Had all the torture, and trauma and pain, and dying, happened and there hadn’t been a “rest of the story” there would be no reason for us to be here today. Jesus could have gone through the excruciating death, taken on himself all of your sins and mine…Had the historical account ended there…you would still be lost in your sins…facing eternal punishment for having broken God’s laws, eternally separated from the God who created you. No matter how hard you tried you could not free your self from the bondage of sin.

 We read in I Corinthians 15:

….And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. (NIV) (1 Corinthians 15:13-21)

Everybody present saw Jesus die…nobody saw him actually rise from the dead. We spent a whole Sunday talking about the evidences that he did indeed rise from the dead. As many as 1500-2000 people actually saw him, talked to him, touched him and we have their testimonies as the rest of the New Testament unfolds. What we can see for certain is the abrupt change that takes place in the lives of his followers. One moment they are buried in despondency.. The next they are sweeping the world like a raging fire proclaiming that the same Jesus they all saw die is now alive again, they have seen him, he has set down with them and explained to them how all the pieces fit together and they are going to spend their lives proclaiming this world changing truth.

Several of his followers write their inspired thoughts down and they are included in the New Testament. I have pulled them together onto this handout you have in your bulletin. Then I’ve arranged them for you in a pattern so they unfold for you what Jesus rising from the dead means to you personally.

The fact that you are here on an Easter Sunday morning tells me that you have some serious interest in knowing what all this “rising from the dead” means to you personally.

The movie portrayed the resurrection as Jesus awakening in the tomb…getting up with all the trauma to his body gone except the nail scars left in his hands, and walking out of the tomb into the light.

What it couldn’t possibly show you was that:

His walking out of the tomb allowed him to walk directly in to your heart and life!

We saw last week that there was so, so much that Jesus death in you place accomplished for you that you could not possibly ever have done for yourself…but there was so much that his death could not possibly accomplish for you;

He had to defeat death and rise from the dead to bring you the rest of what he came to this earth to accomplish!

(Romans 5:10) For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (NIV)

Jesus death provided the possibility of wiping out the penalty that your sin brought into your life. Jesus death paid your sin tab….in full. What ever your sin, whatever depth of sinfulness you have experienced in your lifetime. When Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross then bowed his head and died…He stamped the words “Paid in full” across the sins of all those who would come to him in repentance and faith. Wonderful truth!!!!

Paul said his resurrection provided even more than that for you:

(Romans 5:10) For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (NIV)

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II. Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…

A) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…To cancel sins demands over me!

(Colossians 2:13) When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. (If Jesus weren’t alive now you sure wouldn’t have the present possibility of being made alive with him…He is and you do!)

B) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…To reconcile me to God!

C) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…To give me eternal life!

(John 3:16) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

D) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…To take away my condemnation!

Through out your life the evil one, who was defeated by Jesus death on the cross and resurrection from the dead will try to convince you that you are powerless to resist his temptations. Understand, satan doesn’t actually have the power to make you sin…but if he can bluff you into believing that you are powerless to resist him you may go on sinning in spite of the fact that Jesus provided otherwise. Look at the benefit Jesus resurrection bring into your situation:

(Romans 8:34) Who is he that condemns? (Nobody has the right) Christ Jesus, who died-- more than that, who was raised to life-- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Jesus , not only provided for you to have victory over the sin in your life….He rose, ascended into heaven and sat down at the Father’s right hand of power, and he is your personal intercessor with God the Father! He is constantly reminding the Father that he took your sins on himself and with your repentance and faith in him as your Savior those sins are no longer credited to your account. Because of his sacrifice on your behalf, you are declared “blameless and holy” before your Creator.

E) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?… To give you New Birth!

(1 Peter 1:3) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (NIV)

Let’s talk about your life, specifically, for a moment. Put aside whatever conflicting views about Christianity you might have heard or what you have or have not experienced in relationship with God and let’s just look at the facts as presented in the Bible.

Peter, (who saw the crucifixion first-hand, was the second disciple to enter the empty tomb, and then personally saw the resurrected Christ, spoke with him, learned from him, then went on to lead the early church to huge growth) said:

Jesus resurrection from the dead has opened the door for each person to experience New Birth into a Living Hope.

Does that describe your experience? You were each born into sin. Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God brought the seeds of sin into each one of us and we are all born with sin buried in our soul. There is not a person in this room that would look honestly at their life and not admit to having sinned…a lot!

If you really believed that you could make a complete new start, why wouldn’t you? And that’s exactly what Peter is promising you. Because Jesus took our sins on Himself, died as a penalty for those specific sins, then defeated death and rose again leaving those sins behind……because he did that you now have the opportunity to die to your sins and rise to new life, to leave the old life behind and take on a new life…to replace the old immoral you with a new you, to exchange the old sinful addictions for a whole new you:

He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

F) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?… So we could Share in His Resurrected Life!

Watch this; it’s an astounding promise written directly to you:

(Romans 6:4-5) We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

You see that; that’s the whole symbolism of being baptized as a Christian, it’s also why we, as a church, baptize people only after they have made a profession of personal faith in Jesus as their Savior.

They are symbolizing that they symbolically died with him, were buried with him…Of course, you live now, and he lived 2000 years ago, but your present sins preceded you by 2000 years and when Jesus hung on the cross he was bearing the weight of your particular sins even though you wouldn’t be born for two millennium

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We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death

We have been united with him ..in his death

In order that

Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,

We too may live a new life.

We will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

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Look again at these familiar words of Jesus:

(John 11:25) Jesus said.. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; (NIV)

1) Jesus rising from the dead opens the door to eternal living…

(Romans 8:11) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (NIV)

You are alive now…yes?… because of Jesus defeating death you will never die and stay dead. The power of death has been conquered….you are going to live for all of eternity…..but that’s not the whole story:

2) Jesus rising from the dead opens the door to living eternally…

(1 John 5:10-12) Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (NIV)

In order for you to share in the resurrection benefit of living eternally… you must totally embrace all that Jesus did on your behalf. But it has to be more than just a mental agreement. Million of people in the United States are in church today, On Easter Sunday because they mentally agree with the fact that Jesus died for the sins of the world. The Bible is much more specific than that:

1) You must admit that you are a sinner and that you need a Savior

2) You must be willing to repent and turn from your sinful ways

3) You must embrace that Jesus sacrifice was not just for the world but specifically for you!

4) You must be willing to accept His sacrifice as specific to your sins

5) You must accept him in his rightful place in your life… as your LORD!

You are, in effect,

1) admitting that it was your sins that put him on the cross,

2) that the sentence of death he died for was your sentence,

3) that the death he died was directly in place of your own death for your particular sins,

4) that his confrontation with sin and satan was to win your freedom from the evil one’s enslavement,

5) that his resurrection brought you the possibility of new life,

6) that you embrace that new life as his gift to you,

7) that you bow before him now as the rightful “boss” of your life,

8) and you will live the rest of your life in submission to his will for you,

9) taking on his righteous behavior in place of your old sinful behavior..

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(2 Timothy 2:11) Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; (NIV)

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G) Why did Jesus Rise from the Dead?…So that we might now live for Him!

(2 Corinthians 5:14-15) For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (NIV)