THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

Lecture Objectives:

Illustration: Cline Paden--Man went down with his plane; one man funeral
Learning Objective: That God raised Jesus from the dead, and, because of that fact, we too have hope in Christ to be raised also.

Questions for focus:

Illustration: Have you ever experienced a cold, hard winter and it depressed you, and you thought, "I'll never feel happy again"? The snow and ice cover everything like a grave; everything appears dead! Then the springtime comes: the earth seems to come to life: trees bloom, flowers give bud and farmers begin work in the field. Even the birds appear happy. They build a nest and prepare for their young. It's a resurrection! Calvary: Where forsakenness reached a new low. Where sin was at its worst. Where love was at its best.

1. IN HIS DEATH JESUS FACED THE WORST OF ALL HUMAN EXPERIENCES
   1. He was not guilty; He was not deceitful - 1 Peter 3.21f
   2. He intrusted Himself to God - v.23.
   3. But God reversed this experience.
      1. What was meant to destroy only gave victory.
      2. God did it all through the resurrection.
   4. There is a message this sends to us.
      1. God can overcome anything that happens to us.
      2. God can overcome anything that would destroy us.
      3. God can cause us to triumph over every form of evil--even death.
2. THE RESURRECTION FILLED THEIR PREACHING WITH HOPE
   1. Acts 2.22-24 - Day of Pentecost
      1. Note vs. 24 - "But God..."
      2. Note vs. 32 - witnesses of that fact
   2. Acts 3.12ff - Peter heals...beautiful gate.
      1. Appears hopeless!
      2. Vs. 15 - "But God..."
   3. Acts 4 - Peter and John before the Sanhedrin.
      1. Vs. 10 - Appears hopeless!
      2. Vs. 10 - "But God..."
   4. Acts 5 - Apostles arrested - jailed.
      1. Vs. 28 - Told not to speak anymore in this name.
      2. Vs. 29 - Their reply.
3. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE?
   1. How could they believe in one who...
      1. Had been put to death?
      2. Tried and found "guilty" by the best legal minds in the nation?
      3. Even the Romans did not take Him seriously?
      4. Finally - put to death like a criminal?
   2. How could such a one be the Savior of the world?
      1. Even the disciples are dejected and discouraged (Luke 24.13ff - Note vs.21)
   3. What made the difference?
      1. Why their willingness to preach one they had seen dead?
      2. Why defy the authorities?
      3. Why suffer shame at the expense of being thought "fools" by the public at large? I Corinthians 4.10
      4. They had left their nets and friends to follow a penniless carpenter--yet, they are willing to follow Him again. Why?
      5. TO HAVE THEIR CHARACTER HELD IN QUESTION?
   4. The "resurrection" made the difference - 1 Corinthians 15.5ff.
4. WOULD HAVE BEEN A DOUBTER?
   1. Resurrection! That's quite a claim.
      1. Had you lived then, would you have accepted their words at first?
   2. Thomas represents you and me. John 20.26-28
5. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESURRECTION
   (The historical resurrection of Jesus is bonifide evidence of Jesus' divine nature and of the claims of the Bible Christianity.)
   1. That He was more than a mere man--that He was whom He claimed to be - John 10.36.
   2. That He can be trusted to tell the truth - John 10.36.
   3. That He can forgive sins and give eternal life - John 8.31-36; 6.40,44,51,54.
   4. That He can raise us from the dead - John 5.28-29; 11.25.
   5. He dispels our sadness - 1 Thessalonians 4.13.
6. CLOSURE
   1. God raised Jesus from the dead.
   2. Reliable men and women were witnesses.
   3. We, too, have hope because of His victory over death.