He's Still Risen

Does anybody agree with me on that? Yes, we got a few raised and so I guess the rest of your on the fence about that but yes, it is one of the most significant events and you know, it's so Central. to God's Redemptive plan and to our Christian faith that you know, we have to realize how essential the resurrection is to Christianity. You know without the resurrection we have to realize there is no Christianity. There is no hope that we have Paul put it pretty bluntly in 1st Corinthians 15 and 17 where he wrote and if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. You know all too often. I think we look at the resurrection. Like it's the epilogue of Christ's life of his story. But really we have to realize that the resurrection is the triumphant goal of Christ story that it was a big part of the whole purpose and reason that God sent his son. It was part of his divine plan. It was the main objective for Christ to die on the cross for our sins and to be resurrected to finally show that he had won that victory over sin and death. Without the resurrection those things aren't there. Because the resurrection is that Divine Vindication of the work that Jesus did on the cross. You know in the weeks leading up to this we talked about how agonizing it was for Christ to have to go through being separated from the father for the very first time in his life. That's what was so painful. That's what was so agonizing, but he did it. Because he loved each of us so much. He was willing to endure that. And you know all too often. We try to reduce the gospel message down to you know, being something that's just there to help you with the rough stuff in life. It's just there to help you with your troubles. But the good news is that salvation is about a whole lot more than that. And as we talked about the resurrection, it's a wonderful time to remember that that yes, you are forgiven from your sins, but there's so much more. You know the Christian message proclaims that Christ is indeed risen from the dead and he exists in physical form. And one day we as Believers will do the same.

You know, that's one of the most outrageous claims of Christianity, but it's also a foundational truth that so many things of our faith are based upon. You know a lot of false religions and philosophical systems that are out there will try to tell the world that death is the end of human existence. what's not

And you know what thing is, we have to realize that really death is merely a doorway. Which we all pass through at some point in our life from this life to Eternity.

So the good news is that everyone will live forever fully conscious in spirit and body.

But how will you spend that eternity is the big question?

Yeah, it's something we often don't think about that. Every human being will either spend eternity and everlasting joy and Bliss with Jesus and God in heaven. or they want they'll spend Everlasting eternity in suffering and judgment and torment. There will be a resurrection to life and there will be a resurrection to judgement. door number one or door number two Which door will you choose?

You actually saw the show the game show the other night of Let's Make a Deal.

I thought G I hope at the Gates of Heaven. We don't have to dress up in costumes like that. Right and do these stupid things that they have to do on that show too, you know then choose. Which door

Know the truth is we all have to make that choice at some point in time. In the resurrection to life comes through the resurrection of Christ and that has been the hope of God's people throughout Redemptive history. You know all the things we heard about the disciples going through as we watch that play Thursday night. They went through and endured those things because of the hope. They hadn't Christ. That's why they did it. They believed in that message so much. And you know this you read through the New Testament so often the theme of a lot of the apostolic preaching and teaching is based around the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it comes as no surprise that all four gospels include something about the events surrounding the resurrection. And we all know that all the gospel writers were inspired by God. So, you know, they all were inspired to give their own unique account that is consistent with the rest of the theme of their particular gospel with the beauty of it. All is that we know that they were all inspired by the holy spirit. So even though all their stories vary slightly, they all harmonize perfectly. She knows you read through the gospels in Luke's account, which I chose to use this year. And it doesn't repeat some of the things that are included in Matthew Mark or John but yet Matthew Mark and John also have some details and them that you don't find in the others. But like I said the beauty of it all is that even though some of the details might seem to be different they aren't and if you really put them all together, they harmonize perfectly. And you know that our main passage for today. We're going to look at a few of those truths about the resurrection. Luke chapter 24 verses 1 through 3 does on the first day of the week very early in the morning the women took spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

So here is this group of women? I'm sure still mourning the loss of Jesus and what they saw. Because really if we look closely at the gospel accounts will find that it was the women who were standing there and watched the crucifixion actually happened most of the disciples gathered by that point and they didn't see what actually took place these women did. So I'm sure it's pretty real in their mind as they're walking to the tomb that morning to finish preparing his body for burial. So as they're walking, they're kind of discussing the fact of okay, how are we going to move this enormous Stone? You know the way they often sealed tombs was a round Stone would be rolled down kind of an incline and into a Groove in once it was rolled there. You pretty much weren't getting it back out. So this group for women's like how are we going to move that so that we can get in and do what we need to do? So that was their discussion in. When they got there much to their surprise. The stone was already moved.

So they were puzzled it why the stone was moved, but then even further as they walk right into the tomb and they enter. There's nobody there. No one is there at all, you know, so I thought about that I thought It'd be like kind of if we went to someone's funeral at the funeral home and you walk in. in the casket empty

when you would see them there earlier now you came back in the room and there is empty. What happened?

You they said they're kind of bewildered wondering what had happened to Jesus's body while they're also wondering what happened to that huge Stone. How did it get moved? Luke 24 verses 4 through 7 it goes on saying while they were wondering about this suddenly Two Men and close that gleamed like lightning Stood Beside them. And their fries to women bow down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He's not here he has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still with you and Galilee the son of man must be delivered over to the hands of Sinners be crucified and on the third day be raised again.

I think the reaction of the women is probably pretty similar to what any of our reaction would be there. Frightened me. Not only have they just encountered this extremely weird occurrence of how the stone get moved. There's nobody here. There should be buddy here. I'd imagine there was a discussion about did somebody lead them to the wrong tomb, you know, are we in the right place? But they're just puzzle and then all at once is your puzzled Angels appear to you. I mean, how crazy would that be? Add it up with all the events that have happened over the past week if you really think about it. I mean they went from the triumphal entry. People waving Palm leaves and celebrating Jesus coming. Two people being upset and him getting arrested in the garden and then crucified. So now you come to the tomb and it's empty just a mind-blowing sequence of events. And then Angels appear to you. I mean, no wonder they were frightened and then on top of that. This Angel just doesn't appear they even talk to him and ask him a question. Why do you look for the living among the Dead?

