Easter Sunday April 8, 2007

Christ is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!
Luke 24:1-6

I. Introduction

“…suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 HE IS NOT HERE; HE HAS RISEN!’” (Luke 24:4-6)

Before I read more, let me share a true story with you.

About 1930, the Communist leader Bukharin journeyed from Moscow to Kiev. His mission was to address a huge assembly. His subject, atheism. For a solid hour he aimed his heavy artillery at Christianity, hurling argument and ridicule. At last he was finished and viewed what seemed to be the smoldering ashes of men's faith. "Are there any questions?" Bukharin demanded. A solitary man arose and asked permission to speak. He mounted the platform
and moved close to the Communist. The audience was breathlessly silent as the man surveyed them first to the right, then to the left. At last he shouted the ancient Orthodox greeting, "CHRIST IS RISEN!" The vast assembly arose as one man and the response came crashing like the sound of an avalanche, "HE IS RISEN INDEED!"

James W. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1988, p. 176

This morning when you hear me say, “He is risen” and if you are comfortable doing so, I ask that you would say, “He is risen indeed!”

So, back to the reading:

6 “‘HE IS NOT HERE; HE HAS RISEN!...(He is risen indeed!) Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”’ 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” (Luke 24:6-11)

How many people are saying the same thing to this day?

Religion is OK, but you want me to actually believe that He is Risen? (He is Risen Indeed!)

What thinking person would believe this?

What possible evidence could you produce to justify such a claim?

Before I answer that let me explain why this question is so important.

II. What Is So Important About The Resurrection?

Josh McDowell, who initially set out to prove that the Bible was unreliable, but later went on to become one of the greatest living defenders of the faith wrote: After more than 700 hours of studying this subject (of the resurrection) and thoroughly investigating its foundation, I came to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted upon people, or it is the most important fact of history.

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians makes it clear that if Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead – our faith is useless!

“But tell me this — since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13 For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14 And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. 15 And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! 19 And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world. 20 But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-20, NLT)

Paul goes on to say in verses 30-32: “And why should we ourselves be continually risking our lives, facing death hour by hour? 31 For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in you. 32 And what value was there in fighting wild beasts — those men of Ephesus — if there will be no resurrection from the dead? If there is no resurrection, ‘Let's feast and get drunk, for tomorrow we die!’” (NLT)

If Jesus did not rise from the dead than we may as well end the service now, go home and indulge ourselves for there is no hope for a better life.

BUT, He is Risen! (He is Risen Indeed!)

At this point you may expect me to lay out a whole bunch of facts, but there are volumes that have been written concerning the historical reliability of the resurrection.

I would like to share with you what I have considered the most compelling evidence of all – Hundreds of millions of changed hearts and lives and a message that has endured and brought hope for 2000 years.

Charles Colson, who was one of the primary players in the whole Watergate scandal of the 1970’s and then came to Christ while serving time in prison for his involvement said this:

I have been challenged myself many times on the resurrection. My answer is always that the disciples and five hundred others gave eyewitness accounts of seeing Jesus, risen from the tomb. But then I'm asked, "How do you know they were telling the truth? Maybe they were perpetrating a hoax."

My answer to that comes from an unlikely source: Watergate.

Watergate involved a conspiracy to cover up, perpetuated by the closest aids to the President of the United States -- the most powerful men in America, who were intensely loyal to their president. But one of them, John Dean, turned states evidence, that is, testified against Nixon, as he put it, "to save his own skin" -- and he did so only two weeks after informing the president about what was really going on -- two weeks! The real cover-up, the lie, could only be held together for two weeks, and then everybody else jumped ship in order to save themselves. Now, the fact is that all that those around the President were facing was embarrassment, maybe prison. Nobody's life was at stake.

But what about the disciples? Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings, stonings, execution. Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the dead.

Don't you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the authorities? None did.

You see, people will give their lives for something they believe to be true -- they will never give their lives for something they know to be false.

The Watergate cover-up reveals the true nature of humanity. Even political zealots at the pinnacle of power will, in the crunch, save their own necks, even at the expense of the ones they profess to serve so loyally. But the apostles could not deny Jesus because they had seen Him face to face, and they knew He had risen from the dead.

No, you can take it from an expert in cover-ups -- I've lived through Watergate -- that nothing less than a resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is Lord. Two thousand years later, nothing less than the power of the risen Christ could inspire Christians around the world to remain faithful -- despite prison, torture, and death.

Jesus is Lord: That's the thrilling message of Easter. And it's an historic fact, one convincingly established by the evidence -- and one you can bet your life upon.

III. Application

So what if Jesus did arise from the dead? What impact does that have on my life today?

Romans 6:4 states, “…just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

Jesus died and then was raised from the dead in order that we might experience the blessing of sins forgiven and receive the power to live a new life full of love, joy and peace. Sounds pretty good so far - someone else (Jesus) dies so I do not have to pay the penalty for my sins (eternity without God) and in exchange I am given a new lease on life.

This is all made possible not only because Jesus died, but because He was resurrected from the dead!

Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins.”

But He is Risen! (He is risen indeed!)

But before we all go home to our various Easter celebrations, let us take just a moment to look a little closer at our passage in Romans where it talks about the resurrection allowing us to have a newness of life.

“What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:1-5, NRSV)

Wait! You tell me I can have a new life, but what is this about my need to “die” if I want to truly live? I thought Jesus died for me so I do not have to?

That is true, but the power of the Gospel is that it changes our lives.

It is when we fully identify with the death of Christ that we participate in the resurrection life!

So what does it mean that I need to die so that I might live?

I do NOT mean that we are to take our own physical life. What I DO mean is that we “die” to our self (our stubbornness and persistence in going our own way instead of God’s way).

It is only as we unite ourselves with Him in His death that we will know what it means to be filled with His resurrection power and blessing.

If you want to truly experience all the blessings represented in this Easter celebration, I encourage you to fully surrender yourself to Jesus Christ today.

He is risen! (He is risen indeed!)