He is Risen
Luke 24:1-7 New King James Version
24 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, [a]and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were [b]greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”
I. Why is Jesus’ Resurrection a Big Deal?
a. Jesus made some astonishing claims about who He is
i. Jesus said He is God
John 10:28-30 New King James Version
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
ii. Jesus said He is King
John 18:36-37 New King James Version
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
1. Not just a king, but the King of kings
Isaiah 9:7 New King James Version
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
iii. Jesus said He is the ONLY way to the Father (eternal life)
John 14:6 New King James Version
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 10:28 New King James Version
28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
b. He was often challenged to demonstrate the validity of these claims by performing a miraculous sign
i. The only sign He ever said He would give to validate His claims, were His death and resurrection after 3 days.
Matthew 12:38-39 New King James Version
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Matthew 16:1-4 New King James Version
16 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ [a]Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of [b]the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
Luke 11:29-30 New King James Version
29 And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah [a]the prophet. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.
John 2:18-22 New King James Version
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this [c]to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
iii. The resurrection is so important because it proves that Jesus is who He said He is.
II. What does it mean for us?
a. Any and all sin has been atoned/paid for by Jesus’ sacrifice
i. Everyone is a sinner
Romans 3:23 New King James Version
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
1. The details
Romans 3:10-18 New King James Version
10 As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
13 “Their throat is an open [a]tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
ii. We deserved death, but God gave us the gift of life
Romans 6:23 New King James Version
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the [a]gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1. Jesus accepted the death we deserved, to give us the life He earned.
Romans 5:8 New King James Version
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
iii. Jesus provided a way out of our sin, by paying for our sin Himself
Hebrews 2:17 New King James Version
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:17 New Living Translation
17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,[a] so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
iv. High priests offered unblemished/perfect sacrifices in order to atone or make amends for the sins, iniquities, and transgressions of the people of Israel
1. Day of Atonement
a. Leviticus 16
2. Daily Sin Sacrifices
Hebrews 7:27 New King James Version
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
v. Jesus was, and forever is, both the perfect high priest and perfect sacrifice
1. He did this for ALL mankind
1 Timothy 4:10 New King James Version
10 For to this end [a]we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
2. The difference between those who have access to Jesus’ gift and those who CAN have access, is belief.
Romans 10:9 New King James Version
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
b. Now we too, can overcome everything Jesus did, the same way He did, through the resurrection power of Holy Spirit
Romans 8:11 New King James Version
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [a]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
i. Jesus not only paid the price to give you right standing with God, He did it in a way that made it possible for you to become just like Him
Romans 8:29-39 New King James Version
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 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. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
III. How do we access resurrection power?
a. You must receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior
i. Confess with your mouth (or verbally enter into agreement with the truth), that Jesus is Lord
ii. Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead
1. To save you from your sin, to forgive you, and to give you right standing (righteousness) with God
b. Ask for and receive Holy Spirit as your President and Power Source
Luke 11:9-13 New King James Version
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for[a]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
i. President – He makes the decisions and calls the shots
ii. Power Source – He is the means by which we accomplish what He tells us to do
c. Break partnership with the lie that God wants to CONDEMN you, and partner with the truth that God wants to SAVE you
John 3:17 New King James Version
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Hebrews 2:16-18 New King James Version
16 For indeed He does not [a]give aid to angels, but He does [b]give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being [c]tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
i. He Himself has suffered…
1. Born into incredible poverty, scandal, and oppression
2. Rejected by the very people He came to SAVE
3. Lived with the knowledge that He would die for people who would reject Him
4. Betrayed by one of His best friends
5. His best friends fell asleep as He suffered ALONE before His execution
6. Abandoned by His best friends when He was taken captive by a corrupt religious/political system
7. Handed over by His people to the governmental system that was oppressing His people
8. Accused of crimes He never committed, and everyone KNEW He didn’t commit them
9. A violent criminal was pardoned and released INSTEAD of Him, who was innocent
10. He was beaten mercilessly, forced to carry the cross He would be killed on, and slowly executed, in the most painful way possible in His day.
11. He experienced being forsaken by God the Father
ii. Being tempted…
Hebrews 4:15 New King James Version
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
1. Jesus was tempted with everything, that everyone in the world is tempted by, yet without sin
a. This means that temptation DOES NOT = SIN
Hebrews 2:18 New King James Version
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being [c]tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
iii. Because Jesus suffered every way a human can suffer, and was tempted in EVERY way a human can be tempted, He can relate to what you’re going through
Hebrews 4:14-16 New King James Version
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
d. Follow Jesus’ Example
i. He emptied Himself
Philippians 2:5-7 New American Standard Bible
5 Have this attitude [a]in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be [b]grasped, 7 but [c]emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and [d]being born in the likeness of men.
ii. He accepted God as Lord, and Holy Spirit as President and Power Source
Matthew 3:13-16 New Living Translation
13 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.[a]” So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened[b] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.
iii. He connected with Holy Spirit daily and obeyed His voice
Luke 5:16 New Living Translation
16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
John 5:19 New Living Translation
19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
John 12:49 New Living Translation
49 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it.
