The Resurrection - Our Hope?

A couple of things before we get into the message. If you're a visitor here, I want to say thank you for being with us. It's a pleasure to have you worship with us. Grace Life folks, you make sure you introduce yourself to those who are visiting. We have some who are family here and some that we get to see every now and then. It's really good to have you here. You know, I was sitting there worshiping and you know our story. We relocated from pretty far out in the country. We were able to acquire, not buy, but rent this church facility. This facility went for a long time and it wasn't a church. It was used for other things.

That meant that there was no worship in here. This is what this building was meant for. There are some of you here that you remember when this was a church. It just blessed my heart. I was very worshipful. It was very worshipful for me that we could reclaim this place for kingdom work and the work of the church. It was a blessing for me. I just thought I'd share that with you. Well, take your Bible and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I believe I said earlier that's where we will be this morning. I will let you in on a secret. I was looking through lots of my Easter information, past messages, and some of my research that I have done.

I think the past four years in a row I have taught from or referenced or used 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in some way. Now I'll go ahead and tell you I reserve the right to do that again in the future. I don't know if you know this, but 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is one of the most extensive chapters in the scriptures on the resurrection. As a matter of fact, Paul gives information here that the gospel accounts do not give. But this morning we're going to be in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 20 to 23, and that's going to be towards the end of the message. And as always, I will give you some other scripture references.

You can write those down, but follow along and just make sure with your heart and your mind you're receiving what the Lord wants to give us this morning. Now I think we're all here doing the same thing. We are celebrating Easter. Is it not a part of our culture? Isn't that just what we do? If you think about it, that's what we're doing. We're all here celebrating Easter. I thought back to my childhood. Some of you might know this, but I was raised Methodist. Don't tell the Methodist next door. But I was raised Methodist. And I have fond memories of that church and those years in that church. I remember dressing up.

I remember having certain clothes for events like Easter. As I came to faith in Christ when I was 20 years old, I went to a Baptist church there in town. My mother still hadn't gotten over that. But I went to Highland Baptist Church. And one of the traditions there at Highland Baptist Church was a program, large programs. And I remember during Easter we would always have some type of a program, some type of a large production. You know, at dawn only one day, the talent pool was pretty low. They would recruit me to be a Roman guard at times. I don't know if you realize, I don't look much like a Roman guard. I really don't have the physique.

But you know, as I went into the ministry, sometimes we would have community-wide church services. Sometimes we would have sunrise services. I think you know what I'm talking about. I mean, we've all celebrated Easter at different ways. We grew up. We had traditions. We have traditions now in our families and in our churches. And I believe all of us would say that Easter is a very important part of our lives. I think we would. Now when we turn to the scriptures, honestly, the history of the early church celebrating Easter is a little murky. It is. The actual word Easter is not found in the New Testament except for the King James Version.

And that is found in Acts 2, or excuse me, Acts 12, verse 4. And there it is you speaking of the Jewish Passover, not the resurrection of Jesus. You might not have noticed, but there are no examples of the New Testament church celebrating Easter as we know it. About the closest thing is in 1 Corinthians 5, 7, where Paul says that Jesus was the Pass over Lamb. Now some of you know that many of those first Christians, they came out of Judaism. Of course, there were the Gentiles as well. And we see that reality all through the New Testament church and the New Testament writings.

And most of those early Jewish converts to Christ continue to participate in certain parts of the Jewish religion, certain parts of those traditions. Many early Jewish Christians still attended worship there at the temple in Jerusalem. Some celebrated those annual Jewish feasts and festivals and some even acknowledged those Jewish holy days and those Jewish dietary laws. And many of those early Jewish Christians continued to celebrate the Jewish Passover, but they also recognized that Jesus, He was that long awaited true Passover Lamb. They were truly celebrating the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus.

So this naturally turned into an Easter feast, an Easter celebration within the first century church. Although there was a large debate in later centuries as to the time to celebrate Easter, Easter did become one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar. Now a question I want you to ponder. Why is Easter so important? I want us to hold on to that question folks. Why is Easter so important? Now you may answer by saying something like this. Well Jesus died on the cross and He rose from the dead. That's true.

You could even take that a little further and say Jesus died on the cross for our sins and He rose from the dead conquering sin and death and the grave. Those answers are correct, but those answers really only skim the surface. Now we'll come back to that question at the end of our message. Hold on to it. That question, why is Easter so important? I'm going to ask us another question as well. So hold on to that in your mind and in your heart. Now before we get into what I'm calling the heart of the message, I want to remind us that the resurrection is not just a story found at the end of the gospel accounts.

