He Is Risen Indeed! Sunday -- April 5, 2015 Easter 2015 Pastor Theone Maupin, Jr. 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 17-18; 15:1-8 Luke 24:6 -- He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, (NKJV - emphasis added) He is risen! Luke 24:34 -- saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! (NKJV - emphasis added) He is risen indeed! 1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 17-18 (NKJV) (12) Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (13) But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. (14) And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. (17) And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! (18) Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. Background: Paul understood that the people of Corinth knew that Jesus had been raised from the dead. It was common knowledge. For the 40 days following His bodily resurrection, Jesus was seen numerous times by not only His disciples, but, on one occasion by more than 500 people at one time (1 Cor. 15). He ate with His disciples, talked with them, and explained the scriptures to them. It was well known that Jesus had been dead and buried. It was also well known that He had risen from the dead and was seen by many! That truth could be verified by multiple living eye witnesses! Paul uses people's understanding and acceptance of the reality of Jesus' resurrection to prove that we too will one day have resurrected bodies, just as Jesus had. The truth that believers would one day have resurrected bodies was to confront the Gnostic heresy that taught that there was no bodily resurrection. Gnostic Heresy: The Gnostics were some of the earliest heretics to infiltrate the church with their poisonous doctrines, arising shortly after the gospel began penetrating the Roman world near the Mediterranean Sea in the first century. The word Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." The Gnostics believed there was a mysterious or secret knowledge reserved for those with true understanding, leading to the salvation of the soul. Spiritual salvation was of preeminence to the Gnostics because they thought the human spirit was naturally good and was entrapped or imprisoned in the body, which was naturally evil or merely an illusion. Their goal, therefore, was to free the spirit from its embodied prison, and the only key to unlock the prison doors was the mysterious knowledge they possessed.
P a g e 2 This radical distinction between our bodies and our spirits led Gnostics to twist the early church's understanding of who Jesus was and is. The Gnostics saw Jesus as a messenger bringing the special knowledge of salvation to humanity's imprisoned soul. They believed that when Jesus came to earth He didn't possess a body like our own; instead, the Gnostics taught that He only seemed to have a physical body (known as the heresy of "docetism," from the Greek verb "to seem"). This was a denial of the Christian doctrine of the incarnation the belief that Jesus was both fully God and fully human. But the Gnostics went even further: they also denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus, an event Paul argued must have taken place or our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:12-14; 16-17; 24-44). (Source: "Dealing with Deceivers," by Derrick G. Jeter) John 20:19 -- That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! Peace be with you, he said. (NLT - emphasis added) 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (NKJV - emphasis and clarity added) (1) Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, (2) by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. (3) For I delivered to you first of all (of first importance) that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. (6) After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. (7) After that He was seen by James (Jesus' brother), then by all the apostles. (8) Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. I. He Died John 19:31-34, 36-37 (NKJV) (31) Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (32) Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. (33) But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. (34) But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. (36) For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, Not one of His bones shall be broken. (37) And again another Scripture says, They shall look on Him whom they pierced.
P a g e 3 Word Help: Many of the words in Latin come from the Greek. Our English word, "excruciating" comes from the Latin word "escrucio" which means "to torture from [or by means of] a cross [crux]. John 10:18 -- No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded. (NLT - emphasis added) Luke 23:46 -- And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last. (NKJV - emphasis added) II. He Was Buried Matthew 27:62-66 (NKJV - emphasis added) (62) On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, (63) saying, Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. (64) Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, He has risen from the dead. So the last deception will be worse than the first. (65) Pilate said to them, You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how. (66) So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. Romans 6:4a -- Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism... (NKJV - emphasis added) III. He Is Risen Matthew 28:1-15 (NKJV clarity added) (1) Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (the mother of James and John) came to see the tomb. (2) And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. (3) His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. (4) And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. Matthew 28:4 -- The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men [ perhaps they were paralyzed by fear, or they fainted]. (EXB - emphasis added) (5) But the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. (6) He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
P a g e 4 (7) And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you. (8) So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. (9) And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice! So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. (10) Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me. (11) Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. (12) When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, (13) saying, Tell them, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept. (14) And if this comes to the governor s ears, we will appease him and make you secure. (15) So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Romans 8:11 -- It stands to reason, doesn t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ s! (MSG - emphasis added) Wisdom Point: There are three baptisms for those who follow Christ. Just as Jesus was dead, buried and then raised to life, the life of the believer experiences a similar transformation. The first baptism is when you are baptized into the Body of Christ when you receive Jesus as your personal Savior. The second baptism is water baptism. In water baptism your old life is cut away and buried. The baptism in (with) the Holy Spirit is the third baptism. In the baptism with the Holy Spirit, you receive power to live the new life that He is giving you as well as power to witness of Him and to love others. Romans 10:9 -- that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (NKJV - emphasis added)
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