The Meaning of the Resurrection

6 · The pastor establishes that the historical existence of Jesus and His crucifixion are uncontested facts, even among skeptics, and clarifies that the question under examination is whether Jesus' tortured, crucified body was genuinely raised from death — a claim requiring substantial evidence

First, did the resurrection really happen? Now, at the outset, it's helpful to recognize this is not a question of whether Jesus really lived. Even the most skeptical historians out there today admit there was a real Jesus of Nazareth. I mean, there is so much evidence, there's so much evidence even from secular sources that there was a man, Jesus, and that he was put to death and executed by the Romans via crucifixion. That's not in question. Even, even the most skeptical scholars relating to the resurrection admit Jesus was real. So the question is, what happened after he died? Did he stay dead? Or was he, as his disciples immediately after, and the church for 2,000 years has claimed, raised from a tomb, filled with life in a resurrection body? That's a big question. Was a man whose body was ravaged by torture and beatings and crucifixion whose heart had been stabbed with a massive Roman spear? Was that body really raised to life? If you were here on Friday for the Good Friday service, we meditated on the horror and torture of Christ's death. Is that body alive now? Well, if we're going to believe in something as radical as that, and that is radical, That is as radical as it gets. We'd better have some evidence.

7 · Paul provides a catalog of eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ, emphasizing the apostolic tradition he received and delivered, the scriptural fulfillment of the resurrection, and the verifiable testimony of hundreds of living witnesses

And Paul knows that. And so at the beginning of the chapter, listen to what he says in verse 3 through verse 8. 15, chapter 3. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas— that's Peter— then to the Twelve, Then He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. And then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He also appeared to me.

8 · The pastor argues that the empty tomb is the first critical piece of evidence for the resurrection, demonstrating that the authorities who had both motive and power to produce Jesus' body failed to do so, enabling the church to explode in Jerusalem on the proclamation of resurrection despite the opposition of those in power

Now what's the evidence Paul is showing us in this passage? We're not going to cover all the evidence for the resurrection this morning, but we're going to touch on some key ones. The first thing Paul points us to, evidence that we can believe there was a real historical event, a man who died and was raised from the grave, is that there's an empty tomb. Now, there's no word tomb in that passage, right? But Paul is talking about a raised Jesus, a man who was unquestionably put to death. All historians agree, and everyone in Paul's day would have known this guy was killed. There's only one way to explain the church in Jerusalem, the place where Jesus was killed, exploding like it does. You got Jesus dying, being put in a tomb, and a short time later, thousands of people are now entrusting their life and believing in His followers based on their message proclaiming that that tomb was empty and that Jesus was not dead. That doesn't happen if there's a real body. The easiest evidence for the Jewish leaders to produce to quash the explosion of the early church is just to pull Jesus out of the tomb, right? And they know that. In fact, they also know Jesus predicted His resurrection. In the Gospels, it talks about referencing that they will tear this down and in 3 days again I will build it up, right? They think He's talking about the temple. He's talking about Himself. But they realize and picked up by the end, He's predicting He will be raised from the grave. So what do the Jewish leaders do? They go contact the Romans and they get an elite guard set up in front of this tomb to ensure that the disciples can't steal the body. Now, one of two things happened here. Either that body really disappeared from that tomb, or something that is unexplainable according to all the evidence happened. You got to keep in mind who has all the power in this story. It's not the disciples. Jesus is dead, right? And when he dies, they scatter. The people with all the power are the Jewish leaders. It's Herod who agreed to have him killed. It's Pilate who signed the death warrant. It's the Roman soldiers who are standing guard in front of this tomb. If he's not in there, if his body's not found, they could be executed for dereliction of duty. Those are the characters with all the power. Now, if you've ever taken a history class, what are the one things they tell you? Who writes history? The winners write history. The winners write history. The winners get to write how history goes. Well, here's the weird thing about this story. The people with all the power in the story are not the winners. They had no body to bring forward to show that no, no, no, what they're saying isn't true. We've set up a guard in front of the tomb. Look, it's got a body in it. Can't happen. It's not true. The apostles are able to build the church on the preaching of a resurrected Jesus, and they pointed to that tomb in the city where it happened as irrefutable evidence. And no one could produce any evidence to counteract their claim.

