The Power of Jesus’ Resurrection
The Power of Jesus’ Resurrection
Punctuation Marks
if i were to ask you to describe Easter without using any words, you could only use punctuation marks, which punctuation mark would you choose to describe this Easter for yourself?
· Maybe this Easter is a comma for you. It makes you stop, pause, think, and listen, but that’s about it.
· Perhaps today is a downer—a big bold period. You thought you’d feel excited, but instead it seems to be more like empty ritual. You feel like you’re not on the inside, but on the outside … an onlooker.
It was a day when life felt like a period for Jesus’ disciples. He was dead. He was buried. An end to expectations.
But wait—news of an empty tomb … the period is no longer a period, it’s a question mark.
That’s worse than a period. Now they’re beginning to doubt. Where is He? They’re perplexed. The guards are gone, the stone is rolled away. He is not there. And if not there, where?
An angel speaks, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and how He must be crucified, and the third day He must rise again.” Of course they remembered! The periods are gone. The question marks are removed. There is one massive exclamation point!
· That’s what Easter is all about … an exclamation of gratitude and of praise for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and for the salvation His victory over death brought to us.
Matt 27:57-28:10 KJV
57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple:
58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.
59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 And laid it in his own new tomb , which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.
62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Matthew 28
28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
His resurrection has set us free - An Old Beat-Up Rusty Bird Cage
A minister one Easter brought an old beat-up rusty bird cage and sat it next to the pulpit. As he gave his sermon that Easter morning he held up the cage and said, “You might be wondering why this is here. As a matter of fact, that’s not the normal part of an Easter service, having a bird cage here.”
He said, “Let me tell you the story of it. Several days ago I was noticing a little boy in tattered and torn blue jeans and a dirty T-shirt, cap off to the side, whistling, walking down an alley, swinging this bird cage. Clinging to the bottom of the cage were little field sparrows he had caught. So I stopped him and asked, ‘Say, sonny, what do you have there?’ He said, ‘Oh, I’ve got some birds.’ ‘What are you gonna do with ’em?’ I asked. ‘Oh, mess around with them, tease ’em, something like that.’ ‘Well,’ I asked, ‘when you get tired of ’em, what are you gonna do?’ He thought a moment and said, ‘Well, I got a couple of cats at home and they like birds. I think I’ll just let them have at ’em.’”
The minister said his heart went out to the little birds so he made the little lad an offer. “How much do you want for the birds?” Surprised, the boy, said, “Mister, these birds ain’t no good.” “Well,” Dr. Gordon said, “regardless, how much would you like for ’em?” The little fellow said, “How about two bucks?” He said, “Sold.” So he reached in his pocket and peeled off two dollar bills. The little boy shoved the bird cage forward pleased with his stroke of good fortune.
When the boy left, the pastor walked a good distance away, lifted open the little cage door and said, “Shoo, shoo.” And he shoved them out of the door and they flew free.
The empty bird cage was the perfect illustration of how Satan had the human race trapped and frightened. Jesus Christ not only paid the price for our freedom; He has set us free.
His resurrection not only says something about Him; it also says something about the possibilities for all of us.
Paul, writing in Philippians 3:10, virtually shouts the desire of his heart: "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection." It was Paul’s earnest desire to be a partaker of the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
That was one of the deepest desires of his heart. It should be our desire as well. Paul knew that to know Christ was supreme.
He also knew that to know Christ was to be filled with a special kind of power. It is the power of His resurrection.
Because of Christ’s resurrection, resurrection power is a possibility for us. We can tap into the greatest source of power in the entire universe.
Illustration Me knowing Power
· We must understand that resurrection power is like no other power on earth.
· For one thing, it is the kind of power that operates in the midst of everything that is dull, dead, and barren.
The passage of Scripture in John, we see a very important declaration made by Jesus Himself.
It is a declaration of Jesus about Himself. He declares that He is the resurrection.
John 11:25-26 NIV
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
· In other words, He is resurrection power. It is important to note that He did not say that He has resurrection power, but that He is resurrection power. He said, "I am the resurrection and the life."
· Resurrection power centers in Jesus Christ.
Let us consider four aspects of this power.
