He is risen! (He is risen indeed, alleluia!)
What time did you get up this morning? Was it still dark? When I got up it was dark, and it made me think. Now, it’s not that I have a problem with darkness, exactly—my problem is more with mornings in general—but I got to thinking about what the darkness symbolized. The last time we were in this church was on Good Friday. As that service came to a close we read Christ’s final words from the cross, and the room got darker and darker, until finally all the lights were out and the absolute darkness became a visible reminder of a spiritual reality: Jesus Christ died for our sins.
But now we’re not sitting in darkness! The place is well lit, the mood is festive. We have light both in the building and in our hearts . . . why? Because while the darkness of Good Friday represents dying, the light of Easter morning reminds us that Christ has risen victorious from the dead! He is Risen!
This theme of darkness and dawn, of dying and rising, is played out in our lives all the time. For instance, just imagine the women going to the tomb on that first Easter morning. It’s been said that it’s always darkest before the dawn, and that is nowhere truer than in the hearts of the women that morning. They thought they had found their answers in Jesus, but now He was laying in a tomb. With His crucifixion they had lost all hope. No Messiah, no teacher . . . no savior. It’s dark outside, sure enough, but it’s darker in their souls.
But then as the sun begins to rise, with its first rays spilling over the hillside, they see a strange sight. The stone in front of the tomb appears to be rolled away! And as they get nearer and nearer, the light from the sun and in their souls increases more and more until it explodes forth with the announcement that the One for whom they are looking is no longer among the dead! The light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has dispelled all darkness in their souls, and they once again know what it means to hope!
Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you been there, in the darkest part of the night, with no hope left and no options in sight, only to have the light of Jesus Christ break in and give light to your tired soul?
If you’ve been there in the darkness of death before, or even if you’re there right now, then this message is for you. In fact, the next six weeks will be filled with messages just for you. Because beginning today and for almost all of the season of Easter, we’re going to talk about dying and rising. Not just in a literal sense—as in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ—but in a figurative sense, as well.
We’ve all lived through period of darkness, when a dark, death-like shroud threatens to envelop us. We’ve been in relationships where the darkness of bad or hurtful interpersonal conflicts blots out the light. Do you want to know how God’s Word addresses that darkness and gives us real answers, real light? Then this series is for you. We’ve been in tough financial spots where a mountain of debt and poor choices have overshadowed the light of Jesus Christ in our lives. We’ll address those issues, too. Over the next few weeks we’ll look at how God’s Word addresses issues such as the darkness of self-centered living, how to bring light into the dark lives of others through acts of service, and we’ll even tackle the ultimate darkness of death itself.
Throughout the entire sermon series there’s just two things we need to know right now. 1) Darkness happens to all of us. We all go through periods of darkness in our lives. You are not alone in your darkness. And 2) God’s word addresses those periods of darkness. It brings the light of Christ into those dark times, allowing the dawn to break in and raise us up from the dead. God’s Word brings us light . . . and it brings us hope.
God wants to help us through those periods of darkness in our lives. That’s why we’re going to spend the next few weeks of this Easter season getting real practical. We’re going to look at these different areas of difficulty that we face living in the 21st century and watch what happens as God’s light breaks into those situations. During this sermon series you can expect to be challenged, and you can expect to be changed. You can expect the light of Christ and His resurrection to carry you into the light and out of the darkness. But before we get into all those different areas we first need to lay the groundwork. Today’s sermon is a foundational sermon to the whole series, so listen up closely. I’m going to show how Christ and His resurrection lays the groundwork for a fruitful life not only in eternity, but right here and now, as well. “Dying and Rising” becomes a paradigm for living out your life in Christ. It becomes a model for your daily life. Are you ready? Then let’s turn to God’s Word and hear what He has to say to us about the darkness and the dawn, about dying and rising.
Let’s begin with Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” Now that’s an odd thing to say, isn’t it? Can you imagine a street evangelist telling you that if your hope in Christ is only for this life, then you don’t really have any hope at all? I mean, as far as salesmanship goes, Paul doesn’t really have much of a sales pitch, here, does he?