9 · The pastor highlights Paul's appeal to numerous eyewitnesses, including 500 people who saw the resurrected Jesus at once and were still alive when Paul wrote, presenting this as verifiable, testable evidence that the early church could confirm

Second piece of evidence we see: Numerous witnesses. Paul references them here. He says Peter, Cephas was there. The whole party of the disciples, all the 12 saw Him. And then he says even 500 people. Now think of this. That's probably 2.5 times the number of people seated in this room right now. 500 people in one sitting see and experience the resurrected Jesus. That's a substantial number of people. And then Paul goes on to say, You know, it's kind of like the whole Reading Rainbow thing. Don't take my word for it. And then they cut to the scene of some kid plugging a book. He says, don't take my word for it. These 500 witnesses, most of them are still alive. You don't believe me? Go ask them. Go query them. The church knew who these people were. James, who would become the lead pastor of the early church, and Paul himself. Had all seen and experienced this. So you want eyewitness testimony that it's real? The church was built on just that. That's Paul's evidence to the church in Corinth.

10 · The pastor argues that the radical transformation of the disciples from cowardly, hiding men to bold proclaimers willing to die for their testimony is powerful evidence for the resurrection, as no one willingly dies for what they know is a lie

Third thing we see, and this is huge, we see a radical change in the disciples. They are different men. What happens building up to it. Paul lists Peter, all the disciples, James, and himself, and each one of those men is transformed, is utterly changed in their character after they encountered the resurrected Christ. Before Jesus is killed, Peter is busy denying him 3 times, swearing he doesn't know him. The 12 go from fearing for their lives Cowering in a room, hiding. They're in a room in Jerusalem hiding out. You kind of picture what Jews were doing in the Holocaust, right? They're hiding from the Nazis so they don't get discovered. That's sort of what the disciples are doing in that upper room. They're hiding, praying they don't get discovered. That's what they're expecting because Jesus has been killed and they think and expect Pilate and the Jews will now kill them. They go from being those men to walking around those same streets proclaiming Jesus, proclaiming his truth, and proclaiming that even though Rome, with all of its soldiers and spears and swords and crosses, killed him, he didn't stay dead. And then there's Paul, one untimely born. He's on a road with a group of Christians. He's not one of them. These men are in chains and Paul is leading them off to imprisonment, and he probably hopes to their execution. He hates Jesus. He hates everything about him, and he hates his followers. And on that road, the resurrected Christ appears to Paul. It's such a significant experience, he changes the name he goes by. No longer Saul, now Paul. No longer persecuting, but willing to be persecuted. Willing to die. To a man when they encountered Jesus after his resurrection. They were changed from selfish, cowardly doubters to men of passion and power and joy and courage, ready and willing even to die for their testimony that Jesus had been raised. You don't do that if what you're peddling is is fake.

11 · The pastor presents the testimony of Scripture — Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Christ, Jesus' own predictions, and the New Testament witness — as the ultimate authoritative evidence for the resurrection, grounding the claim in the inspired and inerrant Word of God

Fourth piece of testimony, evidence, the testimony of God's Word. Now, here's one that's controversial, right? But as controversial as it is, it's also that important. At the core of Paul's argument, look at the beginning of chapter 15. He says, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received. In other words, what I'm giving you, what I preach to you, this is massive. Everything is built around this truth. And here's what I received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, in keeping with what the Word of God said would happen to the Messiah. Verse 4: that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, according to the testimony and authority of the Word of God. So both Christ's death and His resurrection are predicted by God's Word. The Old Testament, for hundreds of years before Jesus, in places like Hosea 6:2 and Isaiah 53 and Jonah 1:17 and 2:1 and Psalm 16:10 and other places, predicted there would be a Messiah and He would suffer and He would die and the grave would not hold Him. Hundreds of years before Jesus lived. And then Jesus, immediately preceding, predicted the same things. He said, all of those Scriptures will be fulfilled in Me. Mark it down. I'm telling you, the Jewish leaders who are going to kill Me, I'm telling you, the crowds who are going to chant for them to kill Me, I'm telling you, My disciples, who are going to have to carry this message forward, they are going to kill Me, but I will be raised. And then, of course, the rest of the New Testament, inspired by the Spirit, underscoring again and again the truth of this reality. The authority of God's Word predicted and upholds that the resurrection is real.

12 · The pastor transitions from evidence presentation to application by asserting that God's testimony through Scripture is the ultimate trump card above all other evidence, and summarizes the evidential case for the resurrection

Listen to what 1 John 5:6 says: This is He, Jesus, who came by water and blood, not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, gives testimony, bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. If we receive the testimony of men, the evidence of men, what the 500 witnesses say, right? The testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that He has borne concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. It means as you encounter God's Word, you are hearing the trump card of all evidence, the authority that underscores all authority, that Jesus was real, that He was who He said He was, that He was killed, that He was crushed under the wrath of God for our sins, but that He was vindicated, raised by the very power of God, and is now seated in heaven. That's a brief sprint through the evidence. There's more evidence we could go to, there's more that we could say, but I just want to start there.

