Three Assurances of the Resurrection

Transcript

GRM 1258
04/04/2021
Three Assurances of the Resurrection
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

It is wonderful and exciting to be able to join together and praise God. Hallelujah, it means praise God for the wonder of the salvation He provided in the death and resurrection of His Son. Amazing! 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, buried, His enemies thought they had won the victory, and then He’s raised from the dead. Little did even His disciples and the believers in those early days know, they could not comprehend that 2,000 years would go by and believers would be gathering together to celebrate and rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ provided salvation. And down through the ages of time, God has continued to bring salvation to lost people. How gracious He is, how patient He is, that His salvation continues down to today.

We talk about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I just want to remind you of things that we have looked at before. What is the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? You know, a gradual process settles in if we’re not careful, but over time, religious practices, even biblically religious practices, and things like Easter, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, becomes a holiday event, but something of it’s impact and importance is lost. Now some people never really understand it, but for those of us who do, it’s important that we remind ourselves again and again, what is the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what does it really mean, what is its impact? It is ongoing what happened 2,000 years ago, is what is of importance today. Turn on the news and there are a lot of things occupying the world’s attention. Sometimes we as believers are caught up in it. And we are here and what is going on does affect us in some ways, but we don’t want to lose perspective. What really matters is what happened 2,000 years ago and its importance for today.

So I want to talk to you about the assurances of the resurrection. What is its significance, what does it mean? We’re going to look at three points. I kept them simple so that you can remember them. I kept them simple so I could remember them, and to help my fading memory, I wrote them down, you can do that as well. Three assurances of the resurrection, we’ll just look at these points and a few scriptures that go with them. I was reminded as I worked through this again, you cannot exhaust the material on this, we could do a whole series on the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the salvation He provided in His death.

But the first thing I want to look at with you is the resurrection of Jesus Christ as the seal, a guarantee of a finished work. The guarantee, the seal of a finished work, God’s work of salvation is done; it is finished, as Jesus gave His final words on the cross, it is finished; it is done, it is settled for time and eternity. Might turn to Romans 4. I’m mentioning a number of verses in connection with the points we look at. In Romans 4, Paul has moved in his discussion of Romans as we’ve been studying it together in the evenings, from talking about the desperate condition of every single human being. That sin is a worldwide, universal, impacting-every-person problem. They get concerned with viruses, how many people have been impacted. You understand sin is the sickness that impacts everyone, there’s no one who’s not been infected by the disease of sin. Backup to Romans 3 just for a moment, Paul summarized a section here, it covers basically these first three chapters of this letter to the Romans. Note verse 9, “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all,” in other words, every one of us is in the same condition, “for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.”

Then he quotes from Old Testament scriptures going back 100 years earlier, this is not new material, verse 11, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless” from God’s perspective. You see the condition of the world and the people of the world from God’s perspective, for bringing honor and glory to Him, pleasing Him. “All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” Hard for us to grasp this. Sometimes even as believers we look around, and of course, the people of the world who do not know the Savior, they look around and they think they are good people. There are bad people around them but they are good people. Often even the bad people don’t think they are that bad. But from God’s perspective you note the all-inclusiveness here, how many times he said ‘none,’ then he says ‘all.’ If you think you are an exception, if I think I’m an exception, it’s just not the case, we all start out in the same condition. Verse 14, “the mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Want to know what is wrong with our country, what is wrong with the world? Here it is unfolded clearly and simply.

