12 – But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 – If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 – And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith.
15 – More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 – For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
17 – And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18 – Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19 – If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20 – But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 – For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a Man.
22 – For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
A couple weeks ago TIME magazine published a special issue. It was their fourth in a series dealing with the 100 most influential people of the past century. This particular issue dealt with the greatest minds of the past ten decades…those scientists and thinkers who have changed some aspect of our lives in a significant way. Included was an article that dealt with the work of Wilbur and Orville Wright. I’m sure you know that these brilliant brothers designed and flew the first manned heavier-than-air craft above Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina in 1903. And you know not only were they the first to fly in this kind of craft — their research provided the necessary basic formulas for all aircraft and made it possible for man to travel farther and faster than ever before. The article was written by Bill Gates and in it he described Wilbur and Orville as, “a pair of self-taught engineers working in a bicycle shop, who made the world a forever smaller place.” And they certainly did.
I think you will agree that when it comes to travel, Wilbur and Orville Wright changed everything.
Another article in this issue described the work of a man named Leo Baekeland.
Now, you may not recognize his name but all of us have been impacted his invention: plastic. Think of all the consequences of Baekeland’s work! Today plastic is used in everything from the fillings in our teeth to the chips in our computers and the lenses in our glasses…not to mention the chairs that members of Redland Baptist Church sit on each week!
I’m sure you will agree that when it comes to the way we make all manner of goods these days, Leo Baekeland changed everything.
The editors of TIME also decided to include an article that dealt with the work of Alexander Fleming — the scientist who discovered penicillin. It is amazing how this happened…..Fleming was growing bacteria on a culture plate when a stray spore drifted into his lab and took root in the same dish. He noticed that the spore halted the growth of the bacteria and this discovery forever altered the treatment of bacterial infections. Fleming stated that he believed this was a miracle and I would agree for his work saved the lives of tens of thousands of people in his lifetime alone.
When it comes to the treatment of disease Alexander Fleming changed everything.
And we could go on an on. Museums all over the world are filled with displays of the work of individuals who impacted our lives in one way or another forever changing some aspect of our existence. But on this Easter Sunday we celebrate that one solitary life that had a greater impact on humanity than all others combined. Through His life, death, and resurrection our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ literally changed not one but every aspect of our lives! An anonymous individual once expressed this truth when he wrote,
“More than 2000 years ago there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively. Only once did He cross the boundary of the country in which He lived and that was during His exile in childhood. He possessed neither name, wealth, nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous, uninfluential, and had neither training nor education. In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled the doctors; in manhood He ruled the course of nature, walked upon billows as if pavements, and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, and yet all the libraries of the country could not hold the books that have been written about Him. He never wrote a song, and yet He has furnished the theme for more songs than all the songwriters combined.
He never founded a college, but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students. He never marshaled an army, nor drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun, and yet no leader ever had more volunteers who have, under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot being fired. The names of the past proud statesmen of Greece and Rome have come and gone. The names of the past scientists, philosophers, and theologians have come and gone; but the name of this Man abounds more and more. Though time has spread 2000 years between the people of this generation and the scene of His crucifixion, yet He still lives. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever were built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.”
The writer of this familiar prose was of course referring to the life of Jesus Christ. And Jesus had this unprecedented level of influence because on the third day after His crucifixion on a Roman cross, He rose bodily from the dead. The reason there are still traffic jams on this particular Sunday all over the world — even though nearly 2,000 years have passed since the first Easter morning dawned…..the reason this still happens is because we join over a billion others in celebrating the amazing truth that Jesus’ resurrection DID change everything! Think about it…..
1. …..It changed our perspective on faith.
In our text for today Paul said that without the resurrection the very structure of our Christian faith would fall apart, and our gospel would be null and void. Remember his words in verses 14,17? He said, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is pointless….if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” Can you feel the blows of despair that would hit us one after another if Christ had not been raised? * Our preaching and teaching would be useless, Our faith would be hopeless, and we would still be lost in our sins.
But you see because He DID rise from the dead….our faith is verified! Easter then has made possible the greatest message our world has ever heard. Jesus WAS God’s only Son….He was the only One qualified to die for our sins-and He did so! This was all proved once and for all when He walked out of that tomb on the first Easter morning.