13 · The pastor delivers the verdict on the truth question, asserting categorically that the resurrection was a historical, physical event — not a spiritual symbol or metaphor — and that Jesus lives because He was genuinely raised

So, did it really happen? Is it true? We're answering the truth question now, right? The resurrection did happen. Not spiritually. Jesus doesn't— live on as a spiritual symbol. He doesn't live on because we like His teachings. He lives on because He lives on. Because historically, really, He was raised from the grave.

14 · The pastor uses a sports analogy to illustrate that truth only matters if it changes how you live — acknowledging evidence for something without altering behavior is meaningless

What does that matter? What does that mean to all of you? Here's maybe a funny illustration off the notes. I sent out a text kind of poking fun at some of my Jayhawk and Wildcat friends last night asking, "So is Wichita State the best team in Kansas?" The evidence kind of points to them being the best state, right? Best team. What does that truth matter if you're not going to change how you live, who you cheer for, right? Truth, if it's truth, if you're really going to live by it, has to affect It has to change. It has to transform the nature of who you are.

15 · The pastor pivots from the truth question to the meaning question, preparing to explore the implications and significance of the resurrection for believers

So, what does it mean? This is our second question the rest of today. What is the significance? Why does the resurrection matter?

16 · The pastor unpacks Paul's stark logic: if the resurrection is false, then Christianity is worthless, faith is futile, sins remain unforgiven, and believers are the most pitiable people on earth for building their lives on a lie

First, it means, and this is one of the central points of Paul's whole text, that Christianity is true. Or conversely, as Paul puts it, it means Christianity isn't a lie. Listen to the stark way Paul puts it in verse 16: If the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. What pastor says that? And you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Your loved ones in the grave have no hope. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. Paul's Christianity is no opiate for the masses. He's saying the opposite of that here. If you just think what I'm peddling is just to satisfy you in some way for the next 30 years until you kick the can, then you're missing everything I'm saying. I have no desire to just help you to get through the next decade of your life, the next 3 decades of your life. I have no desire of helping you bridge the gap from now until you die as happily as you can. I want to give you truth that changes your life and is real. In fact, if what I'm telling you isn't real, if the resurrection's a fraud, then your faith is a fraud. Then Paul's ministry is a fraud. What we're doing here this morning, this is all a fraud. You should be sleeping in, waking up late, drinking a coffee, and getting ready for a big lunch. That's what Paul is saying here. You have been wasting the last hour of your lives. As he says in verse 14, if Christ isn't raised, then the gospel itself and our faith in it is vain. It's empty. It's void of meaning. It's worthless.

17 · The pastor uses the image of a video game addict wasting his life on a fantasy to illustrate that if the resurrection is not real, Christians are even more pathetic for building their lives on a non-reality

My friend felt this at that college. That professor tried to pretend like the gospel still meant something. Christianity still mattered, while at the same time pulling out the foundation of the resurrection. It sent him into a tailspin for a decade, trying to make sense of why this book mattered when its core claim to truth was false. Think of it like a video game addict, right? Picture that guy playing SimCity or Age of Empires or Final Fantasy or some game. Just obsessed, driven by it, addicted. You know, probably 40 years old, living in his mom's basement. He's lost his job, he's in his boxers, he's got Cheeto stains all over his shirt. His beard's just all scraggly and gross. He hasn't showered in 3 weeks. He's just kind of got the beady eyes 'cause the room is dark and he just kind of twitches 'cause of all the fast stuff going on the screen. He's probably got the headset and like the speaker talking to people who knows where. It's 3 in the morning here, but there's some English-speaking dude in Germany and he's talking to him. You think of that person. His entire life is built around something that is not real. Not getting married, not having kids, not having a job, living in his mom's basement. 40 years old. There's people like that. Living life vicariously through a fantasy. "Oh, look how big my SimCity is. I've reached level 40 of whatever." You see that picture and all of us think, we're laughing because it's like, "That dude is pathetic. Loser." Right? If the resurrection is just something living in our hearts, just a spiritual symbol, some mystical imagining, and not flesh-and-blood reality, you are far more pathetic than that video game addict.

