Matthew 28, verse one says. At dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. And there was a violent earthquake. For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven. And going to the tomb, he rolled back the stone, and he sat on it. His appearance was like lightning. His clothes were white as snow, and the guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the woman, do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. Verse six, he is not here. He is risen. Church, today we gather to celebrate one thing, and that is that Christ has risen. In fact, all of us at one time can we, this morning, with a shout of praise and with hands being clapped to the glory of God. Can we proclaim with all of our hearts to all of this neighborhood what we are here to celebrate today, and that is that Christ has risen? Would you do that for me this morning? Can we shout and praise that he is alive? He's alive. Amen. 

I want you to know that today, in a time of incredible uncertainty, that today is a day of assurance. Today is a day of hope. It is a day of celebration. And it is a day of honor, because today is a day that every single thing and every part of our faith rests on. The resurrection has changed everything. In fact, when you go back and look at history, you will see that even in the very early days of the church, when a believer would walk down the street to greet another believer, the common greeting of the day would be he has risen. The person that they were encountering would reply with the statement that Christ has risen indeed. Today, we celebrate that moment. We also celebrate that if you go back to the first witnesses of the resurrection, they had a decision to make. And that decision was, what day would we even worship this resurrected King? And they chose Sunday. Now, for us who have been in church our whole lives. For us, that is a no-brainer. It's what most of us have done for a lot of our lives. But for these people from the time of Moses all the way to this very moment in A.D. 33, Saturday was the day of worship. But now, because of the resurrection, because he's alive because Jesus has risen from the grave. At this point, there was a symbol of something big had happened. And what happened was that Christ has raised.

And 2000 years later, we are still here, this weekend, gathered together to celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive and we are thankful that our life hangs on his resurrection from the dead. So today, today, today, here is what I'm going to do today. All right. What I'm going to do today. I'm not going to beat around the bush. I have no funny stories. I got no cultural quips or poems that rhyme. Today, I am simply going to treat this message as one of the most straightforward Easter conversations you have ever had. I know that we're all busy. I know Grandma has got the ham cooking and we are ready for the Easter meal. So, I'm going to attempt today to do three very, very simple things. One, I want to show you today how much Jesus loves you. Two, I want to convince you today that you need to trust Jesus with your life. And number three, I want to persuade you that even if you do know Jesus and that you are struggling, you are not far gone, too far gone for the love and the grace of the resurrected King to bring you back. And I'm going to do it today by just examining one passage of Scripture from Paul's letter to the Corinthians. First Corinthians chapter 15. Here's where we're going to be today. 

Paul wrote this letter 22 years after the resurrection, and today Paul is going to describe to us in depth the life changing, eternal significance of the resurrection. And in this passage, I just want you to see today the how and the why, that we can know, that we can know that we can know that the resurrection happened. Also, I want to show you the profound meaning of what that means for us. And at the end of our time together, I'm going to give you a chance to make one of the largest, if not the largest, decisions that you have ever made in your life. So here we go. I'm going to read these ten verses, and I'm just going to simply give us three life-changing declarations that the resurrection proclaims to us. First Corinthians chapter 15, verse one. Here's what Paul says. He says, now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel that I preached to you, which you have received and which you have taken your stand. By this gospel, Paul says, you are saved. If you hold firmly to the word that I preach to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. So what do we see here? 

Quite simply, we see kind of, first of all, that this passage is a reminder from the Apostle Paul. This is not a new subject. He's not introducing something that no one knew about. In fact, what Paul is talking about in this passage is one of the things that Paul, the apostles, and the early church all talked about the most. This was the top thing that was on their list. You also see in this passage that Paul is describing that following Jesus is a very active-oriented faith. Now that means a lot because what that means is that God desires his people that follow Him. To make decisions, to pray prayers, to follow through on the commitment of what he has done in their life, and to set their lives in that direction. He desires more than a campfire conversation or raises of hand, or a sign of a paper, or even a baptism. He desires us to be an action-oriented people. 

