The Linchpin of Christianity

Hold firmly to the word I preached to you, otherwise you have believed in vain.! For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,!

Some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

For I am the least of the apostles, and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I. But the grace of God that was with me, whether then it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God.

For we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead, but he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, but each in his own turn. Christ the firstfruits. Then when he comes, those who belong to him.

Then the end will come. When he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Biblical Christianity is a supernatural religion.

It's not primarily about what man does, but rather about what God supernaturally does. And so at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of Christianity are these supernatural events.

God creating all things out of nothing. God communicating with men, revealing his will. God sending his own eternal son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Who was born of a virgin without any human father. Who lived a perfect life without any taint of sin. Who performed miracles.

Things that no man had ever done. Who died and rose from the dead. Ascended into heaven. And is coming again in judgment.

Christianity is a religion where God acts supernaturally in the salvation of sinners. And that is its glory. And every believer rejoices that it is so.

Our God acts supernaturally. We do not stumble before supernaturalism. Rather, we bow in humble, adoring, glad joy.

But what is a glory to us is a stumbling block and an offense to the world. The rationalist of the world believes nothing more than what reason can understand.

Only what he can account for with natural causes and effects. And so, by definition, that leaves no room for supernaturalism.

Supernatural acts. His mind is offended at the supernatural claims of Christianity. And he writes them off as fairy tales. Stories made up by weak-minded people who need a crutch to lean on when times get bad.

To such, the resurrection of Christ is just dismissed as nonsense. You mean to tell me that a dead man, a corpse, came to life, rose again?

Right. And so, it receives the same treatment that Paul got from those philosophers in Athens. When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some sneered.

Or we think of the governor Festus listening quietly as long as Paul was giving his defense. But when Paul spoke of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, he shouts, You're out of your mind, Paul.

Much learning has driven you mad. The resurrection of Christ. A glory to believers. A stumbling block to many.

And then theological liberalism comes along and wants to hang on to both Christianity and to rationalism. And so, they do not out and out reject the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

They just redefine it as saying that the spirit of Jesus lives on in his disciples. You and me. But they categorically reject the idea of the physical body of Christ rising from the dead and being alive today.

But let's be clear on this. What the Bible claims concerning the resurrection of Jesus is that the very same body that was laid in a manger and that was nailed to a cross and taken down dead and put into a tomb, three days later came alive.

That same body came alive and lives today. And for that, the apostles were ready and willing to die. They would die for that belief, that reality.

They had seen the risen Christ. They knew it was true. And they were prepared to die. The bodily resurrection of Christ is at the very heart of the message that they preached.

Read through the book of Acts and you see it over and over. The resurrection. They preached the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, having died for our sins. It was at the heart of their worship.

So much so that the weekly day of worship was changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week. The Lord's day. The day of resurrection. The resurrection is central.

It's what we might call the linchpin of Christianity. It's the event upon which the whole depends. Now we don't speak of a linchpin anymore.

But kids, a linchpin was something that held a wheel onto an axle. So you got the axle and you put the wagon wheel on the axle. And then right out at the end you put the linchpin to hold the wheel in place.

Without the linchpin, the wheel falls off and your wagon isn't going anywhere. The resurrection is the linchpin.

And it is absolutely crucial to Christianity. Lose the linchpin and there's nothing there. Or a child is carefully building blocks in the living room.

And it's up to three feet high now. And you come into the room and you just want to remove one block. The bottom one.

And all the weight of the tower is resting on that block. So when you try to remove the bottom block, the whole tower tumbles down. That block, that bottom block is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

And if you take that away, the whole of Christianity comes tumbling down. Now I want to see five things this morning that depend upon the resurrection of Christ.

There's Christ. His resurrection. The foundation. We're going to look at five blocks of truth that stand because Christ is risen. And I trust we'll go home with a greater appreciation for how much we owe to this one event.

The resurrection of Christ. So the first. The resurrection is proof that Jesus Christ is who he claimed to be. Who is Jesus of Nazareth?

Who was he to the world? Well, just a carpenter's son from Nazareth. Nothing more. But when he turned preacher, he made some claims about himself that were downright stupendous.

He said he was God. The creator of all things. The one who is the great I am who was before Abraham. That's who I am.

He claimed to have come from heaven, sent by his father and returning there. He claimed to be the only way for you to get to heaven. I am the way, the truth, the life.

No man comes to the father but by me. Now, those are hard to believe claims. So along with those claims, Jesus was performing miracles.

