Importance of the Resurrection — Westlake Bible Fellowship

0:19 Technical difficulties and introduction

Okay, Andy. I'll go ahead and get started, and hopefully she'll log on soon. I know some of these technical difficulties are are an issue sometimes. So let's let's get started. What we're gonna look at today is the hope of the resurrection.

We're gonna look at four points. Number one, it was for our justification. Number two, it was for vindication. Number three, the resurrection was for our faith. Number four, it was for our hope.

And after that, we're gonna do some application. So let's start out by looking at the first one, the hope of the resurrection. Why did Christ rise from the dead? He rose from the dead for our justification, And we can see that clearly in the passage in Romans chapter four and verse 25. Romans four and verse 25.

He who was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. So the bible expresses very clearly that the reason why Jesus had to raise from the dead... Well, one of the main reasons was that so that he can declare us eternally just so that we can be justified for our eternity. So let's look at this verse. It says that he who was delivered up because of our transgressions.

Now the the word or the New Living Translation says he was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. So when Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he absolutely and completely satisfied the holy father's righteous demand that payment be made for sin. The resurrection was a signing on the dotted line that Jesus' work was complete and we can now be justified. For example, you've gone to baseball games or you've seen them on TV. When someone hits the ball and it looks like if the ball is gonna go out of the park, you've seen many outfielders jump up or leap and catch the ball and not allow it to be a home run.

So Jesus Christ, by living this earth and by dying, unless he rose from the dead, it wasn't complete. And so this is what made it the home run, if you will, when it cleared the wall. The the resurrection of Jesus cleared the hurdle, and then the victory was complete for our salvation. Let let me quote for you the way John MacArthur puts it. Delivered up was a judicial term referring to the commitment or the handing over of a criminal to his punishment.

So Jesus was delivered up to serve the sentence of death that our transgressions deserved and was raised up to provide the justification before God that we could never attain in our own power and merit. The theologian Hajj puts it this way. Jesus went into heaven to present his righteousness before God for our justification. The resurrection was absolutely essential even for our justification. Now I like the way Isaiah 53 and verse five puts it.

In fact, if you look behind me in this little chalkboard behind me, that's the verse that we have written up. And this is what it says. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging, we are healed.

So once again, the bible expresses that he was wounded for our transgressions. He was handed over. He was delivered for our transgressions because of our sins because of our sins. So that the moment you are born again, the moment you believe by faith, the moment you embrace the resurrection, the father declares you just or justified. Then the believer will never again be seen in their sins.

You are now eternally in Christ, never again held guilty because of your sin or for your sin. I like the way Ephesians chapter two and verse four and six puts it. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up together with Christ... I'm sorry.

And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So you can notice then that it says that we were dead in transgressions or dead in sin. So what did he do? He did he did three things according to this passage. He did three things.

He made us alive, he raised us up, and he seated us. So he made you alive when you were dead in sin, and he gave you spiritual life. You're no longer spiritually dead. He raised you up with him. So when Jesus rose from the dead, he raised you up with him.

You also rose with him. And thirdly, notice the third thing he did. He seated us with him in the heavenly places. So right now, because of the resurrection, because Jesus is up in heaven in the heavenly places, he took me with him, and I'm seated with him there in the heavenly places, the realm of God, the place where Jesus is. That's where I am at right now as a believer because of the resurrection.

So we have been declared righteous by God and placed in Christ for all eternity. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Right now, this very moment, I am seated with Christ. And so he was raised for our justification. That's a lot to take in, isn't it?

The... All the implications of the resurrection, the number one and most important thing is that I was declared just. I am no longer held guilty for my sin. Well, no wonder we rejoice in the resurrection. Now let's go to point number two and go to Romans chapter one and verse one for this.

7:42 Resurrection for Jesus' vindication

Not not for our vindication, but for Jesus' vindication. And look at chapter one of Romans, and let's start with verse one. Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle set apart for the gospel of God. Now the gospel is why he was set apart, and the gospel was the good news. The good news.

Now he's gonna express what this good news is, what the gospel is, which he promised the gospel. He promised this good news beforehand through the prophets through his prophets in the holy scripture concerning his son who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh. So this is what the bible is saying, that the the the good news that Jesus would come to save us was proclaimed way before in the bible, in the Old Testament, through the prophets. So the prophets were saying, there's gonna be a savior coming. The messiah is coming.

