Return to Main Page The Resurrection Luke 24:1-12 Introduction: Why is Easter so important? The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is A. The Crowning Proof of Who Christ Is 1. Everything else that was said or done by Christ and the Apostles, no matter how great or marvelous, is secondary to the Resurrection in importance. 2. If the Resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. 3. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth. B. The Greatest Victory in History! 1. There have been people who have predicted the time of their own death, but there is only one person who not only predicted the time of His death, but also the day of His resurrection, and that person is Jesus Christ the Lord! a) John 2:19 ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ Then the Jews said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.” 2. Through the centuries there have been many victories in God’s dealings with men. a) But the GREATEST triumph of them all was the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! b) In one earth-shattering moment, Jesus conquered the three greatest enemies of mankind: SIN, SATAN and DEATH. 3. Jesus Christ has won the victory by His resurrection! I. Man’s Greatest Enemy A. Death (Hebrews 2:14-15) ⁴Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 1. Death is man’s greatest enemy, and it has conquered all men but Christ. a) No matter how brilliant or rich or strong he may be, no man is wise enough to outwit death or wealthy enough to purchase freedom from death or strong enough to vanquish death. b) The grave always wins the victory, and man sooner or later returns to the dust. 2. In fact, the inexorable triumph of death applies not only to man, but to all things. a) Animals die and plants die, and even whole species atrophy and become extinct. b) Cities and nations, like people, are born and grow for a season, and then fade away. c) Homes and automobiles and clothes wear out and must eventually go back to the dust, just as do their owners. d) Even the universe itself is running down and heading toward an ultimate “energy death.” B. The Bondage of Corruption (Romans 8:21) ²¹because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 1. This universal reign of decay and death is called in the Bible the “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). a) In science it has come to be recognized as the Second Law of Thermodynamics. b) Also known as the Law of Increasing Entropy, this Second Law is now recognized as a universal law in science, with no known exception ever observed. c) It says, quite simply, that every system tends to become disordered, to run down and eventually die. Its entropy, which is a measure of disorder, always tends to increase. 2. The universality of the reign of decay and death is the measure of the absolute uniqueness of the resurrection of Christ. a) All other men, even the greatest men and the holiest men, have died. Buddha, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Confucius, Caesar, Marx‑men who made a profound impact on the world in one way or another‑are all dead. 3. But Jesus Christ is alive! a) It is true that He died and was buried, in common with all other men, but unlike other men He returned from Hades, resurrected His own dead body, made it henceforth immortal. b) He emerged from the tomb, alive forevermore! c) This was the greatest of all miracles, and could have been accomplished only if Jesus indeed is God, as He had claimed to be. II. Man’s Only Hope for Victory A. His Victory Over Sin 1. From the very beginning in the garden of Eden, man has been engaged in a battle against sin. Because we are descendants of Adam, we have inherited from him a tendency to do the things we know are wrong: a) Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all have sinned.” 2. Sometimes we don’t even want to sin, because we know it is harmful to our well-being; and yet we can’t seem to get the victory, because its influence over us is so strong! a) Paul describes this conflict in Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24 b) “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do....For I know that in me (that is, in my sinful nature) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice....O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” 3. The answer to Paul’s question is this: Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin by His resurrection! He and He alone can deliver us! (v. 25 “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”) 4. By His death on the cross of Calvary, Christ provided a way by which our sin can be removed; yet it is by His resurrection (together with His blood) that God can declare us perfectly righteous in Him. a) Romans 4:25 “who was delivered up for our offenses, and was raised for our justification.” b) Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” c) That means God can stamp on the bill for our sins: “PAID IN FULL-PERFECT IN CHRIST!” 5. Not only does the resurrection of Christ deal with our sin positionally, but also practically. a) As believers in Christ, we can have DAILY victory over sin because of Christ’s resurrection. b) Philippians 3:10, Paul prayed: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,” c) Ephesians 1:19-20 “and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,” 6. The resurrection power of Christ is available to every believer to make us more like Him; if we would but draw upon it by faith! a) Philippians 3:9 “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; “ B. His Victory Over Satan 1. When Christ was crucified on Calvary, Satan thought he had finally accomplished his selfish purpose - to destroy God’s plan of salvation. 2. Satan had been trying for centuries! a) He caused CAIN to kill righteous Abel (but God gave Seth!) b) He caused ABRAHAM in unbelief to bear Ishmael (but God miraculously gave Isaac.) c) He caused JOSEPH’s BROTHERS to sell him as a slave to Egypt (but God saved his whole family from starvation through Joseph’s faithfulness!) d) He caused DAVID to sin a sin worthy of death (but God gave him a repentant heart.) e) He caused HEROD to kill all the babies two years old and under (but God directed Joseph to take baby Jesus to Egypt.) f) He caused Judas to betray Christ, leading to the crucifixion of Jesus. (1) There was the triumph Satan had waited for! (2) 5000 years of diabolical planning had paid off! (3) For three days Satan and his demons had a victory party! 3. But early on the third morning, Christ rose from the dead, and Satan was defeated! a) 1 Peter 3:21b-22 “...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers [have] been made subject to Him.” b) 1 John 3:8b “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” c) Colossians 2:14-15 “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” 4. Satan is a defeated enemy - he cannot have control over us, as long as we are controlled by the living Christ! a) 1 John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you [the living Christ] than he that is in the world [Satan].” C. His Victory Over Death 1. As followers of Jesus Christ we have no need to fear physical death. a) Jesus said to Martha in John 11:25-26 ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die [spiritually]. Do you believe this?’” 2. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, physical death to us is simply an entrance into the presence of the Lord! a) 2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” b) Philippians 1:21,23 “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain....For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” c) 1 Corinthians 15:54-57: “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 3. So, for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior, Death, or eternal separation from God, is not possible. D. What If? 1. If all this is somehow a delusion and if Jesus of Nazareth did not really rise from the dead, then He is no different from other great men who are also dead. a) Actually He would be worse than they are. b) Because He is thereby branded as either a charlatan or a madman, since He staked all His claims to absolute deity on His promise to return from the dead. 2. On the other hand, if the Resurrection is really a fact of history, then not only are His claims true, but so are His promises! a) He has “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). b) “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, ... so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 22) 3. Dead in our sins, we have only one hope for new life: by trusting in Jesus Christ and relying on His death and resurrection for our salvation. a) Jesus Christ, the Messiah is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and “whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). 4. At the moment you commit your life to Him, three things will happen: a) Your sin will be removed b) The Holy Spirit will come to dwell in your heart as your protection against Satan. c) You will have eternal life! (“He that has the Son has life...” 1 John 5:12) 5. What an exchange! a) Our sin for Christ’s righteousness! b) Our weakness for Christ’s power! c) Our death for Christ’s life!

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