The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 4th April 2010 by Robin Hawkins
"Resurrection? - So What?"
- Acts 2:22-41/I>
It takes Peter 594 words to present the message of God's favour to us in Jesus, and 3000 people responded to that message. Actually it was quite a longer than this. What we have is Luke's summary of what he said, because he then admits: "With many other words, he warned them..(v.40). I must admit, as a preacher I was worried for a moment. I would have struggled to match Peter for brevity! But in these few words he homes in on the resurrection of Jesus. It is his central message. That's hardly surprising. It wasn't unusual to see people crucified in those days. But usually they stayed dead! People coming back from the dead, after three days, on their own, escaping from that suffocating prison of a tomb - that didn't happen very often! Actually, it had never happened.
If we dig a little deeper, we find that it was no accident of circumstances. There are prophecies going back a 1000 years about the resurrection. Peter quotes one in his sermon, written by David in the Psalms. It's one of many in the OT that foretell the resurrection of Jesus. In fact the first is found in Gen. 3:15. But that's not all. Jesus Himself predicted his death and resurrection on several occasions. Mark 8:31 is but one example.
So this wasn't some accident of fate; or something that wasn't meant to happen. God planned this from before the beginning of time - that Jesus, the Son, the second member of the Trinity would take on human form and die our death for us. "..he was accredited by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders..." Then, "by God's set purpose and foreknowledge" He was put to death by being nailed to the cross. "But God raised Him from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him." This phrase "God's set purpose and foreknowledge" comes from a word that means literally, "God's going to do it and nothing or no-one is going to stop him." We call this God's Sovereign Will, and Christ's death and resurrection was one such occasion.
Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection. If Christ didn't rise from the dead, we are frauds. We should stop wasting our time here and go home. If Christ isn't raised from the dead, then we are still lost in our sins, cut off from God and without hope. But Christ has been raised. There was no way Peter could have got up that morning and preached this were it not true. This was the same man who had boasted he would never desert Christ, and then denied three times ever knowing Him. Peter the failure. Peter the dropout, who'd blown it completely. Something pretty remarkable had happened to Peter to persuade him that Jesus was alive, let alone get up there that morning and preach it!
"He's Alive"
Peter wasn't the only eyewitness. All the disciples saw the risen Jesus, at and one point over 500 people saw him. Luke says in ch.1:3, that Jesus gave them "many convincing proofs that He was alive".
So there we have the Resurrection - Planned by God, Promised, Predicted, and Proven. But so what? What does it mean for us?
1. Sin's power is broken.
The Resurrection means Jesus' sacrifice for our sins was accepted by God the Father. It was good enough to pay the price for your sins and mine, and indeed the sins of the whole world. This means Forgiveness is possible. We can have a fresh start, the slate can be wiped clean. Just before she took her life, Marylyn Monroe said, "I wish I could be born over again." She could have had that wish fulfilled, through the cross and resurrection, if only she'd realised it.
It means too, that Holiness is possible. Don't mistake holiness for self-righteousness or holier-than-thou or prudish attitudes. Holiness is being able to live the life. It's being able to forgive, able to love, able to be generous, big-hearted, gracious. Holiness is being free from rage and bitterness, free from habits that control us, free from lust and greed and selfishness. Holiness sets us free to be the people God intended us to be. Don't forget Jesus was the most holy person that ever lived - and people flocked to Him. They wanted to be near Him.
2. Death is defeated.
Isn't death considered to be the last enemy? We exalt youth because we fear growing old. We cling to life because we fear what lies beyond it. But the Resurrection means we don't have to be afraid any more. When we become Christians, we share in Christ's resurrection. He has promised that we will be raised with Him, not here but in Heaven, and that is a much better place to be.
If we're going to be raised with Jesus, it means that we can have life forever. This is a quality of life as much as a time thing. In Jn 17:3, Jesus said, "Now this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." Eternal life starts the minute we come to God through Jesus.
3. The Gift of the Holy Spirit
V.33 reads: "Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear." So the Resurrection means that God can now live inside us. We can experience Him and know Him personally. No longer do we simply know about God, now we can experience and live in the good of His love for us. We can know ourselves to be accepted in Him. We can know His peace and joy filling our hearts. And that Life which is filling us overflows into the lives of others. We become a living witness to Jesus. We become naturally supernatural, and supernaturally natural. Healings happen. Miraculous provision. Great acts of kindness and mercy flow from those filled with the Holy Spirit. We start to behave as Jesus would, and to do the things He did. It's not us - it's the Holy Spirit in us.
Well, Peter preached all this, and when the people heard that they had crucified their Messiah, the One who was going to deliver them, they were horrified! And "cut to the heart....(they) said to Peter...Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter didn't hesitate: "Repent and be baptised, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (v.38).
We need to repent too, turn away from those things we know to be wrong in our lives, determine to do those things we know are right. It is a change of heart - something God does in us to change the way we think and feel.
Repentance brings with it an awareness of our need for God's forgiveness. When we trust that Jesus death is the means God has provided for us to find that forgiveness, we are well on the way to becoming Believers. You are believing in Jesus, trusting that his death will be enough to save you.
Baptism is the natural sequel to these two steps. We are identifying with Christ, burying the past as he was buried, and rising to resurrection life with Him. We're having a Baptism Service in a couple of weeks. This could be your opportunity to stand up and say, I'm putting my trust in Jesus.
"And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This is the power to live the life, and to do the stuff - healings, casting out demons, even raising the dead!
If you ask what the Resurrection means, the answer is utterly life-changing. It is the pivotal moment in history. You cannot stay the same once you encounter the living Lord Jesus for yourself.