18 · The pastor asserts that because the resurrection is true, all of Scripture is vindicated, Jesus' ministry is validated, God's kingdom is real and will triumph, and believers' salvation is secure — the entire structure of Christianity stands on the historical reality of the risen Christ

Listen to how Paul puts the significance of the Start the letter again. I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand. You stand on this truth, and by which you're being saved. This truth saves you. If it's not true, you're not saved. Hold fast to it unless you believed in vain. And here's the truth I delivered to you of first importance: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scripture. He was buried and He was raised. It is built upon upon that truth. It is massive. You can't tinker with the resurrection and be left with anything real in Christianity. Every single word of the Bible, of this book, hangs on historical reality of a risen Christ. Either Jesus is risen and seated at the right hand of God, or we are stupid. Of all people, Paul says, most to be pitied. And then you read verse 20. But, but, all caps, underlined 3 times, but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. But it is true. It's not false. And because it's true, we can trust the Word of God. The Word of God hinges on its truth, and it's true. And so all God's Word is true, and it has authority, and it testifies to our lives, how we should live. It means the story of God's amazing rescue mission to overcome sin and to restore relationship, to bring a lost people back to Himself, is real. It's happening. We're in the midst of it. It means Jesus really was the Son of God. Jesus wasn't doing tricks. He was really healing people. He was really forgiving people. He was really casting out demons. He was really calling a dead man named Lazarus from the grave and making him walk again. All of those things are real, and it means God's kingdom is real. God's kingdom is far more real than the United States of America. And it means His cause will triumph. It means He has a political agenda that is guaranteed to succeed because He's seated at the right hand of power and He's reigning in such a way that He will bring every single person who trusts in Him home. Home. Out of a world of brokenness and hardship.

19 · The pastor contrasts modern culture's insulation from death's reality with the truth that death is inevitable, but argues that the resurrection means believers' graves will be opened — their hope is not in medicine but in God who raises the dead

That leads us to the second reason the resurrection matters. These aren't all of them, these are ones Paul touches on. Second reason it matters is because it means our graves will open. The resurrection matters because your coffins are not going to stay closed. Here's one of the peculiar things about the modern world. We have made it a really ubiquitous practice, everybody does it, to insulate ourselves from death. We, people assume, I'm gonna have 2 kids, in 25 years those 2 kids are still gonna be alive, and I'm still gonna be alive to see those 2 kids married. People assume that. That's just how they kind of think life is gonna happen. You know what? For the history of the world, that was not an assumption you could take to the bank. People didn't assume they were going to have 2 kids that survived. They'd have 7 kids in the hope that 2 would survive. They didn't assume that if they had 2 that survived, they'd be alive 25 years later to see them married. Better get married at 14 just so I'm alive to see it. Not advocating 14-year-olds getting married. You know what the backyard of churches used to have? Cemeteries. Graveyards. You came to church and you were reminded all of this is fleeting. It's fleeting. It's not gonna last. I mean, we got like stucco and whatever fabric these chairs are made of. You go visit Rome. Look at the Colosseum. Marble and stone and massive grandeur. All the power and eternal might of the Roman Empire behind it, right? And it's crumbling and it's in ruins. We insulate ourselves. We take the elderly, right? What do we do with the elderly? We sort of sequester them, often in homes. We want it just sort of out of sight and out of mind that people are getting older. And eventually those older people will die. That's the way our world works. Well, I hate to break it to you, modern medicine actually has a horrible track record against death. If you're constructing a bracket, death is the number 1 seed, and modern medicine is the worst 16th seed to ever make the tournament. No odds that it's going to succeed. That's reality. People who lived before you would tell you it's reality, but they're dead. And the truth of the resurrection means our hope is not in medicine. It's not in man's wisdom. It's in God. Because He raises the dead.

20 · The pastor expounds the 'firstfruits' metaphor, explaining that Christ's resurrection is the historical turning point guaranteeing that all believers will be raised in order when Christ returns — the resurrection is the event that determines the ending of the story

Listen to verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, the forefather of everybody, so also in Christ, You can read into that in the context, the sense of also all those who are in Christ, shall all be made alive. But each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming, those who belong to Christ. Here's Paul's point. The resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus, is the event that shapes and guarantees how all the rest of history will play out. It explains everything that happened before, and it will explain and determine everything that will happen from that point on. It's the turning point and the climax. It sets in motion the inevitable ending of the story. And the ending of the story is everyone who is in Christ, everyone who has repented and believed and entrusted themselves to a Jesus who was killed and is now reigning, all of those people, Paul says, will be raised. Will not be held. By death. Death is real. We might move our cemeteries, we might sequester our 90-year-olds, but it is coming. And God gives us a beautiful image of hope in Ezekiel 37.

