Introduction

• He is risen!
  • He is risen indeed!
• He is RISEN!
  • He is risen indeed!

(Make sure to change “He has risen” to “He [is] risen” for this sermon. Make sure to include the brackets “[ ]” so that it shows you made the change.)

Matthew 28:1-9 ESV  Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went 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 and sat on it.  (3)  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.  (4)  And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.  (5)  But the angel 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 he lay.  (7)  Then go quickly and tell his disciples that He [is] risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”  (8)  So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.  (9)  And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

• Let’s do this one more time church HE IS RISEN!
  • He is risen indeed.

• Listen, today is the day that we celebrate EASTER!
  • Now some people believe the name Easter is a pagan name… but more likely it comes from the old German word auferstehung which was translated in old English Bibles as “Easter”. Auferstehung simply means RESSURECTION.
    • That means that today is RESSURECTION DAY! The day that we celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead.
      • He left the tomb empty.
      • He showed himself to the disciples and thousands of others.
      • An he ascended, alive, into heaven.
  • Easter is a wonderful wonderful holiday because Easter proves that we serve a RISEN SAVIOR, a RULING KING, and an INDWELLING SPIRIT.
• YOU SEE CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION ABOUT A DEAD MAN HANGING ON A CROSS! NO!
  • Why? BECAUSE HE IS RISEN!
  • Listen, as impactful as the cross was, as eternity changing as that event was… As great and powerful and merciful, and loving that moment was…
  • The truth is that it was only that… a moment.
    • Jesus hung on that cross for only a small, tiny, short, sliver of eternity.
    • And yes, Jesus, fully man and fully God, dying on that Cross means that our sins are paid for and that we can be forgiven…
      • BUT HEAR ME! We Christians do not worship a God on a Cross!
        • We serve a RISEN SAVIOR! A RULING KING! AND AN INDWELLING SPIRIT.
    • It was only for a moment that Jesus suffered and died… but it is for ETERNITY that Jesus is now RISEN!
      • HE IS RISEN!
    • And at no point did the Father step down from the thron… He wasn’t defeated for those three days that Jesus lay in the tomb… He wasn’t ashamed or embarrassed… NO! Through it all the King Ruled!
    • And at that moment, when the veil was torn… the Spirit of God no longer living in a temple of stone… but now, for those born again, the Spirit dwells within us.
      • EASTER IS AMAZING BECAUSE IT PROVES THAT WHILE THE CROSS CHANGES US, SAVES US, REFINES US… IT IS NOT OUR GOD. WE DO NOT WORSHIP IT.
        •  BECAUSE JESUS ISN’T ON THAT CROSS ANYMORE.
          • JESUS ISN’T IN THAT GRAVE ANYMORE.
            • HE IS RISEN!
            • (He is risen indeed)
          • WE SERVE A RISEN SAVIOR, A RULING KING, AND AN INDWELLING SPIRIT!

• A Risen Savior, A Ruling King, and an Indwelling Spirit. Let’s pray.

• Point one this morning: HE IS RISEN!

Point One – He is Risen!

• Easter is amazing because Jesus didn’t stay on the cross!

Matthew 28:5-7a ESV    But the angel 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 he lay.  (7)  Then go quickly and tell his disciples that He [is] risen…

• I said it before, I will say it again: Easter is amazing because Jesus didn’t stay on the cross!
  • Jesus didn’t stay in the tomb.
    • Jesus didn’t stay dead!
      • HE IS RISEN!
        • He is risen indeed.
• Why is it important that we serve a risen savior?
  • I mean, even if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead… He could still be in heaven, right?
    • Why is it so important that He had an earthly resurrection?
    • Well I am glad you asked, there are a few reasons:

REASONS THE RESSURECTION IS VITAL TO OUR FAITH

1. It proves there is life after death.
2. It proves that death has been defeated.
3. Salvation is incomplete without the resurrection.

