Why Jesus MUST RISE from the dead!

Why did Jesus have to rise from the dead?

Outline:

The Easter Story –

Read John 20:1-9

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

John ends this account by admitting that he and the other disciples still didn’t understand the significance of Jesus resurrection. And this is often where many of us are as believers. We know we need Christ’s death to pay the penalty of our sins and to help us as guilty sinners to get out of hell and into heaven.

We all see and feel the affects of sin. In our Bible study with the workers, Rocky Brian and I just talked about what God said would be the consequence of Adam and Eve’s choice to eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They would die. 

·        Their relationship with God would be broken,

·        their bodies would begin to die,

·        and their spirit would be separated from God forever. 

But this weekend we celebrated the completion of what God did to provide a way for that relationship to be restored, and for our Spirit to be able to be united with God again. God’s solution involved death, and the shedding of blood. The pay for Adam’s choice was death, and it was a debt he and us owe that we will never be able to pay. 

BUT GOD! God Himself paid our sin debt. It was a debt he did not owe. He did not owe the debt of death. He could live forever because He had no sin. But, He chose to pay our sin debt with his own body. His death paid our sin debt, and for those who believe Jesus died in their place, faith in what He did enables us to be reunited with God again. It has nothing to do with us. We are hopeless and condemned. We owe a debt we can never pay. But, God in His love for you paid your debt. The work is finished on the cross! If you believe He died in your place, then his payment is for you! Your debt is paid. He died on the cross to pay your sin debt with His death. 

You can now enjoy eternal life (oltaim oltaim) with God just like he intended when he created us.

But, that was Friday night! It’s now Sunday. Jesus is no longer dead. He is risen! In John 20:9 he said his disciples didn’t understand that Jesus MUST RISE! So, why did Jesus HAVE TO rise? 

Resurrection is the restoration of LIFE.

Rom 5:12-17

¹² When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. ¹³ Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. ¹⁴ Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did.

Sin entered the world through Adam. God said the penalty or the pay for sin is death. So, death spread to all, not because of Adam’s sin, but because everyone sins! From Adam, to Moses, until the time Jesus lived, everyone sinned and therefore death reigned. 

Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. ¹⁵ But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶ And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

But, God’s grace and his gift of forgiveness through the death of Jesus is greater. Just like it took one man’s sin for the sickness of sin and death to spread to all, it only took one righteous person, Jesus for forgiveness to be made available to all. But, this gift is different than the sickness of sin. We can be made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins – How? Not because we are good, or because we did something great to deserve it, or that we were able to pay the penalty… we are still hopeless and condemned. But, we were made right with God by God’s free gift. 

Adam’s sin caused death to rule over all. But, even greater is God’s gift of righteousness.  For all who receive it will LIVE IN TRIUMPH over sin and death THROUGH this one man, Jesus. How are we made right with God, even though we are guilty sinners? Resurrection!! Jesus rose so that we all would be able to LIVE in triumph over sin and death through His life. Resurrection is the restoration of Life! Restored to an abundant life in triumph over sin. But, not in our strength, nor by what we do. It is only THROUGH this one man, Jesus! His resurrection and His Life in us!

Only Christ is capable of living the Christian life, for the very obvious and simple reason that He is the Christian life. There is a big difference between knowing our position (Christ in me) and recognizing that ONLY Christ is capable of living it.

• 1 John 5:11 said, And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Triumphant Living, the Much More of our Salvation

One of my favorite authors said this:

“This is what the gospel is all about. God did not send Jesus to die only to help guilty sinners to get out of hell and into heaven. It’s gloriously true, but that’s not the whole story! The gospel of the grace of God, is not just to get sinners out of hell and into heaven, but even greater, it’s to get God out of heaven and into men!” (Thomas-Are you well)

Christ IN the Christian is the source of the Christian Life. Christ died to change your destination when we die, but He also rose again from the dead to live His Life in you and to change who you are here and now, while you live on earth! He not only died for what you have done, but he also, through his spirit rose again to replace what you are. You are a Son of Adam. Through resurrection, you can become a Son of God. It’s only His resurrected life in you that will make you a son of God. (1 John 5:11) God gave us eternal life, and that life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son, living in them, dwelling in them, has Life. It’s His life in you that overcomes the old Adam nature, the flesh, that life that is set on self and the things of this world. 