Also, in this passage, you see that Paul is pointing to that when a commitment is made truthfully to Jesus, it's not just a momentary decision. It is something that changes us. It sets the trajectory of my heart. It moves me in a direction, gives me a new mind, and a new spirit, and points me towards him. You see, a lot of people will come to the church or even come in the Bible studies or into one of the pastor's offices here and say something like this. Matt, how do I know if I really made a decision to follow Jesus? Well, Paul would say in what we just read that the best way for you to know, if you have, in fact, really followed Jesus, is to ask yourself quite simply, am I following him now? Because what we just read, saving faith is a lasting faith, and it's a faith that makes it to the end. In fact, in verse two, the exact word that Paul used was that our faith is a faith that holds firm. It holds firm no matter what is going on. Paul says that we know that our decision was a true decision if it affects the trajectory of our lives. 

Now, that doesn't mean that we don't make mistakes. It doesn't mean that we don't fall. It points in our lives or has seasons of struggles, but it means that it affects us and it moves us. Now keep reading, because Paul is about to describe what it is that has actually transformed us. And it's the resurrection, right? And what it shows. Watch what he says in verse three. Paul says, for what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance. That Christ, died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the 12. And after that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time. Paul says, most of whom are still living, though some had fallen asleep. In other words, some have died. In verse seven he says, then he appeared to James, and then to all of the apostles. And last of all, Paul says, he appeared to me also as one that is abnormally born. He said, for I am the least of the apostles, and I don't even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But verse ten, here it is. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace to me, Paul says, is not without effect. Now, what Paul is saying here is that Paul is describing three life-changing declarations that we get from the gospel and the resurrection. And the first thing that he says, quite simply, is that the resurrection is of first importance. 

Now, I know that's not language that we use a whole lot of the time, but that's his exact wording in verse three. And what he's saying in verse three, listen, he says, for what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance. Here, here's what that means. That means that the fact that Jesus has risen from the grave matters. Listen closely; it matters more than anything else we have ever believed. Now, I know that when I say the word, anything in our culture, it is a very strong word because anything is something that our culture doesn’t like to grab onto. They love to leave room for a lot of conversation. But Paul says that the gospel, the resurrection of Jesus, means more than anything. Now, why is that? Here's why. Because if the resurrection didn't happen, everything else in Christianity crumbles. Everything goes away. Let me repeat it so it can sink in. 

If the resurrection did not happen, everything else that Christianity teaches has no meaning. Paul circles back to this in verse 17 and clarifies it. In chapter 15, he says this: And if Christ has not been raised, he says that your faith is futile and you are still living in your sin. Here's the thing. The gospel, at its core, is not a set of new directives by which to live. It's not a new set of rules that you follow. It's not a better way of life, a new moral code, or a new philosophy to grab onto. The gospel, at its core, is not something that just motivates people or gives a new direction. The gospel is not a new political way to believe, nor is it a bigger fish that eats the Darwin fish on your car or any of that stuff. The gospel is the news that God has done something. That's the gospel. That's what we're here to celebrate. The gospel is the good news of the life, the death, and especially the resurrection of Jesus. And this, church, separates us from every other group on the planet. It separates us from every other religion on the planet that has laid out a set of rules that we're supposed to live somehow to maybe, just maybe, make it to their maker. The gospel says that Jesus has proclaimed life, and that's what we celebrate here today. In fact, this idea of the gospel comes from the idea of an announcement of a warrior riding into a city to proclaim that the victory has been made. And I want you to know today that the resurrection is of first importance because Jesus Christ has given us victory. He's given us victory, and now we live not to get the gospel. We live because the gospel has got us, and it's transformed us. 

That's why the gospel is the first important. It's the first importance because it's the gospel that has set you free. It's the gospel that has done something inside of you that you could not do for yourself. It's the first importance. Secondly, Paul says that not only is it of first importance, but he also says that resurrection, number two, was a physically real resurrection. It was a physically real resurrection. Now, for some of us, you're like, well, Matt, we got that. We understand that. We know what that means. But really and truly, a lot of people don't because a lot of people will track with Jesus as a good teacher. A lot of people will tip their hat to Jesus as a sage. Maybe he is even a quasi-miracle worker somehow. But when you begin to mention the fact that Jesus rose from the grave, that is when they begin to push back on you and say, well, I’m not sure I'd go that far. But here's what I want to tell you today. 

