Friends,
Rodney Buchanan shares this story -- I read a recent
magazine article about a pastor and his encounter with some unbelievers while
having breakfast. Here is how he tells the story: “My wife and I were
vacationing in Estes Park, Colorado, and had breakfast in a coffee shop. It was
empty except for four men at another table. One was mocking Christianity, and
in particular, the Resurrection of Christ. He went on and on about what a
stupid teaching that was. I could feel the Lord asking me: ‘Are you going to
let this go unchallenged?’ However I was thinking, But I don’t even know these
guys. He’s bigger than me. He’s got cowboy boots on and looks tough. I was
agitated and frightened about doing anything. But I knew I had to stand for
Jesus. Finally, I told Susan to pray. I took my last drink of water and went
over and challenged him. With probably a squeaky voice, I said, ‘I’ve been
listening to you, and you don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I did my best
to give him a flying rundown of the proofs for the resurrection. He was
speechless, and I was half dead. I must have shaken for an hour after that. But
I had to take a stand. We cannot remain anonymous in our faith forever. God has
a way of flushing us out of our quiet little places, and when He does we must
be ready to speak for him.” I admire this pastor’s courage and his
determination to be a witness, regardless of how difficult it was. A lot of
Christians would have just sat there in fear or fumed, thinking about how
terrible the things were that these men were saying. I realize that I have the
opportunity of looking back with hindsight on the situation, but it seems to me
that he missed the most important and impressive proof of the resurrection —
his own life. I wonder if it would not have been more effective to walk over to
the men at the table and say something like this: “You know, I couldn’t help
but overhear your conversation, and found it very interesting. If you don’t
mind, I would like to pay for all of your breakfasts. The reason I want to do
this is that, because of the resurrection, Jesus Christ has changed my life and
lives in me, and wants to communicate his tremendous love for you.” Rational
arguments do not change people…changed lives do. Changed lives change the lives
of others, and thereby change the world.
I want to take a closer look at resurrection applied, now
that we are about a month removed from Easter.
Resurrection does not mean a whole lot to us unless we are living like
“resurrection” people who one day will be resurrected. And this brings us to
Pauls’ explanation concerning the importance of the resurrection for us. (1
Corinthians 15:1-23) Paul is addressing the Corinthian church, and there are
some there who have some misunderstandings concerning Jesus’ resurrection. Paul seeks to correct these issues. Paul shares that one of the greatest proofs
of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ were His many post-resurrection
appearances. 15:6 says that Jesus
appears to more than 500 people! So,
there are many people that could testify to the trustworthiness of the
Resurrection of Jesus. The reality of His appearance is that a transformation
in Jesus’ followers takes place. This is evidence of the reality of the
resurrection. Lee Strobel writes,
“Nobody willingly dies for something that they know is false.”(Case for Easter,
p.88). But they know that the Resurrection is true, so they are willing their
lives because of their belief in the resurrection of Jesus. And the reality of the resurrection’s
transforming power doesn’t stop with the eyewitnesses, but ultimately affects
thousands of people.
So the question is, “Why should Christ’s resurrection be
important to me?” As we have seen, the
Resurrection proves that Jesus is God and not an imposter. Paul opens the
letter to the Romans (1:1-4) and reveals that the Resurrection proves Jesus to
be the Son of God and brings us face to face with the fact that He is who He
claims to be -- God. The founder of every other religion has found a way to die
and stayed dead. Jesus rose again. This is important to us because it forces us
to make a decision about our lives. Since Christ is who He claimed to be, how
will you respond to Him? We need to come to understand that the Resurrection
makes your salvation possible. Without the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, every
person is still dead in their sins. If Christ did not rise, then you are still
dead in your sins and your Christian faith is worthless and anyone you’ve known
who died a believer is just as lost as an unbeliever. But, faith in Christ is
not in vain. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to
life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
It is important to you, because Jesus’ being alive means the way to God
has been “paved” by Jesus and you can be made right with Him and have
relationship with Him this morning.
One final, important matter to consider is that the
Resurrection makes your resurrection possible.
You and I are spirit and body -- we are spiritual and physical. Our
resurrection is only made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As
Stanley Horton points out, “Christ’s resurrection and ours are part of one and
the same plan of God.” (Horton, Stanley. I & II Corinthians. p. 150) Christ’s resurrection guarantees our own
“spiritual,” bodily resurrection. The Bible refers to Him as being the ‘first
fruits,’ which guarantees the whole harvest, of which you and I are a part if
we are in Christ. In other words, since He was raised first, we know we will be
raised. (vv. 20-23) Paul says, “We
ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this
hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:23) This
‘first fruits of the Spirit’ spoken of in Romans 8:23 is elsewhere referred to
as a deposit or guarantee, in Ephesians 1:14, 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 2
Corinthians 5:5. The Spirit’s indwelling
is a guarantee that much more is on the way. We have the down payment of the
Spirit, but are awaiting the full transaction that will come to fruition when
our bodies are resurrected and we live forever with Him. When will our
resurrection take place? The passage says “When he comes”…whenever that is to
be. When we receive “resurrected” spiritual bodies at Jesus’ second coming, our
current bodies will be transformed. They
will be bodies completely perfect and dominated by the Spirit rather than the
sinful nature. We are awaiting the day our bodies are completely made new and
free of the weight of sin and be entirely spiritual. “For in this hope we were
saved” indeed…resurrection is our hope. When
Christ returns we will see Him and we will be transformed -- what a blessed
hope indeed!
Unlike the beliefs of the Greek philosophers who thought
the body was evil and something we should want to be released from, God made
our bodies as part of who we are and they complete us. Right now our bodies are
affected by sin and they die, but God has a plan to resurrect our bodies to
perfection. So now, just look at yourself. Take a minute. Do you feel too fat?
Too thin? Got hurting knees or allergies? Losing your hair? Whatever problems
and imperfections you have are temporary and will one day be changed in the
twinkling of an eye…if you are in Christ. That is our hope. It is the completion for us
of “the extreme body makeover”…a heavenly body for eternal living. While you
may be as broken as Humpty Dumpty because of sin that is not fixable by anyone in
the world, the tomb is genuinely empty and Jesus is definitely alive. What He did on the cross paid for your sins
and you’ve been given an opportunity to not only be fixed, but to become a new
creation and to have fellowship with God. This is the joy of living in the
Resurrection. God can fix you spiritually and you can have the hope that He
will one day complete your redemption by redeeming your body to be something like
Jesus’ body!
Blessings, Don