So if you're taking notes, number one, I want us to see that the resurrection is a Bible story. The resurrection is a Bible story. Now I do not want to take for granted that everyone understands that the resurrection is thoroughly biblical. What I mean by that is it is a Bible story. Some of you might see the resurrection only in the gospels. Some of you might see the resurrection maybe in the book of Acts thereafter the gospels. Some of you might see the resurrection as more of a New Testament story, but we must see the resurrection. It is a part of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Now let me explain. I want to flesh this out for us.

The gospels, the four gospels. They do contain boatloads of information about the resurrection. The resurrection is found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And also when we get into the book of Acts, we see that the apostles were constantly proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. When they preached, they proclaimed Jesus as the promised Messiah of God. And they constantly said that Jesus was crucified, that he was dead, and he was buried, and that he rose on the third day. We see that starting in Acts chapter 2 when Peter preached at the day of Pentecost.

Not only do we see the resurrection as a part of the gospels and the book of Acts, we see evidence of the resurrection also in the epistles as well. In all of the epistles, Jesus is constantly presented as the living exalted Lord who is the supreme ruler of all things and also the head of the church. Notice how we see these three realities about Christ in Ephesians chapter 1. I'm going to read these verses. Ephesians 1 verses 22-22. Paul says that he, that's God, in Christ, when he, that's God, raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

Verse 21, "Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come." And then verse 22, "And he," that's God, "put all things under his feet," that's Jesus, "and gave him as head over all things the church." And we must see that all throughout the New Testament, the resurrection is also presented as a part of the gospel message. Now I've touched on this some, but we need to see this. The resurrection is presented as a part, an integral part of the gospel message. Really from the book of Acts 1, we see this.

When Peter is preaching at the great day of Pentecost event, he included the resurrection as a part of the gospel. In Acts 2 verses 22-24, which is the heart of Peter's long message there, Peter says, and I'm quoting the verses, "Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed at the hands of lawless men." And then verse 24, "But God raised him up." You see the message?

"Loosening the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it." Now what am I showing you here? The resurrection is all in the New Testament. It's everywhere. You could say the reality of the resurrection is all in the New Testament. Yes, in the gospels, yes, in the Acts of the apostles, but in the rest of the New Testament as well. The fact was understood by God's people all throughout the New Testament. But there's more. The resurrection is seen in the Old Testament as well. Some of you may be surprised to know, but the Old Testament speaks of the resurrection of God's Messiah and that is Jesus.

At times the resurrection, it can seem vague in the Old Testament, and at times it's extremely clear, but Jesus and the New Testament writers, they declared that the Old Testament prophets spoke of the resurrection of the promised Messiah. Yes, Jesus did this and other New Testament writers. A couple of examples to show you what I mean here.

In Luke chapter 24 verses 25 to 27, this is Jesus speaking and he says, "O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Verse 26, "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And then in verse 27, "And beginning with Moses," the writings of the Old Testament and the prophets, that's the writings of the Old Testament, "he," that's Jesus, "interpreted to them in all of the scriptures, the things concerning himself." Only Jesus was taking the Old Testament and speaking of his crucifixion and resurrection. Listen to the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost.

We see this in Acts 2 verse 25 to 32. I'm not going to read all of those verses. Peter was preaching and what does he say? God raised him up. We read this earlier, loosening the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. That's death. Verse 25, "For David," King David in the Old Testament says concerning of him, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at the right hand that I may not be shaken." What is he talking of? The resurrected Christ. And then in 1 Corinthians 15, these are some verses early in the chapter. We're not going to study them later. Verses 3 to 4.

Paul is declaring the gospel that he gave to the Corinthians and notice what he says. "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures," the Old Testament scriptures, "that he was buried," that he was raised, "and on the third day in accordance with the scriptures," the Old Testament, he was raised. Now what is Paul speaking of? The resurrection from the Old Testament. And when you're reading the Old Testament, you will see these prophecies. Sometimes they're vague and sometimes they are obvious. Now what am I wanting us to see here?

What am I wanting us to understand? The Old Testament gives us glimpses of what the New Testament outright declares. The Old Testament cracks open the door while the New Testament swings the door wide open. Simply, the resurrection is a fact. And it is taught all through the Old and all through the New. Both the Old and the New give us the reality of the resurrection. Why is this important for us today in our day and time? Right here in these pews, why is this important? We must see that the resurrection is a Bible story, not simply a New Testament story or a gospel story. If we understand the resurrection is a Bible story, listen.