He proceeds from here, when you pick up with verse 21 of chapter 3, to talk about God has provided and made known His righteousness and everyone needs that because it is said the condition that infects everyone is the sin we just saw. The righteousness of God has been witnessed, and the Old Testament witnessed it. The Jews had the Law, the Mosaic Law. It was not a way of salvation, but it does reveal how sinful they are, and they were. It is the righteousness that God has provided, verse 22, “through faith in Christ Jesus for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are “being justified,” the same basic word as we have translated righteousness, we are “declared righteous as a gift by His grace.” You note here, your works are excluded, the things that you might do like being baptized, taking communion, trying to be a good person. We are declared righteous not on the basis of what we do, our works, but “as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” And Christ Jesus is the one whom God displayed as a propitiation. That word is really simple in meaning, it means that it is something that satisfies the demands of God, turns His wrath away from us. So it’s a propitiation, it’s something that God has done for us that enables Him to turn His wrath away from us. It’s in the blood of Christ through faith, in other words, the death of Christ was a sacrifice and by a violent death. His violent death, to be a sacrifice, to pay the penalty for our sin so that when we place our faith in Him, God can turn His wrath away from us and declare us righteous. The penalty for our sin has been stamped ‘paid in full,’ it’s just that clear, that simple. That’s what it’s all about, that’s what the death of Christ is all about.

The problem is we begin to blur this, even Protestants, Catholics, and the other religions of the world that believe in a god, small g. They think, well, we’ll do these things, so we create religious systems, and if you come and get baptized, join our church, take communion or the sacraments as some churches call them, and do these things, then God will be pleased and accept you. That is a tremendously grievous and great offense against God. He’s already told us you can’t do anything to satisfy the demands of My righteousness, and now for you to come and act like you can do something… It cost Me the death of My Son God says, to step in and pay your penalty, now you have the audacity to tell Me you’ll take care of it by being baptized, by taking communion, or by working at being the best person you can. There can be no greater offense against God, so what He is telling us is He provided His Son, and you receive that gift by faith, not by your works. It’s just by simply recognizing what God says about you is true, that you’re a sinner; what God says about His Son is true, that He died to pay the penalty for your sin; and place your faith in Him and Him alone. God says He will forgive you, He will have His wrath turned away from you and declare you righteous.

Down through chapter 4 he explains this comes to you by faith, so we come to the verses we came to in the first place for this. Verse 24, these things were written “for our sake also, to whom it will be credited,” God’s righteousness is what he’s talking about in the context, “as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” Jesus is the One who “was delivered over because of our transgressions.” He was given over to be the sacrifice, to pay the penalty for our sin. He was delivered over for crucifixion because of our transgressions, our sins. Now note this, He “was raised because of our justification,” that’s our point, He “was raised because of our justification.” All we’ve said here, our sin, the provision of Christ, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is God’s declaration that the penalty has been paid in full. Righteousness has been provided. He “was raised because of our justification,” because now we could be declared righteous by a holy God, because the penalty that could be accepted on our behalf has been paid. So he can move into chapter 5 verse 1 and say, “Therefore, having been justified,” declared righteous, “by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” Is there something not clear here? Our sin, Christ’s sacrifice, our faith in Him. That’s God’s plan of salvation. How do I know? Christ was raised from the dead, He was raised because all that needed to be done in order for us to be declared righteous by God had taken place in the death of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is God’s seal that the work is finished, it’s done, the one sacrifice.

Leave your marker, finger, or mask in Romans 4 and come back to Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1. It’s so important; I fear that most of the religious people celebrating Easter today fail to appreciate the finality of the work of Christ on the cross, which is demonstrated by His resurrection. Look in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 2, “In these last days (God) has spoken to us” with a clarity not before seen, “in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” And this Son, Jesus Christ, “is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature,” He is God, He “upholds all things by the word of His power.” We heard that in the songs, He does, He is sovereign, His power holds it all together. “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” You know, this letter is called The Letter to the Hebrews, this is written to Jewish believers, and they would understand the significance when it says, “He sat down at the right hand” of the Father, “the Majesty on high.” In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the high priest, the head of the priestly system, would act on behalf of the nation and he would come in to offer sacrifices on behalf of the nation. When in that holy enclave, he would come in to sprinkle the blood. But you know what? There were no seats provided in there, and that had significance; it meant that that could never be done because the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. It just reminded the people that they needed a sacrifice that would be acceptable, and if they placed their faith in God and His promises, He could declare them righteous because He would provide the only appropriate sacrifice.

