In this message I am going to briefly mention seven truths established by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a fact of history. His tomb is empty, and eyewitnesses confirm the reality of his resurrection. He appeared to over 500 people in the days following his resurrection. He demonstrated himself to be alive by many infallible proofs. At his final appearance to a group of people that included his disciples, he ascended into heaven leaving his commissioned disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news of salvation to all nations.
Now consider with me seven truths clearly established by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I begin with a verse of Scripture in Romans 1:4 which states Jesus is “declared to be the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection confirms that Jesus is the Son of God.
The man Christ Jesus is the most unique individual in human history. He was conceived in the womb of Mary without the agency of a human father. His miraculous conception in the womb of Mary wrought by the Spirit of God clothed the eternal Word with the human nature of the man Christ Jesus.
In the person of Jesus (the promised Messiah), God took to himself human nature. It pleased the Father that in him (Jesus) should dwell all the fullness of the Divine Nature in bodily form. As such, Jesus is the unique Son of God—truly God and truly man in one person. Thus, on the cross, as infinite God (the Word incarnate) he could satisfy the Divine wrath against the sin of the world.
However, in order to suffer death of necessity a body was prepared for the eternal Son of God. In order to redeem mankind, he must come as the last Adam. God the Son stepped down from his throne and took to himself human nature in the person of Jesus the Christ. As the perfect man, the spotless Lamb of God, he could now taste death as our substitute.
So our Savior, the only begotten Son of God, carried our cross to Calvary where by the grace of God he tasted death for each one of us. He bore our sins in his body on the tree and as the Divine sacrifice for sin his great sacrifice fully satisfied the wrath of God against us.
Of course, if he is the Son of God and if he has defeated the power of death through the work of his cross, then the grave would not be able to hold him. So it was, early the first day of the week as it began to dawn, suddenly there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door.
Jesus arose and as Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost God raised him up, “having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.” Indeed, he is declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead!
Hear me well, the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead establishes him as the Son of the living God.
Now let me quickly move on. Next, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is God’s declaration he accepts the death of Christ for our salvation. In Romans 4 the Bible says Jesus was delivered for our offences (our sins), “and was raised again for our justification.” Justification is an important Bible word connected to our salvation.
I ask you today, just how is a holy God going to allow unholy sinners into his heaven? The truth is, he will not allow unholy sinners into his heaven. For members of Adam’s race to enter God’s heaven they must be made holy again.
With that in mind, I must hasten to say there is nothing you can do to make yourself holy. You are guilty in the sight of God. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In our lost condition we are unclean. For God to allow any of Adam’s race to enter his heaven a way must be made to clear us of our guilt, wash us from our sin, and present us faultless before his throne. We must be made holy again.
Now, are you listening closely? God raised Jesus from the dead for our justification. This means the empty tomb is God’s declaration he accepts the death of his Son for our salvation. The word justify means to be cleared of one’s guilt and declared righteous. God raised Jesus from the dead guaranteeing that all who bow the knee to the Lord Jesus, trusting his death on the cross for their salvation, shall be saved. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Saved!
This means God justifies the believer in His sight. Based upon the substitutional work of Christ on the cross for you, God releases the believer from the guilt of sin. Furthermore, he imparts to the believer the gift of righteousness. This righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. Those clothed in the righteousness of Christ are made holy and acceptable for entrance into God's heaven.
Here is a good way to picture this gift of righteousness.
I am sure you are aware of certain events that require formal dress. For example, in some cases you cannot get into an event without wearing a tuxedo. You simply must be dressed properly or entry into the event is impossible. May I say to you, if you are going to enter God’s heaven you must be dressed properly. You must have a robe of righteousness on that fits you for heaven.
You say, where am I going to buy one? I am sorry to say this robe costs more than you could ever afford. You say, but I must have it, or all is lost. I am unholy and I must have this robe to be made holy and acceptable to God. Is there any hope?
Yes, there is hope. Look at the empty tomb. God raised Jesus from the dead for your justification. He has a robe of righteousness just your size purchased by the blood of his dear Son and there is a place you can be fitted up and made ready for entrance into heaven. That place is the foot of the cross, where you come to Christ and call upon his name!
Thank God he raised Jesus from the dead for our justification.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead establishes him as the Son of the living God and it establishes the great truth of justification by faith in Christ alone as our only hope of heaven. Next, I would add this. The resurrection establishes Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.
Considering what I just preached it should be obvious Jesus is the only way of salvation. Furthermore, he is the truth. All spirituality that denies Jesus is false. The resurrection establishes him as the truth and the life. Only the risen Christ has the words of eternal life.
Next, the resurrection establishes Jesus as the resurrection and the life. Jesus says in John 5, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear (my voice) and shall come forth.” Jesus will one day raise all the dead from their dusty graves. Some in the resurrection unto life and others to the resurrection unto judgment.