It amplifies the fact that Jesus, the Messiah of God, was and is the eternal plan of God from the beginning. I've said this so many times from this pulpit. This was a plan A. This was never a plan B. God determined these things forever ago. But another important question here, how do we believe these things? We need to ask this question. How do we believe these things? In what way and in what manner do we believe these things? See, we believe these things by faith. We believe that these things took place by faith. And this is a work in the heart of a man, not simply a work in the mind. You see?

Sure we believe these things intellectually, but ultimately they must be believed by faith. Now listen, justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, and by grace alone is the heart of our faith. But believing the resurrection by faith must be in and from a redeemed heart. It can't be merely in the mind. You see? Now I want to go a little bit deeper here, and this will get a little more personal. So number two, I want us to see the resurrection and its doctrinal significance. The resurrection and its doctrinal significance. Now I'm going to throw this out here, being real honest. How do you describe the significance of the resurrection?

We can't. Not fully. I mean, how can I begin to describe the doctrinal depth and breadth of the resurrection? I mean, who am I kidding? I can't do that. These are things that we just can't wrap our minds around. And even the brightest minds and the greatest theologians on earth and who have ever lived have always struggled to understand and explain these things. But I want to glance at a few things here. And again, I'm not going to be exhaustive. And I promise you there are some that can do this a lot better than me. Now here I want to show us that the resurrection provides two guarantees. Two different doctrines.

These are guarantees, and they're very much related. One is experiential, and one is not. And some of you will understand that language because of our Bible study time on Wednesday nights. So first, I want us to see that the resurrection guarantees our regeneration. The resurrection, it guarantees our regeneration. Now here in the life of our church, I have thoroughly taught you of the doctrine of regeneration. We see this doctrine taught in John 3. We know this story. Jesus is teaching Nicodemus. Nicodemus comes to him at night. And Jesus teaches Nicodemus that he needed to be born again. He needed to be born from above.

He needed to be born of the Spirit of God. If I can go back to some Titus 3, verse 5 language, Nicodemus needed a spiritual cleansing. He needed a spiritual renewal that could only come from God. Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he needed a new life. He needed a new heart. He needed to be born of the Spirit of God. And theologians call this regeneration. Now when we move on to the Apostle Peter's teaching, we see regeneration, the new birth. It's connected to the resurrection. In 1 Peter 1.3 Peter says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Now question what does that mean? When Jesus rose from the dead, he possessed a new and a different life. He possessed a life in a physical body which was able to fellowship with God in heaven for all of eternity. In his resurrection, Jesus earned from man a resurrection life. And when we are born again, our dead spirits are made alive with resurrection power. Now we are not perfect because our bodies remain as they are. They remain sinful. Our bodies are subject to weakness.

Our bodies are still subject to death. But through the resurrection, Christ has earned a new kind of life for his people. This life is received when we are born again or when we are regenerated of God. And we see this explained in Ephesians 4 or 2, chapter 2 verses 4 to 6. Notice the verses. "God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sin, he made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." So we see that our regeneration is guaranteed by and through Christ's resurrection.

And then second, the resurrection guarantees our justification. This is the second guarantee. The resurrection guarantees our justification. Now before I show you how Christ's resurrection and our justification are connected, I need to quickly explain justification. Some of us know this because of our Bible study time on Wednesday night. Justification is a part of conversion that we do not experience. Let me explain what I mean. We experience repentance. We experience trusting in Christ. We experience sanctification, which is our growth in Christ. But justification is not experiential.

Justification is that divine judicial declaration where we are not guilty before God. This happens in the halls of heaven before time and human experience. Now how does Christ's resurrection relate to our justification? Romans 4, 24 and 25 says, "It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised him from the dead, Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." Now notice what we're seeing here. Notice what is happening. When God raised Jesus from the dead, God was saying that he accepted Christ's death on the cross.

God was saying that his work was complete and that atonement for man had been made. So Christ did not need to stay in the grave. The sin debt had been completely paid. So he did not need to stay dead and in the grave. This was God the Father's, and let me put this in my language. It was a step of approval. So we see that through Christ's resurrection, our justification was made possible. It was guaranteed. It is finished, you see. Is it not what Jesus said on the cross? It is finished. Now what are we needing to see here? Taking a step or two back. Two very important doctrines. They're connected to the resurrection. Regeneration.

This new birth that comes from Christ comes from the spirit, justification, which is a legal declaration in the courtroom in heaven whereby we are declared to be made right with God, both of which are made possible through the resurrection. Both of which are a guarantee because Christ was raised from the dead. Now an application, what do we need to see? These are guarantees. We can count on them. Now I don't know if you realize this. There are two things about my life that I deal with probably on a weekly basis. Number one, I owe student loans even though I have never had one.