Come over to chapter 10 of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10, and you’ll note verse 4 says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The Old Testament anticipated and prophesied the coming of Jesus Christ to be the Lamb of God, the sacrificial One, to pay the penalty for sin. We come down to verse 10, “By this will,” the will of God, “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” That one sacrifice is all it took, it’s all it takes. When we place our faith in that one sacrifice, our account is stamped ‘paid in full.’ God says all the sins are forgiven, I credit the believer with My righteousness. Now note the contrast in verse 11, “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins,” that was the Old Testament system, “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” You see the contrast of verse 11, that priest is offering sacrifices all the time. There were daily sacrifices going on regularly, and a routine, but none of them could take away sin. But Jesus only had to offer one sacrifice, His body on the cross, and then He sat down in the presence of God, nothing else can be done.

That’s why we build religious systems. Well, you’ll be acceptable to God if you get baptized, you’ll be acceptable to God if you observe the sacraments, you’ll please God if you come to church or you go to confession. Stop. All that is saying God doesn’t tell the truth and that there’s more necessary. We say, well, you should say, all you have to do is believe. That’s not a work. It’s simply a response to what God has done. If I write you out a check for a million dollars and I say here, it’s yours. You don’t take it. I don’t say you have to work for it, just take it, it’s yours. That’s what God has done in the death of His Son. I paid the penalty for you at great cost to Me, take it, it’s yours, it’s a free gift. Well, I’m going to get baptized, I’m going to go to church, I’m going to clean up my life. Stop. You’re telling Me what I did is not enough (you’re telling God…) That’s what he’s saying here. The resurrection of Christ is worth celebrating, of course! The work necessary for you to be forgiven your sins, declared righteous by God, prepared to spend eternity in the glory of His presence has all been done. It doesn’t matter what your sin, how good you think you are, or how bad you’ve been. Your account can be marked ‘paid in full.’ God has put His righteousness into your account. It doesn’t get any better than that. Now that will result in your life changing -- but you don’t get saved, you don’t become God’s child, by cleaning up your life.

Come back to Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10. Paul’s concern is for the salvation of Jews as well as Gentiles, but the Jews thought they were alright. We are good people, we are religious people, we try to keep the Mosaic Law, we offer the prescribed sacrifices, we observe the holy days and they had a number of them under the Mosaic Law, like we have Christmas and Easter and days like that. Paul’s prayer for Israel, verse 1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” That’s the failure of religious people today, they are ignorant of the fact that God has provided everything in Christ, God’s righteousness, so they’re trying to establish their own. They may belong to a whole system, a certain Protestant denomination, Roman Catholicism. If you do this and you go through these things then you can get to heaven. It’s sad, people are in ignorance. The world is made aware, at least in the general way, of the resurrection of Christ because Easter is celebrated so broadly. But like Jesus said, the way to life is narrow, the gate is narrow and there are few that find it; the way to destruction is broad, the gate that you enter that way is broad and most people will go down it.

Why? It’s said clearly: that’s why you need to know the resurrection of Christ is God’s seal that the work is finished. “He was raised because of our justification.” All that could ever be done in order for God to declare you righteous, forgiven completely, consistent with His holy, righteous character has been done by Christ. The only thing that stands in the way of you benefiting from that is your receiving the free gift by believing in Christ. That’s true for each one of us. It shouldn’t be so hard but it’s a humbling experience. Today I’ve got to come and recognize I am a sinner, I am guilty, I am under condemnation. I don’t see myself that way. What I have to do is see myself as God sees me. He says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things but He says I the Lord search the heart. I see you as you really are. I see myself as I like to think I am. So the resurrection of Christ is the seal of a finished work.

Secondly, the resurrection of Christ is the seal, pledge, guarantee, the assurance of a coming resurrection. Christ is not the only one to be resurrected from the dead to receive a body that will last for eternity. Come over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. This is the fullest discussion of bodily resurrection you find anywhere in scripture; it’s not the only place that the resurrection of the body is talked about in scripture but this is the place where it is most fully explained. Fifty eight verses as we have it in 1 Corinthians 15 to talk about the resurrection of the body.

