The King Our Hope

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 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, he was seen of above five 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. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

The resurrection is the most important event in history.

You probably do not remember the name Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin. During his day he was as powerful a man as there was on earth. A Russian Communist leader he took part in the Bolshevik Revolution 1917, was editor of the Soviet newspaper Pravda (which by the way means truth), and was a full member of the Politburo. His works on economics and political science are still read today. There is a story told about a journey he took from Moscow to Kiev in 1930 to address a huge assembly on the subject of atheism. Addressing the crowd he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity hurling insult, argument, and proof against it.

An hour later he was finished. He looked out at what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. Deafening silence filled the auditorium but then one man approached the platform and mounted the lectern standing near the communist leader. He surveyed the crowd first to the left then to the right. Finally he shouted the ancient greeting known well in the Russian Orthodox Church: "CHRIST IS RISEN!" En masse the crowd arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of thunder: "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"

I say to you this morning: CHRIST IS RISEN! I am convinced! I have faith that Christ was dead and he was buried. That I believe. But, this too I accept as true: He rose from the dead and will come again in glory.

This is Easter. And to come before you on this day and proclaim this word. . . I cannot begin to tell you how this defines all that I am.

But, you will say to me, how do you know that the resurrection is real? How do you know that it is really valid?

First I would say that I believe in resurrection because....

The Problem of The Resurrection

Is that it does not fit human comprehension.

1 Corinthians—The Word of the Cross Chapter 27: The Power of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1–11)

Jaroslav Pelikan: “If Christ is risen—then nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—then nothing else matters.”

Skeptics keep Christ and his claims at arm’s length to avoid any need for a real encounter.

If Jesus really bodily raised from the dead, a definite historical event, then it should change everything.

It changes thew way we look at death. Many try to ignore or disassociate with death. But death comes for us all. If the resurrection is true than there is an everlasting hope.

The Gospel is historic news that revolves around a person.

Jesus was born

Jesus lived

Jesus died

Jesus was buried

Jesus rose

His resurrection is the simplest and less complicated explanation of the events. He was viewed dying his burial was in a known and guarded placed. His tomb was found empty and then he was witnessed by over five-hundred people at once.

Paul was once called Saul. Saul despised the resurrection of Christ because it ment everything he had built his life upon would have to change.

The Power of the Resurrection

Human witness

The message that the early disciples preached was the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. This was not something the religious leaders or the government let slide. They were persecuted and killed for this belief. They had every opportunity to recant their position.

Logic

Their is a rule in philosophy called the less adhawk test.

Faith

Trumping the other two is the fact that those who have truly believed the message of the Gospel have forever been changed. Christ’s substitutionary death means that you do not need to fear punishment for sins, Jesus bore the full penalty.

His burial means that Jesus has gone face to face with your consequence.

His resurrection means that death has been defeated! It has no more power or sting. And one day those who have trusted Jesus will raise again in perfect union with the resurrected Messiah.

When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to weigh 165 lbs. I still do! At the time I weighed 135 lbs soaking wet. Day after day I would lift, eat, lift, eat and so on then weigh myself the next morning only to find that I weighed 135 lbs. One day I woke up and went to weigh myself and to my surprise the needle went past 145 to 155, 165, 175, and then wobbled between 185 and 190. I was astonished, I felt ripped! When i turned around I found my little brother behind me with his foot on the scale tipping the scale in my favor.

Thats what Jesus did for us, we could not hit the mark on our own, our big brother had to put his toe on the scales of God’s justice and make us not just hit the mark but completely satisfy the demands of God.

The Product of the Resurrection

The result of the resurrection is full grace that allows you to can live your lives fully.

1 Corinthians 15:50–58 KJV 1900

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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 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. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

The person who by faith receives Jesus as their Savior is given the power to become the heir to authority and privileges of the King of Kings.

Romans 6:1–4 KJV 1900

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

I heard a story about a group of boys playing baseball in a local sandlot. A man came up and asked one of the kids in the outfield “who’s winning?” The boy smiled and replied, “they are! Its 10 -0!” The man asked the young man why he was so happy being down by so much, the boy replied “Oh thats easy, you see we haven’t been up to bat yet!”

By His death our sin has been payed. Through His burial we have come face to face with death and seen that it has been conquered. Because of the resurrection we know that death is not the end, we have an everlasting life awaiting us.

Conclusion:

The resurrection is the most important event in history because it proves that Jesus is God and that He took your sins and abolished them, faced your greatest enemy, death, and destroyed it. He now sits at the right hand of power dismissing all the devils accusations against you.

Will you receive Jesus today?

Believer, will you live in His grace>

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