You know many of the people whom this TIME magazine described as some of the greatest minds of the last century were considered crazy by their peers until they substantiated their claims. In a similar way, before His resurrection, Jesus was ridiculed for the things He had said. Remember? As He hung on the cross the bystanders said, “So! You Who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save Yourself.” They continued to mock Him and said, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe.” Even His own disciples abandoned Him and fled. But when He rose again Jesus proved that He was the Christ….God’s Messiah. He substantiated all His claims and when this happened it restored His followers’ faith in Him. They believed that He was indeed “…..the resurrection and the life…” and that whoever put their faith in Him would live “…even though he were to die.” Jesus’ resurrection validated their faith and as a result they became bold in their evangelism. They found the answer to their sins in the death of Jesus and the answer to their deaths in His resurrection. And Jesus’ continued living presence with them, even after His ascension, motivated and empowered them to share this message with all people. They literally turned the world upside down because Jesus’ resurrection changed faith once and for all…..it authenticated it. And you know Jesus’ message is just as fresh, relevant, and powerful today as it was when it was first preached and written….for He still lives! This is why Christians all over the world can sing, “MY FAITH has found a resting place not in device or creed: I trust the ever-living One-His wounds for me shall plead..” Even after two millennia, men and women across this planet still exult in the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of life everlasting that only Jesus brings. Millions of trustworthy people continue to testify that they have actually met and continue to relate to the risen Christ.
Now please note….I am not talking about one or two or even a few hundred cases of individuals who have put their faith in Jesus. I am referring to thousands of years of human history in which some of our best and finest thinkers….well-adjusted, educated, emotionally healthy people all over the world-who have borne witness to a real experience with the living Christ….Political leaders, chief justices, scientists, sociologists, economists, as well as honorable butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. They all testify to being loved by God, and to having received forgiveness from Him. They claim to know Jesus and that He walks through life with them giving His personal guidance.
All these thousands of millions of people from every different culture and sociological strata
are not hallucinating….they are not part of some global conspiracy. They actually know Jesus and have put their faith in Him. And I am one of them! His tangible, living presence in my life is proof to me that Jesus is Who He said He is.
So, my faith is not in vain….my preaching is not pointless….I am not lost in my sins! Because……He is risen! (He is risen indeed!)
So, you see when it comes to religion….to relating to the one true God….Jesus forever changed the concept of faith. By rising from the dead-He proved that He is the ONLY Son of God…THE way…THE truth….THE life….the only One Who is worthy of our faith. You know people often make the mistake of thinking that religion is like a huge buffet table, and you can pick and choose the beliefs you personally find appetizing. These days it’s popular to believe that religion is a “personal thing” that each individual can develop or discard according to his own whim.
Well, as far as religious freedom goes, that is true. Everyone does have the constitutional right to choose whether or not to worship and how to do so. But as far as truth goes, it’s a whole different ball game. Truth is not determined by a matter of taste or preference. For…the Christian faith is not based upon religious whim. It is based on historical fact: Jesus Christ died and rose from the grave.
In an article published in last week’s issue of NEWSWEEK magazine, Billy Graham said, “I have crossed paths with people who hold virtually every kind of religious and philosophical view imaginable. Often I am moved by the intensity of their spiritual searching and by the depth of their commitment. But at the same time as the years have gone by, I myself have become even more convinced of the uniqueness and truth of the Gospel of Christ. Jesus was not just another great religious teacher, nor was He only another in a long line of individuals seeking after spiritual truth. He was, instead, Truth itself. He was God incarnate. When I seek to point people to Christ, it is because I am convinced that He alone is God’s answer to life’s deepest problems. I have seen Him bring changes in the lives of countless individuals who have turned to Him in true repentance and faith.”
You see only faith in Christ is valid because only Jesus rose from the dead.
No other religious leader defeated death so none other can make these claims. Saying “All roads lead to heaven” is ridiculous…it’s like saying I can dial any number and the phone will still ring at my home. By His resurrection Jesus forever changed our perspective on faith for He is the ONLY way to God….so faith in Him is the only VALID faith. But our perspective on faith is not all that Jesus’ resurrection has changed……
2. …..It has also changed our perspective on life.
In verse 19 of today’s text Paul said, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Paul wrote this at a time when professing a public faith in Christ could very well cost you your life. Many Christians of his day lived with the threat of death or persecution because of their faith. In fact throughout the 2,000 year history of the church, including this very day, Christians have suffered torture, abuse, persecution, mockery, and death.
