Sermons

Jesus Has Risen! – So What?

Posted by Alex on
Sermon on April 1 by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 12-20

Why does the resurrection of Jesus matter?

1. IF JESUS DID NOT RISE FROM THE DEAD, WOULD IT CHANGE MY FAITH?

… Christianity would be a waste of time! (v12-14)
Jewish thinking: the resurrection occurs after the end of the world, with all the people. The New Testament: Jesus has risen within history for the salvation of all who believe.

If He didn’t rise from the dead, why worry about anything He said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether you like His teaching but whether or not He rose from the dead?
(Tim Keller)

… the Bible would be fake, not a reliable book! (v3-4)
If Jesus did not rise, the disciples lived and died for a lie; and we would be believing and teaching lies to our children.
If Jesus is risen, everything in the Bible is true; and His every claim to be One with the Father must be true.

2. IF JESUS DID NOT RISE FROM THE DEAD, WOULD IT CHANGE MY LIFE?

  • Only the Risen Jesus can finally bury my past (v17-18)
    The resurrection is God’s stamp that every single one of my sins has been nailed and buried for good (Heb 7:25)
    Do you see your life through the lens of what God has done to heal your life?
  • Only the Risen Jesus can fully empower my present (v19)
    Since Jesus is risen I can draw from a stronger law than the law of sin and death – the resurrection power of Jesus.
    Are you daily drawing from the resurrection power of Jesus to overcome doubt and embrace your challenges with joy?
  • Only the Risen Jesus can totally secure my future (v20)

Jesus’s resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project; not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven.
(N.T. Wright)

Are you living boldly for Jesus now, because you know that death cannot rob you of an eternal future?

Remember – if Jesus rose, this is the key to everything.

What you do with Him will impact what you are living for, why you are here, how you will bring up your family – and where you will be after you die.

 

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