Romans 5:8-10 –

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

God didn’t wait for us to clean up our lives, to live perfect and have gutpela pasin before sending Jesus. We were destined to die and spend eternity in hell separated from God. While we were still condemned, while we were still living in sin, if we believe by faith in His death as payment for our sin, we have a new destination, heaven!

 ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

Our relationship with God was forever cut off / broken by sin. It is something we cannot fix ourselves. We needed the death of Christ to restore our broken relationship with God. By faith in what Christ did for us, our relationship with God was restored, and we are now free from the condemnation of sin.

While it’s gloriously true that through His death God changed our destination from hell to heaven. Through His death, our broken relationship with God was also restored. But, Salvation is even more than that!

¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Remember what we read earlier from verse 17? ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

It was through Jesus’ death we are restored to a life of triumph over sin! Through Jesus’ death our relationship with God was restored. But, here he is saying through Jesus life, through his resurrection life in us, there even more. The gospel is not just heaven one day, but it’s Christ here and now.  

CHRIST is the source of a Triumphant CHRISTian Life. 

The past week our generator has been having trouble. It only happens at night though. Thursday night, just after midnight, our power switched off and on about 3 times, then went off completely. When I went to the generator to check it out, town power was on, but there was no power on the center. The generator was reading that town power was on, so it didn’t start, but the source was bad. It was too inconsistent to run the center. I was able to get the generator started, and went back to bed. 

About 3 AM it happened again. Our power went off an on about 2 or 3 times again. But this time, the generator turned on, bypassed the corrupt town power, and turned the lights on for the center. 

When the source is corrupt, so will be the outcome. Town power was too corrupt to run the center. We needed a better source. The same is true in our Christian Life. If CHRIST is not the source, then we are not living as God intended! Any source other than God is corrupt and cannot power your CHRISTian Life! 

What makes something Godly? 

It is not the nature of what you do that determines the spirituality of any action, but the origin / the source of what you do. What makes an activity or an action Godly is the source of that activity.

Ian Thomas asked the question, “How should we define “the works of God”? Quite obviously, the work of God is God Himself at work. If it is not God Himself doing the work, it is not a work of God.” If God is not the source, then the work is not godly. Which also means that because God is not the source, that action, that work is actually god-less. It is without God! 

Jesus was the ultimate example of Godly living. There was never a moment in the life of the Lord Jesus when God was not the source, because there was never anything He did, never anything He said, never any step He took which did not come from God. There was nothing in His life that was not the activity of the Father in and through the Son.

The Lord Jesus summarized this in John 14:10: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” In other words, “I have presented My body to the Father who indwells Me, that He may do His works through me. My Father does His works through His Spirit indwelling Me.”

Jesus often acknowledged his dependence upon His Father. 

·        John 5:19-24 The Son can do nothing of Himself

• John 5:30 I can do nothing of myself – I seek not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me
• John 6:38 I have come down, not to do my will, but the will of Him who sent me
• John 14:9-11 whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.. The Father, who dwells in me, does his work (v10)

As Jesus was preparing for his crucifixion, He told his disciples they needed to live the same way. 

John 15:4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  ⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing

The Christian Life can only be lived in the energy and power of the One who indwells you now by His Spirit, just as He once walked only in the energy and power of the Father who indwelt Him through the Spirit.

Only Christ is capable of living the Christian life.  

The Christian Life is a lifetime of allowing the Life of Jesus in you to live in you and do His work through you. Your salvation is a million times more than simply knowing your sins are forgiven and you are on your way to heaven. As a forgiven sinner you are inhabited by God. God has taken up residence in your life!  Christ IN YOU is what makes you a CHRISTian! And you need Christ to live the CHRISTian life through you!

You can only be what God intends you to be to the measure or degree of your dependence on God. Living the Christian life as God intended happens the moment you genuinely admit, “I cannot—and only God can.” This is what living by faith means. It means submitting to the fact that you cannot and only God can. It means acting on the assumption that this is true, and acknowledging that in every situation moment by moment, and relying on Him to accomplish what you cannot, while you tell Him, “Thank You!” You give Him your hands for Him to work with, your feet for Him to walk with, your lips for Him to speak with, your eyes for Him to see with, your ears for Him to hear with, your mind for Him to think with, your heart for Him to love with. You tell Him, “Thank You for living in and through me to do your work!”

