We Believe … the Third Day He
Rose Again
or, The Hope of Easter
Apostles’ Creed Part 7
Text: I Corinthians 15:3-4 (NASB)
Intro:
He is risen!
Our series (recap)
This week – the highlight of the Creed, the high point of the Christian faith
What do we mean when we say that we believe that He rose again?
à We believe that Jesus, who
really existed on this earth at a specific time and place in history, and who
really died, actually bodily rose again from the dead. He was dead, and then He
wasn’t. He didn’t stay dead. It wasn’t a ghost, a vision, an allegory, or a
legend. It actually happened. That’s what we mean.
Thesis: We believe that on “the third day He rose again
from the dead.” This part of the Creed speaks of the hope of Easter, which has
several implications for our lives.
I.
The hope of Easter means that He conquered death
A. Death has lost its sting (I Cor. 15:55-57)
· “Death. The bully on the block of life. He… badgers you… he taunts you…: you, too, will die someday. You see him [in the funeral procession]. He’s in the waiting room… of the intensive care unit. He’s near as you stare at the pictures of. …the starving in Zimbabwe. And he’ll be watching your expression as you slow your car past the crunched metal and the blanketed bodies on the highway. ‘Your time is coming,’ he jabs. Oh, we try to prove him wrong. We jog. We diet. We pump iron…. We try to escape it, knowing all along that we will only, at best, postpone it…. He’ll fence you in with fear…. He’ll make you so afraid of dying that you never learn to live. That is why you should never face him alone. The bully is too big for you to fight by yourself. That’s why you need a big brother…. Take heart. ‘Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.’ (Heb. 2:14-15)” Max Lucado, Six Hours One Friday (pp. 131-132)
B. Death is not the end for us (I Cor. 15:21, 22, 26)
1. We know the answer to the age-old question, “Is this life all there is?” And that answer is a resounding no!
2. “So also in Christ all shall be made alive” (15:22b)
C. We need not fear death (I Cor. 15:19-20)
1. Loved one’s deaths – afraid to let them go
a.
From my reading about Korean religion: “Ancestor worship was,
simultaneously, a social ethic and a religion. In some ways, it was the most
optimistic of faiths. It taught that deceased family members do not pass into
oblivion, to an afterlife, or, as the Buddhist believe, to rebirth as humans or
animals in some remote place, but remain, in spiritual form, securely within
the family circle. For traditionally minded Koreans, the presence of the
deceased could be an intensely real and personal one. Fear of death was blunted
by the consoling thought at even in the grave one would be cared for by one's
own people. Succeeding generations had the obligation of remembering the
deceased in a yearly cycle of rituals and ceremonies.” http://wrc.lingnet.org/skoreaso.htm
b. Not just Koreans afraid to let go; it is common to hear modern secular Westerners talking about keeping someone alive through remembering them
c. “Hope’s Song” (sung by Rebecca St. James, from the Veggie Tales video An Easter Carol) – (play song & look at words)
God has made a way
for all who mourn and grieve
Death will never be the end
if you just believe.
There is nothing left to
fear
nothing Heaven knows
For he died for us to give us life
and to give us hope He rose
He died for us to give us life
And to give us hope He rose.
d. Summarize how it fits with the video & Mr. Nezzer’s consuming fear of death
2. Our own death
a. Some people are so paralyzed by fear of death that they never learn to live
b. The hope of Easter frees us to live our lives, because we are not haunted by the fear of the cosmic bully, Death
A. We are new Creatures (II Cor. 5:17)
– Who we are at the core of our being is changed
B. We have a new relationship with our Creator (Ephesians 2:8-10)
1. We can be the people who we were created to be
2. Some people fear that Christianity is a killjoy sort of religion. If it’s just a legalistic religion for you, a bunch of rules and regulations, it might very well be that. But if we have this new relationship with our Creator, life will be far more fulfilling than it could ever be otherwise
C. Jesus promises us fullness of life (John 10:10)
1. My wife’s comments: “it’s so easy to get caught up with the cares and concerns of our lives that we forget that Jesus promised us [this] fullness of life” (Susan Westbrook)
2. It’s easy to talk about transformed lives, but it takes constantly focusing on God & our relationship with Him for it to happen
3. This fullness of life is yours if you know salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Don’t let the thief rob you of your joy!
D. It should make a difference in the way we live (I Cor. 15:58)
1.
“If
we truly believe that Christ has won the ultimate victory, that fact must
affect the way we live right now. Don’t let discouragement over an apparent
lack of results keep you from working. Do the good that you have opportunity to
do, knowing that your work will have eternal results.” (Life
Application Bible)
2. Live like you believe it!
“For my part, …I would not
give one hour of life as a soul [in heaven] for a thousand years of life as a
man [on earth].
…“What can be compared to knowing God? God, who… lit the darkness and out of nothing appointed the universe. [In the hereafter] I will be filled with divine knowledge. I will see all glories, taste all delights…. The furthest limit of desire will be passed…” (Ben Hur, by Lew Wallace)
I haven’t even mentioned all the implications of Jesus’ resurrection. We could talk about the resurrection as His triumph over sin, or as proof of His deity, verification of the truth of His words and His teaching, validation of the Bible, and validation of Jesus’ sovereignty. You get the idea. The resurrection is a crucial doctrine in to our faith. The whole of Scripture points to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s what the Bible is all about, since it is about God’s dealing with humanity.
The Hope of Easter. It’s no more fear of death. It’s life here and now like you’ve never imagined it. And it’s life everlasting. He is risen!
The Apostles’ Creed
We Believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of
heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ His
only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin
Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third
day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the
right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the
quick and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic
Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of
the body, and the life everlasting. Amen
Hope's Song
There’s
a story that started on Christmas
When a baby was born in the night.
And those who came far, who followed the star
Were seeing a heavenly sight,
a heavenly sight.
Well,
the years hurried by, and the boy, now a man
Could make the blind see with a touch of His hand.
He was born to be King—He was Rabbi and Priest.
But the best that He had, He gave to the least,
He gave to the least.
He was
born and He died almost 2,000 years ago.
He laughed and He cried, He felt all the fears we know.
But what does it matter? A story so strange…
Even if it is true, what does it change?
What does it change?
Well He
spoke like a prophet—like no one they’d heard;
This simple young carpenter—crowds hung on every word.
He hated injustice, He taught what is right.
He said, “I’m the way, and the truth, and the light.”
His
friends soon believed that truly He was the One.
The Savior, Messiah, God’s one and only Son.
But others, they doubted, they did not agree.
So they took Him, they tried Him,
He died on a tree,
He died on a tree.
God has
made a way
For all who mourn and grieve.
Death will never be the end –
If you just believe.
There
is nothing left to fear,
Nothing Heaven knows!
For He died for us to give us life,
and to give us hope He rose!
He died for us to give us life,
And to give us hope He rose.
Sung by Rebecca
St. James
From VeggieTales' An Easter Carol