20240331 Easter from Acts 1-15

I have been to two kinds of funerals. In the first kind, neither the deceased nor their family were religious. These funerals honor the deceased. People share how much the deceased meant to them. They share fun and meaningful memories. The general message is that the person will live on in the memories of the loved ones. If the deceased lived a long life there may be a sense of peace because it was a life well lived and full of experiences. If the deceased was young it is devastating. People can be thankful for the time they had together. We will have memories of the person as long as we live, but that’s it.

In the second kind of funeral, I have been to, the deceased and his family were Christian. These funerals are marked by sorrow and the hope of the resurrection. We gather to mourn. We grieve the loss of a loved one. And, under the pain of the raw grief there are also hints of joy. At a Christian funeral, we are reminded that the deceased is now more alive than they have ever been. They know joy like we have never known. They experience the love of God and intimacy no longer encumbered by the shame that we know in this life. The heartbreak is real because we desire the deceased to still be alive. There are also hints of joy and wonder. A body is laid in the grave or cremated. At the same time, the souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness. They immediately pass into glory. So, at Christian funerals, Christ offers us peace.

In a small way, my goal is to prepare our funerals. I want us all to have the second kind of funeral. To prepare our funerals, we will study three lessons from Acts 1-15 on the resurrection. In our series in the book of Acts we have made it to Acts 15. I thought this would be an opportunity to do some review.

We will look at these three statements. (1) Jesus’ Resurrection is the heart of the Christian message. (2) Jesus’ resurrection is the Gospel of the Kingdom. Finally, (3) Jesus’ Resurrection is our Hope in life and in death.

The first lesson is that Jesus’ resurrection is the heart of the Christian Message (Acts 1-15).

We see this in a survey of the preaching in Acts 1-15. After Jesus’ resurrection, we read in Acts 1:3, “Jesus presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs.” This verse sets up the rest of Acts. Jesus needed his disciples to be convinced about the resurrection. According to Ac 1:22, their job description was to be “witnesses to his resurrection” (c.f. Acts 3:15).

The witness begins in the next chapter. In Acts 2, at Pentecost, the resurrection is a central theme of Peter's sermon (Acts 2:24-28, 31-32, 36). In Acts 3, we see the same in Peter's sermon following the healing of the lame beggar. Peter declares that faith in the resurrected Christ has given the lame man his perfect health (Acts 3:16). In Acts 4, Peter again proclaims the resurrection (Acts 4:10). This time it is before a council of religious leaders.

In Acts 5, the apostles are arrested and brought once more before the council. Again in Acts 5:30, Peter declares to them that God raised Jesus from the dead. At the end of his speech in Acts 7, Stephen declares the resurrection by praying to Christ. You cannot pray to a dead man.

He says in Acts 7:59, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

In Acts 10, Peter proclaims the resurrection to Gentiles (Acts 10:40). In Paul's first missionary journey, Paul does the same. He proclaimed the resurrection of Christ at Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:30).

In summary, The resurrection is central to the Christian message. I highlighted the explicit references to the resurrection of Jesus. Many other times we read that that they preached the gospel. The resurrection was central to this gospel.

Application

The first way, we are getting ready for our funerals is to consider Jesus’ resurrection as a historical event and believe.

The early Christian church in Acts 1-15 announced Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead. If we do not believe in the physical resurrection, we are not Christians. Note that believing in the resurrection does not make the resurrection real. We can believe a lot of things that are not true.

The Christian message claims that the resurrection was a real historical event. If it is a fact, it does not matter if we like it or not, or whether it makes sense or not. What matters is whether it happened or not. If you are not sure where you stand with God or whether you are a Christian, it boils down to the resurrection. Investigate the resurrection. If the resurrection did not occur, the world’s largest religion is based on a lie. If the resurrection did occur it changes everything as we will see in the second point. In 1 Cor 15, Paul makes this same argument. He says, in 1 Cor 15:14-19, 14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The following are two arguments for the resurrection.

The first argument comes from two basic facts. The first fact is that Jesus died by crucifixion. There are sources outside of the Bible that make this claim. Tacitus, a Roman Historian born in the first century writes that Christ was put to death by Pontius Pilate. Josephus was a Jewish historian who wrote in the first century that Pilate condemned Jesus to death. This is not controversial. You can be an atheist and believe Jesus lived and died.

The second fact is the controversial one. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 that after his death, Jesus appeared alive to 500 people. Paul wrote this early enough that these witnesses were still alive (1 Cor 15:6), so people could go interrogate the eyewitnesses about these claims. If Jesus died and then was seen by 500 people you could interview, what do you conclude? This is my first argument.
1.2.2 A second argument for the resurrection is the transformation of the disciples.

They seemed hopeless during Jesus’ earthly ministry. The disciples were unable to stay awake for one hour of prayer the night of Jesus' arrest. They fled at Jesus' arrest. They refused to believe the reports of the resurrection given by women. After Jesus' resurrection, they changed.

