Readings:
| Order of Service | The Order of Morning Worship, Page 5 |
| Old Testament Lesson | Hosea 13:14 |
| Epistle | 1 Cor. 15:12-20 |
| Gospel | Mark 16:1-9 |
| Sermon Text | “The Straight Facts of the Resurrection of Christ” 1 For. 15:17-20 |
| Hymns | 199, 206 (1-5), 200, 198 |
Dear Friends in Christ,
On this Easter morning, let us thank and praise God that Easter is not what most Easter cards express. Let us praise God that Easter is not some mushy, sentimental message of sunshine, spring flowers and singing birds.
No! Easter is about a sure fact of history! Easter is about the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Easter is the message that Jesus the Son of God who was crucified on Good Friday, buried that evening, and rose again on the third day. It was not some imaginary or phantom resurrection. It was not some spiritualized resurrection. No, the body that was crucified, the body that had nail holes in the hands and feet, the body that was pierced by a spear, was the body that came alive and vacated the tomb. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a true return to life for our crucified Savior.
And how significant is this true message of Easter at this time of hundreds of thousands of people dying from the coronavirus! All who have died as Christians, have died in victory and are in heaven. Then on the Last Day their bodies will be raised in glory! “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is victory.” Thus, the ultimate victory over this virus or from any other cause of death is faith in Christ crucified and risen.
And let all the sophisticated but unbelieving scholars such as those who typically hail from Union Theological Seminary or the University of Chicago School of Theology, or Harvard Divinity School and Yale Divinity School smirk and all they want. Added to this, let all writers of books such as The DaVinci Code, or the Gospel according to Judas or The Lost Tomb of Jesus let all of them spue out all their blasphemies. Non of these Satan- inspired works can disprove the Bible’s indisputable account of Christ, true God and true man, rising from the dead! It has been said many times, but let it be said again: the life, death and surjection of Jesus Christ are far better documented than the life of any other historic personage of ancient or near ancient history. First and foremost the Bible is the fully inspired, inerrant Word of God. The infallible, inerrant Bible is the only perfect and totally accurate history book. The Bible tells us of so many people having seen the resurrected Christ that only a complete fool would deny that Jesus rose from . the dead. Speaking of the crucified and risen Christ, the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 15:3-8, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; after that hew as seen of above fine hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of, me also as of one born out of due time.” What an amazing rooster of eyewitnesses who saw the risen Savior. This is why we along with all Christians by saying, “He is risen indeed.”
Now as we just heard, our Easter text is a part of our Epistle Lesson which comes from the great resurrection chapter, I Corinthians 15. What makes this such a great text is that is a very explanatory text. It tells it like it is! It does not mince words! You see, the Apostle Paul did not pussy-foot around with the phony intellectuals of his day such as the Greek philosophers in Athens who gather around to share their latest philosophies. He proclaimed the truth. In this regard, our sermon will set forth “The straight facts of the resurrection of Christ as recorded by the Apostle Paul.
In the first place, the Apostle Paul is so sure of the fact of Christ’s resurrection that he is willing to discuss how things would be if Christ had not risen. Paul begins by saying, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (v. 17) Paul is saying, if indeed Christ did not rise from the dead, then our Christian faith is really a fraud. All our believing in Jesus as the Savior from sin and death, is ii vain. And if that is true, then all of us are still in our sins. The guilt of our sins would still be changed against us. In other words, if Christ did not rise from the dead, that would nullify what Christ accomplished on the cross. Instead of all sins being paid for and unforgiven, they wold remain unforgiven. Then the Bible verse, “God was in Christ reconciling the world until himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them,” (II Cor. 5:19) would be false. Likewise, the verse, “Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25) would also be false.
Even worse, all who died with faith and eternal hope in Jesus died not as saved people, but as people who are lost. Paul says, “Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (v. 18) Such a thought would surely strike close to home, indeed, right into every Christian home where a loved one died. If every one of our loved ones who died as Christians and were given a Christian burial, are really not in heaven, but perished in hell. Then there would be no need for the resurrection of the body on the Last Day. Indeed, if Christ had not risen from the dead, there would be no such thing as a resurrection at all! The resurrection of all the dead on the Last Day would not happen since Christ and His resurrection as the source of the resurrection did not rise. Then death would still be the king of terrors. Then death still retains its sting, and the grave its victory.
