Christ is risen!
Let all God's people shout, “He is risen indeed!” Isn't that
wonderful? Isn't it beautiful? The resurrection of Jesus isn't just
some pretty story we tell ourselves. It's the truth of history –
he really did die on the cross, he really was buried in the tomb, he
really got up again with new life, he left the tomb behind, he
appeared to his disciples, he appeared to his unbelieving siblings,
he appeared to hundreds of people, he went back to heaven, and he
even appeared one last time to a persecuting Pharisee to change a
life around (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
Friends, if that isn't true,
then everything we do here on any Sunday morning is completely
pointless, and we're the most foolish of all who've ever lived,
wasting our lives on a fantasy (1 Corinthians 15:14). But if it is
true – and that's where the evidence points with great, big neon
signs – then it changes
everything
(1 Corinthians 15:20)! Because it means that two thousand years ago,
Jesus snapped the Grim Reaper's scythe like a twig. It means that,
in the war between Life and Death, Jesus wins! It means that, though
he tasted death, he de-fanged Death and walked away. And
Jesus is free permanently – like Paul writes, “Since Christ
was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has
any mastery over him” (Romans 6:9).
Early in the 300s, there
lived an Assyrian monk named Aphrahat – yes, the Persian Empire had
its share of believers, too. During Aphrahat's later life, he saw
his emperor, Shapur II, begin to persecute the church, putting
thousands of Christians to death. In times like that – times that,
sadly, have once again come to the turf Aphrahat called home – it
seems like it would be easy to despair, like the disciples were
thrown into despair on Good Friday. In a series of sermons, Aphrahat
tried to reassure believers that the violence, the chaos, the fear
all around them wasn't the end of the story. In short, he wanted
them to remember Easter. And this Easter morning, I really feel led
to share with you a short passage this “Persian sage” wrote in
the year 344, nearly 1700 years ago, imagining what that face-to-face
meeting between Jesus and Death must have been like. Here's what
Aphrahat has to say:
The
upright, the righteous, the good, the wise, neither fear nor tremble
at death, because of the great hope that lies before them. And they
are always mindful of their death, their exodus, and the last day
when the children of Adam will be judged. … When Adam transgressed
the commandment whereby the sentence of death was passed on all his
children, Death hoped that he'd bind fast all the sons of man and
would be king over them forever.
But when Moses came, he proclaimed
the resurrection, and Death knew that his kingdom would be made void.
… From the hour he heard God saying to Moses, “I am the God of
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,” Death trembled and feared and
was terrified, for he learned that God is King of the dead and of
the living, that that it was appointed to the children of Adam to
come forth from his darkness and arise with their bodies....
And
then Jesus, the Killer of Death, came. He clothed himself in a body
from the children of Adam, and was crucified in his body, and tasted
death. And when Death saw that Jesus had come down to him, he was
shaken from his place, and was agitated to see Jesus. And Death
closed his gates and was unwilling to receive him.
Then Jesus burst
Death's gates, and entered into him, and began to plunder all Death's
possessions. When the dead saw light in the darkness, they lifted up
their heads from the bondage of death, and looked forth, and saw the
splendor of Christ the King. Then all the powers of the darkness of
Death sat in sorrow, for he was degraded from his authority. Death
tasted the medicine fatal to him, and his hands dropped down, and he
learned that the dead would live and escape from his clutches.
And
when Jesus had afflicted Death by plundering him, Death wailed and
cried aloud in bitterness, and said, “Leave my kingdom!” … He
had no power over the Holy One. … And Jesus left with him, as a
poison, the promise of life – that, little by little, Death's power
would be done away. … So Jesus, who died, was the annihilator of
Death – because through him, life rules supreme, and through him,
Death is abolished – the one to whom it's said, “O Death, where
is your victory?”
Hallelujah! Centuries
later, Martin Luther wrote a hymn – we'll sing it in a few minutes
– based on a Latin chorus used in the church. It's a strong,
defiant hymn, and the fourth verse goes like this: “It was a
strange and dreadful strife / when Life and Death contended; / the
victory remained with Life; / the reign of Death was ended! /
Stripped of power, no more it reigns; / an empty form alone remains:
/ Death's sting is lost forever!”
Amen? That's biblical stuff,
right there! That's what Jesus really, truly did: he “destroyed
death and has brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). All death's power was tied up in sin and
the curse it brought down on us; but for those who believe, whose
sins are buried in Christ's vacated tomb, death's grasp is broken (1
Corinthians 15:56-57). So believers don't so much 'die' as take a long
nap: “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”
(1 Corinthians 15:20). “If we died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live with him” (Romans 6:8).
The war against Death is
won in advance – it's a sure thing! “The reign of Death was
ended” that first Easter morning. Only “an empty form alone
remains,” without its sting (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55). Jesus
told us that he came so that we “might have life, and have it to
the full” (John 10:10). The Life of God has invaded this dark
mud-ball of ours – all that's left is clean-up in the here and now
and the final coup de grace at Christ's return, when he raises
the dead to bodily life that never ends. Now, that's good
news if ever I've heard any!
But here's the truth. If
we want to 'get in on' the victory of Life, we have to 'get in on'
the kingdom of God – and Jesus is the Door (John 10:9), and Jesus
is the King (Revelation 19:16). We can't muscle our way in with the
merits of our works. We have to trust the King. We have to stoop
down, let him unload our sins and deal with them, and humbly shuffle
through the Door.
That means faith – but I'll share with you this
promise: “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and
you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved”
(Romans 10:9)! And that salvation means the sovereignty of God's
Life in your life, breaking Death's power. “God
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”
(1 Corinthians 15:57).
I'd
like to challenge you this morning. Do you believe? Do you confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and does your heart latch onto
the truth and power of resurrection – the beauteous light of
Easter's dawn? If so, the hand of salvation is outstretched to you –
trust and follow him. But what does this mean: “follow him”? It
means to “live a new life” (Romans 6:4) – to live an Easter
life, the kind of life that Jesus Christ died and rose again to win
for you in his
“strange and dreadful strife.” On the other side of death –
the death of our old selves in his death – we live in his
resurrection, which means being “set free from sin” and from all
the places in our days and hours where we let Death boss us around.
“Count
yourselves dead to sin but alive
to God in Christ Jesus”
(Romans 6:11)! “If
Christ is in you,
then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the
Spirit gives life
because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus
from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Christ from the
dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit
who lives in you”
(Romans 8:10-11). “Always
give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that
your labor in the Lord is not in vain”
(1 Corinthians 15:58).
God calls us to live
an abundant life by following the Spirit of Life. After we refuel this morning
with the true Bread of Heaven, the true spiritual food, let's get out
there – let's live the abundant life Jesus opens for us – let's
win our little battles against sin and death, in the light of Life's
victory – and let's share the news, in word and in deed, that the
Prince of Life is risen indeed! Amen and amen!
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