THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
Ephesians 1:15-20 NASB
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Philippians 3:10 ESV
…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Maybe you have heard it before!
- Jesus can resurrect your DREAMS!
- Jesus can resurrect your FINANCES!
- Jesus can resurrect your MARRIAGE!
You see because Jesus resurrected from the Grave, Jesus can then bring the power of the Resurrection into all these areas of our life! Now I am not saying that is necessarily false, but I think it seriously misses the grander point of the resurrection and its truer power in our life.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul is writing about the importance of the resurrection. He begins in the first several verses by giving us one of the most basic outlines of the Gospel.
I verses 3-5 Paul says that
• Jesus DIED • He was BURIED • and He ROSE again
The focus of 1 Corinthians 15 as a whole, though, is how important the resurrection is to the over-all gospel and our own personal faith. Listen to what Paul says in verses 12-14
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ESV
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
Those are some pretty strong words… “your FAITH is in vain.”
Paul doubles down though, in verse 17…
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ESV
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
According to Paul there are some rather serious consequences if Christ didn’t resurrect from that Grave. Specifically, Paul says that without the Resurrection our faith becomes FUTILE. Other translations use the words USELESS, WORTHLESS and VAIN. Simply put the Resurrection is vital to our faith.
Without the Resurrection,
- Our attempts to worship God are futile.
- Our attempts to grow in Christ-likeness are useless.
- Our attempts to look into the grave and find hope are worthless.
Everything is futile, starting with the Gospel and ending with our own existence, if the resurrection did not happen! But I have good news for you – it did! We know it did, we know Christ resurrected, because there are countless people who saw Christ alive after the resurrection and testified to that fact. Their are countless lives, which prove the resurrection simply by the testimony of their faith. People who had a faith that was NOT futile, useless or worthless, but a faith that carried them through great suffering, persecution and even martyrdom.
The beauty of the resurrection, is that the power of the resurrection has been unleashed in the life of the Christian. To the one who has put their faith in Christ, [the one who has acknowledged their sin before a holy God, believed that Jesus is God and that he DIED for their sin and who has then RECEIVED Christ as their Savior,] to that person the power of the resurrection has been unleashed in their life and their faith is NOT in vain, their faith is NOT futile.
Which takes us back to where I started this conversation.
The idea that…
- Jesus can resurrect your DREAMS!
- Jesus can resurrect your FINANCES!
- Jesus can resurrect your MARRIAGE!
I’m not saying He can’t, I’m not even saying He won’t but I believe these expectations can sell the power of the resurrection short. You see, what happens as a believer, a person of faith, if your dreams, your finances, your marriage, are NOT resurrected? What happens then? Thankfully we have a FAITH and HOPE that is greater than our circumstances, greater than our dreams, our marriage or our finances.
We have a faith and hope that can see beyond the boulders
and over the mountains, that we face in life.
We have a faith and a hope that can bury our loved ones
knowing we will see them again.
We have a faith and hope that can look past the immediate
and see the eternal.
We have a faith and hope that can let go of that hurt
in order to find God’s Healing.
We have a faith and hope that can surrender our will
and trust in His!
And what did Paul say again…
Philippians 3:10 ESV
…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection,
and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
We actually have a faith and hope that invites the power of the resurrection into our very suffering, causing us to look more like Christ.
In fact it is a faith and hope, that when that dream dies, that marriage crumbles or those finances crash, it is then that our faith and hope shows up and shows us what we really have and what we are truly made of!
All Glory to God!