Cross

M07050

TITLE: THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

OUTLINE:

I. THE FACT OF CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

II. THE RESULTS OF CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

III. CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

I knew a young teenager in high school a few years ago. He began running around with the SOUTHSIDE kids when he was in Jr. Hi. He began smoking and drinking shortly there after. He was always in on the destructive mischief in town and at times in other towns. He wore a leather jacket and sported the usual ducktail that set the hoods off from the rest of society. He was barely making it in school. He had no friends. He was one of the town hot rodders and reckless drivers as he grew up.

I'm sure many people wanted to change that young man.

One Saturday evening late he and some of the kids he ran with decided to do a little vandalism and they collected small signs from all over town. They couldn't figure out what to do with them so they decorated the Bible church's front yard with them.

Compared to today's teenage standard he would be considered a wimp, but by the 1950's standard, society viewed him very negatively.

Jesus Christ came into his life and transformed him into the writer of this study.

God is in the business of transformations and through the obedience of His Son on the cross, God is continuing to transform lives. Let us look at some of the transformations that came about because of the DEATH BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.

I. THE FACT OF CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

In I Cor. 15:1-4 Paul mentions that the death, burial and resurrection are the Gospel. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and in which ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

EASTER IS A SALVATION MESSAGE - INDEED IT IS THE SALVATION MESSAGE!

When I was an unsaved teenager I was asked by my pastor to help with an Easter sunrise service. I said no almost immediately. He mentioned in the course of the conversation that a very pretty girl from one of the other churches in town was going to help. I said yes almost immediately. To work with one of the cutest girls in town was important, you know! We planned the service and she didn't realize how important my existence was. In short she ignored me.

The Devotional and song time in the field as the sun came up was fantastic. We went back to town and had breakfast. After breakfast we had planned a film. I was one of the ushers and as the film progressed I was watching from the stairway outside the sanctuary. The screen was up high and I stopped to look just as they showed a picture of Christ hanging on the cross. The shot was from the bottom of the cross looking up. The thought came to my mind, "Why are we here early in the morning? Why did we get up so early to go out and sing. Why is it important that Christ was on the cross? What is the big deal about Easter?"

It was over a year before anyone shared the Easter story with me and I accepted Christ. It was another six or seven years before I started going to church and realized the importance of the cross and resurrection.

As our pastor at that time was teaching the Sunday school class on Easter morning he began speaking of the pain and agony that Christ suffered on the cross. The realization that His suffering was caused by MY sin hit me like a ball bat. Christ was willing to suffer all that for the likes of me. WOW!

I would like to take a moment to consider the death, burial and resurrection of Christ in Prophecy.

A. IN PROPHECY:

1. THE DEATH WAS PROPHECIED BY ISAIAH THE PROPHET Isa. 53:4-9 "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the liveing; for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth."

2. THE BURIAL WAS PROPHECIED BY CHRIST Matt. 12:40 Christ Himself told his followers that he would be killed and that He would be buried. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

3. THE RESURRECTION WAS PROPHECIED BY CHRIST Matt. 16:21 "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."

The death, burial and resurrection are a fact of history. Several books have been written on the subject in recent years from an historical and logical view. We also know the fact of the occurrences from the Word of God.

B. IN FACT:

1. THE DEATH IS RECORDED IN Jn. 19:16-18 "Then delivered he him, therefore, unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went forth into a place called The place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha, Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the center."

2. THE BURIAL IS RECORDED IN Jn. 19:38-42 "And after this Joseph, of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him leave. He came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus, who at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, in which was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulcher was near at hand."

3. THE RESURRECTION IS RECORDED IN Lu. 24:1-9 "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them, in shining garments; And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? he is not here, but is risen! Remember how he spoke unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest."

We have seen that the death, burial and resurrection were prophesied and we have seen that these prophecies came to pass. Now I would like to consider some of the many results of these occurrences.

II. THE RESULTS OF CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

A. THE TRANSFORMATION OF CHRIST

1. BEFORE THE RESURRECTION: Jesus had physical limitations. He had to: eat, sleep, walk, teach long hours, and think of the cross. Yet none of this affected His ministry until just before the cross.