The rest of Scripture sets forth the order in which this will happen. Christ is the first fruit. Then they that are Christ’s at his coming will be raised incorruptible. In fact, all the saved are said to be a part of the first resurrection. But there is also a resurrection unto judgment. The unsaved must be resurrected to face the Lord Jesus at the great white throne judgment described in the book of Revelation. All who appear there are lost and must face the full consequences of sin and rebellion. Sadly, they will be cast body, soul, and spirit into Gehenna, the lake of fire.
This humbling thought brings us to the next truth established by the resurrection, namely that Jesus now holds absolute authority over the realm of the dead. In Revelation chapter one Jesus says, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.” The keys speak of the absolute authority of the risen Christ over the realm of the dead. Jesus Christ has the authority to place the saved in heaven and he has the authority to consign the lost to hell. He will do both.
Next, the resurrection establishes our Lord’s promise to come again. The last appearance of our resurrected Savior is recorded in Acts chapter one. After he gave his last words to those present that day the Bible says he “was taken up.” As he ascended into heaven that day the angels said to them, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
My friends, just as sure as no power could keep him in the grave, no power can prevent his coming again. There are two phases to the Second Coming of the Lord. The first part of his Second Coming has to do with his church, the bride of Christ. Jesus is coming for his church as described in 1 Thessalonians chapter four where we read, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
At this great event the church will experience the redemption of the body as our Lord clothes us with incorruptible, immortal bodies. In that moment when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “death is swallowed up in victory!” Amen, because he lives we shall live also!
Conclusion
Now in review, the Resurrection establishes the following:
And finally, the resurrection of Jesus provides hope for all who believe upon him.
Hope is the most important commodity of the heart. In a troubled world subject to death and uncertainty, Christ imparts a steadfast hope that girds up the mind and brings peace in every storm. The risen Christ is our hope (Timothy 1:1).
The hope the Bible speaks of is the certainty we will one day possess what we cannot see. What we possess in promise today we shall possess in reality tomorrow! Indeed, because he is risen, we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2).
The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a fact of history. His tomb is empty, and eyewitnesses confirm the reality of his resurrection. He appeared to over 500 people in the days following his resurrection. He demonstrated himself to be alive by many infallible proofs. At his final appearance to a group of people that included his disciples, he ascended into heaven leaving his commissioned disciples to go into all the world and preach the good news of salvation to all nations.
Now consider with me seven truths clearly established by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I begin with a verse of Scripture in Romans 1:4 which states Jesus is “declared to be the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection confirms that Jesus is the Son of God.
The man Christ Jesus is the most unique individual in human history. He was conceived in the womb of Mary without the agency of a human father. His miraculous conception in the womb of Mary wrought by the Spirit of God clothed the eternal Word with the human nature of the man Christ Jesus.
In the person of Jesus (the promised Messiah), God took to himself human nature. It pleased the Father that in him (Jesus) should dwell all the fullness of the Divine Nature in bodily form. As such, Jesus is the unique Son of God—truly God and truly man in one person. Thus, on the cross, as infinite God (the Word incarnate) he could satisfy the Divine wrath against the sin of the world.
However, in order to suffer death of necessity a body was prepared for the eternal Son of God. In order to redeem mankind, he must come as the last Adam. God the Son stepped down from his throne and took to himself human nature in the person of Jesus the Christ. As the perfect man, the spotless Lamb of God, he could now taste death as our substitute.
So our Savior, the only begotten Son of God, carried our cross to Calvary where by the grace of God he tasted death for each one of us. He bore our sins in his body on the tree and as the Divine sacrifice for sin his great sacrifice fully satisfied the wrath of God against us.
Of course, if he is the Son of God and if he has defeated the power of death through the work of his cross, then the grave would not be able to hold him. So it was, early the first day of the week as it began to dawn, suddenly there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door.
Jesus arose and as Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost God raised him up, “having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.” Indeed, he is declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead!
Hear me well, the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead establishes him as the Son of the living God.
Now let me quickly move on. Next, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is God’s declaration he accepts the death of Christ for our salvation. In Romans 4 the Bible says Jesus was delivered for our offences (our sins), “and was raised again for our justification.” Justification is an important Bible word connected to our salvation.
I ask you today, just how is a holy God going to allow unholy sinners into his heaven? The truth is, he will not allow unholy sinners into his heaven. For members of Adam’s race to enter God’s heaven they must be made holy again.
With that in mind, I must hasten to say there is nothing you can do to make yourself holy. You are guilty in the sight of God. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In our lost condition we are unclean. For God to allow any of Adam’s race to enter his heaven a way must be made to clear us of our guilt, wash us from our sin, and present us faultless before his throne. We must be made holy again.
