A. On Feb. 27, 1991, at the height of Desert Storm, that Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. It stated that her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private 1st Class, had stepped on a mine in Kuwait & was dead. Ruth Dillow later wrote, "I can’t begin to describe my grief & shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For 3 days I wept. For 3 days I expressed anger & loss. For 3 days people tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great.
B. But 3 days after she received that message, the telephone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." Ruth Dillow said, "I couldn’t believe it at first. But then I recognized his voice, & he really was alive." The message was all a mistake!
C. She said, "I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels, because my son whom I had thought was dead, was really alive. I’m sure none of you can even begin to understand how I felt."
D. Hank Hanegraaff writes, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest feat in the annals of human history. It is the very “capstone in the arch of Christianity.” Without it, all else crumbles. When we fully comprehend the significance of resurrection, our lives will be revolutionized. Without resurrection, there is no hope. Indeed without resurrection, there would be no Christianity.” (from Christian Research Report, Vol.13, Issue 2, May 2000).
I. The Really Good News
A. Bad news is something that flies fast, as fast as the gossip chains can take it. But good news often is a little slower to share. Paul has spent a great amount time challenging the Corinthian brethren to change, but has he opens this last section of his letter, he simply states, “I want to remind of you of the gospel I preached to you.” The word “gospel” means “good news.” There are many gospel messages out in the world. The churches in the region of Galatia were turning to a different gospel than what they had been taught. People have all sorts of “good news” about religion that they want to share, but there is only one message, one good news that brings salvation. Paul wanted them to have this good news.
B. There is a truth that every person must believe if they are going to call themselves Christians. Paul says that if you don’t hold to this point in the gospel then you have believed in vain. What is that absolute that you must hold on to? Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. That fact must be so strongly held by you that nothing could cause you to waver.
C. For centuries people have tried to deny the resurrection. You see, if you can keep Jesus as dead then you prove that he was not God, for God cannot be held by a grave. If you keep Jesus dead, then you can kill the Christian faith altogether, for if Jesus did not rise from the dead, neither will you or anyone else. Keeping Jesus dead is the center of atheism. Paul says, this is one aspect of the gospel that has no room for debate.
D. The fact of the resurrection is too great to be lightly dismissed as a tradition or interpretation or tale told by a few people. It is the very heart of our faith, the very reason that people are willing to die for that faith, because they know that if Jesus was raised from the dead then they too will one day rise up to live eternally with him. This is the gospel of Jesus, the good news. We serve a risen savior not a dead prophet. We serve the living God, not a dead idol. Our God is ever present with us.
E. But for Paul it was not simply a matter of blind faith. Thomas would not believe Jesus was raised until the Sunday night when he met Jesus in the upper room and was told to put his hand into the side of Jesus and his finger into the nail prints. That night Thomas believed because he saw. We have to believe in what we don’t see. Paul says, trust those who did see; the eyewitnesses of the resurrection. Trust that Peter and the Twelve saw him after his resurrection. Trust the fact that more than 500 people saw him at the same time and most of those are still alive to tell the story. Trust his brother James who saw Jesus and is now a great leader within the church, and trust Paul himself.
F. Paul understood the “good news” in a very personal way. He persecuted the church. He knew understood what the death of Jesus meant, because he cast his vote as a Jewish leader to imprison and kill Christians before his trip to Damascus. That transformation into the apostle Paul was a great act of grace by the risen Jesus.
II. The Really Bad New
A. But what if, as some want to say, that Jesus was not raised from the dead? There are several things you need to realize if you ever being to believe such nonsense. For the person who won’t accept the resurrection then you must accept some other truths:
1. Verse 14 – Quit coming to worship. Don’t step inside a church without a strong conviction of a risen Lord. What do you expect to happen? If you come here to feel good, go home because your feelings are worthless. Your faith and my preaching hold no value. Sleep in because there is nothing good to come.
2. Verse 15 – No only is your faith useless, but people like Paul and the other apostles are liars. Few things in life are worse than believing a lie. You see, without trust and without truth, what can you hold on to? If Paul lied, how do you even know that God exists, let alone that eternity is real?
3. Verse 16 – Everyone you have ever known who has died is simply decaying in the ground. If Jesus is not raised then why would you expect anyone else to rise? It is not just a desire to see loved ones again, but to believe that something greater than death exists and that something cannot be conquered by any power.
4. Verse 17 – 19 – Not only must I accept that people are dead never to rise, if I refuse to accept the resurrection of Jesus, but I also have to accept that I am still in my sin. That reason alone would make me most pitied. You see, if I did believe that some type of afterlife existed, but refused to believe Jesus rose from the dead and is still alive at God’s right hand, then I seal my own fate in Hell. What could take away my sins, but God himself? Without a risen Lord, I will die in that sin and Hell is all I can expect.
Conclusion:
A. Seth Mullen, a 7th grader from Lafayette, IN who attends the Elmwood Church of Christ was at a conference to encourage young Christians to grow up to be strong Christians. He wanted to participate in the Bible reading. The only problem is that Seth is so crippled that he has to been in a wheel chair and he cannot speak. So how does one participate in the Bible reading competition? He has a machine on his wheel chair that allows him to input words and then it speaks it in a voice similar to what his used to be. He wanted to pick the passage so he had his mother read him the entire book of Matthew. At the competition this is what he read, "Surely I am with you always (Matt. 28:20)."
B. Seth believes that even though his body is worsening, even though he will never be like the other kids, he believes that Jesus is with him. He believes in the resurrection of Christ and looks forward to being given his new body. Surely I am with you.
C. You see Seth was right – Jesus is with us. He is not dead in some tomb. His body was not stolen for the Jewish leaders would cried crucify him would love to have produced it and proved him a liar. He arose and conquered death. He became the first fruits of life to all who are in him.
D. Because he lives, I will live also. Because he lives I can face tomorrow. Because he lives I am not alone. Thank you Seth for reminding me of the resurrected Jesus.
E. They day death died was the day Jesus rose again. Has death died in you also? Have you died to self and been born again in Jesus? Today many Christians remember the resurrection of Christ, but it is only of value if you are resurrected in Jesus. I close by quoting Paul’s statement to churches of Galatia, “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh, I live by the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” If we can help you make live those great words of victory, please come as we stand and sing.