The disciples and Paul would adamantly disagree with that. The disciples, then, Paul and all that was on the scene would say no. It was 100% Jesus’s body that died, that went to the grave, that rose, and that has given you life. In fact, we know that because three major pieces of evidence are described in this passage. The first piece of evidence is just quite simply the fulfilled prophecies, the fulfilled prophecy. In other words, what God had said from the beginning of time was going to happen from the moment that God began to communicate to human beings that he created, which was what happened in A.D. 33, when Christ rose from the grave. Paul said it best right here. I love it when he says this in verse three. He says, for what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance. We looked at that one right. Now watch what else he says. He says that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, right? He was buried, and he was raised on the third day. What did he say according to the scriptures? So Paul keeps talking about these scriptures, right? But what is he talking about? Is he talking about something that he is going to write? And he's just hoping somebody is going to read it later on? No, that would be circular reasoning that any of us with half a brain will be able to defeat Christianity with. What he's talking about is the Old Testament. 

What he's talking about is the foundation that Christ had laid from the beginning of time. Then, the Old Testament prophecy exclaimed who Jesus was going to be, what Jesus was going to do, how Jesus was going to do it, and even when he was going to do it. And this is incredible. Let me tell you why it's so incredible. Because when the apostles really needed to describe to someone, really needed to convince someone exactly who Jesus is and exactly what Jesus did, they didn't go to the fact that they were eyewitnesses first. Although that's incredibly important. We're going to get to that. They went to Scripture. They went to the fact that God had been saying for thousands of years that this was going to happen. And I'm talking about he'd been saying it in detail. I mean, not like Nostradamus when he said, somebody is going to come from the East. I'm talking about great detail, like Genesis 53 at the beginning of time when it said that Jesus would be from the tribe of Judah. I'm talking about Matthew. I mean Micah five verse two, where it said that the Messiah, Jesus, would be born in Bethlehem. I'm talking about Zechariah Nine, that we looked at last week, that said that he would ride into Jerusalem on a colt. Or Zechariah 11, which tells us that he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, or the whole beautiful chapter of Isaiah, chapter 53, that describes to us how Jesus would die and we'd be crucified and pierced. Verse 11 in that chapter says that he would be buried in a tomb borrowed from a rich person. Verse ten, in that same chapter, says that Jesus's days would be prolonged even after his death. All of this rolls around with the 293 other prophecies to tell us there is no way. There's no denying it. There's no getting around it. That the person of Jesus is who they had been looking for, and it was all described in the prophecies. 

But even on top of that, just a quick, summarized reading of the Old Testament will show you that it is nothing more than a roadmap that leads from the love of God to the person of Jesus Christ. The prophecies tell us that it's true, but on top of that, it also tells us that the physical resurrection is shown to us just quite simply by the empty tomb. The empty tomb. When you think about it, this is incredible. I mean, what did he say in verse four, in verses three and four? In verse four, Paul was very clear when he says that Christ was buried that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. In fact, we started our whole message off with Matthew 28, verse six, where Matthew tells us that the angel said he is not here. He is risen. Do you know the easiest way for Jesus’ enemies to put this whole resurrection thing to rest? Would have quite simply been just to do what? To produce the body? It would have been a very simple way. And if you know anything about the Romans, if you know anything about the religious leaders of the day, you would know that this would not have been beneath them. They would have had zero problems, zero moral problems of dragging Jesus's cold, dead corpse onto the street out of the grave to show everybody the body he did not really raise. But they couldn't. Why couldn't they? Because Jesus was alive. 

He was alive. In fact, every single side agreed at this moment that he was alive. Even the evil people were trying to figure out what we should do. How do we come up with a lie? How do we come up with a story to sell? Because we know this is going to change everything. Not only does the prophecy and The Empty Tomb show us that he really rose. But third, I want you to think about this. The eyewitnesses, the eyewitnesses who saw what happened, proclaim that Jesus rose. Paul names a ton of people who were still alive. In fact, read it with me again in verse five. It says, and when he appeared to Cephas, that's Peter. And then to the 12. After that, he appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters. At the same time, Paul says, most of whom are still living, although some have fallen asleep. Some have died. Then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles. And then Paul says in last of all, he appeared to me. People who are skeptical will say, well, Matt, clearly these people were lying. Clearly, they were just lying. To which I would say, I mean, really, 500 people are lying with the exact same lie at the same time. Listen, I might track with you if it was one person because people are liars. Maybe even two because people are liars. Maybe three. Maybe they got in a room. He came up with a story, but over 500 people are lying about the fact that Christ rose from the grave. No way. On top of that. Just go with me just for a minute. Think about their implications, even saying that the resurrection happened. The implication is that they had no gain. It's not like they received more power. It's not like they receive more love. Nobody's trying to pay them off to come up with a story, which is where all of the scandals from the beginning of time come from one of those things. No. In fact, the fact that they were saying that Christ rose, the fact that they were bringing this up was only going to cause them persecution and quite possibly death. 