And and they were proclaiming where he was gonna be born, how he was gonna live. They were proclaiming how he was gonna die, his death. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53. And so the prophets were were talking about it when he was gonna walk into Jerusalem. Well, not walk, but sitting on top of a donkey.

Out of these prophecies, everything was pointing to the moment when Christ was going to come. And then there he is. He appeared. Now when he did come, notice what the text says. It says, concerning his son who was born of a descendant of David.

Now this is extremely important because when the bible was saying that the messiah was gonna come, it says specifically that he was gonna come from David's lineage. He was gonna... David was gonna be his great great great great great grandfather, if you will. So he had to be born in Bethlehem of the lineage of the family of David to be the legitimate messiah, the legitimate savior. So the prophets were talking about it.

Hey. There's good news. Here comes the messiah. Here comes the savior. Now when he comes, he's gonna come from David.

So it couldn't be just anybody who says, hey. I'm the the savior. I'm the Christ. He had to be from David. Now that's why in the old testament, you have all of those genealogies, name after name after name, and I know it's very difficult to read and it drives you crazy.

You wonder why in the world they're sitting here. Is boring. Yes. But that proves to you that Jesus was legitimate. So as boring as it may be, it's so necessary for the vindication that Jesus was who he said he was.

Well, not only that, but Jesus kept saying that when he was on earth that he was going to die, that he was gonna be scourged, that he was gonna be crucified, and that he was gonna resurrect. He said all of these things. He kept saying it over and over again that he was going to rise from the dead. So notice then the bible says in verse four, who was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our lord. So, basically, it says that he was declared the son of god with power through the resurrection or by the resurrection from the dead.

So what is this saying? It's saying this. I'm gonna quote Ryrie. Jesus was designated or proved to be the son of God by his own resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is the mighty proof of his deity, and this is declared by the Holy Spirit.

So what is the bible saying here then? Very important. It's saying that the prophets were talking about Jesus coming. That when he did come, he was gonna be born of David. Right?

So he was literally born. He was a real man. Right? So it's talking about his manhood that he was illegitimate because he came from the line of David. And then lastly, that the proof, the ultimate proof was the fact that his own prediction...

Because he said it many times that he was gonna rise in the third day. In John chapter two, in Mark chapter 10, in Mark chapter eight, in Mark chapter nine, he said over and over again, I am going to die, but I'm gonna rise again on the third day. And so this was proof that what he said was true. No other religious leader in the world claimed or prophesied that he would resurrect. They are dead, every single one of them.

But Jesus was vindicated when he rose from the dead. God declared... The holy spirit declared powerfully, this is the ultimate proof that I approved of his work on behalf of sinners and that he is the son of God. He is God himself resurrected. He physically rose from the dead.

So our savior, the lord Jesus Christ, is alive. He's victorious. He's triumphant. The tomb is empty. Thus, god the father and god the holy spirit have openly and powerfully declared that Jesus is the legitimate messiah, born of David's lineage, but also proclaimed victoriously that Jesus is God.

So he was vindicated through the resurrection. He was proved to be who he said he was gonna be. So the resurrection was for our justification. The resurrection was to vindicate Jesus to to prove that he was real. Next, the resurrection was for our faith.

14:14 Resurrection for our faith

Now notice first Corinthians 15 and verse 12. We read it earlier in the Lord's Supper. But let's notice what it says. I want you to notice as we're reading this four negatives. In other words, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, there's four negatives, four things that would be the result.

Alright? So I want you to look at them. I'm gonna... When we get to them, I'll point them out to you. So in other words, our faith is not in vain.

It's real based on the reality of the resurrected savior. So verse 12. Now if Jesus is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how does some some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead? Now remember, Jesus, I'm sorry, the the Corinthian church was in Greece, and the Greek people did not believe in the resurrection. But if there is no resurrection, verse 13, of the dead, not even Christ has been raised.

Now verse 14, I want you to see the first negative. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is vain. Vain means a waste of time, a waste of time. So out of this time that you have been believing in Jesus, preaching Jesus, it's a waste of time if you didn't resurrect. Now notice the second negative.

Verse 15. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we witness against God that he raised Christ whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised. So in other words, what it's saying is if you don't believe in the resurrection, if you don't believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, as we said earlier, then we are calling God a liar. Wow. The implications are huge because remember, God and the Holy Spirit declared him powerfully to be the son of God through the resurrection.