He was doing supernatural acts that would convince us that he is who he says he was. So in Matthew 12, some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to him saying, Teacher, how do we know that you're who you say you are?

I mean, how do we know these things are true? We want to see a miraculous sign from you. A miraculous sign. Wake up, fellas.

The lame are walking. The blind are seeing. The lepers are cleansed. Every form of sickness and disease is healed. Demons are cast out.

Waters turn to wine. Bread and fish multiply to feed thousands. As Peter said on the day of Pentecost, Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

He did too many to be denied. You know it. Everywhere throughout Palestine were people walking that hadn't walked before and seen and so on that had never seen before.

But in the presence of such miraculous signs, they still refused to believe and instead they asked for more signs. Give us a sign that we might believe, they said.

And so Jesus answered, A wicked and an adulterous generation asked for a miraculous sign. But none will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a fish, even so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the belly, the heart of the earth.

Here is the miraculous sign that will prove that I am who I claim to be. I'll rise on the third day. Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will build it up again.

Destroy this temple, my body, and I will raise it again in three days. So do we understand what is at stake here? If Jesus' body remains in the grave, then you can dismiss all he ever taught, all he ever claimed, all he ever said.

You can throw your Bible away as a pack of lies. It's worthless. If Jesus remains in the grave. Paul understood this, and he was willing to stake it all, the whole Christian religion, on this one event, the resurrection, the bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead.

He told us in the passage we read, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching, all of it, everything we've ever taught you, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith.

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you're still in your sins. Don't you like the Apostle Paul? He's not one for playing with religion, playing at religion.

Life is too short to play religious games, he says. And if it's not real, then let's get rid of it. If Christ is not risen, then the dead are not raised.

And if the dead are not raised, then let us eat and drink and be merry, because tomorrow we die, and that's it, and that's all. Stop the charade. But, if Christ is risen, let us repent, and believe, and prepare to meet him in judgment.

For we have the proof, the miraculous sign, that he is all he said to be, Christ risen from the dead. They thought they could dismiss him as a pretender, a false messiah, so they would kill him, they would silence him in the grave, write off all he said as religious mania.

But he just wouldn't go away, would he? On the third day, up from the grave, he arose. And according to Romans 1, for he has been declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.

That one act of rising from the dead has powerfully declared him to be who he said he was, the Son of God. That event validates all his claims.

You now must deal with everything that he has ever said. He really is God. And as God, he's deserving of your worship, your trust, your obedience, your loyalty, your love, your life.

Jesus Christ really is the only way to heaven. You must, you must come through him. And God did so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life.

It's all true, validated by his resurrection from the dead. And one day, all will see the risen Lamb, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that it's true, Jesus is Lord.

Jesus is God. What are you doing with the claims of Jesus, of this Christ, this risen Lord? He's got claims on your life. The resurrection is proof that Jesus is who he claimed to be.

Secondly, the resurrection of Christ is proof that God the Father is satisfied with Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Now, being a priest in Israel was a dangerous thing.

Some people didn't come out of the most holy place alive. You could die if you did not follow the Lord's instructions about how to appear before the Lord.

Indeed, two of Aaron's own sons died when they approached the Lord in an unauthorized manner. And it was just after their deaths that the Lord came to Aaron, the high priest, and gave him instructions for the Day of Atonement.

You can find it in Leviticus 16. And twice in that chapter, Aaron is told when and how he is to appear before the Lord or else he will die.

This is serious business coming before the Lord, our God. He can't come whenever he wants. He can't come however he pleases.

Only once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest was to go into the most holy place and not empty-handed, but with the blood of the sacrifice to make atonement for his own sins and for the sins of the people of Israel.

There were two parts to his work. There was the sacrifice that was made outside the most holy place. And then there was the presentation of the blood of the sacrifice where he took the blood and went into the most holy place and presented it before God to make atonement for sin.

Now, while he was on the inside, all the people were waiting anxiously on the outside. How did they know that his sacrifice on their behalf and for their sins was effective?

How would they know if God accepted it as a full payment for their sins and would forgive their sins? Well, when they saw their high priest come out alive, they would know.

Otherwise, he'd be dead. That was the sign that his sacrifice was acceptable to God, that it fully answered all that justice claimed against the sinner for his sin.

Tradition has it that they used to tie a rope around the leg of the high priest so that in case he died while he was inside the most holy place, they could pull him out without having to go inside and thereby jeopardize their own life.