So why make the claim? There's a simple reason they made the claim. Because it was real. Not only was it real because Jesus had risen, but they also knew that one day, this risen Savior would reunite them with God for eternity. Now, that's what matters the most. It wasn't what they gained here on earth. It was weight with a gain for eternity, and that Christ Jesus gave them eternal hope. They made everything else in this world seem strangely dim. You say, well, Matt, maybe. Maybe they weren't lying. Maybe they were just mistaken. Really? 500 of them were lying about Jesus from the beginning of time. We're just mistaken that this guy just maybe looked like Jesus. No. Come on. That's. It takes a lot of faith to believe that. Or maybe Matt. Maybe they were hallucinating. That's one maybe you've read before. Really? 500 people together hallucinating? That's not how it happened when I was in college, right? That. No, no, no. It was not a team sport. Well, Matt, maybe the church just kind of got together and added all of this later. Have you heard this one before? No. This was written 22 years after the resurrection happened. Do you know what that means? 

That means any of the people who were still alive would have squashed this document at that very moment, saying that it's not the truth. In fact, this letter that Paul wrote in 55 A.D. is one of the most undisputed apostles’ letters of any of them in Scripture. It is written in the generation of people who could have said he's a liar, but they didn't. Listen to me closely. Something happened. Something happened on this resurrection day that made haters now love. They made guilty people now free. They made defeated people strong and able to rise up. They made lowly people now stand up to the worst persecution at any time on this planet. And church, what happened is what we're here to celebrate today. What happened is the fact that Jesus rose, that Jesus has life, and now Jesus gives life. That's what we're celebrating. 

The resurrection changes everything. 

It's a first important. It was a physical, bodily-proven resurrection. And here's the third one, the most practical of any of them. Number three, the declaration is that the resurrection is for you. It's for you. Think closely with me. The resurrection was not just for the people of A.D. 33. It was not just for the people at the beginning of time. It was not just for the people that were there on the scene. The resurrection is for every man, for every woman of all times, of all generations, of all places in the world. Why? Because without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we’re lost. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are still sinners. We are still destined for an eternity without the Savior, without the Lord. And our sins still happen to be borne by us. 

You know, three quick things the resurrection did for us. Number one, the resurrection. It forgives my past. It forgives my past. In fact, it's exactly what Paul said at the end of verse three when he says that Christ died for our sins. This is what he means in verse ten when Paul says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and that grace was not without a fact. You see, Jesus had a purpose for coming to this earth. And it wasn't just to kind of show off the glory of God. It wasn't because he did something, and heaven went to God. The father said you need to go. Jesus came to this earth to live a life that I could not live and die a death that I deserved to die so that he could be the pure sacrifice for my sins, so that he could, for once and for all, become the Lamb of God that separates sin from our life, and that he could, for once and for all, pay the pure debt for my sin, for my shame. So he forgives my past. 

But secondly, he transforms my present. The gospel is not just something that looks backward. The gospel is something that looks right now. And it can fundamentally change us right now. And it radically changes us by giving us new life and new purpose. Listen, we can chase whatever this world has to offer, but it will never give us the satisfaction that the love and the life and the grace and the mercy and the resurrection power of Jesus can give us. Listen, none of us are good people who just need a little bit of help. We're lost, were deprived. We're dying. People who need what Paul said. We need God's grace. We need God as a Savior. We need Jesus, and he's alive. 

This reminds me of number three, where it says, quite frankly, that Jesus secures my future. He secures my future. Do you know what the resurrection shows us at its core? The resurrection shows us that the Father accepted the price that Jesus paid. The Father accepted it. Do you know the only thing that didn't come out of the grave with Jesus was your sin? The only thing that did not rise with Jesus was the weight of the sin that was put on him. Why? Because Jesus laid sin to rest. Jesus gave us a chance to have eternal life. And now, those of us who are in Jesus, if you know Jesus, you have the resurrection power of Jesus in your life. 