He doesn’t give strength, He is your strength

He doesn’t give you wisdom, He is your wisdom

This does not mean that you do nothing. While God was using Jesus hands and feet, ears and mouth, Jesus was very busy. But the source of what Jesus did was Always and Only what pleased His Father.

I realize much of what I am sharing is more “theology” than practical. So, how do we apply these truths to our daily life? This is something I have been wrestling with myself the last few weeks. So, I thought it would be helpful to you if I just shared a few quotes and things I wrote in my journal the last couple weeks. 

In what ways have I tried to live the Christian life for the Lord Jesus, instead of allowing Him to live it through me?

Ian Thomas asks the question, “How should we define “the works of God”? Quite obviously, the work of God is God Himself at work. If it is not God Himself doing the work, it is not a work of God.”

Jesus lived with the constant awareness of His Father’s presence. He did nothing out of his own selfish ambition. Everything He did was His Father’s work, His Father’s plan, His Father’s Words!

How can I learn to live that way? That every activity I do, every word I say, every place I go, would be God Himself through me! Jesus said in John 5:19, “I can do nothing on my own..” John 15:5 Jesus reminds us of the same. That we can do nothing on our own. God is the source of His own glory. For any activity to bring God glory, He must be the source of it. As I go through my day, I want to learn to recognize God as the source, and acknowledge my availability to Him, and do things in dependence on Him.

We already read this, but as I wrestle with wanting God to be the source of everything I do, it has helped to remember that it’s not the activity that makes it godly or godless, it’s the origin or the source. I can wash dishes in the power of my flesh, or I can wash dishes as the activity God is doing through me to bless my wife. It’s a matter of my perspective. I can go throughout my day without thinking about God at all, and much of what I do therefore is “God-less” because I have not brought God into it. On the other hand, I can do those same activities, and acknowledge God as the source, and they can be Godly.

This is true of you also. 

o  You can go to the garden and work in your own strength, or you can go in dependence on God as your strength and wisdom. 

o  You can make a blind in your own strength, or in dependence on God as your strength.

o  Everything you do is done with God as the source, or the flesh as the source

There was never anything Jesus did that was not Godly, because there was nothing in his life that was not the activity of God the Father working in and through the Son!  The whole activity of the Lord Jesus on earth as Man was the Father’s activity in the Son, through the eternal Spirit, as Jesus presented His body to the Father through the Spirit. This is true also for us. Our spirituality is simply our availability to God for His divine activity, and the form of this activity is irrelevant.

If it pleases you, always and only, to do what pleases God … you can do as you please!

I love that last thought, “If it pleases you, ALWAYS and ONLY, to do what pleases God, you can do as you please!” So, going back to my question, “How can I go throughout my day doing everything in dependence on God?  How do I know whether I am doing things in my strength, or God through me? If ALWAYS and ONLY I am seeking to please God, then that activity will be God Himself through me, and therefore I can do as I please. So, it’s not a matter of asking what should or should not be done, but rather acknowledging the source.  Who am I seeking to please in this activity?

Is the origin of this activity to please myself, or is the origin, the purpose, the motivation, to please God always and only? 

Who am I seeking to please, in this activity?”

As I wrap up, let me just quickly review:

Resurrection is the restoration of LIFE.

Only Christ is capable of living the Christian life

How are we made right with God, even though we are guilty sinners? Resurrection!! Jesus rose so that we all would be able to LIVE in triumph over sin and death through His life. 

Triumphant Living, the Much More of our Salvation

It was through Jesus’ death we are restored to a life of triumph over sin! Through Jesus’ death our relationship with God was restored. But, here he is saying through Jesus life, through his resurrection life in us, there is even more to our salvation. The gospel is not just heaven one day, but it’s Christ here and now to live victorious through you!

CHRIST is the source of a Triumphant CHRISTian Life. 

The Christian Life can only be lived in the energy and power of the One who indwells you The work of God is God Himself at work. If it is not God at work, then it is not Godly.

He doesn’t give strength, He is your strength

He doesn’t give you wisdom, He is your wisdom

“If it pleases you, ALWAYS and ONLY, to do what pleases God, you can do as you please!”

Question to self

As we finish, I want to leave 2 questions for you to be asking yourself:

1. What is the origin of what you do?
2. Who are you seeking to please?