It starts out by talking about what is the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus Christ. He begins in chapter 15 verse 1 “I make known to you, brethren, the gospel,” the good news, “which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved.” It’s the message, the gospel, the message of Christ is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17. “If you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.” There are people, they are in the environment of an evangelical church, Bible-believing church, maybe you grew up in that church, maybe you started attending for other reasons. Oh, yeah, I believe those things. But saving faith changes you from the inside. Paul’s concern is did you believe emptily? We have this expression, ‘people of faith,’ all the people of faith ought to join together. That is totally meaningless. Is there anyone who does not have faith? Well, we are talking about religious faith. Well, what’s that mean? Even a secular humanist, I think that’s the popular phrase for it, has faith. An atheist has faith, he has faith there is no god, that’s his religious faith, he stakes his eternity on that. What does that mean? Faith is only profitable related to what you believe. If I say to you, give me a million dollars, give me a million dollars and I’ll triple it for you in the next two years. You can have faith and give it to me, and I’ll be sure it’s all gone in the next two years. It is worthless faith. You had faith. How many people have lost fortunes because they believed a conman? How many people have gotten into trouble because they believed a lie? The devil is spreading lies all the time everywhere. He’s a liar and the father of lies Jesus said. So you have to believe the truth, and really believe it, not just mouth the ‘I believe that.’ Have I placed full confidence, are my heart and mind in Him?

He said here’s the gospel, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins.” We talked about, we saw in Romans, that’s consistent with the Old Testament scriptures. Go back and read Isaiah 53 and the other scriptures. The sacrifices of the Old Testament all reminded people the penalty for sin is death. You need someone to take your place; an animal pictures that but an animal can’t do that. “Christ died for our sins… and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day… and that He appeared” to witnesses: Cephas, the twelve, five hundred at one time, to Paul. There’s two basic statements here supported by two other events, “Christ died for our sins,” “He was buried.” That’s simply the evidence that He died. That’s what you do with a dead body, you bury it. They made sure His body was dead. The soldier rammed the spear into His side. It was important for a Roman soldier to know that He was dead because a Roman soldier had to give his life if a prisoner escaped under his care so they weren’t going to make this mistake. He’s dead so they buried Him; His burial is proof that He died. In verse 4, “He was raised on the third day.” What’s the proof that He was raised? He appeared to witnesses, to Cephas, who was Peter, the twelve, five hundred brethren, James, the apostles, Paul, there are a multiplicity of witnesses. So the two facts are Christ died for our sins and He was raised from the dead; and there is supporting evidence. That’s what you must believe.

Now foundational to that is I’m a sinner. This is the thing to get over, that hump. We had a prominent political leader, when they were accused of hating someone the defense they gave was I’m Roman Catholic, I don’t hate people. What’s that mean? Part of Roman Catholic doctrine is going to confession, I guess you wouldn’t need that for you since you don’t sin. He died for our sins, that’s why He’s on the cross, for your sins and for my sins. There is no other way. Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me,” (John 14:6) That’s it, there’s one way to experience forgiveness of sins, to have God’s righteousness credited to your account. Every other way is a way to destruction and eternal hell. We might say that’s narrow! It is! But it is broad, it is enough to encompass everyone.

Christ died for our sins, He was raised, and he’s going on to explain what that means. Come down. Bad doctrine infiltrates among churches and that begins to corrupt the church and weaken it, destroy its foundation, verse 12, now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?” You note this, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth and he says in verse 12, “how do some among you,” not some out there, not some pagans who deny. No! “How do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead,” some who had infiltrated among the church at Corinth and were claiming to be believers were denying the bodily resurrection. If you deny the bodily resurrection you deny the resurrection of Christ, that’s what his argument is. “If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.” You’ve been fooled, you believed a lie, you placed your faith in something that was not true. This is serious business.

We had a dear neighbor a number of years ago, elderly lady long deceased. She got up every morning, went to church to pray. She had never been saved, she didn’t’ get saved until my wife shared the gospel with her; that was her own recognition. She was an elderly lady, she had been getting up her whole life, going down there to pray, and she was lost. She didn’t really understand and believe, she was doing it as part of what she needed to do. Her religious system told her this makes you more pleasing to God and all this. How sad it is, you can believe in vain if you don’t personally place your confidence and faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 17, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” The scripture doesn’t say believing a lie at least is good, at least you’re religious. Verse 19, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied,” it is pitiful to believe a lie, to stake your hope for eternity in something that is not true.

