Matt 28:1-10
Because He Lives
I have plagiarized the title of this message. I took it from a Bill
Gather song by the same title. The song was popular in 1970’s, way
back when I got saved, and it describes the hope and confidence that
believers have because Jesus is alive today. The ladies when to the
tomb with the expecation of finding a dead body. They did not, but
what did they find?
I. Death and sin were defeated.
A. I mention these two together for they go together.
B. Sin is neither a joke nor a myth. It is the reality of the
human existence and it can be seen around us every day.
1. The world has been tainted by sin.
a. There is hunger, disease, floods, tornados,
earthquakes, and hurricanes.
b. If you doubt this condition, just wait, it will get
worse and undeniable. The Bible tells us that…
(1) The earthquakes will get much, much worse.
(2) Meteorites of great size and consequence will hit
the earth.
(3) The sun, moon, and even the stars will one day—
and I think one day fairly soon—demonstrate the
effects of sin on this world.
2. The human race has been tainted by sin.
a. This too is very obvious.
b. It is obvious in man’s behavior - war. violence,
crime, greed, hatred.
c. Man’s condition demonstrates that we are sinful; but
even more, man’s destination demonstrates we are
sinners.
(1) I am not talking about the as yet invisible hell
that you cannot see, but the very visible death
and grave that you can see.
(2) Scientists talk of evolution, the survival of the
fittest, the gene changing ability of evolving
beings to adapt to their situation. Then how
come all die? It would seem to me that if
genes can adapt something would have adapted to
stay alive. To stay alive is the most essential
need, is it not?
(3) But we die. We all die. Why?
i. Because death is not merely a consequence of
life. It is a judgment of sin!
ii. We are all tainted by sin.
C. Now, on the cross of Golgotha, Jesus did two things.
1. He became sin for us.
2. He died for us.
3. For three days, death cemented its hold on body that was
Jesus’.
a. His body was wrapped in strips of cloth as was the
practice of the Jews for the dead.
b. His body was placed in a cave and a stone moved to
seal the entrance, as was the practice of the Jews
for the dead.
c. Mourners sat in the house of the bereaved and wailed,
as was the practice of the Jews for the dead.
d. Jewish leaders requested and received a Roman seal
across of the giant rock that sealed the entrance.
e. A Roman squad of soldiers took turns standing watch
outside the tomb’s entrance.
f. And I believe, unseen to the human eye, that the devil
and his legions of demons stood watch around the
entire garden and graveside.
4. But on the third day, Jesus left that grave! He shook off
the manacles of death. His new body passed through the
wrappings of death. He angelic servants rolled away the
boulder that blocked the entrance. Jesus said "Boo" to
the devil and his demons.
5. How could Jesus do these things? The answer is really
very simple. He defeated sin and death!
D. As Jesus took our sins so we take His life!
1. Death seems permanent to us and once it would have been.
2. However, Jesus taught us in advance that for those who
believe in Jesus, death cannot touch us.
John 11:26 …whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall
never die.
3. Once a believer breathes his last breath in this body, he
does not cease to exist. No! Who he is leaves this
fragile body and moves into the presence of God—just as
Jesus did while His body lay in the ground for three days
and nights.
4. The key here is that the person BELIEVES IN JESUS.
a. Not everyone does live forever.
b. Sin and death have not been defeated for everyone—
only for those who will believe on Jesus Christ.
c. Get this. In eternity, everyone will get what they
want.
(1) Those who believe on Jesus will have eternity to
spend with Him.
(2) Everyone who rejects Jesus will have eternity to
be without Jesus.
d. Please don’t be one of those.
II. The saved will receive a glorified body.
A. Jesus spent three busy days without a body.
1. The Bible tells us very little of that state; however,
even without a body, Jesus had work to do.
Lu 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say
unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in
paradise.
2. Jesus did not stay with His dead body. Get this. No one
does.
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord.
3. The moment we breathe our last breath, every human soul
goes to one of two places.
a. They either go to heaven or to hell.
b. They don’t get to wonder the earth or visit friends
and family.