Now notice in verse 17 for the for the third negative. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sin. Now remember the first reason. He was resurrected for our justification so that we can no longer be in sin or held accountable guilty for our sin. And so if Christ didn't rise from the dead, then your faith is worthless.

You're wasting your time because you're still in sin, and you still are gonna be condemned for all eternity. You still can't get to heaven. And so we can see here then the absolute necessity of the resurrection. Now look at the fourth negative, and that's in verse eighteen and nineteen. Then also then those also who have fallen asleep, those who have died in Christ have perished.

If we hope in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. So the last one... The last negative is we are totally naive, and we have been deceived, and I feel sorry for you if you are following someone who is dead who is dead. You know, I grew up with a with a man who was in our church. In fact, he still goes to our church in Houston.

He's been there over forty years, and he doesn't believe in the resurrection. So what he says is when a person dies, he's just like if a coyote has rabies. When it dies of the rabies, it dies, and that's it. Just turns to dust. If that's what's gonna happen to us, we just die, that's it.

It's over. He's never gotten saved even after forty something years of hearing the good news of Jesus. Our faith is based on facts. God has declared that Jesus is the Messiah, fully God, fully man, that he raised him from the dead for our justification. That because he was raised, we will also be raised.

Because he lives, we also live. Because he was physically raised, we will be physically raised. We will be given a new sinless body in the resurrection. He will then return in the second coming, resurrect the old and new... And the tribulation saints because remember, the Christian will be raptured already already resurrected.

But at the end of the tribulation, the old testament and new testament saints... I mean, tribulation saints will will then be resurrected, who will then join us. Then we will enjoy our blessed lord and savior for all eternity. Those are the facts that we base our faith on. So this is what our faith is anchored on, on the resurrection.

19:40 Resurrection for our hope

It's right before the Psalms. Right before the Psalms. Go to Job 19. Now Job was a very godly man living for Jesus. Even god himself said, look at my servant Job.

He's a man of integrity. He loves me. He teaches his children the word of God. He's he's a committed man. And yet God allowed a terrible trial to come upon his life.

It was a crushing trial. He had such deep loss. He lost 10 children in one day alone. He was feeling like his friends had abandoned him. In fact, they did.

And his his his friends were attacking him and saying that it's because he sinned that all of this came upon him. His his family wasn't there when he needed him. He felt his wife disappointed him and and let him down. His associates let him down. He was very frustrated with God.

In fact, in nineteen six, it says, I know that God has wronged me. He was confused. He couldn't understand why God was allowing this in his life. So so he was so frustrated that he was saying, God wronged me. God did me wrong.

Maybe you've been there. And and he also said in in 19 and verse 22, why do you persecute me as God does? So he felt that not only God had done them wrong, but that God was persecuting them and just oppressing them. Of course, he understood later that that wasn't true. But in the middle of his confusion, he grabs onto his faith in the resurrection, and he found hope and comfort in that.

So let's look at that. After he expresses how how much pain he's in, how how frustrated he is, how crushed he is, how he's so confused about what God has allowed in his life, In the middle of all of this, suddenly, he he he grabs onto his faith and he says in verse 25, as for me, I know that my redeemer lives. This is incredible. See, he was looking forward. He could already already see that there was gonna be a redeemer coming.

He was gonna redeem him from his sin. Now we believe in that same redeemer, but we look back and say, yes. He came and he died and resurrected. Job was looking forward to the redeemer. And at last, he would take a stand on the earth.

Look at that. What is he saying? The second coming of Jesus when he's gonna come and he's gonna stand on the earth. He's gonna physically be on the earth reigning. Now remember, the second coming, he comes, and the first thing he does is he crushes the enemies.

And then he establishes his kingdom in Jerusalem. He's going to be ruling the world from Jerusalem. And as far as I know, that's earth. Right? Yes.

From the earth, the physical return of Jesus. So I know my redeemer lives, the resurrection, the resurrected redeemer, and that he's gonna take a stand on the earth even after my skin is destroyed, verse 26, yet from my flesh, I shall see God. So what did he say? What is he saying? I believe that I'm gonna be resurrected.

I'm gonna be in my body, my resurrected body, and from my flesh, I'm gonna see Jesus on the earth, my redeemer, ruling the world, whom I myself shall behold and whom my eyes shall see and not another. This is incredible. So where did he find comfort in the midst of his trial, of his grieving, of his suffering, of everything that was happening to him. Where do you find hope? In the resurrection.

That's right. And your life may be miserable. Maybe you get the virus. Who knows? Right?