You know, I hope for the sake of those women there wasn't a long pause after that before the angel continued and he said he's not here he is risen.

And then is the passage tells us the angel goes on to remind them what Jesus had told them and I'm sure at that point in time. You're all the women are like, oh, yeah. I remember when Jesus said that 20489 says then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb they told all these things to the 11 and to all the others.

And you know all this happens that Sunday morning that first Easter morning and really if you think about it, it leads all the disciples and those women to that same crisis moment that we all come to. that moment where we have to believe that the tomb is empty or we don't

I mean, we really need to understand how crucial that is to our Christian faith. That we truly believe that our Saviour lives. or we don't that's not one of those things of the Christian faith that we can kind of be like, I'm well, I'm not sure about that one. The resurrection is crucial to what we believe as Christians.

Like I said, they're the resurrection of Jesus is a foundational belief upon which all the other things we believe is Christians are based. It's that important. remember what I said Paul said at the beginning of it, you know of Enterprise hasn't been raised your faith is futile. And there's a lot of Truth in that statement cuz if Christ hasn't been raised from the dead if he didn't win that victory over sin and death. What do we believe in? That's what Paul is getting at that. Because if Christ isn't still risen then he never defeated death. If Christ isn't still ribs, and then he did not pay the price for our sins and that means that all of us. Are one day going to have to pay that penalty.

But the good news is this that Christ is still risen. I'm going to have Zack play a video now that does a great job of illustrating that with the spoken word.

So much has changed since last Easter. The world has been shaken. Life has been disrupted what we once called normal seems like it may never return. It's been easy to be discouraged. police hope I feel the foundations of our faith begin to crumble. It's hard to keep our feet planted when the ground beneath feels like shifting sand.

Now more than ever we need to stand on the truth of Easter a day was changed our eternity changed. Our world forever death is defeated by life was consumed by Mercy. The grave was swallowed up by Victory see even in the darkest of moments. The love of Jesus could not be stopped. His faithfulness could not be broken and when the dust settled Jesus he still alive and Victorious.

Today you remember the truth of disturbed the power of the Resurrection in the promise of Eternity.

Yes, the world has been shaking. The grave it's still empty. Jesus he's still risen.

I like that video cuz as I thought about it, I mean If we're all honest. Who hasn't had a time in this past year? When your faith has felt like it's been shaken. When Something's Happened either illness or work-related things or just all the craziness You know, I think for 20/20 crazy was the normal right? I mean Nothing Was the Same it seems like nothing would be and as we slowly get back into things being like they were

You know, I think we need to be so thankful for that. And even though we might have faced difficult times where we felt that our faith was shaken and tested. We still made it through that year didn't we we're still here in 2021. We're still gathered here is a church family and were able to keep Gathering and those are all things to be thankful for as a Christian even though we've been shaken. We need to cling to the truth of Easter and the continued to Proclaim that.

Yo this morning at the Sunrise Service. I asked the question if he know why was the stone rolled away?

And I posed the idea of it was the stone rolled away so that Jesus could come out. Or was it so that the women in the disciples and us? Could go in. in John chapter 20 verses 19 and 20 We also read that later that same Sunday night. Same night that the women found the empty tomb later that night. All the disciples are gathered in a locked room cuz they're kind of freaking out not knowing what the Jews are going to do to each of them. Now that this is happened with Jesus and all at once Jesus appears in the room. All the doors were locked. All the windows were shut in Jesus just shows up. Well, Jesus could do that if he could just appear in the middle of that room. Do you really think the stone needed to be rolled away for him to get out of there? No. It didn't have to be. That's for the boys over there. Way to shake your head Xavier.

but you know the whole thing of I think it was moved so that we could truly see the tomb was empty so that the world could see all the Skeptics in the doubters and those who don't believe the claims of the Christian faith. The thing they always try to explain away is the empty tomb. They come up with all these different reasons, you know, and I joked about it earlier of the women saying they go to the wrong tomb, but that's one of the explanations people have used it all the way looked in the wrong one. That's why no one was there. You know all these claims that they've made and I think the reason it was rolled away. Was so that not only could we see it and believe not only could the disciples and the women know that Christ had indeed risen, but the entire world can and that will always stand as a testimony to the truth of Easter. And so often we don't talk about that enough. Open to makes it possible for us to see that Christ is no longer there. That's his grave clothes were left behind that. He's not there. like everyone thought

So I think the stone was rolled away so that we could look in and remember the truth of Easter.

And as we continue to celebrate Easter as we go and celebrate with friends and families today. I think it's important for all of us to think about what are we going to do with the miracle of Easter do we completely believe it and fully trust in it and realize that that is where the hope of our Christian faith comes from.

And if you do believe that do you realize that that means that you know, if you've truly put that trust in Jesus that you will one day be resurrected and a new physical body. Just like Christ to be with him.

You going to guarantee that Passage through that door into heaven. All you have to do is to accept Jesus as your Risen Savior. But don't forget the Risen part and how important it is that he still lives.

So is Wade comes up and sings this morning? And as our last special music, I just want to invite you that if you haven't made that choice that or if you feel that you need to recommit cuz you've wavered too much in your faith in your walk with God over this last year, you know, feel free to come up front and pray at the rail or pray at the steps or wherever. And just recommit yourself in the rest of this year to what Christ is calling you to do. So wait a few come up and sing for us.

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