2. AFTER THE RESURRECTION: Christ had no physical limitations. Let us take a brief look at some of His activity after the resurrection.

a. He went through walls: Jn. 20:19, "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." (Jn. 20:26-31 also)

I'm not sure how much peace they had knowing that they had locked themselves in and then Christ appeared in their midst. I suspect that there may have been some tense moments before they realized what was going on.

b. Christ was able to travel to heaven: In Jn. 20:17 Christ told Mary, "...Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father...."

But in Jn. 20:27 He told Thomas, "...Reach here thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach here thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing."

At some time between these two verses the Lord had ascended to do the work that needed to be done in glory and had returned to tie all the lose ends together here on earth.

c. He was with the men He met on the road to Emmaus and then vanished: Lu. 24:31, "And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight." Can you imagine the excitement of that moment when they recognized their risen Lord! He could vanish at will, yet He could be visible and speak with His followers.

d. He finally, when all was done here on earth ascended to heaven to await His return in Glory. Acts. 1:9, "And, when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him our of their sight."

e. He was free from the burden of the cross and free to enjoy His exhaltation and eternity with His Father and His brethren. We will receive a similar body when we are raised or transformed at His coming.

Not only was Christ transformed, but man can also be transformed due to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

B. THE TRANSFORMATION OF MAN:

1. NATURAL MAN: The transformation was from natural to spiritual.

The Scripture labels the non-believer as a natural man. He has not been touched by the supernatural. He is still under all the effects of the curse placed upon man at the fall of Adam.

Rom. 3:23 shows the result of this fall. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,"

God set the blood sacrifice in the Old Testament to cover sin. The Old Testament sacrifices awaited the New Testament sacrifice of Messiah as the one perfect sacrifice that could atone for all sin.

The sin of the Old Testament saints was not completely taken care of. Their sin was only covered by the blood of animal sacrifice, until the time when Messiah - Jesus Christ could come and die for all of the sin of all the world. After the resurrection Christ went into the heavenly Holy of Holies to offer His blood for all sin of all time.

After His blood was offered on the alter in the Holy of Holies, He went into Sheol the place of departed spirits and freed the saints of the Old Testament time that had awaited His coming and perfect sacrifice that would wash away their covered sin. They were no free to enter into the presence of the Father.

John the Baptist rightly titled Christ as the Lamb of God: Jn. 1.29, states "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world."

Christ's shed blood will wash away your sins if you are here this morning without salvation. That is Easter's promise to the lost person.

The saved person already has enjoyed that washing away of their load of sin. His blood washed away all our sins. His blood took care of all the effects of the curse of Genesis. All has been done for the believer to enter immediately upon death into the presence of the Father.

Rom. 10:9 explains how simple this is, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

As man calls upon Christ he is transformed from death unto life. He will have a resurrection unto eternal life.

Those that reject this simple plan of God's will also be resurrected, however they will be resurrected to face an eternity of torment and punishment.

Rev. 20:11-15 tells of this resurrection. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hades delivered up the dead that were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

You might want to look at Luke 16.19-31 for an eye witness account of the place of the tormented.

Natural man, if he accepts Christ and His provision for sin then becomes a completely different man. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ become a spiritual man completely ready to face almighty God.

2. SPIRITUAL MAN (Saint - God's child) In this life we are made a new creation. We are no longer that natural man, but we are a child of God with all rights and privileges of His family.

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD IN A SIDE LIGHT TO the changes that come to those who believe. I would like to just make a few comments on the eternal aspect of the believer.

We will be raised by the Holy Spirit when Christ returns for us. Christ is spoken of as the First Fruits because He was resurrected first and we will follow when the time is come.

I Cor. 15:20-23, "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive; But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."

The Spirit will raise us as Christ was raised. What a promise to those that trust in Christ as their Savior!

Rom. 8:11, "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also give life to your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

This passage is of prime importance to the saint theologically. It states clearly that IF the Spirit of God dwell in you, you will be raised. Now, if there is any chance that the Spirit is not an automatic gift to the believer at salvation, and if He does not come to reside within every believer immediately at salvation, then there would have to be a possibility of some believers not being raised from the dead. That is unacceptable.

