Remembering The Resurrection
Introduction
I suppose it is befitting that Easter is the first holiday of Spring. After all, Spring is the season of the year when the earth begins to bud forth with new life. That is very much what Easter is all about. It is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Most all who have been saved for any length of time realize that colored eggs and bunny rabbits have nothing to do with the real meaning of Easter. In actuality, the practice of coloring eggs at Easter has its origin in the worship of Astarte. Legend says that an egg of wondrous size fell from heaven into the Euphrates River. The fish rolled the egg to shore, whereupon the doves settled on it, and hatched it. From the egg, so goes the legend, came the goddess Astarte (Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, published by Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey; pg. 109). I don’t feel that one is some kind of heathen for allowing their children to hunt colored eggs at Easter, but it’s good to know where the practice originated.
No, Easter is not the celebration of a goddess being hatched from an egg. It is the celebration of our Savior, who died on a cruel cross, was buried in a tomb, and rose from the dead on the third day. The wonderful thing about our Lord’s victory over death is the fact that His victory is the source of our ultimate victory (Rom.6: 4 & 5). This is not merely a tale. It’s the gospel truth.
I want us to take time to remember the resurrection of our Lord on this special day. It was and is a vitally important event. Had Jesus not resurrected from the grave, God’s salvation plan would have been invalid, meaning that you and I would have never known the joy of becoming forgiven children of God.
Theme: Christ’s resurrection meant:
I. VICTORY OVER DEATH
A. Christ Could Not Be Held By Death’s Prison.
Acts 2: 23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
1. The power of Christ overwhelmed the power of death.
John 10: 18 “No man taketh it (His life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”
NOTE: The great joy of Easter is not finding a cleverly hidden colored egg. The joy of Easter is knowing that Christ’s tomb is empty.
The Empty Tomb
Little Philip, born with Down’s Syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday School class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences, according to an article in Leadership Magazine. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully.
The Sunday after Easter the teacher brought Legs pantyhose containers, the kind that looks like large eggs. Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life, and put it in the egg-like container. Back in the classroom, they would share their new-life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion. After running about the church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table.
Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. After each one, whether a flower, butterfly, or leaf, the class would “ooh” and “ahh.” Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed, “That’s stupid. That’s not fair. Somebody didn’t do their assignment.”
Philip spoke up, “That’s mine.”
“Philip, you don’t ever do things right!” the students retorted. “There’s nothing there!”
I did so do it,” Philip insisted. “I did do it. It’s empty. The tomb was empty!”
Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class. He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar, not with flowers, but with their Sunday School teacher, each to lay on it an empty pantyhose egg.
Author unknown, but copied from sermonillustrations.com.
2. The resurrection proved Christ’s deity.
Rom.1: 3 “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:”
3. Jesus Christ now possesses the keys of hell and death.
Rev.1: 18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
B. Christ’s Resurrection Guaranteed God’s Salvation Plan.
1 Cor.15: 12“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
NOTE: Man’s sin resulted in the sentence of eternal death. The death of the Savior resulted in eternal life for all who trust in Him.
Death
Death and darkness, get you packing,
Nothing now to man is lacking,
All your triumphs now are ended,
And what Adam marred, is mended.
Henry Vaughan.
C. Christ’s Resurrection Assured His Promise.
John 11: 25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
John 14: 19b “…because I live, ye shall live also.”
II. VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL
A. Satan’s Downfall Began With His Insurrection.
Isa.14:12-15 12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the side of the pit.”
B. Satan’s Rebellion Continued Via Infiltration.
1. Satan infiltrated the Garden of Eden, and mankind became corrupted.
Gen.3:6-8 6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.”
2. Satan succeeded in bringing upon mankind God’s condemnation.
Rom.5: 12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
C. Satan’s Plot Was Thwarted By Christ’s Intervention.
Heb.2: 14 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;”
1 John 3: 8b “…for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
NOTE: Many times Christians ascribe much too much power to Satan. We need to realize that Jesus has already defeated the devil at Calvary; and the resurrection of Christ is proof of that defeat.
Defeated But Still Standing
A friend and associate of boxers, American writer Wilson Mizner was himself a talented fighter. One night Mizner and boxer “Mysterious” Billy Smith visited a San Francisco bar, where Mizner started a fight with some longshoremen. At the end only one longshoreman was left standing. Although Mizner rained punches at him, he stayed obstinately upright. Suddenly, Smith noticed what was happening. “Leave him alone, Wilson!” he shouted. “I knocked him out five minutes ago.”
On investigation, it turned out that a punch from Smith had indeed knocked the longshoreman out cold, but had also wedged him vertically between two pieces of furniture.
Here’s an accurate picture of our already-defeated but still standing enemy, Satan!
Today In The Word, April 3, 1993.
III. VICTORY OVER DESTRUCTION
A. The Sentence Of Death Is Upon Every Sinner.
Ezek.18: 4b “…the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
Rom.6: 23a “For the wages of sin is death…”
B. The Savior’s Resurrection Validated His Sacrifice.
Rom.4: 25 “Who was delivered for our offences (Christ), and was raised again for our justification.”
1 Cor.15: 17 “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
Folks, the Lord Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to die for us, rather than live without us. But if Christ had not come forth from the tomb, His sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary would have been absolutely meaningless.
Conclusion
Father Died With His Son
Patrick Morley, in Man in the Mirror, tells about a group of fishermen who landed in a secluded bay in Alaska and had a great day fishing for salmon. But when they returned to their seaplane, it was aground because of the fluctuating tides. They had no option except to wait until the next morning till the tides came in. But when they took off, they only got a few feet off the ground and then crashed down into the sea. Being aground the day before had punctured one of the pontoons, and it had filled up with water.
The seaplane slowly began to sink. The three men and a 12-year-old son of one of them, Mark, prayed and then jumped into the icy waters to swim to shore. The water was cold, and the riptide was strong, and two of the men reached the shore exhausted. They looked back, and their companion, who was also a strong swimmer, did not swim to shore because his 12-year-old son wasn’t strong enough to make it. They saw that father with his arms around his son being swept out to sea. He chose to die with his son rather than to live without him.
There is a fact of life that most kids do not know. We love our children so much that we would die for them. (Robert Russell, on Preaching Today.)