Now, if this life is all there is, anyone would have to be nuts to endure such mistreatment. If there was no resurrection and hence no eternal life then anyone would be a fool to allow themselves to be even slightly inconvenienced for the sake of their faith. As Paul wrote in verse 32, “If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'” But the fact that Jesus has risen, changes everything about the way we live. Jesus’ resurrection proves that eternity is real which leads us to change our perspective on living. We begin to focus on things that have eternal value instead of things that don’t. We learn to “…lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupts and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Earthly things diminish in importance. Careers, financial security, pleasure….these are nothing next to eternity.
You see, without the Resurrection, we don’t take the afterlife seriously. When we don’t take that seriously, we aren’t’ apt to make any radical changes on this side of life. A couple of months ago I was zipping around the beltway when I saw a State Trooper parked on the side of the road. I instinctively hit the brakes and slowed….you know just to be sure I was under the speed limit. Then, as I passed the patrol car, I discovered that it was only a prop….a life-size cut out of a police car…very realistic but only a prop. I checked my speed that day because I believed the speed trap was real. And you and I are like that because reality that we take seriously, seriously changes the way we live our lives. And when Christians take seriously the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and all that it implies then they make serious changes to their lives on this earth.
In that same issue of NEWSWEEK magazine there is an article that chronicles the impact that the resurrection had on Christians in the early church. The writer observed that once death lost its power over their lives, life itself took on new meaning for these first Christians. The article quoted sociologist Rodney Stark of the U. of Washington who saw dramatic evidence of this in the way that Christians responded to the plagues that repeatedly hit the citizens of the ancient Roman Empire. He wrote, “The Romans threw people out into the street at the first symptoms of disease, because they knew it was contagious and they were afraid of dying. But the Christians stayed and nursed the sick. You could only do that if you thought, ‘So what if I die? I have life eternal.'” The resurrection of Jesus caused these early Christians to focus on things of eternal significance.
So, they had special compassion for widows, orphans, the aged and infirm.
But you know, not only does Jesus’ resurrection help us to see the importance of living for things of eternal significance….It also provides the power for us to do so. Sin blinds us so that we can’t see what is truly important in life. It poisons our will and our tendency then is to choose to live for earthly, temporary things. But by rising from the dead Jesus freed us from sin’s enslavement and provided the power source that enables us to make the decisions every day to live for Him. And this is what He had promised. In John 8 Jesus said, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin…so if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Now think about that for a minute. In his book, The God You’ve Always Wanted, Bill Hybels invites us to consider the power that the resurrection has provided for you and me. Think about all the times you felt powerless to fight off a particular sin.
Now add to that sense of powerlessness the defeat you feel after every other sin you have ever committed — all the times you’ve let a cruel word slip out, lied, yielded to greed, were selfish, had an adulterous thought, lost your temper, spoke a malicious word in gossip-add it all up. Pretty intimidating, isn’t it? But you’re not done yet. Multiply the power needed to overcome the sins in your own life by the numbers of all the people who ever lived.
From Adam and Eve, through Homer, Plato, and Socrates, to Genghis Khan, King Arthur-all the babies who have ever been born or ever will be. Take ALL their sin and add it together-not just the sins they did openly, but also the secret sins that held them prisoner and that frustrated them in defeat. Don’t’ forget to throw in the sins of Adolph Hitler and President Malosovich. And don’t leave out the serial killers, drug addicts, insider traders-make sure all that gets put into the equation. The power to break out of your sin alone seemed unlikely enough — but the thought that there could be enough spiritual power to completely obliterate the choke hold of every sin that would ever be committed by anyone who ever lived is beyond our comprehension.
Every person who has ever lived added to, rather than subtracted from the pile. Everyone, that is, except for One.
That’s the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a power that could overcome every spiritual failing, every sin, every weakness, in one explosive act. What we are powerless to do in our own lives, Christ was powerful enough to accomplish for everyone who would believe and access this power. Listen to the words Paul wrote in Romans chapter 6, “…since Christ was raised from the dead….do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires…for sin shall not be your master…you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness.” Our Risen Lord truly frees us from enslavement to sin…
So, because of His resurrection, Jesus has changed our perspective on faith and on life itself. But He has done more than that. His resurrection has also….