21 · The pastor expounds Ezekiel 37 as an Old Testament prophecy of resurrection hope, where God promises to open graves and raise His people to life, putting His Spirit within them and giving them a King — a promise guaranteed by Christ's resurrection

Some of you may be familiar with the passage. One of my favorite passages in the whole Old Testament. Ezekiel has been given tasks by God to show the people images of hope and restoration. And so he takes the prophet and he shows him in a vision this valley. And this valley is filled— take the text down, I don't want to spoil it. The valley is filled— everybody's reading it. The valley's filled with death. Filled with dry bones. It's just sort of this— you kind of think, oh, the Valley of Dry Bones. Have you ever seen a picture of just a pile of skulls and bones? I mean, that's a horrible thing. This is a valley filled with it. And God tells Ezekiel, the bones you see in that valley are all my true children. Those bones represent all my people. All the people who have descended from Abraham are there lying dead in uncovered graves. Here's what God says to Ezekiel. Then God said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, our bones are dried up. Our hope is lost. We are indeed cut off. Therefore prophesy and say to them— and this is the cool thing, this is what the Word of God does, the authority of God's Word, the testimony of God's Word— say to them, thus says Yahweh the Lord God, behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people, and you shall know that I am Yahweh the Lord when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O My people. And I will put My Spirit within you and you shall live. And He goes on later in the chapter to say, and those people who are raised will have a King. And that King, the descendant of David, will live in their midst and walk with them. Here's the point. The great news of Easter. Resurrection guarantees, establishes an inevitable fact. It demands that because He was raised, all of us one day who will be in that valley will know new life.

22 · The pastor explains the firstfruits metaphor by analogy: just as being human in Adam guarantees death, being in Christ guarantees resurrection with the same certainty — Christ's resurrection is the down payment guaranteeing believers' resurrection

That's the meaning of first fruits in 1 Corinthians 15:20. Listen to the logic. For as by a man came death, by a man also has come the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, the first one guaranteeing other fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Here's what it's saying. Raise your hand if you're a human being. Make sure there's no aliens, right? Raise your hand if you're a human being. Raise your hand if that means you're gonna die. That's the reality, because you are of Adam, and Adam rebelled, and the punishment was death. Here's what Paul is saying: as certain as you can be that you are human, that you are of Adam's race, As certain as you can be that you will die if things continue going as they're going, you can be that certain that if you are in Christ, if the Spirit has breathed life into your dead bones, you will be raised with Christ on the second day. That's a massive statement. The resurrection of God, Jesus by God, is the down payment on our resurrection.

23 · The pastor unpacks the cosmic scope of the resurrection as God's ultimate vindication of His power over death, His final enemy, demonstrating that believers' resurrection is not just personal salvation but participation in God's grand narrative of victory that proves His absolute rule and authority over all creation

Here's what Paul describes it in verse 25: "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Now this is where it gets pretty cool. You start to see it's not just about us being raised. It's about this massive story This massive plot, the most amazing plot, the most amazing narrative you've ever heard coming to fruition. And because of the resurrection, you are at the center of it. The point of the resurrection is that the resurrection, first as Christ as the firstfruits, and then finally when all of us are raised, the point of that is it proves, it serves as a testimony and a vindication that God is all-powerful. This world might tempt you to believe He's impotent. People are dying. There's disease. There's war. There's famine. There's hatred. There's all these evil things going on. Well, the resurrection of the dead when Christ returns will be God's final stamp to say all of those things testified against Me, but they were false. I rule and I reign and I have authority, and you see it because My great adversary the devil has had his most powerful weapon, death, ripped out of His hands. I control who lives and who dies. I raise those conquered by death. That's what the resurrection means, which means when we're raised, we become a part of God's great momentous action of victory. It's how God shows that He will be all in all. His authority and his reign and his kingdom extend to everything. His dominion is eternal, that his rule is absolute, and that nothing triumphs against his plans. That's epic. You can actually use the word epic in an appropriate sense there. Wichita State was not epic. That is epic. It means if you are in Christ, you have a glorious future. It means our gospel and preaching and faith are not in vain. It means your sins really were forgiven. You really are saved. And it brings about the truth of the final significance. Wanna know why the resurrection matters? What it means? To live differently.