Then Paul takes is a step further. He says, ”If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (v. 19) What is Paul saying? If faith in Christ would give us hope only while we are alive on earth, but would not give us hope after death, what good is it?” There is no reason to live with hope here and now if there is no hope beyond the grave! It makes us think of those people who were dying of a terminal illness and their one big wish is to take a cruise, or as children to go to Disneyland Yet if there is no life after the grave, the “bucket-list” such as seeing the sights of the would not take the sting out of death. What good thing, what thrilling experience, what earthly possession in this life will make dying easier if dying is the end? Likewise, even hoping in Christ just for this earthly life would also be no hope if in the end you just go right to the grave and to hell? Yet such is the case if Jesus had not risen from the dead!
But such is not the case! Paul says, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.” (v. 20) By saying, “But now is Christ risen from the dead,” Paul is making it most emphatic that Christ did not stay dead, but rose again on Easter morning. The proof is the empty tomb! When the angel of the Lord came down and rolled away the stone, this enabled the women to look in and see that the grave was already empty! It was empty, not because grave robbers stole away the body, but because Christ rose from the dead. The body could not possibly been stolen. The Jews themselves saw to that by having a seal placed over where the stone and connecting rock met. Any braking of the wax seal would mean someone had stolen the body. Yet in addition, the Jews convinced Pliate to have a guard of soldiers to guard the tomb.Typically a guard consisted of sixteen soldiers with four of them watching a period of three hours. No one could have gotten past this guard. Indeed, the tomb was still sealed and in tact when the angel of the Lord came down to roll away the stone, It was then that the soldiers fell backward as dead men. But Jesus had already been long gone! He vacated the tomb before the earthquake and before the angel rolled away the stone. Thus there is only one explanation for the empty tomb, namely, Christ rose from the dead. Being now in His State of Exaltation, He invisibly exited the tomb. This is why the angel said to the women, “I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here{ for he is risen, as He said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matt. 28:6)
But what is now true since Christ rose from the dead? Our faith in Jesus is not in vain! We are not still in our sins! At death we will not perish in hell! Because Christ did rise from the grave, everything He ever said is proven, and everything we have believed on the basis His Word us valid. Now our hope in Christ is good for both now and beyond the grave.’’In fact, Paul says that since Christ has risen from the dead, He has become the “firstfruits of them that slept.” What does this mean? A “firstfruits” is a Biblical term for an offering taken from harvest. It consists of the best of the harvest and is sanctified or set apart to be offered to the Lord. Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection. Indeed, He came up first and thereby established the resurrection of the rest of the dead. Thus, the very fact that Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection guarantees our own resurrection on the Last Day. As Jesus Himself said, “I AM the Resurrection, and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and beliveth in me shall never die. Believes thou this?” (John 11:25-26).
This means that we do have comfort when death intrudes into our families. When a loved one dies as a Christian, we are most right in being assured that the soul of our loved one is in heaven, and that on the Last Day his body shall rise and be glorified. The Bible says, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” (I Thes. 4:13-14
Yet this very hope of the resurrection is our own personal hope as well. Having this hope for ourselves is not academic. After all, some day each of us must die. The Bible says that in Adam all die. None of us is exempt. Yes, the day will come when we draw our last breath. Like everyone else who died before us, we will be buried and go back to the dust. The Bible says, “For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Geb. 3:19) By all outward appearances, our death is the Victor. But, death is not the victor. The Bible says, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Cor. 15:57) In Christ we are the victors over death. We are victors in two ways. First, we are the victors even at the moment of death. At the very moment of death our souls immediately go to heaven. Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross apply to every Christian at death. ‘Verily, I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.: (Luke 23:43) In this respect, we never taste death at all.
Yet there is a second victory. Even though our body must die, it will also partake of the victory of Christ. Even though our body will go back to dust, on the Last Day Christ will raise up our body. It will not be a different body, but the same body that died. However, that same body, upon being raised up, will be changed into a glorified body. Right here in I Corinthians 15, Paul says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put in incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying which is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (I Cor. 15:52-54) Therefore, each of us can say with his own mouth, “O death, where thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (v. 55)
It is this hope of the resurrection which enables us to live our remaining days with true hope. Remember what our text said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” Yet our hope in Christ is not for this life only. In Christ we have eternal hope. It goes beyond the grave. In Christ we are not of all men most miserable. Just the opposite – – – we are of all men most joyful and happy! We know that even death cannot destroy us. Even death cannot separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This enables us to live this earthly life without the fear of death. We are able to live our lives with hope and free mind and heart.
No matter what the Easter cards say, and no matter what unbelieving scholars and their books say, what we have heard today is the true message of Easter. These are the straight facts from the inspired, inerrant Word of God. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.