3. changed our perspective on death.
Recently Good Morning America reported on a new study that had been conducted on fear and how it affects people. And one thing the study brought out was that all people have a deep, abiding fear of death. In our text for today Paul referred to this fear when he wrote in verse 18 that, “If Christ has not been raised, then those who have died in Christ have perished.” We respond to this fear of death by avoiding the subject. We can’t keep thoughts about death from darting across our minds every once in a while, but they are so discomforting that we put them out of our minds as quickly as possible. Thinking of our death is like looking directly into the sun-the experience is so intense we can’t stand it for long. I think Homer hit the nail on the head when he said, “What is called life is destroyed by death, and none can take away its terror.”
So,All human beings fear death. The novelist, Saul Bellow, once wrote, “And what is the philosophy of this generation? Not God is dead. That period was passed long ago. Perhaps it should be stated DEATH IS GOD. For, this generation thinks that nothing faithful, vulnerable, or fragile can endure or have any true power. We believe that death waits for all things as a cement floor waits for the dropping light bulb.” This fear of death that plagues our generation comes from the belief that what waits us at the end of our lives is destruction and nothingness. But Jesus’ resurrection takes away this fear. Hebrews 2:15 says that Jesus came to, “…free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” And at Easter we always recall those first words that Jesus uttered when He returned from death, “Fear not!”
Eugene O’Neill once wrote a play entitled LAZARUS LAUGHED. The play deals with the Biblical story of Lazarus but the plot focuses on what happened to him in the years after Jesus called him back to life after four days in the tomb. In the play Lazarus comes out of his grave laughing…not a scornful, bitter kind of laughter, but a soft, tender, all-embracing sort of sound that seems to well up from a joy that is utterly bottomless. There is a radiance emanating from him that makes him look younger than when he died. There is a peace and serenity about his being that is absolutely tangible. As soon as Lazarus gets home and emotions have calmed down a bit, his sisters ask him the inevitable question: “What is it like beyond the grave? Tell us-what sort of existence lies beyond our physical dying?” And once again Lazarus begins to laugh-the laughter of pure joy — and then he finally says, “There is only life. There is only laughter…the laughter of God soaring into the heights and the depths. There is no death really. Death is not the end, it’s not an abyss or the entrance into nothingness or chaos or punishment. Death is a portal, a passageway into deeper and brighter life. Eternal change, everlasting growth…that is what lies ahead. There is only life sisters, nothing but life. the grave is not what you think it is. It is literally empty…a doorway, not destruction.”
As the play unfolds Lazarus goes on to live a life in which he is freed from the fear of death. The dreaded horror no longer holds dominion over him. And Christ has done this for all believers. He has changed the meaning of death. As Paul said, He has taken he sting out of it by demonstrating that, for the Christian, death is not that which destroys what we call life. It is not the cement floor that awaits the falling light bulb.
So because Jesus rose from the dead we do not have to fear death. We put our faith in the Risen Lord who promised, “he who believes in Me will live even though he dies.” Because He lives we know that death is not the end…it is the beginning.
You know, Mark Twain once told of the night in the mid-1800’s when the Mississippi River cut through a narrow neck of land and actually changed course. He wrote that there was a black man-a slave — on a boat in the river that night. He went to sleep as a slave in Missouri and woke to discover that, because of the river’s change, the land he was in was Illinois, and he was a free man. That one day changed everything for him. — And on Easter we celebrate because that one day changed everything for you and me. The day Jesus rose from the dead changed our perspective on faith….it changed our perspective on life….and it changed our perspective on death itself. Through His resurrection Jesus did change everything!
But you know in Jesus’ kingdom this change is done one person at a time.
So, hear this….today Jesus wants to change your life. If you are not a Christian that change begins the moment you “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.” I would rejoice all the more this Easter morning if any of you were to decide today to make that decision public. But you know Christians need to change too. And maybe all the activity of this past Holy Week has made some of us realize that there are areas in our lives that need changing. You may need a church home and feel God calling you to change this aspect of your lives by joining our church today. Or you may just need to recommit your life to Jesus, asking Him to help you change your focus on life….so that you learn to give up what you cannot keep in order to gain what you cannot lose. We sing to give you a chance to make public your desire to let Jesus change your life in any way.