This verse clearly demands that the Spirit be indwelling all believers from the moment of salvation - HAVE NONE OF THIS FALSE TEACHING THAT TELLS YOU THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES SOMETIME LATER - IF YOU ARE A BELIEVER HE IS PRESENT! NO QUESTION! HE IS WITHIN YOU!

At the resurrection our body will be changed. I Cor. 15:54-55, "So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

Not only are we a new creation here in this life, but we can become more and more like Christ by changing our life patterns.

Not only can we be completely different creatures here, we have the promise that at the resurrection we will be like Christ in our spiritual bodies. We will have the same eternal existence that He now enjoys.

NOW BACK TO THE CHANGES THAT ARE MADE IN THE PERSON THAT ACCEPTS CHRIST AS THEY WALK WITH CHRIST IN THIS LIFE.

a. We have a new service: As we really realize the pain and anguish Christ went through - we will realize what we should do for Him. We were purchased by Him and we belong to him. Our normal response to Him is SERVICE.

b. We have a new position: We have no need to go through a priest for forgiveness as the Old Testament saint was required to do. Matt. 27:51 tells us that the veil that separated man from the throne of God is torn so that we have access to the throne of God to seek forgiveness as individuals.

c. We have a new love: Jn 15:12-14 mentions that we should love one another enough to lay down our lives for one another. Christ working in and through us can make drastic changes in our priorities. Before salvation our emphasis is on our selves, but after salvation, if we allow God to work in our lives, we will find that others are more important than we are. We will want to help others, even unto giving of our lives if we are walking with Him.

"This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever I command you."

He died for us - we should love one another more because of His love for us. This love does not include wrong thoughts toward a brother nor backbiting or jealousy or any other items that tend to ramble around in our minds.

May we just list a few of those transformed men of the past? Peter the fisherman was transformed from a denier to devotee. Matthew the tax gatherer was transformed from someone to avoid to a Gospel writer. Paul the apostle was transformed from a murderer to a missionary. Mark the gospel writer was transformed from worthless to worthwhile. Carey the cobbler was transformed from a floppy shoemaker to the Father of missions. The list could go on for many years - the list of the men of the world that were transformed by kneeling at the cross of Jesus.

Not only was Christ changed, not only can man be changed, but the cross itself was changed.

C. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CROSS

A ruff pair of timbers fastened together to form one of the most cruel instruments of death that man has devised.

Authorities differ as to what type of cross Christ was crucified on. There were two types of cross used in this time period.

a. X - shaped cross - person was tied to it to die of thirst and exposure.

b. T - shaped - tied and some nailed to it.

Some say the person was nailed to the cross while the cross was flat on the ground. Then the cross was dumped into a hole dug in the ground. This added to the tearing of the flesh.

An instrument of death was transformed into a symbol of the life it brought to those that accept Christ in this age.

Kings and paupers have bowed before it.

It has been used on crowns and flags for centuries.

Christ's death on the cross transformed a death-dealing tree into the symbol of the Christian faith.

I once was told of a missionary couple that was out witnessing on the beach. They stopped to talk to an old withered man. He looked at the pretty cross hanging around the woman's neck and then pointed to it and said, "Whatcha wearin that for - it didn't do anything - twas the blood of Christ that saves ya!"

We need remember it was the Blood of Christ that saves us and not the cross, but we can understand the significance of how the way man views the cross has changed. Yes, wear the cross, yes contemplate the cross, but do remember it is the blood of Christ that was shed upon it that save us from our sin and eternal torment.

III. CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM CHRIST'S DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION

Christ was victorious over sin, death and Satan. We celebrate that victory today as we come together to remember the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ died that we might live.

Anyone that has accepted the work of the cross as payment for his or her own sin has crossed over from a destination of damnation to the destination of eternity with God.

Christ died that we might live abundantly. Christ died that we might live for Him. Christ died that we might share that story with others. Christ died that we might find victory over personal sin. Christ died that we might share eternity with Him.

Why don't we live so that others may live? Why don't we live so that others may see how we live. Why don't we live so that others may go to the world to share life eternal with others? Why don't we live so that our Lord and Savior will one day recognize our efforts on His behalf?

May you go from this study with a fresh look at the death, burial and resurrection. May you go from this place a saint that is rejoicing.

If you are a sinner that is rejecting may you not go from this study until you have found the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord and the peace and transformation that His cross can give to you.