December 4, 2008

  • FOUNDATIONS [#8]



    taught at Awana Varsity 11/19/2008
    based on the series www.marshillchurch.org/sermonseries/doctrine/
    reference the book "Bible Doctrine" by Wayne Grudem

    Audio of this message can be found here -> http://audio.xanga.com/Eek_71/b16b52949072/audio.html


    God Saves... Resurrection


    THE BIG IDEA ?:  The resurrection of Jesus is a "big deal".

    SO WHAT ?:  The fact that Jesus returned from the dead gives the believer Hope... that Jesus is who He said He was... Lord, Savior, worthy of worship!


    INTRO
      •  1 Cor 15:17  "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."

      •  Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ there is no savior, no salvation, no forgiveness of sin, no hope of resurrected eternal life, no Christianity!... and Jesus is reduced to yet another good but dead man and therefore of no considerable help to us in this life or at its end.

      •  Without the resurrection of Jesus the few billion people who worship Jesus today as God are fools and their hope for a resurrection life after this life ends is the hope of silly fools.

      •  Jesus resurrection is the UNIQUE claim of Christianity...  some good reasons to believe it...


    1.  WHAT IS RESURRECTION?

      •  did NOT mean "life after death" in the sense of a spiritual "afterlife"
      •  did NOT mean merely resuscitation
      •  DID mean new physical life after a period of being physically dead.


    2.  WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE FOR JESUS' RESURRECTION?

      •  Jesus' resurrection was PROPHESIED in advance  Isa. 53:6-12
      •  Jesus PREDICTED his resurrection  Mk 8:31;  9:30-31;  10:33-34; Jn 2:18-22;  Mt 12:38-40
      •  Jesus DIED on the cross  Matt. 27:45-54; Mark 15:33-39; Luke 23:44-48; John 19:28-42
      •  Jesus was buried in a tomb that was EASY TO FIND  Matt. 27:57-60
      •  Jesus APPEARED physically alive 3 days after his death  Luk 24:1-12, 36-43;  Jn 20:17, 20-28
      •  Jesus' resurrection was recorded as Scripture SHORTLY after it occurred  1 Cor 15:3-4
      •  Jesus' resurrection convinced His FAMILY to worship him as God  Acts 1:14;  12:17;  15:12-21;  21:18;  1 Cor 15:7;  Gal. 2:9;  Jam 1:1;  Jude 1
      •  Jesus' resurrection was confirmed by his most bitter ENEMIES, like Paul.  Act 7:54-60; Act 9; Phil 3:4-6


    3.  WHAT IS THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE FOR JESUS' RESURRECTION?

      •  The TRANSFORMATION of the disciples from cowards to men that no longer feared death and died as MARTYRS.
      •  The disciples stayed LOYAL to their Messiah in the face of great suffering and persecution.
      •  The CHARACTER of the disciples negates the prospect that they lied about the resurrection.
      •  The day of worship changed from Saturday to SUNDAY in honor of Jesus resurrection and in contrast to thousands of years of observance according to one of the 10 Commandments.
      •  The OBJECT of worship became Jesus as God... devout Bible-believing Jews risked blasphemy and hellfire to believe in Jesus as the true God.
      •  THEOLOGICAL CHANGES in the church included the sacraments of communion and baptism in honor of Jesus death and resurrection.
      •  WOMEN discovered the empty tomb according to the Scriptures and if the story were fabricated they would not have been included since they could not legally testify as witnesses.
      •  EARLY CHURCH preaching continually emphasized the fact of Jesus resurrection as the central truth of Christian faith.
      •  The TOMB of was not enshrined like so many religious leaders in that day for the simple fact he was not there but rather risen.
      •  GROWTH of the church can only be explained by the fact of the resurrection of Jesus as its cause.


    4.  WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR JESUS' RESURRECTION?

      •  Thomas Arnold (professor of Modern History at Oxford): "No one fact in the history of mankind . . . is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort" than the fact that "Christ died and rose from the dead."
      •  Josephus (AD 37-100)
      •  Suetonius (AD 70-160)
      •  Pliny the Younger (AD 61 or 62-113)


    5.  DEALING WITH OBJECTIONS

      •  Did Jesus just "swoon" on the cross?... NO
          >  He was scoured & crucified... the whole point is to KILL people
          >  He was crucified under the supervision of a Roman Executioner... a professional killer!
          >  He had a spear thrust through His heart
          >  wrapped in 100 lbs of linen & spices... placed in cold stone tomb... no medical attention
          >  How could he have rolled away the large stone and overpowered the Roman Soldiers?
      •  Did Jesus just rise from the dead "spiritually"?... NO
          >  Luk 24:39  "...a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones as you can see I have..."
          >  Jn 20:27-28  Jesus said "...observe My hands... My side" 
      •  Did Jesus followers just hallucinate?... NO
      •  Christianity borrowed the resurrection "myth" from paganism?  NO  (see Daniel 12:3)
      •  Other silly objections... Disciples went to the wrong tomb... Jesus had a twin brother... etc.


    CONCLUSION
      •  Jesus is ALIVE!... He sits on the throne in heaven ruling as God & King & Savior today!...He saves people b/c He is alive… He hears prayer b/c He is alive… He knows you b/c He is alive… He is preparing a place for His people in Heaven b/c He is alive… He is coming back to earth someday b/c He is alive!!!
      •  What is the hope of the resurrection of Jesus?... ONLY Jesus has gone to death and returns to tell us about it.  Only Jesus returns as VICTOR of death and the grave.  No other world religion claims that its leader has returned from the graved! 
      •  Jesus alone has the authority to tell us what awaits us on the other side of death... JUDGEMENT
      •  Do I follow Jesus or not?  Belief in Jesus changes everything!...
          >  the believer does not worry about death
          >  gives us a collective hope… we can approach the death of our friends and family differently
          >  sins effects are hated, even among unbelievers, therefore we look forward to the world Jesus is preparing.  His resurrection shows us what is to come.
          >  life gets even better