B. Jesus went on to paradise.
1. My own belief is that was not Jesus’ first stop.
2. I believe Jesus gathered His own blood,
carried it to heaven,
applied it to the heavenly altar,
then went to Abraham’s Bosom where He picked up the Old
Testament saints and took them to heaven.
3. I have no idea how long something like that it would take,
but the renting of the Temple’s veil meant that the way
for man to enter into God’s presence had been made and I
think that way was provided by the shed blood of Jesus
Christ.
C. Then, on the third day, Jesus went back to His body.
1. The body He went back to get was different from the one He
had left.
2. It had been changed.
a. It was healed of almost all the effects of sin. The
only remnant appear to be the scars on his hands and
feet.
b. It is a body that could move through matter.
(1) The linen cloths that Jesus had been wrapped in
were still laying there, like the empty cocoon’s
shell, as they were when they held Jesus’ body
together, just without the body.
(2) Later that day, Jesus would just appear in a
closed up room with 10 of His disciples.
c. It is an immortal body.
(1) It cannot die.
(2) Even more it will never be hungry, tired, age,
get sick, feel faint, have pain, need glasses,
or even shed a tear.
D. And get this, Jesus’ bodily resurrection was but the first
link in a chain of events that will occur.
1. Just as the effects of the sin Jesus bore were removed, so
the effect of the sins we have committed have been
removed.
2. Just as Jesus cast death off of His body, one day He will
cast death off of ours too. That means that not only
will our souls be alive forever, but our bodies one day
will too.
3. And just as Jesus will cast off the effects of sin on our
human bodies, so He will cast off the effects of sin on
creation itself.
4. Link after link after link. The resurrection of Jesus was
but the beginning of a glorious change that will take
place.
III. There will be a glorious awakening.
A. Although no human eye saw Jesus leave the tomb, the effects
of His departure were felt and seen.
1. There was a shaking of the ground.
2. The great stone which sealed the tomb rolled away—either
back up the grove that it had rolled down to fall into
place or some say, just rolled completely out of the
way!
3. Angels were there.
4. I kind of think maybe there was a heavenly trumpet blowing
some where!
5. And most importantly, there was the empty tomb!
B. I think it will be that way on the saints’ resurrection
morning too. No human eye will see, but…
1. I think there will be some moved tombstones.
2. I suspect the ground will shake.
3. I know that there will be a trumpet sound.
4. God’s angels will be on hand.
5. You can rest assured there will be some empty graves.
C. Possibility of a resurrection.
1. The big question is, "Did Jesus rise from the dead?"
2. If Jesus did not arise, then everything associated with
Jesus is a fraud.
3. I say possibility because we are 2000 years removed from
the event so it is difficult to find any real proof.
a. About all I can do is present some evidences that
Jesus rose from the dead.
b. But first, let me ask you not to close your mind to
the possibility of the resurrection.
c. We see things daily today that would have been thought
of as impossible just 50 to 75 years ago.
d. Just because you have not seen it, does not make it
impossible.
4. There are ample evidences that Jesus did rise from the
grace.
a. The fact that the body disappeared and was never
recovered.
(1) Was the body stolen? If so, you must also
believe that a group of fanatical disciples over-
powered a squad of Roman soldiers.
(2) And even if the body was stolen, what happened
to it? Why could it not be found? Certainly the
Romans and the Jews would have turned the city
upside down to find it.
b. The fact that the original disciples died professing
faith in a risen Savior.
Lee Strobel, "The Case for Christ" (Grand Rapids, MI; Zondervan,
1988, pp 247-248) wrote that original 11 disciples of Christ provide
strong evidence concerning the resurrection in that they all faced
martyrdom and all but one actually died professing faith in the risen
Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to note that while some might die for a
religion they believe to be true, few if any would be willing to die
for a religion they knew to be false. The original 11 disciples were
in the unique position of actually knowing whether Jesus was
resurrected or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD8P-eSupDE
c. The abundance of witnesses which claim to have seen Jesus alive.
There are these and other proofs that Jesus lived, died, and
resurrected; but that is not my theme this morning. Both for this
morning and tonight, what I want to dwell on is the consequences of
the resurrection. What is true today because Jesus lived, died, and
rose again?
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