“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” The first fruits are the ears of grain and so on that were brought in and they were the evidence and guarantee of a coming harvest, there’s more to follow. So Christ is the guarantee of a coming resurrection. “Since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order.” There’s an order. We’ve gone through the order of resurrections in scripture. There is a first resurrection and there is a second resurrection. The first resurrection is a quality of resurrection, the second resurrection, if I can call it that… there’s a resurrection of life and a resurrection to judgment. Christ has been raised and all believers are assured of a resurrected, glorified body in Him, a body like His. And you can go on and read 1 Corinthians because some of them challenged the resurrection. How could that happen? You put this body in the grave and it disintegrates, and worms eat the body and then you use the worm to go fishing and then you catch a fish and eat it. Where do you go with this? How are you going to get that body back together? Paul says you fool, you’re one who has no knowledge, how could you be so ignorant, the Spirit of God’s going to do it. I’m paraphrasing, you can read it later. The Spirit of God has planned this body to be resurrected and transformed by the power of the Spirit. It’s called a spiritual body because it is a work done by the Holy Spirit of God who is Himself God. We will get to this when we get into our study of Ephesians 1. The same power that resurrected Christ from the dead is going to resurrect us from the dead. That’s it! It’s a guarantee of a coming resurrection. Our hope is not in this world or things of this world. There may come a time that some will be martyred for their faith, it happens in other countries, could happen here. That doesn’t take away our hope, my hope is not here anyway, I’m looking forward to the resurrection, transformation of this body.

Come back to John chapter 5, John’s gospel chapter 5 (and this will be all we can do with this point so we can get to the third) John chapter 5, Jesus is talking about all judgment has been given to Him, verse 22. “Not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. Verse 24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word” and here we go again, “and believes Him,” has faith in Him, “believes Him who has sent Me, has eternal life, does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” My account has been stamped ‘paid in full,’ I’ve been credited with God’s righteousness, there’s no sin for me to be judged for. There is a judgment of rewards, a different kind of judgment in a different context. It’s like winning an athletic event and you come to the judges stand but it’s for a reward, not for condemnation.

Then you come down, verse 25, I tell you “an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live,” that life is in the Son. Verse 28, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice… those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” There are two kinds of resurrections, a resurrection to life and a resurrection of judgment. Your life is an evidence of that, it doesn’t cause it, it is through faith in the Son; He who hears My word and believes has life. Now when God changes you on the inside your life changes, your conduct changes. There are two kinds of resurrections. Everybody is going to live eternally, everyone is going to live eternally in this physical body. The believer will be raised with a body that is called glorified because it is suited for glory in heaven. You know, every unbeliever is going to have their body raised and it will endure for eternity, it won’t be able to be destroyed, it will be able to suffer the pains and agony of hell forever. That’s the great white throne judgment in chapter 20. We don’t have time to turn there but it’s important that we be clear, there is a coming resurrection. Christ’s resurrection is the cause of hope for us, for the unbeliever it is a reminder. Someday I’m going to be resurrected and I want to be resurrected in the resurrection of life, not the resurrection of judgment.

It’s the guarantee of a future judgment, the third point; that’s what we’re talking about, there is coming judgment. Because of the thinking of the world and the animosity of the world toward anything biblical, sometimes we as believers shy away. Well, if we talk about hell and judgment people aren’t going to want to hear that. I know if I go to the doctor and he tells me I have cancer I don’t want to hear that, but you know, if he can tell me there is a cure I want to hear the truth. Tell me as it is. I go and I have cancer and he doesn’t want to tell me; he tells me why don’t you go get your teeth cleaned. That wasn’t honest and besides there’s a cure and you didn’t tell me. The world doesn’t want to hear it.