• First, it proves there is life after death…
  • You see in Jesus’ time there was an argument about the afterlife.
    • Some Jewish scholars adamantly taught that there was no afterlife at all…
    • While others taught there was an eternal heaven and hell.
      • And the argument was all about the resurrection of the dead… life after death.
    • When Jesus rose it proved once at for all that there is life after death.

1 Thessalonians 4:14 ESV For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

John 11:24-26 ESV  Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  (25)  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,  (26)  and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

• I believe it Lord and YOU PROVED IT.
  • HE IS RISEN!
• Not only does the resurrection prove there is life after death, it proves that death has been defeated.

Isaiah 25:8 ESV  He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

• One of the easiest funerals I ever did was for a young boy in this church.
  • A YOUNG BOY? Shouldn’t that have been hard?
    • It was hard and is hard for the family.
    • There was and still is mourning.
    • It was hard as a friend. It was hard as a father. But it wasn’t hard as a pastor.
      • Because this young man was Saved… he was born again!
      • Death was a battle that was already won for him.
      • HIS LIFE IS BETTER NOW THAN IT EVER WAS HERE.
      • The pain is not for him, but for the loved ones left behind.
    • Because when Jesus rose it proved that death was defeated for all who are saved.
      • HE IS RISEN!
• Finally, salvation is incomplete without His resurrection.

John 3:3 ESV  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

1 Peter 1:3 ESV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

• In John chapter three we read that we don’t get to go to heaven unless we are born again.
  • And in First Peter chapter 1 we learn that we are born again not through the death of Jesus, but through the resurrection of Jesus!
    • The resurrection is a SALVATION issue.
      • Look part of the symbol of baptism is that when you go under the water it symbolizes your death and burial, when you come out of the water it symbolizes the resurrection.
        • If there was no resurrection then baptism would be a much MUCH darker ceremony! Just death… and well I guess you just stay under water…
  • But I am so glade that when I came out of that water, when I came out of that life, when I was born again, WHEN I ROSE FROM THE WATERS OF BAPTISM I could and still can faithfully proclaim: HE IS RISEN!
• We serve a Risen Savior, a Ruling King, and an Indwelling Spirit!
  • That brings me to point two this morning… GOD REIGNS!

Point Two – God Reigns!

• Easter is Amazing because it proves that God Reigns… that God has always been in control!
• While on the cross Luke records that people scoffed at and mocked Jesus.

Luke 23:35-37 ESV  And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”  (36)  The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine  (37)  and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

• If Jesus never rose, then those mocking voices would persist today.THE KING CAN’T EVEN SAVE HIMSELF! They scoff!IF YOU ARE KING OF HEAVEN THEN CALL DOWN ANGLES TO SAVE YOU! They mock.
• John records that after the crucifixion the disciples were hiding because they were afraid…

John 20:19a ESV  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews…

• The disciples had locked themselves in a room… they were afraid… the voices of the mockers and scoffers undoubtedly ringing in their minds.
  • “Did God lose?”
  • “Did Satan win?”
  • “Has God lost control?”
  • “Has the King left the throne?”
  • “Does God still reign?”
  • “What could God’s plan possibly be?”
    • John 2:22 gives us a hint, suggesting that the disciples had forgotten that Jesus would raise from the dead.
    • Mark 9:32 tells us that they didn’t even understand when Jesus said he would rise from the dead.
      • So after Jesus died, the disciples were afraid, confused, and likely questioning the reign of God.
  • BUT GOOD NEWS CHURCH. JESUS DIDN’T STAY DEAD. HE DIDN’T STAY IN THAT TOMB. HE IS RISEN!
    • And how glorious it must have been, to see Jesus for that first time, and realize: God is in Control.
    • God was ALWAYS in Control.
  • You see that verse in John says “They remembered that Jesus said He would rise again”.
• You see all the way back at the beginning of His ministry, well before His death… the Jews asked for a sign… and Jesus told them this sign…