And number two, I need to take out extended warranties on cars that I've never owned. Does anybody go through that? Now I'm not talking about the student loans, but aren't these car extended warranties, aren't they kind of guarantees? You see? I know a man that happened to buy a brand new appliance, a washing machine, plugged it up and used it a couple of times. It just goes out. And he had to wrangle through the guarantee. Don't we deal with these guarantees in life? You see? But listen, our salvation and our right standing before a holy God is guaranteed by the empty tomb. You see? Christ's resurrection is the guarantee. But listen close.

You are not justified before God unless you have been born again, unless you've been regenerated of God. You see? You can't possess this guarantee unless you've been born of God, born of the Spirit, you've been spiritually cleansed from God, unless you've been washed and renewed by the Holy Spirit of God. You see? I think you see how it's gotten a little more personal. Now we've seen that the resurrection is a Bible story. We've seen that the resurrection guarantees our regeneration and our justification, being in a right standing before God. Now next, I want us to see our hope, our hope because of this resurrection.

So number three, the resurrection is our hope. Number three, the resurrection is our hope. Here's where we'll get even a little more personal. Now yes, He, this is God, provides the new birth. Yes, our Lord provides us a right standing before Himself. But there's more. Because of Christ's resurrection, those of us who are born again, we will be raised again after death. Now a couple of verses here before we get into our first Corinthians passages. Paul says in first Corinthians 6 14, and God raised the Lord and also will raise us up by His power.

And then on down in second Corinthians four, verse 14, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and bring us with joy into His presence. You see, because of His resurrection, we have a hope for resurrection. Let me say that again, because of His resurrection, we have a hope for resurrection. Now here's where I want us to get into our first Corinthians passages. Let's look just at verses 20 to 23, first Corinthians 15. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep or who have passed. For since by the man came death and by a man also came the resurrection from the dead.

And then Paul goes on to explain that. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all should be made alive. But each in His own order Christ the first fruits after that those who are Christ's at His coming. Now out of these verses, I want us to see three realities and these are rather short. First Christ, the first fruits look back at verse 20, but now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. Now what's being taught here? This goes back to some Old Testament issues. In the Old Testament times, the Jews had a festival, the festival of the first fruits.

And then they also had offerings that were given to God from the first fruits of their labor. Now these offerings were looked at as a pledge of the upcoming harvest. Simply they were an agricultural society. Simply this is what was taking place. They were to be more fruits to follow. There were to be more fruits to follow in the harvest. You see? Little story about myself in my farming days. Years ago when we lived in town, I had an acre in town and I had a garden. I used to love to garden there in town. I think all my neighbors thought I was a little strange. But when we moved to the country and I have 10 acres, I don't garden anymore.

That's a little domestic issue. My wife kind of pushes my button. She wants me to garden again. But I remember in my gardening days, one thing I enjoyed raising was snap beans. I love snap beans. And I used to raise what they called Louisiana purple pods. Anybody know what those are? They're a purple green bean. See when you pick them, they're purple and when you cook them, they turn green. I'll never forget when I was growing those beans, I would always try to give a few away. And there was one year I remember I gave some of the first fruits away. Took a couple of those Walmart bags and put a few in there and took them to a neighbor or two.

We gave some to a lady that we know. She called us on the phone and said, "These green beans are purple." I said, "That's okay. Just cook them." And she called us back and said, "These green beans are purple and they're turning green." I said, "That's okay." Then she called back and said, "These things are wonderful." They came from the first fruits. And there was more to come. To continue the story, my wife grew up putting up vegetables, but she didn't can. So I canned the green beans and we enjoyed them all year. But here, Paul is saying that Jesus is the first fruit from the dead. He is the first installment of a harvest to eternal life.

This first fruits, which Jesus is the resurrection, is a guarantee for all believers who have died. This is the hope for their resurrection. Simply Christ is the first fruits of many more fruits to come. That's what's being taught here. The second reality. Christ is our hope, or Christ our hope. This is in verse 21 and 22. Let's look back at the verses. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. Now Paul explains this verse. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Now what does this mean about Adam and about Christ?

Here Paul contrasts Christ Jesus, the God-man, with Adam who was the first man. He states that death came by Adam, but through Christ a hope of a resurrection from that death has come. Because of Adam sinned, all men sinned. Sin and death entered the world and all mankind sinned because of what? Because of Adam sinned. But through Christ man can be set free from sin and set free from death. And in verse 22 it is clear and it carries this out in the application to men. You see Paul states that all men who remain in Adam or in death, they are in sin, they die.