24 · The pastor asserts that the resurrection demands transformed living because this life is temporary (like vapor), merely the introduction before death, and believers who truly grasp the resurrection will not live for this brief introduction but for the eternal climax to come

It means our lives should be transformed. It might be better to say it demands we live differently. Because our graves will be opened, because Christianity is true, because the resurrection really happened, this life with its ticking clock is no longer all there is. In fact, this life is temporary, and when weighed against eternity, it's brief. Scripture describes it as a vapor. Think of when it gets cold, a little kid at the bus stop, right? Ahh! Breathe out, looks at his breath, ah, it's so cool, and then it just dissipates. That's what this life is when weighed against time. But this life is just the beginning. Death is not the end of the story. It's the conclusion of the introduction. That's what the resurrection means. If you believe and love the story, you don't live for the introduction. Wow, that introduction, man, that's incredible. My favorite part of the book. No! You dig into the story itself and you sell out for the climax.

25 · The pastor explains that the Corinthians' error was denying their own resurrection while affirming Christ's, and Paul's logic refutes this: if Christ was raised, believers will be raised — the whole point of Christ's resurrection is to enable God to raise His people, which logically demands changed living

What's weird is that the Corinthians, you notice in the text, they're actually not doubting that Christ is raised. They're doubting that they're going to be raised. We've kind of been convinced that Jesus is raised, we just don't think anybody else is going to be. It's a one-time deal. He was special. He's the Son of God. I'm just Joe Schmo selling carpets in Corinth. I don't know if Corinth was known for its carpet trade, I just kind of threw that out there. Doc was laughing at me, so I thought I should explain myself. Here's what he says in verse 12: Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. So here's logically the truth: Here's what Paul's saying: if Christ was raised, if that's real, if it's true, if it's historic, if that happened, then you will be raised. It is going to happen. The whole point of Christ being raised is so that God can raise you, that He can triumph and gather a people to Himself for the glory of His name. That's why it happens. So logically, if you come to grips with the truth of the resurrection, that should change everything about the way you live.

26 · The pastor addresses the congregation directly, acknowledging that they likely affirm the resurrection intellectually but challenges them to examine whether they deny it functionally by the way they live, even if they confess it with their words

Now, I don't think most of us are sitting here this morning denying that Jesus was raised. Maybe you're struggling with that. I would love to talk with you afterwards if that's the case. I'm going to assume a lot of you have said that's true. I don't think most of us or anyone is sitting here thinking, "I think Jesus really was raised, but I don't think anybody else is going to be." I don't think we've got the same struggle that Corinth is going through. But I wonder, do we deny the future resurrection in the way we live, if not with what we say?

27 · The pastor expounds Paul's argument that if the resurrection is false, hedonism is the only rational response, but because it is true, believers can endure suffering with boldness as Paul did, declaring through their willingness to die that this life is merely a preview of the life to come

Listen to how Paul describes how people should live if the resurrection isn't true. 1 Corinthians 15:30, same chapter. Why are we in danger every hour? What on earth are we doing if this resurrection isn't true? If the dead are not raised, verse 32, let us eat, drink, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. If Jesus stayed dead, then we're all going to stay dead. And you know what that means? You should be approaching the 80 years, roughly, if you think of life expectancies in America, you should be approaching that 80 years with an attitude that you are going to squeeze every drop of pleasure possible out of this life. Because it is 80 years of food and drink and stuff and sex and money and hard living and hedonism, and then it is over. It's worms chewing their way through your body. But Jesus didn't stay dead. The grave couldn't hold him. And that changes everything. And you know what's included in everything? The way you live. I protest, he says in the middle of this. I protest, brothers. I die every day. That's not Paul complaining. That's not Paul whining. I'm so sick of suffering. That's Paul declaring faith in a life to come. Why are we facing death? What if He didn't rise? I protest! I die every day. My life shows you I believe I will be raised. My back can get scourged. Several years later, it can get scourged again. You can beat me. My friends can abandon me. I can get imprisoned and humiliated in front of the emperor. I can be put to death. And I will do all of that without shame and with boldness because this life is just a preview.

28 · The pastor expounds Paul's instruction to Titus that God's grace trains believers to live godly lives in the present age while waiting for the blessed hope of Christ's return, resulting in lives radically different from those who deny the resurrection in every sphere — passions, pursuits, relationships, commitments, and finances

Listen to how he says it to Titus. You've got to love anything he writes to Titus and Timothy. Because Titus and Timothy, they're his boys, man. They're these guys, these two young men that he's raised up. He knows he's going to die. Titus and Timothy are two men he sent out to say, "Carry on the work." Carry on the work of proclaiming Christ and him crucified and raised and reigning. Here's what he says to Titus. This is how you need to teach the churches. "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people." And that trains us. It trains us to live differently. To renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self-controlled and upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us, to redeem us from all lawlessness, to redeem us from living like the resurrection never happened. Happened to purify for himself a people for his own possession. Everybody wants to be part of the cool kids club, right? You want to be a part of the people for God's own possession. That's true. And so we live differently. Our life and our passions and our pursuits and our relationships and our commitments and how we spend our money. All of those things— how you live, your passions, your pursuits, your relationships, your commitments, how you spend your money— all of those things are radically different if you believe in the resurrection from the atheist who lives down the street.