Maybe you'll get cancer. Maybe you'll die of something. We're all gonna die eventually. So so where's our hope anchored? Our hope is anchored in the resurrection.

In the resurrection. So it was for hope that he was resurrected. So what were the four? Hopefully, by now you got it memorized. Right?

24:31 Application: living confidently and without grief

Now you remember when LeBron James came to Cleveland and he finally brought a championship? We all know that it would not have happened without him. The resurrection of Jesus is the game changer. He makes all the difference in the world for all of us who have placed our trust in him. So what are the implications?

It changes the way we live. I live confidently because I know my redeemer lives. I know that Jesus is alive and victorious and interceding for me this very moment. So right now in heaven, my resurrected savior is interceding for me the way we handle trials. If god decides that my time is up, then my hope is in my new resurrected body.

No more cancer, no more aging or dying, aches and pains, no more mourning, and no more suffering. So I handle trials differently because of the resurrection. The way we mourn. First Thessalonians four thirteen and fourteen. So you will not grieve like people who have no hope, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope, the new, King James version puts it.

That you may not grieve as those who have no hope. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. So we mourn differently, don't we? When I was growing up, my relatives before... Because none of us were saved.

My my dad and mom were the first ones to get saved in all of my family. I remember going to funerals as a little boy. There was no hope in those funerals. It was just so dark and gloomy and sad. But now we mourn differently.

When my dad passed away, we were grieving, but we were rejoicing because he's in glory with Jesus because of the resurrection. And so if you have not trusted in Jesus, you can trust him today and embrace the resurrection, then you will have hope. You will have confidence that the day you die, you will be with Jesus. And so let me close out with second Corinthians thirteen and fourteen. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

27:22 Conclusion and closing remarks

Alright. So what were our four things? Why was he resurrected? For our justification, for his vindication, for our hope. And what was the other one?

Do you remember? Do you remember? It was for our faith. That's right. So your faith would be anchored and firm.

Right? Amen. The Lord bless you. Have a great week. And let me just pray, and we'll close this out.

Father, thank you so much for allowing us to remember Jesus through the Lord's Supper. What a what a glorious experience it was. And thank you also for allowing us to have these thoughts from your word about the fact that we are justified. You were vindicated. We have a firm faith anchored in the resurrection, and we have true hope because of the resurrection.

Now bless the rest of this day, and may we rejoice in our salvation. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you for listening.

Alright. Thank you all. Thanks for on. If you're here. Hi, missus Karen.

Good to see you. Hi, Clevelanders. Good to see you. Hi. Oh, hi, Karen.

Glad to see everybody. Hi, Krista. Good to see you. I can see help him. I can't see anybody, but that's okay because I don't know how to work this thing.

Everybody actually looks better than normal through this.

Yeah. We we dressed up for for this Easter Sunday service. Yes. Easter club. Bye.

Bye now.

Thank you,

Grape. Hi, Kara.

You're welcome.

Great. Hi, Kara.

So I can glad you came in. Thank you. I hopped... I had to leave my breaking of bread early to get here, but, you know, it was a long travel. I heard someone call you my sister.

I think I'd like it to be known she's my daughter. Oh, here we are. See, you're getting tech savvy. Here we go. Okay.

I will leave everyone. God bless you. Have a great day.

Bye. Thank you, Ray. Thank you.

You.

Hey, Will. Show us the whole family. Well,

this is this is about it. Well, girls

girls are hiding. Hi, missus Budrys. Hi. Blessings, everybody. Hi, Joanne.

Hi. That was a good closer for all of us. That's right.

I just don't picture these, really.

How many boxes did you guys get unpacked yesterday, Hilton? What's the box count?

Oh, there's a lot of empty ones in the garage. I'm not sure what the final count is, though.

Good. Good. There are

a lot of empty ones though.

Good for you. Great.

Well, we got the we got the Easter lily flower.

Nice. Well, are you gonna look for a job in Cleveland now?

You know, I'll keep my eyes open. We'll see what comes up.

Okay. Never know. Never know.

Well, this is the Hilton signing off. Thanks for having us.

Bye bye. Have a good day.

Bye bye. Happy Easter.

Welcome to Ohio. Thank

you. Thank you. Bye bye.

Bye. Bye.

Happy

Easter. Bye bye. I'm gonna get off. Get

back to here, Morty.

Morty. Okay. Get up.

Importance of the Resurrection — Romans 4

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Importance of the Resurrection — Romans 4

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