And this whole day of atonement was a type and a shadow of the priestly work of Jesus Christ, our great high priest as he's called in the book of Hebrews.

And so, that work in Leviticus 16 of the day of atonement points us to when all the sins of all of his people would be atoned for in a single day.

Zechariah 3.9 And there were two parts to Christ's work as the high priest. there was the making of a sacrifice and this he did on the altar of Calvary. He laid down his own life as a sacrifice for sin.

He is both the priest and the sacrifice. And so, Jesus Christ as the great high priest of his people had all of our sins and guilt transferred to him.

the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so, the high priest bore our sins in his body to the tree and there he offered himself to God as a sin-bearing sacrifice.

He laid down his life. He paid the penalty that sin deserved. Death under God's wrath and curse. And so, when he died he was buried.

But there's that part of the sacrifice that human eye could not see. The presentation of the sacrifice before the presence of God. And Hebrews 9 says, when Christ came as high priest he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made.

That is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves but he entered the most holy place where God's presence is once for all by his own blood having obtained eternal redemption.

And so, the sacrifice made was presented before the holy presence of God. Now, how do we know that that sacrificial work of our great high priest on our behalf is enough to satisfy the claims of justice against us?

How do we know that God's accepted and pleased to accept us for Jesus' sake? Well, he comes out alive. Our high priest is risen. He's alive.

On the third day God raised him from the dead is the repeated phrase we find in the book of Acts. God responded to Jesus' high priestly sacrifice by bringing him out alive.

life. So, Romans 4 can say he was delivered over to death for our sins and he was raised to life for our justification to demonstrate that his sacrifice was enough to make us right with God.

God is satisfied with the sacrifice of his son on our behalf and he assures us of that by raising our high priest from the dead. He suffered enough.

He bled enough. He died enough. There was enough merit in his blood so that sins are forgiven not for another year but forever and ever. He obtained eternal redemption for his people.

And so the empty tomb is God's way of saying that I'm pleased with the sacrifice. I accept what has been offered. Your sins are forgiven.

So rejoice trusting sinner. The work of your high priest has succeeded before God and we know it because he raised him from the dead. He comes out alive.

The third thing the resurrection proves is that Jesus ever lives to intercede for us. He ever lives to intercede for us. All of Jesus' work for us is not finished.

It is his earthly work. his suffering work that is done. Finished. But there's a present ministry of Jesus.

There's a present work that Jesus fulfills for his people at the Father's right hand. For his resurrection from the dead was followed 40 days later by his exaltation, his ascension to the Father.

And these two are often mentioned in the same breath in the New Testament. The resurrection and the ascension that he didn't just stop being raised from the dead and stay on earth but God raised him from the dead and raised him right up to his own right hand.

Acts 2.32 God has raised this Jesus to life. We're all witnesses of this fact. Exalted to the right hand of the Father. Romans 8.34 Who is he that condemns?

Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. So raised and ascended.

Now it may go without saying that Christ would not be living for us today in heaven had he not been raised from the dead. You see that's obvious. But I think we need to say it.

We need to say it and appreciate it. There would be no present ministry of Jesus to his people had he not been raised from the dead.

That means that you would have no advocate to speak with the Father in heaven whenever you sinned. You'd be on your own. Oh but we have one John says who speaks to the Father on our behalf when we've sinned.

Jesus Christ the righteous one. We would not have such a ministry such a high priest in heaven if he were still in the grave. We would have no one to intercede for us.

No one to pray for us that our faith not fail. When like Peter he was being tempted and sorely tried and Jesus prayed for him. He still prays for his people.

Remember he became one of us and he's taken his human nature back into heaven and so now when his people are tempted he remembers what it feels like to be tempted and he knows exactly the mercy the grace to send us in our time of need.

There would be no such high priestly sympathetic ministry going on if Jesus were still in the grave. There would be no access to the throne of God. No living new and living way whereby you and I can come directly to God through Jesus whereby he looks at him and pardons us.

there would be no sympathetic high priest to feel for us in our weakness to help us when we're tempted.

How long would you last without a high priest in heaven ministering to you today? No living prophet to teach us the will of God to come to us and put his truth in our inward parts.

No living king to rule over us and to defend us from enemies too strong for us to protect us and keep us from falling. All of this ministry going on today we would know nothing of had Christ not risen.

So what do we owe to the present ministry of Christ to our souls? We cannot live the Christian life for one day without fresh supplies of grace from our living Savior.