29 · The pastor illustrates Jesus' silent submission before Pilate as a fulfillment of Isaiah 53's prophecy, arguing that Jesus remained silent because He knew the Father's plan, trusted in His power to raise Him, and was no charlatan — His faith in the resurrection enabled Him to face death without defending Himself

Because Christ isn't in the grave. You don't need to hedge your bets. You can live as sold out as Paul. Willing to be put to death. Willing to lose your job. Willing to be scorned by people who think you're intolerant. Because you think Jesus was real and He spoke truth. And He said we were sinners but paid a way for us to be saved. Again, go back to the evidence. There's a reason Jesus is willing to be put to death in the way that he is. One of the fulfillments— so you got these prophecies that happen hundreds of years in the future, right? 5th century BC, you got Isaiah prophesying about this suffering servant. Isaiah 53, one of the most famous passages in the Bible. He's talking about the Messiah, the suffering servant, and he says, "He will go like a sheep to the slaughter, and he will open not his mouth." That's what happens to Jesus. He stands before Pilate and he knows you are on trial for your life. The outcome of what this man says determines whether you are killed in the most horrible way possible, and you've been getting beaten for hours now. You feel in your body how horrible the rest of this is going to be. Or he can declare you innocent. And everything it says in the text kind of makes it seem like Pilate is looking for an excuse to say you're innocent. He doesn't think you're guilty. Just give me a reason to get you off the hook. In a book that's filled with the teachings and the words of this man, this man doesn't say a word. You know why he does that? Because he's no charlatan. He knows who he is, and he knows the plan, and he knows the Father's cup with all its horror and its wrath, and he knows, he knows the Father's power to bring him back to life. His lips are silent, but I think his heart is praying in faith.

30 · The pastor applies the resurrection's power by pointing to martyrs who endured suffering because of their faith in the resurrection, comparing resurrection faith to spectacles that change how believers view the entire world

You know why Peter is willing to be crucified upside down? You know why Paul can be whipped and shipwrecked and impoverished and slandered and executed? You know why Stephen, the first martyr, You know why he prays for the people that are hurling the rocks at him that will crush his skull and break his heart? You know why he prays for their forgiveness? Because in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. The resurrection You can even say faith in the resurrection. You can compare it to a pair of spectacles. When you have faith in the resurrection, when you believe in it, and you put that faith on, and it covers your eyes, it changes everything about the way you view the world. Everything appears different. Through the lens of the resurrection.

31 · The pastor clarifies that living in light of the resurrection does not mean monasticism or withdrawal from life but rather a transformed perception of life's significance and purpose — believers remain engaged in life but live rightly in light of eternity

Now, that doesn't mean you go about your day thinking about nothing but the resurrection. Oh, over lunch I looked at ESPN. I'm so sinful. That's not what it's— that's not what I'm saying. Nobody lives that way. The charge to live like that with the resurrection and faith in the resurrection like a pair of spectacles shaping your view of reality, that's not a call to go be a monk in a monastery. The truth of the resurrection is It doesn't call us out of life. It doesn't call us out of relationship. It doesn't call us out of your careers or your neighborhoods. But it does inherently alter how we perceive their significance and their purpose. It brings all of life into right focus. Not that we stop living, but that we start living rightly in light of eternity where those in Christ are raised.

32 · The pastor sets up a concluding illustration by acknowledging the disconnect some may feel between Easter's triumphant songs and their own suffering, promising that the resurrection speaks to those in despair

Here's a concluding illustration. And before we even get to it, there's a little off the notes, but you come on Easter morning, it's like people come on Easter morning, you're ready to sing, right? It's Easter, like if you can't sing on Easter, what is wrong with you? So you're singing these songs and it's just, "Crowned with many crowns," you know, just everybody's singing and belting, "Yeah, victory, truth!" You know what? Not everybody comes in here that way this morning. There's probably some of you who came in here and you're feeling just this disconnect between songs of triumph and just, "Man, my week was horrible. My month has been horrible. I think my whole life has been horrible. Something has happened in my life that I'm just facing uncertainty at every corner." How do I sing? How do I praise? How do I worship if that's true? The resurrection speaks to those things.