John 2:18-22 ESV  So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”  (19)  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  (20)  The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”  (21)  But he was speaking about the temple of his body.  (22)  When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

• Get this… when they saw Jesus raised from the dead they remembered: “Oh yeah! The Jews asked for a sign and Jesus said that His body would be destroyed and rebuilt!
• HE KNEW ALL ALONG THAT HE WOULD DIE AND RISE AGAIN!
  • GOD REIGNS!
  • HE SITS ON THE THROWN!
  • HE NEVER STOPPED BEING KING! HE NEVER STOPPED RULING!
  • HE WAS AND IS IN CONTROL!
• Church we serve a Risen Savior, A Ruling King, and an Indwelling Spirit!
  • HE IS A RULING KING! Easter PROVES THIS!
    • This means that what ever trouble you are facing, whatever hardship you are in… GOD STILL IS IN CONTROLL.
      • If Dying on the cross and being buried for three days was not too hard for God to overcome…
        • Then how exactly hard do you think your issue is?
        • Do you think whatever your facing can’t be fixed by God?
          • JESUS WAS DEAD!
          • BURRIED.
          • SEALED BEHIND THE STONE!
            • BUT HE IS RISEN!
          • The God who raised Himself from the grave is still in control!
            • YOUR PROBLEMS ARE NOTHING TO HIM!
            • GOD IS A RULING KING!

Psalms 103:19 ESV  The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

• Now that brings me nicely to point three, the Spirit Dwells within us!

Point Three – The Spirit Dwells Within Us!

o   Easter is amazing because it is through the Resurrection that the Holy Spirit was given to us!

o   I read earlier about how the disciples were hiding afraid behind a locked door… let me read you the rest of that verse and then what happens next…

John 20:19-22 ESV  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  (20)  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.  (21)  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  (22)  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

• One of the biggest problems mankind has ALWAYS faced is loneliness.
  • It was the first problem man ever faced, and the only part of creation that was “not good”.

Genesis 2:18 ESV  Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

• Anyone who has ever delt with loneliness knows exactly how crippling and debilitating it can be.
  • We were not created to be alone.
    • But because of Easter we know that we NEVER have to be alone again.
      • Jesus promised that He would send us the Holy Spirit in John 14…
      • Then in John 20, after the resurrection, He makes good on that promise.
    • Now the Spirit dwells in us… lives in us… lives with us.
  • I mean Jesus’ name is Emmanuel … GOD WITH US.
    • Without Easter His name would be “Em-hayah-el”… God WAS with us.
      • But it’s not God was with us, it is God IS with us.

Matthew 1:23 ESV  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

• “God with us” not “God was with us”! This verse has never ceased to be true!
  • GOD IS STILL WITH US.
    • And if you are born again then God is with you!

Romans 8:9 ESV  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

1 Corinthians 6:19a ESV  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?…

• Listen… easter means that you NEVER have to be alone again.
  • The resurrection means that if you are born again you can and will have God living inside of you.
    • It used to be that the Spirit of God dwelt in the Temple…
    • But when Jesus died the vail was torn, and the Spirit was no longer stationary in a temple built by human hands…
      • And when Jesus rose again He breathed on His disciples and said “receive the Holy Spirit”.

John 14:25-26 ESV  “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  (26)  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Conclusion

• Let me close with this…
  • Easter is amazing because it proves that we serve A Risen Savior, A Ruling King, And An Indwelling Spirit .
    • My three points this morning where this:

Point One – He is Risen!
Point Two – God Reigns!
Point Three – The Spirit Dwells Within Us!

• Easter is amazing because Jesus didn’t stay on the cross!
• Easter is Amazing because it proves that God Reigns… that God has always been in control!
• Easter is amazing  because it is through the Resurrection that the Holy Spirit was given to us!I could preach a whole sermon series about a each of these things, but this Sunday I just want you to be encouraged! Be strengthened in the Lord. HE IS RISEN!
• Gospel Call

Aaronic Blessing