But Paul’s not trying to be a salesman, he’s trying to tell us the truth. And the truth is that if Jesus Christ is only for this life then we must still fear death. If the mission of Jesus Christ was only to give us a triumphant life in the here and now, then our eternity is still in question.
Paul had a great life, one that many people wanted. In his letter to the Philippians he details how he had reached the very pinnacle that an outwardly religious life could obtain. He had power, he had influence. He was more religious than you or I or any of us put together, and in his religiosity he had every confidence that his life in the here and now would earn him solid rewards in eternity.
But religiosity—even one as hardcore as Paul’s—didn’t do anything to dispel the darkness that he lived in, except Paul didn’t know that. But when Christ’s light broke in, he realized the darkness that had surrounded him. His so-called “life”—the life that he thought was so great and wonderful—was a dead end.
Paul’s wonderful, religious life wasn’t getting him anywhere. In retrospect he would later call that life “rubbish.” He realized that all of his religious accomplishments and his wonderful “life” were nothing more than . . . well, in the Greek you get the idea that it was nothing more than the stuff you don’t want to step in out in the cow pasture. Life without Christ was crap . . . and then he realized that that even life with a dead Christ—a life without any hope of a resurrection—that was crap, as well. And he realized that if that was true he was to be pitied more than all men.
It’s not as though Christ’s death didn’t count for something; it did! It counted a lot! But Paul recognizes the fact that the darkness of Good Friday must be complemented by the dawn of Easter morning! Christ’s dying offers us the forgiveness for our sinful ways in this life, but His rising paves the way for our eternity! Without Christ’s resurrection, without both His dying and rising, then we still must fear death! We still must fear what will happen to us in eternity! But because Christ was crucified and is risen, we who trust in Him know that even though we will one day follow Him into death we will also be like Him in His resurrection! The power of Christ’s resurrection gives us hope for eternity because it gives us the certain hope of conquering even death.
In Christ you can have eternal life, a life that lives beyond the grave. But does that mean that His dying and rising has no value for you now? Certainly not! And the reason is this: because your eternity steers how you live currently. Christ’s dying and rising becomes a paradigm, a model for your daily living.
In the situations you face every day, you often need to have a “dying” moment. Christ was put to death for your sins, and so we follow Him by putting our sins to death on a daily basis through repentance and His forgiveness. There is a part of you that needs to die every day; the sinful, selfish part. The part that doesn’t live in the fullness of life that God wants you to live.
These dying moments . . . they occur whenever you feel crushed, unable to continue. When you don’t know where to turn anymore, or when you feel convicted. These are all God’s indicators that it’s time for you to do a little dying.
If you’ve had to live through a death, then you already know that watching another die is a painful experience. And yes . . . it’s the same when we put our sinful nature to death, as well. It’s often difficult . . . often painful to put a portion of ourselves to death. But these “dying moments” are absolutely necessary in order to rise again. And just like Christ, when you understand the new life that God will be able to bring about afterward your “death”, you will gladly endure the pain of these “dying moments” Because when we follow Christ, resurrection always follows a death.
Your “resurrection,” then, comes from God when you leave behind your sinful, broken ways and are raised up to follow Him in healthy, Godly living. Your daily dying means you are still held prisoner to sin, but your daily resurrection means that that you are freed from the bondage of sin and freed to a new life in Christ! You have a resurrection moment every time you realize that there is hope, that God still cares for you, that God still loves you and has a useful purpose for you.
Have you had enough of living a life that is unsatisfying? Have you had enough of living a life that’s stuck in a rut; that just spins its wheels and doesn’t go anywhere? Have you had enough of living a life that, frankly, just needs to die off? Then stick around for the next few weeks. Learn how Christ’s dying and rising can become a model for your life. Learn how to live in the power of His resurrection. Learn how to leave the darkness of sin and rise to new life in the dawn of Christ’s resurrection.
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