33 · The pastor tells the story of George Matheson, a brilliant Scottish scholar who lost his sight, his fiancée, and eventually his caregiver sister, but in the darkest moment of his life wrote the hymn 'O Love That Will Not Let Me Go' as the Lord renewed his hope in the resurrection

Ever heard of George Matheson? Probably not, he's not super well known. He was a Scotsman. So he lived in the Highlands, right? Walked around in a kilt, probably not. But he was a brilliant young scholar. I mean, this guy was smart. At the age of 20, 20, think what you were doing when you were 20, maybe what you're doing right now. He had already published two significant theological works. 20 years old and he's published two significant theological works. It was expected that he was going to become the leading figure in Scottish Christianity of his generation. They're expecting this guy is going to be the Owen, the Luther, the Calvin, the Augustine of his age. Life is going well. He's in seminary, he's studying, he's engaged, got a beautiful young woman he's gonna marry. And then Matheson begins to lose his sight. He starts going blind. He goes to the doctors, "What's going on? Can you fix it? Can you figure it out?" And they come to the conclusion they can't. And not only can they not stop it from getting worse, Well, they can't stop it from getting worse. It's just eventually he will be completely, utterly blind in darkness. You can imagine how crushing that is, right? This isn't a post-Helen Keller world where there's Braille and all sorts of things that help you and assist you. And then it gets worse. His fiancée informs him she can't imagine life with a blind man. So she leaves him. And thankfully, by God's grace, his sister steps in and she cares for him. And she runs his household, she's cleaning his clothes, she's making him food. She helps it so that he can function in a world that has no sense of how you help the disabled, right? With his sister's help, he becomes a pastor, even preaches regularly to crowds of 1,500 people, which is a big deal in that day, as a blind man. And then there comes this day when his sister falls in love. And there's just like this torn heart. His sister, who he loves, has found a man who she's going to marry, but it means she will go and live her life. And he will be left in darkness and solitude. And on the night, listen to this, on the night of her wedding, I don't know the details of this, but he's left home alone and the whole family is at the wedding. And Matheson describes there was just this incredible sadness that passes between him and the Lord. And he's mourning the fact that his future will be without his caregiver in a world with no safety net for him to fall in. And he's also reflecting back on his own crushed hopes of marriage. And it's this incredibly sad, dark moment. And he says in that moment, it was as if the Lord dictated to him the words of a hymn. And in, in only 10 minutes' time, he wrote out what came to be known as the song "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go."

34 · The pastor quotes Matheson's hymn in its entirety, highlighting the blind man's declaration that despite weeping in darkness with all earthly hopes dead, he traces the rainbow through the rain and clings to the promise that the resurrection morning shall be tearless

Now, this song was written by a blind man, never going to see light again in his life. His caregiver is gone. He's in the darkest moment of despair. What do you live for? What do you cling to? Listen to what he wrote. Listen to these words. Oh, love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee. I give thee back the life I owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. O light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to thee. You sense he's clinging to an edge, right? I yield my flickering torch to thee. My heart restores its borrowed ray. That in thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be. O joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee. And this is a great line. I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not in vain. That morn, the resurrection morn, Shall tearless be. He's probably weeping while he writes this. Verse 4: O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee. I lay in dust, life's glory dead. My hopes are gone in this life. And from the ground there blossoms red life. That shall endless be.

35 · The pastor concludes by applying Matheson's story to the congregation, declaring that the cross and empty tomb are an unshakable promise in all circumstances, and that the resurrection's truth — that God's Word is true, death will not hold believers, and Christ is risen — changes everything regardless of whether one came in celebrating or despairing

If the dead are not raised, Matheson would have been a blind man left to a crippled, hopeless existence. But in the darkest moment of his life, God renewed his hope. God helped him, as he put it, to trace the rainbow through the rain and feel the promise is not in vain. Matheson helps us this morning. The cross and the empty tomb are an unshakable promise in the midst of all of life. They are the hope that you have at the high points, and they are the hope you have at the lowest. He traced God's promises to a Christ punished in his place and raised up for his hope. The cross lifts up my head, I dare not ask to fly from thee. I lay in dust, life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red life that shall endless be. The resurrection is true. It means God's Word and Christianity are true. True. It means death will not hold those who are in Christ. And whether you came in celebrating today or you're not sure you can make it through the week, the truth of those things changes everything. Because Christ is risen.

36 · The pastor closes by inviting the congregation to prayer, transitioning from proclamation to corporate response

Would you bow your heads?