So listen, the resurrection at its core. It's a gift for all mankind to trust him. It's a gift for all of us to look into, at our guilt, with our shame, to say, here I am, Lord Jesus, save me. Here I am, Lord Jesus; I'm yours. Here I am, Lord Jesus. I'm placing my heart. I'm placing my life. I'm placing my faith all on you. Because you went to the grave. You've given me life, and you've promised me eternity with you. But here's the thing about the resurrection. Here's the thing about the gospel. While it's available for all of us, it's not automatic. The gospel is not something that we're born with. It's not something that we just naturally have a bent to. The gospel is something that every single person, as Paul would say, has to come to a place in their life where they realize that they're a sinner. They realize that they need a Savior. They realize that Christ Jesus is the Savior of the world, and they realize that they need that Savior to transform their lives and give them hope literally. 

So, let me ask you a question this morning before we jump into our last worship time together; let me ask you this today. Have you taken advantage of the gift of the resurrection? Have you trusted Christ with your life? Have you given him your heart? Have you invited him to be your Savior and your Lord? You say, Matt, I've never done that. But Matt, that's something inside of me that is happening right now, and I know that that's where I need to go. That needs to be my next step. 

Quite simply, today, you can just say this in your heart to Lord Jesus. Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I need you. Thank you for dying and rising. Come into my heart and be mine. Be mine. 

Listen, this morning, if that's your heart this morning, and if you've turned your life from a place that it was to a place that now trusts Christ. Welcome to the Kingdom of God. Welcome. Maybe this morning, though you are a believer in and you've just gone through a little bit of a rough patch, it's just been a little challenging for you. You've gotten a little disconnected from your faith. You know, the incredible part about the resurrection is it shows us that no matter where you are, you're not too far gone for God to pull you back. Today may be the day that you just say, hey, Lord Jesus, I'm yours, and I'm sorry. I know you've saved me, but. But I know that I'm not walking with you. And I need you, I need you. 

Listen, when you walked in today, you received a card. You were handed your family on that card. There's a QR code that kind of has a lot of the events of the morning, but also on that QR code, there is a place in there that we just kind of call next steps here. And on that card this morning, if there is something that is happening in your life, maybe you have given your life to Jesus today, or you want to give your life to Jesus today, there's a place on that QR code. If you'll scan it, there's a place on there for you to put your name and your age, and then it'll come up with a couple of things on there that are just some next up for you today. The first one is today. I need to give Jesus my heart. And if that's where you are today, would you just let us know? Somebody will follow back up with you really, really quickly to kind of walk you through that. Maybe today you just want to say, hey, I just want to see what it looks like to get connected into a body of Christ. You get connected here. This church. Can you give me some information on that? Man, there's a place there just for you to click and say, hey, man, I just want some more information about the church. Also, there's a place on there that maybe you're new to this whole thing called Christianity, and you're not even really sure about any of it. But you kind of want to find out a little more. Next week, we're starting a course here that's just called The Basics, the Basics of Christianity. And for a couple of weeks on Sunday morning, it's just going to walk through some of the stuff we talked about today, some other things that God has offered us as believers. There’s a place on there that says, Man, I'd love to kind of have some information about that. Would you click on that? Just to say maybe, maybe that's me. And then last on the form, if you just scan that QR code, there's a place for prayer. 

Maybe today you're just burdened. Maybe today you just need somebody to walk with you and pray for you today. There's a place for you to do that on there. Man, we'd love to connect with you. But most of all, we would love for you to connect with the Risen Savior. In just a second, we're going to stand after I pray, and we're going to sing together. We're going to celebrate the victory we have in Jesus. But maybe today you're like, man, I can't click a code. I need to talk to somebody now. During this next song, we've got a tent over here that just says next steps. There's going to be some people there to pray. There's going to be some counselors there to walk with you. And we would love, love, love to minister to you in any way that we can. 

Lord Jesus, today, God, we celebrate the victory that we have in you. Jesus, we thank you for the resurrection. We thank you for being Savior. We thank you for taking on the sins of the world. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, that we have victory in you. It's in your name we pray. 

Amen, Amen. 

Let's stand and sing. After the song, I'll come up and I'll close our service.