A GREAT FUTURE



OUR RISEN SAVIORMatthew 28:1-6 & I Peter 1:3-4Our word Easter comes from the old English word for their month which corresponds with April. Easter takes place on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox on March 21. In the last 100 years Easter has been celebrated 78 times in April and only 22 times in March about 20%. Over time Easter came to be used by Christians to celebrate the resurrection of Christ which most often occurred in April. In 1971 Bill Gaither wrote a song describing the resurrection:God sent his Son – they called him Jesus; he came to love,heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon;An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.DIVINE INTERVENTION – Empty tomb :1-4 Women :1The first day of the week – Sunday after the Sabbath day of rest.Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ from the dead who fulfilled all of the OT law so that we don’t have to keep it anymore.Mary Magdalene – Jesus had cast out seven demons (Luke 8:2).Mary – not Jesus’ mother, but the mother James and John (27:56). Earthquake :2Great earthquake – not an ordinary earthquake which had happened when Jesus died (27:51), but a violent earthquakewhich was accompanied by the angel of the Lord.Charles Spurgeon – “Death was going through an upheaval. When Christ awoke from the sleep of death, he shook the world.” Angel :3Appearance (KJB countenance) – refers to his whole being.He was very bright and shining while his clothes were pure white. He appearance gives us an image of what heaven will be like. Soldiers :4Out of fear of seeing the angel, the soldiers were so frightened that they fainted. In the Scriptures when an angel appeared the people were usually troubled because they did not expect them. Zechariah was afraid when he saw an angel in the temple (Luke 1:12-13).PERSONAL INVITATION – Come see :5-6 Seek :5The angel encouraged the women not to be afraid, which was a natural reaction in seeing an angel. He had come to bring them good news – that Jesus was no longer dead, but alive.Jesus had died on Friday afternoon at 3 pm. Matt. 27:50 Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Joseph of Arimathea then laid his body in tomb (27:59-60).There was no doubt to anyone who saw the crucifixion that Jesus had really died like the two thieves with him (27:38). Believe :6The angel tells the women that Jesus is no longer in the tomb, but he is alive just as he had told them he would rise from the dead.Risen – Gk. to get up from lying down. 1. Matt. 2:14 Joseph arose from his sleep when the angel spoke to him in a dream about taking the baby Jesus to Egypt.2. Matt. 9:7 The lame man, whose four friends had brought him to Jesus to be healed, rose from his bed and walked out of the house.3. Matt 27:52 Those who had died were raised from the dead. To rise is the opposite of lying down. Lying down means you are inactive while rising means you are active. Lying down can be the result of disease or sleep or death, while rising means you are alive. There is the saying, “Dead men don’t walk.” To rise means you are alive whether it is from disease or sleep or death.The angel invites the women to come see the place where his body had been laid because he had died. The angel wanted the women to see for themselves that they body of Jesus was no longer there.He wanted them to believe because of the evidence so they would be able to personally share the truth of the resurrection with others. Significance1. The resurrection is the proof Jesus was the promised Messiah. Romans 1:4 Jesus was declared to the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead.Declared – Gk. to appoint, decree or determine.Berkeley & Wuest – demonstrated, Williams – proved.John Gill – “Clearly made it appear that he was the Son of God.”The resurrection of Jesus demonstrated that he was the son of God because after he rose from the dead he did not die again. 2. It is the promise that God accepted his sacrifice for your sins. Romans 4:25 Jesus was delivered up (crucified) for our trespasses and raised for our justification.Justification – Gk. to be acquitted and therefore not guilty.It is the act of God in declaring people free from guilt and acceptable to him because the guilt of their sins has been removed by the death of Christ of our behalf. ApplicationYou have to be convinced of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.Thomas Watson – “Faith is seated in the understanding, as well as the will.” You have to choose to believe Christ died for your sins after hearing the truth that he rose from the dead. In 1874 Robert Lowry wrote a hymn celebrating the resurrection:Low in the grave he lay – Jesus, my Savior! Waiting the coming day – Jesus, my Lord! Vainly they watch his bed – Jesus my Savior! Vainly they seal the dead – Jesus, my Lord! Death cannot keep his prey – Jesus, my Savior! He tore the bars away – Jesus, my Lord!Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o’er his foes.He arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!FUTURE EXPECTATION I Peter 1:3-4Peter writing 30 years later describes the wonderful hope which believers have as a result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Living hope :3Peter praises and thanks God for his magnificent mercy whichhas given us a new beginning and future hope by completelychanging our lives from what they were in the past.New birth – Gk. to give new life to (1:23 born again). The word is used to describe what happens to trees, plantsand flowers when they come to life in the springtime. This new birth is not a physical birth but a spiritual birth. It takes place as the Word of God comes into a person’s life and gives them spiritual life through Jesus Christ.Peter pictures our hearts as dry and shriveled and dead in sin untilGod implants new life in us which gives us a living hope which isbased on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.Living hope – the expectation of going to heaven after you die.For believers our future hope is not just wishful thinking or a vague feeling that everything will turn out right in the end butit is based on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If Godraised him up from the dead, then he will also raise those who believe in him from the dead. Ephesians 2:12 Remember that you were separate from Christ, . . . without hope and without God in the world.A living hope is the expectation of going to heaven after you die.F.B. Meyer the famous British pastor in early 1900’s called the living hope “the link between our present and future.” Our living hope is the present promise we hold on to in this life and the future reward we look forward to in the next life. Permanent inheritance :4Inheritance – what is passed on to you as a gift because you belong to the family. A believer’s inheritance is his forgiveness of sins now and his reunion with Christ in the future. Peter uses three words to describe our lasting inheritance:1. Imperishable – Gk. will not decay or lose its value. 3:4 the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.The word was used of a territory which was secure againstinvading armies. The land of Palestine has been overrunby enemies’ time and time again throughout history. Our inheritance in heaven will never change.2. Undefiled – Gk. without defect or pure.Revelation 21:27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it . . . only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.There is not a country in the world that is free from the effects of sin that ruin and destroy people’s lives throughimmorality, drugs, greed, pride, selfishness and evil. Our inheritance in heaven will be perfect.3. Unfading – Gk. does not change over time.Does not change because it will never lose its glory or value.The glory of Solomon’s temple lasted only a short time before itwas destroyed. The great cities of Babylon and Rome graduallydisappeared. The beauty of the flowers quickly fades away.But in heaven nothing will ever be dulled by time or destroyedby man, but will continue to remain perfect and complete. Our inheritance in heaven is forever. Death will not change it; sin will not destroy it and time willnot remove it, because our inheritance is eternally secure.Kept (KJB reserved) – Gk. guarded or watched over.Used of the soldiers who watched Jesus die (Matt. 27:36,54).The word kept is in the perfect tense which indicates that our inheritance already exists and is being preserved for us. Christ is in heaven now preparing a place for us in heaven with him.John 14:2 Jesus told his disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”APPLICATION1. Jesus died on the cross for your sins to be forgiven.You have to admit that you have broken God’s laws.You have to believe that he died for you personally.You have to commit your life to follow him.Trusting Christ is a lifetime commitment, not a one-time event.Real trust is seen over time as you walk faithfully with Christ.2. Jesus rose from the grave to give you eternal life.You receive eternal life when you trust Jesus as your Savior.Work on developing your relationship with Christ.Disappointment and hardships should cause us to long for heaven.Physical suffering should cause us to look forward to new bodies.Death of loved ones is a remined that eternal life is our hope.CONCLUSIONRise, O church, and lift your voices; Christ has conquered death and hell. Sing as all the earth rejoices; Resurrection anthems swell. Come and worship . . . worship Christ, the risen King!See the tomb where death had laid him; empty now, its mouth declares: “Death and I could not contain him, for the throne of lifeHe shares.” Come and worship . . . worship Christ, the risen King!We acclaim your life, O Jesus; Now we sing your victory. Sin and hell may seek to seize us, but your conquest keeps us free. Stand in triumph, stand in triumph; worship Christ, the risen King! ................
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