But Paul says that all men who are in Christ, they live and they shall be made to live and be alive. This is the resurrection. Simply this is our hope, you see. It's a little bit like the Titanic, not the movie. The Titanic, one of the largest if not the largest maritime disasters ever. You see man is either in Adam and dying on a sinking ship of death or he's in the lifeboat of Christ. You see, Christ is our hope. And then the third reality, Christ is our future, Christ is our future. Look back at verse 23. But each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, we know what that means. After that, those who are Christ's at his coming.

Here Paul again uses this phrase first fruits. Now what is Paul talking about here? He states that Christ is the first of many to be raised from the dead. You get that? He states that Christ is the first of many who would be raised from the dead. See I was raised from the dead. Did you know that? I was raised from the dead. Back in February of 1989, I was born of God, born of the spirit of God. I was dead in my sin. I was living in Adam and I was raised from the dead by the grace of God. And Paul mentions Christ's second coming here.

Here Paul is saying that at Christ's second coming, those who are in Christ, not in Adam, they'll be raised to meet him. This is the future of those who are in Christ. They will be resurrected to be with Christ, you see. Some of you remember our old friend Bruce. He was an older man in the life of our church a few years ago, passed away. Bruce had a unique testimony, he didn't come to faith in Christ until a lot later in life. And I told him, I told him numerous times that when I ever shared his testimony, I would be honest. He was the kind that burned the candle of life at both ends far too long.

And see when he came to faith in Christ, he couldn't undo and fix a lot of the sin in his life. There comes a time folks, when you cross a threshold and you can't fix it all. But you know, Bruce came to faith in Christ and he became a great servant in the life of our church. Yesterday, we were reminiscing. You know, we had hamburgers and hot dogs and all that. Back in our old days, Bruce would have been the one cooking all that food. He would have eaten about half of it. But you know, I think about Bruce, I know right where he's buried. I was there when we put him in the ground, but he's not stuck in the grave. He's not. He's not resurrected.

It doesn't matter where he's planted. It doesn't matter what his grave site looks like. Listen, he will be resurrected. Now, what do we see here? This is a lie. Because God raised Christ and he will raise us. Christ Jesus is the first fruits. The first fruits of many fruits to come. You see that folks? Because of Christ and his victory over the grave, we have hope. Christ that truth with the truth that those who die and Adam and they die in their sin, they have no hope folks. And because of Christ's resurrection, we have a future. One day, all in the grave who were in Christ will come out of the grave to meet him.

Now application, what do we see here? This is really personal. Look back at verse 21 and 22. Ever since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. And I'm so thankful that Paul explains that in the next verse. For as in Adam all die. So also in Christ, all should be made alive. And listen folks, we are all in one of two places spiritually. We are all in one of two places spiritually, either Democrat or Republican. We're either in Adam in our sin and spiritual death or we are in Christ forgiven free, living in and possessing spiritual life. There's no in between.

Now what is the title of the theme of our message this morning? You need to get this folks, the resurrection, our hope, the resurrection, our hope. Now earlier I asked you why is Easter important? Why? It is because Easter at Easter, we celebrate the empty tomb. We celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, but more he ascended to the father and he sits at the right hand as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the judge of all. And Easter is important because of the resurrection. Christ resurrection is a guarantee that we can be regenerated of God. I'm not talking about a cultural Christianity.

We can be given a new life in Christ, a new heart, a new nature. And it is also a guarantee that we can be in a right standing with God, justified. See that's what all of these world religions try to do. They try to put man in a right standing with God or their God, little G. And the resurrection is important because Christ is the first of many to come to life from the dead. You see that folks? He is the first of many to come to life from the dead. And even last night as I was finishing up, I was thinking about the countless multitudes who have come to faith in Christ after Christ, you see.

I don't think I have to tell you this, you know, our society is just so divided. It's a sad day in which we live. It's a difficult day in which we live. But you know folks, it's always been that way. It's been divided since the very first man and woman lived. It's been divided since the fall of man. Not long after Adam and Eve sinned, brothers were divided and one killed the other. But you know, there is one unifying thing about all true Christians, true Christians. We have all been resurrected from the dead. Now the title of the theme of the message is a question and it is a declaration.

I told you I would ask you another question and here we are. The resurrection, our hope? Question mark? Is it your hope? Is it your hope? For those of us who have been resurrected, it's the resurrection, our hope, and it is a glorious reality. Isn't that right? Let's pray. We'll commit this to the Lord. We always commit what we study to the Lord. We want the Lord to do a work in our lives accordingly. We'll sing a song of praise and worship to close out this part of the service. And then we'll transition into our time of celebrating the supper. So let me pray.