(1) The Power to Have Sins Forgiven
Sin has a hold on all of us. Without God, we are slaves to sin. But Christ, through his death and resurrection, frees us from the power of sin. Paul puts it this way at the end of Romans 4:
He was delivered over to death because of our sins, and raised to life because of our justification (Rom 4:25)
Christ died as the necessary sacrifice for our sins. But his being raised to life, his resurrection is absolutely vital! As Paul says, he was "raised to life because of our justification." When Jesus died, God laid on him the iniquity of us all, the punishment that all of us deserve for all our sins. Had there been anything lacking in Jesus' sacrifice, if his blood had lacked the power to cancel the penalty for anyone's sin, God could not have raised him. In that case, God's justice would not have allowed him to raise Jesus from the dead. But the very fact of the resurrection shows once and for all that Jesus' sacrifice is all that is necessary to pay the penalty for my sin, for yours. Whenever Satan accuses us -- saying, "God could never forgive you for what you have done -- Think how terrible you are!" -- we can say, "Jesus rose from the dead! Jesus rose from the dead because I am justified; having believed in Jesus, I am righteous in God's eyes." That is the power of the resurrection.
(2) The Power to Conquer Sin
But resurrection power doesn't end with our forgiveness. Christ's resurrection also empowers us to conquer sin in our lives. As Paul says in Ephesians 4:
put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)
In Christ we are a new creation; his Spirit lives within us. We have been renewed, we have a new self -- and the purpose of that new self is to be conformed to the image of Christ, to become like him: truly righteous, truly holy -- to become what God intends humans to be!
So if this is the case, why do Christians keep on sinning? Paul gives us the answer in today's verse in Philippians: we don't know the power! We have all this power, but we continue to act as if we are weak, as if we are still slaves to sin. Satan tries to deceive us, making us think we are still his -- and he uses habits ingrained in us over years to make us believe him.
Do you remember Pavlov's dogs? The behavioral scientist Pavlov rang a bell prior to feeding the dogs he was studying. Every time he rang the bell, he fed the dogs. After a while, as soon as he rang the bell, the dogs would salivate. They had not seen any food, they had not smelled any food -- but ringing the bell made them salivate.
We become like Pavlov's dogs through years of living without the power of God. Someone hurts us -- and we automatically lash back. Something happens that tempts us sexually -- and our thoughts automatically turn to lust.
God gives us the power to break those habits -- but we must first know we have the power! That is why Paul has such a strong desire for this knowledge.
Illustration
Imagine yourself as a prisoner of war; Satan is your captor. He has the gun. You must do whatever he says. He is in control.
Now, God intervenes. You are saved by the blood of Jesus. Does Satan go away? No, but you have the gun! You've got the gun! You no longer have to obey him!
What will Satan do? He will try to convince you that the gun is not loaded, that it really has no power. He will try to convince you to put the gun down, to give up using it, and to fight him "fairly" in hand to hand combat. He will try to convince you that it is in your best interests to obey him.
But you've got the gun! The resurrection power is yours! You need to know it, and use it!
(3) The Power to Be Conformed to His Likeness
Finally, resurrection power's greatest accomplishment is conforming us to the likeness of Christ. We are forgiven for our sins, enabled not to sin, appointed as ambassadors -- and perfected in His love. Paul says we:
are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18)
Into his likeness! Can you imagine what that means? Think of everything about yourself that you don't like, all the habits, all the negative characteristics -- the things you have wanted to change, have tried to change. God will deal with every one of those. You are being made into a perfect creation -- you are becoming like Jesus! That is your destiny, Christian -- becoming the perfect bride of Christ, spotless, blameless, loving, kind, strong -- transformed into his likeness. The power of the resurrection!
(4) The Power to Be God's Agent
But Christianity is not just about forgiveness and overcoming sin. Christianity is not simply a solution to our problems. God has a positive purpose in our salvation. He has determined that we are to be his agents of change in the world.
God empowers us not only to defeat sin but also to share and display his loving message to the world. Jesus says, "You are the light of the world." Paul says,
He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (2 Cor 5:19,20)
God could work in the world by zapping directly each person he chooses. He could act in each person's life the way he worked in Paul's life -- dramatically appear in flashing brilliance and overwhelm the person. But normally he doesn't act this way. In his wisdom, God has chosen instead to work through us, weak as we are, limited as we are -- and to show His power through our very weakness. Later in 2 Corinthians God says to Paul,
my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9)
That is the idea. God shows his power by working through us, by working mightily through us, even though we are weak and unworthy. Praise him!
CONCLUSION
What did Paul want?
What did he pray that others would have?
To know Christ! Without this relationship, without knowing the power of his resurrection, we will never have true happiness, we will never have true joy -- and we certainly will never accomplish anything of lasting value. Make knowing God and his resurrection power your aim -- and all these others will follow.
So what about you? More than anything else, Paul wants to know Jesus, and the power of his resurrection. What do you want more than anything else?
Can you really say with Paul that you consider everything else you've done to be rubbish compared to knowing Him?
Do you know the power of the resurrection in your life?
Or have you allowed Satan to continue to control you, when you don't need to?
We can depend on the power of God, We can know him better, so that we can be conformed to his likeness.