I need the every hour. Every hour I need that sap of grace flowing from the vine to me the branch. A living Savior. We cannot remain in God's favor for a second without Jesus Christ appearing for us there as we sang earlier.

With every one of our sins God the just is satisfied to look over and see him and to pardon us. He's there. He's alive. He's at his right hand. And his presence there wins our forgiveness.

Our hope enters into the inner sanctuary behind the curtain where Jesus who went before us has entered on our behalf. He entered heaven itself now to appear for us in God's presence.

Are we aware of that? Day by day moment by moment how often do we get back to that reality? Jesus is in heaven and he's there for us. He's there for me.

What he's doing there is for me. It's his present work for me and it's all because he's risen. He's a high priest for us in heaven not on the basis of his ancestry.

It's not because he's from the priestly He's from the priestly! He's from the tribe of Levi Hebrew 7 says because he isn't. He's from Judah. But he's a high priest on the basis of an indestructible life.

And because Jesus lives forever he has a permanent priesthood. That's why he's still in heaven working for you as your priest.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. Your perseverance another step in the faith is dependent upon the living Savior's ministry today in heaven.

the completion of your salvation is due to the fact that Jesus lives forever. Therefore he's able to save completely all who come to God through him.

Oh could we not make better use of the one who rose from the dead to be our living ever living Savior. Believer are you discouraged?

Are you perplexed? Are you confused? Are you harassed by temptation and a multitude of trials in your life? Are you hurting? Is it strength you need?

Is it perseverance? Is it forgiveness? Is it patience? Is it joy? Jesus is alive today and he's alive with sympathy in his heart for you his child here on earth.

And he lives for you. And he is pleased when you make use of him as your living high priest and prophet and king. Let's go home from our celebration of the resurrection of Christ making more conscious use of him as our living mighty to save king.

He's there for you today because on the third day he rose from the dead. Fourthly the resurrection is proof that the bodies of believers will rise again. Now this is a benefit of the resurrection that is little appreciated.

That is of course until it's your time to die. And then it's priceless. Now in that 1 Corinthians 15 passage that great resurrection passage Paul argues that the resurrection of Christ and his people are bound up together.

They stand or fall together. If Christ is risen his people will rise. If Christ has not been risen his people will not rise. That's his argument. Verse 20 and following but Christ has indeed been risen from the dead.

The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep who have died. For since death came through a man the resurrection of the dead comes through also through a man.

For as in Adam all die so all in Christ will be made alive. But each in his own turn Christ the first fruits and then when he comes those who belong to him.

So Christ rose and because he rose all in Christ will also rise. But there are turns here children. We have to take turns. And Christ first.

He's the first fruits. And the feast of first fruits was a celebration at the very beginning of harvest time in Israel. It was a celebratory happy time.

The harvest was just ripe for picking. And they would go in and they would gather the first sheaves of grain and they would stop the harvest. They would pause to celebrate and thank God.

They would have a festival of first fruits. And they would thank God for the first fruits of harvest and for the remaining harvest that was yet to be brought in. Those first fruits, those first sheaves of grain were the guarantee of more to follow.

And so the first fruit said there's more where this came from. So the resurrection of Christ was merely the first fruits of God's harvest from the field of the grave.

There's a full harvest coming of all of his people. His resurrection, Christ's resurrection from the dead guarantees theirs. So he goes first and then when he comes, those who belong to him.

Your turn's coming, Christian. All in Christ will be made alive. So there's a family and they're gathered at the graveside service around the casket of their loved one.

They've just laid to rest and said goodbye to the dearest on earth. what is it worth?

What is it worth then to know that because Jesus died, all who die in Jesus will also rise again?

Or brothers and sisters, maybe it's your own deathbed. Maybe you're sick and with your back to the bed staring your own death in the face.

What is it worth in that moment to know that because Jesus lives, I too will live? To know that the spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also raise us with Christ.

That it's guaranteed, it's for sure because Christ arose. The resurrection of Christ sheds its warming beams of light into the very darkness of those dark hours.

Around the deathbed, around the casket, your living Lord is waiting to receive you. As soon as you depart, your spirit departs the body to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord.

Your spirit goes at once to be with him. But when he comes again, he will raise your body from the grave to be reunited with your spirit and so to be with the Lord forever.

The body that is sown is perishable, it's raised imperishable. So believers, what happened 2,000 years ago at Christ's grave is going to happen at your grave.

You will come forth in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. And we will all be changed and then will the saying that is written come true.

Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's in the risen Christ that we enjoy freedom from the enslaving fear of death.

He's risen. The fifth block that rests itself upon the resurrection of Jesus is this. The resurrection of Christ is proof that the final judgment is an unavoidable appointment you will keep.

Once upon a time there lived a very wicked people and they robbed and they murdered and they cheated each other and they broke every law of the land and they did it almost without fear.

Because the ruler and judge of that land lived very far away. And he had written to them telling them that he would come and set up his court to judge them but he was so long in coming that they really had no fear of him.

And then one day he came. He came and then suddenly they felt guilty and afraid of the judge and they didn't like this so they killed him and they buried him and this made them feel much better.

There the judge is dead. And they thought that that would be the end of it allowing them to carry on in their lawless ways. But three days later Jesus rose from the dead and put them on notice that they will still have their day in court with eternity to follow.

And it all happened right here. and it concerns all of us. We are that people. Jesus is that judge. Acts 17 30 and 31.

Paul's in Athens and he's speaking to Gentile philosophers. And their city of Athens is full of idols and Paul says to them in the past God overlooked such ignorance but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

For he set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He's given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.

Verse 31 of Acts 17 holds three great truths. First of all God has set a day when he will judge the whole world with justice. Nothing's more forgotten than that day. Nothing is more sure than that day.

God has set a day. He's and just as surely as April the 24th 2011 has arrived one day that set day will arrive for you and me my friend.

We'll be there before God in judgment. He'll judge the world it says all people everywhere and he will judge the world with justice so you don't need to worry about an unfair jury or an unfair judge you don't need to worry about getting framed wrongly accused you'll only be accused and punished for the wrong things you did and the good things you didn't do that's all perfect justice will be meted out on that day no one will complain every mouth will be stopped and every sin will receive its due punishment not one evil thought deed word but that it will be punished paid for so that's the first truth Paul gave God set a day when he'll judge the world with justice second truth this judgment will be by the man God has appointed men don't get to choose their judge

God appoints the judge you know the one he appointed Christ the Lord for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body whether good or bad the third truth God has given proof of this to all men then that something men doubt the day of judgment that's a supernatural act and men doubt the supernatural and they don't believe that they're going to be held accountable and have to give an account one day of all they've ever done and thought and said but God proves it to them he's proven it to you my friend how by raising the appointed!

judge from the dead the empty tomb is proof that final judgment will go on as planned it looked for a while that the judge was dead and gone and there were no worries about judgment but on the third day up from the grave he arose the judge is alive and well and judgment will proceed without a hitch isn't God good to give you proof of the final judgment isn't he kind to tell you ahead of time that it's coming he could have just surprised us all shown up in judgment but instead he proves to you that it's real it's coming the set day will arrive and why did he do that he did it that you might turn you might repent you might turn from your own sinful way and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in his sacrifice for sin that's why he warns us of the coming day that's why he proves to us in the resurrection the judge is coming you see

God is so pleased! with the sacrifice of his and highly exalted him and therefore anyone who repents and trust in what this son of God has sacrificed himself will be forgiven every sin that means that those who have trusted in Christ will show up on that set day of judgment and they will find this that there are no sins of theirs to be punished they've all been punished in their substitute Christ and so the day of judgment will be the happiest day of their lives as they will be ushered into eternal bliss in Christ's presence forever what a wonderful thing that at the day of judgment we will find that in Christ all our sins are gone they're nowhere to be found so there's no more condemnation for us who are in

Christ Jesus but don't show up in that day without having trusted in Jesus Christ don't show up in that day without on earth having turned from your own way and your own sin and come and embrace Jesus as your only hope of heaven oh that that the resurrection would prove to you these five things and you would see that God's very pleased with the sacrifice of his son so much so that whoever trusts in him will have all sins erased paid in full and may it convince you that it's high time to prepare for that set day by getting into Christ come to him this morning he's alive and he's alive to save mighty to save let's talk to him privately each of us responding to what he is and has done for sinners and then I'll close in prayer our father in heaven thank you so much that when we cry lord save me that there are ears in heaven who hear and whoever calls upon the name of the

Lord will be saved that because he is a living risen savior and he has salvation to give make him more precious to all of us this day make him precious in the day of our death the day of death of loved ones thank you how precious he will be to us in the day of judgment bring those who are still in their sins to trust in him to call on him and live thank you Jesus for rising again for us and for living for us this day we look to you we trust in you and we expect you to be all that you've promised to be for us our savior and our lord we pray in your name amen