being. Is it enough to God, do you think, that I live in disgrace without term?” He has hit a chord with all of us. The cross and resurrection meet that longing in us. Because of Jesus’ cross and resurrection we can lifted out of our shame and sin and guilt. Is it enough to God that we live in disgrace without term? NO! It is enough to God that Christ has died for us to bring us forgiveness and make us right with God. There is no condemnation for us in Christ; He has been condemned for us and His resurrection is God’s stamp of approval that nothing more is needed. This changes everything! No more self-loathing, shame, guilt, fear, or hiding. Freedom from our pasts, guilt, regrets. Scarlet sins made white.

The Resurrection Means that Jesus Alone Can Give us Victory. We have three great enemies – Satan, our own indwelling sin, and death. The resurrection proves that Jesus is stronger than all of these. By his dying/rising, Jesus has overcome our sin, he has defeated Satan and he has stolen power and finality away from death. And that same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in all who have Christ. Ephesians 1:19-20 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.  ***So, the Scripture says that we have an enemy who prowls around looking for someone to devour, wanting to ruin and destroy our lives, but Jesus, through his death and resurrection has defeated him, rendering him powerless. Jesus is exalted over every power. The scripture says to those of us who have Jesus, “Greater is He that is in us than the one that is in the world. ***The Scriptures says that sin indwells us and overtakes us. Left to ourselves, we cannot do the good we want and the things we don’t want to do we find ourselves doing. Something overtakes us and we lose control. Where did that come from? It came from within you. It is not enough that we are forgiven of sins; we need to be free from sin’s controlling power in our lives. Who can save us from this??? Christ! He has freed us from the power of sin. He has broken its grip on our lives by virtue of his resurrection. He has broken sins’ reign over us and we are free so that what comes from our lives can be life giving, not death dealing. There is a new power at work within us. Romans 6:12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.” ***He gives us victory over death. Jesus did not simply come back to life so that he was still subject to weakness, aging, suffering and death. He was raised with a new kind of human life, new body. Doesn’t mean he came back looking like an Equinox model. It means that he had a body and a human life that was no longer subject to weakness, aging, suffering, and death. He was raised with a new human life, a body made perfect, never to die again but one that would live eternally. He destroyed death. He removed its sting, and robbed it of power so that it is no longer has to be feared. The Scriptures says that Jesus is the first fruits, the first in a line of people who would have this kind of new human life, this eternal life. That is our hope, that we will one day be like he is. This new life has come into us even now and is renewing us, but will be fully ours in the new heavens and new earth. This victory over sin and suffering and death is not just for those in Christ, but for the creation itself so that even this world that is broken, and suffering and decaying and corrupted will be renewed. The Scripture says that creation groans for this. Jesus will make all things new one day. His resurrection proves it.  Because of his resurrection, we know what awaits us on the other side of the grave and what awaits this world on the other side of his coming. We are confident in the ultimate power of God to heal this whole world. -- Jesus gives us victory over the things that threaten us most: Satan, Sin, and Death. His resurrection changes everything! If you have him, you can overcome all these things in Him.

Resurrection Means that Jesus Alone will Judge Us. Acts 17: 30 “God…now commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” The resurrection vindicates Jesus as the Son of God and Judge of this world. A day is coming that God has set when everyone will have to stand before this Judge. He will return, not in humility, but in power and great glory and he will render a final and decisive judgment on all people. So, he commands everyone, everywhere now to repent and turn to him. Then it will be too late. So do it now. Turn away from life without Jesus, and embrace him as Savior and Lord, who forgives us and frees us and makes us new. That is the invitation of Easter. 

“If the resurrection did not happen, nothing matters; if it did happen, nothing else matters.” Do you believe it happened? Then that changes everything and it is the only thing that matters. Believe; Be baptized; Live out your new life of faith in Jesus.