Speaker	Sermon/Lesson Title	Audio   Video  Text   MS Word	Category
Bobby Stafford	What the Resurrection Means to Me		Resurrection

What the Resurrection Means to Me

Introduction:

Today millions of people are celebrating what is commonly called “Easter.” This day is a recognition of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians are not told to celebrate Easter as a special holiday once a year. We are told to think about His resurrection every Sunday, the day He rose from the dead. Since so many have their thoughts focused on Christ’s resurrection, it is appropriate for us to be able to explain to our friends and neighbors what the resurrection means to us.

Body:

I.            The Resurrection Proves Jesus Is the Son of God

·       Convincing Proofs Acts 1:1-3 “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” NKJV

·       Declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection Romans 1:1-4 “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” NKJV

II.          The Resurrection Confirms the Truth of the Scripture

·       Scripture foretold His death and resurrection hundreds of years before it happened. Isaiah 53:10-12 “Yet it please the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many. For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressor.” NKJV

 Psalm 16:10-11 “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” NKJV

·       It shows the gospel is true. Resurrection holds the gospel together. I Corinthians 15:1-4 “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,” NKJV

III.        The Resurrection Makes Forgiveness Possible

·       The apostle Paul claimed this. I Corinthians 15:16-17 “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” NKJV

·        This means Christ’s offering on the cross was acceptable to God. It satisfied divine justice. Romans 4:25 “who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” NKJV

·       The resurrection allowed us to be put right with God. Romans 8:33-34 “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” NKJV

IV.        The Resurrection Means Sin, Death, and Satan Have Been Conquered

·       Jesus defeated sin and death. Romans 6:9-10 “knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” NKJV Death is no longer our enemy. I Corinthians 15:55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” NKJV

·        Satan John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” NKJV

V.          The Resurrection Means We Are Alive in Christ

·       Made alive Ephesians 2:5-6 “even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” NKJV

 Revelation 1:17-18 “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” NKJV

·        United with Him Romans 6:3-5 “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raise from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,” NKJV

VI.        The Resurrection Means We Have Hope I Peter 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,” NKJV

VII.      The Resurrection Means Our Resurrection Is Guaranteed

·       Christ’s triumph over the grave is heaven’s guarantee that we also will be raised. I Corinthians 15:20, 23 “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” NKJV II Corinthians 4:14 “knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.” NKJV

·       We will live forever.

Conclusion:

A day of judgment is coming. (Acts 17:30-32) “Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ ” NKJV Jesus will judge the world “in righteousness.” God’s holiness demands all sin be punished. So Jesus paid the ransom price for us all on the cross. Forgiveness of sins comes when the penitent believer dies to sin, is buried in water, and raised a new creature.

Bobby Stafford April 21, 2019