Now, are you listening closely? God raised Jesus from the dead for our justification. This means the empty tomb is God’s declaration he accepts the death of his Son for our salvation. The word justify means to be cleared of one’s guilt and declared righteous. God raised Jesus from the dead guaranteeing that all who bow the knee to the Lord Jesus, trusting his death on the cross for their salvation, shall be saved. If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Saved!
This means God justifies the believer in His sight. Based upon the substitutional work of Christ on the cross for you, God releases the believer from the guilt of sin. Furthermore, he imparts to the believer the gift of righteousness. This righteousness is the righteousness of Christ. Those clothed in the righteousness of Christ are made holy and acceptable for entrance into God's heaven.
Here is a good way to picture this gift of righteousness.
I am sure you are aware of certain events that require formal dress. For example, in some cases you cannot get into an event without wearing a tuxedo. You simply must be dressed properly or entry into the event is impossible. May I say to you, if you are going to enter God’s heaven you must be dressed properly. You must have a robe of righteousness on that fits you for heaven.
You say, where am I going to buy one? I am sorry to say this robe costs more than you could ever afford. You say, but I must have it, or all is lost. I am unholy and I must have this robe to be made holy and acceptable to God. Is there any hope?
Yes, there is hope. Look at the empty tomb. God raised Jesus from the dead for your justification. He has a robe of righteousness just your size purchased by the blood of his dear Son and there is a place you can be fitted up and made ready for entrance into heaven. That place is the foot of the cross, where you come to Christ and call upon his name!
Thank God he raised Jesus from the dead for our justification.
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead establishes him as the Son of the living God and it establishes the great truth of justification by faith in Christ alone as our only hope of heaven. Next, I would add this. The resurrection establishes Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.
Considering what I just preached it should be obvious Jesus is the only way of salvation. Furthermore, he is the truth. All spirituality that denies Jesus is false. The resurrection establishes him as the truth and the life. Only the risen Christ has the words of eternal life.
Next, the resurrection establishes Jesus as the resurrection and the life. Jesus says in John 5, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear (my voice) and shall come forth.” Jesus will one day raise all the dead from their dusty graves. Some in the resurrection unto life and others to the resurrection unto judgment.
The rest of Scripture sets forth the order in which this will happen. Christ is the first fruit. Then they that are Christ’s at his coming will be raised incorruptible. In fact, all the saved are said to be a part of the first resurrection. But there is also a resurrection unto judgment. The unsaved must be resurrected to face the Lord Jesus at the great white throne judgment described in the book of Revelation. All who appear there are lost and must face the full consequences of sin and rebellion. Sadly, they will be cast body, soul, and spirit into Gehenna, the lake of fire.
This humbling thought brings us to the next truth established by the resurrection, namely that Jesus now holds absolute authority over the realm of the dead. In Revelation chapter one Jesus says, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.” The keys speak of the absolute authority of the risen Christ over the realm of the dead. Jesus Christ has the authority to place the saved in heaven and he has the authority to consign the lost to hell. He will do both.
Next, the resurrection establishes our Lord’s promise to come again. The last appearance of our resurrected Savior is recorded in Acts chapter one. After he gave his last words to those present that day the Bible says he “was taken up.” As he ascended into heaven that day the angels said to them, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
My friends, just as sure as no power could keep him in the grave, no power can prevent his coming again. There are two phases to the Second Coming of the Lord. The first part of his Second Coming has to do with his church, the bride of Christ. Jesus is coming for his church as described in 1 Thessalonians chapter four where we read, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
At this great event the church will experience the redemption of the body as our Lord clothes us with incorruptible, immortal bodies. In that moment when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “death is swallowed up in victory!” Amen, because he lives we shall live also!
Conclusion
Now in review, the Resurrection establishes the following:
- Jesus is the Son of God (Rom. 1:4)
- God Accepts the Death of Christ for our salvation (Rom. 4:25)
- Jesus is the way (salvation is only in him), the truth (all other spirituality is false), and the life (only Christ has the words of eternal life--John 14:6)
- Jesus is the resurrection (John 5:28, 29) and the life (John 11:25, 26)
- Jesus stands in absolute authority over the realm of the dead (Rev. 1:18)
- Jesus is coming again (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
And finally, the resurrection of Jesus provides hope for all who believe upon him.
Hope is the most important commodity of the heart. In a troubled world subject to death and uncertainty, Christ imparts a steadfast hope that girds up the mind and brings peace in every storm. The risen Christ is our hope (Timothy 1:1).
The hope the Bible speaks of is the certainty we will one day possess what we cannot see. What we possess in promise today we shall possess in reality tomorrow! Indeed, because he is risen, we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2).
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