I want you to note Acts chapter 17, and here, the context, Paul is preaching the gospel to those who don’t want to hear it. You know what will happen? He’s going to get to the resurrection of the dead and when he starts mentioning the resurrection of the dead everybody says, boo, boo. But he has to do it. Here’s what God is saying today, (verse 30) “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance,” note, “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.” We will be held to a standard of righteousness, not what we think is righteous, not to our standard or someone else’s, to God’s standard which is perfect righteousness. “He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed,” the God-Man, Christ Jesus. Now note this, “having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” You know what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means? It means we will all be subject to judgment. We passed through the one judgment because when we placed our faith in Jesus Christ our sin is judged, the Judge says the slate is clean. There’s coming a judgment. People don’t think.

Jesus Christ became a man. He’s eternally been God’s Son, that’s been the relationship within the Godhead. He took to Himself humanity so He could go to the cross and pay the penalty for humanity’s sin, our sin. But you know what else? He is the God-Man, and how fitting it is, He will also be the Judge of man. As God His judgment will be perfect and righteous. He is man and fitting that He judge men. The proof is He raised Him from the dead. It is appointed unto man once to die, after this comes judgment. You’re in Acts, back up to Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 10, Peter is speaking to Gentile believers for the first time, the gospel is being brought to Gentiles. Peter speaks of the crucifixion of Christ, the end of verse 39, “They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up,” from the dead “on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses.” Verse 42, “He ordered us,” Peter was one of the witnesses, “to preach to the people, and solemnly testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” You’ll note the end of verse 42, He’s been appointed Judge of the living and the dead. Verse 40, God raised Him from the dead, that’s testified by witnesses. God now is instructing all people everywhere to believe in Him. Why? Peter is giving the same message, He’s appointed a day, He hung on a cross, He was raised on the third day, God ordered us to preach, to testify this is the one who is appointed by God, the one who has been raised judge of the living and the dead. How do you escape that judgment regarding your eternal destiny? Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins. Many other verses we could bring in. This final judgment is Revelation 20 called the Great White Throne judgment. It is true and sure.

The work on the cross is a settled work. The resurrection is crucial, it is the seal, it settles the fact the work of redemption is finished. That ought to encourage you, encourage everyone you share this with. There’s a salvation provided for you and it’s done, it’s a package. Christ died for your sins, He was raised, so that if you will believe in Him He’ll forgive you. Isn’t it amazing how stubborn we are in our sin? Our favorite song is ‘I Did It My Way,’ that’s a sad testimony because my way is not the way to heaven. Man’s way… there’s a way that seems right unto a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death. There’s a broad way that leads to destruction, there’s a narrow way that leads to life. The message of the resurrection -- it’s great -- the work of redemption is done. There’s a coming resurrection, Christ’s resurrection is evidence and proof of that. The body may rot in the grave but there’s coming a day when it will be raised. There will be a resurrection for everyone. For believers a resurrection to life to enjoy God’s presence for eternity. For the unbeliever it is a resurrection to judgment, final condemnation to an eternal hell. It’s a guarantee that judgment is coming. So we say it’s good and bad but it couldn’t get any better.

Even if you’re here and you might have grown up in this church, have you ever really experienced the transforming power of God’s grace? You may be just here and visiting today. Have you ever experienced the power of God’s salvation? It’s amazing, it’s a free gift! “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:23) You can simply say today, God, I never realized before but I realize now, I am the sinner you say I am. I really believe Christ died for me. I want to trust Him and Him alone as my Savior. I can’t explain the miracle that happens but it says God’s power comes in and cleanses you within, makes you new, the Bible says you are ‘born again.’ You become the child of God and life will never be the same.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the riches of Your grace, the depths of Your love. We speak of Your Son being born into the human race, living a short life but a perfect life, going to the cross so He could be the sacrifice You provided which could satisfy the demands of a holy and righteous God, which could pay the penalty for our sin. How gracious You are, you require nothing of us but that we recognize our sin, turn from it, and place our faith in what You have done for us in Christ that we might experience the power of Your salvation. We thank You for Your love. We thank You that Christ is alive and that we can celebrate His resurrection even today. We come in His name, amen.