They went from despair and confusion to the confident proclamation of the gospel. They were willing to suffer persecution, imprisonment, and even martyrdom. If we do not believe the resurrection, at least we need to grant that these eyewitnesses were convinced. Who would die for something they knew to be a lie? They were convinced that Jesus was raised from the grave. Either Jesus was raised or we need an alternative theory.

If Jesus was not raised from the grave, 500 people experienced the same delusion. This phenomenon would be worthy of the history books. This phenomenon is medically impossible. This mass delusion would be the miracle. We have to pick our miracle. Either Jesus was raised or 500 experienced the same delusion.

This was the first lesson. The resurrection is central to the Christian message. Consider it and believe it.

The second lesson is that Jesus’ resurrection is the Good News about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3)

When you read the NT, you can wonder if there is more than one good news. In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus proclaimed the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Paul makes it very clear in 1 Cor 15:3-4 that the good news is that Jesus died for sins, was buried, and raised from the dead. We can wonder if the gospel Paul proclaimed was the same Jesus proclaimed. Though the wording is different it is the same message.

In Acts 1:3 Jesus connects the two. After his resurrection, Jesus was showing that he was alive and teaching them about the kingdom of God. The resurrection is connected with the reign of God. The good news about the Kingdom of God is that in a special way with the coming of Jesus, God’s saving reign had come.

In his earthly ministry, Jesus taught and presented God's reign in his ministry. He showed God’s reign over nature by calming a storm. He showed God's reign over our bodies by healing the sick. He showed God's reign over the spiritual world by casting out demons. Our biggest problem is our sins because it separates us from God. Jesus showed God's reign over sin by pronouncing the forgiveness of sins.

The climax of Jesus' presentation of God's reign occurred with his death, burial, and resurrection. God reign is such that he has even conquered the greatest enemy, death!

If the wage of sin is death, and Jesus has conquered death, he can offer the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ resurrection is the good news. Jesus’ death paid for sins. The resurrection assures us the payment was made in full!

Application

The first point was that Jesus’ resurrection was at the center of Christian teaching. The application was to consider the resurrection and believe. This second point focused on the resurrection of Christ and how it proves his reign over all things.

We must respond to the one who rules over all things by submitting to his reign. If we rejoice that Christ has authority over our death, it follows that he rules over all. He is Lord over our romantic relationships, our sex lives, our money, our hobbies, and our politics. We cannot have it both ways.

Christ cannot reign over death so we can live forever if we refuse to let him reign over the smaller areas of our lives. If you are convinced about the resurrection, you have to repent, be baptized, and join a church! We will help you get ready for your funeral!

The third lesson is that Jesus’ resurrection is our Hope (Acts 2:24-28; Acts 7:59).

In this point, we see that because Christ was raised from the grave, we can hope in life after death for ourselves. We will first look at Acts 2:24-28 then very quickly at Acts 7:59.

This is the argument from Acts 2:24-28. In Acts 2:24, Peter declares that God raised Jesus from the grave. In Acts 2:25-28, Peter quotes Psalm 16 to show that the scriptures foresaw that the Messiah would be raised. This quotation fits the pattern the NT applies Psalms to Jesus. The original Psalm had the meaning of the original author. It seems to be about David’s confidence in his eternal life. The book of Psalms taken as a whole announces a second David. Sometimes what was true of the first becomes even more true of the second David. If David knew that he would be in the presence of God forever, then how much more the Christ. Peter teaches that Psalm 16 had to be about Jesus, since David died and they know where his tomb is. Now, Ps 16 is good news for us. One of the most important doctrines in the NT is Union with Christ. In a mysterious way, believers are united with Christ. This means that some truths about Christ become true of believers. Because Christ died to sin, we died to sin. Because he rose from the grave, we will rise from the grave! Ps 16:8-11 was originally about David’s eternal life. In a greater way it speaks of Christ’s resurrection. Now, Ps 16:8-11 is true of us because we are in Christ.

We can say with Ps 16: “9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” This is our hope in this life. It is the hope of resurrection.

We can now endure all things in this life. We can endure abuse, injustice, bullies, sickness, grief, barrenness, bereavement, and neglect. We can endure because we know that even our death will not have the final word. Resurrection will. This is our Christian Hope.

More simply, Acts 7:59 illustrates the hope of the resurrection. Stephen is being stoned after his long speech. As he was dying, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” This is the hope of the resurrection.

Last year Tim Keller died, in his last hours he said, “I'm Ready to See Jesus.” This is the Hope in the resurrection. When Billy Graham, the famous evangelist was still alive he said, “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.” This is the Hope of the resurrection. It is believing in life after death and having confidence of our future enjoyment of God’s presence forever. Jesus is alive and he will receive our spirit.

Conclusion

My goal was ambitious. I want us to prepare well for our funerals. There are funerals with no hope and others filled with hope. If we believe in the resurrection and submit to the one who conquered death, we have hope beyond the grave. Our funerals will be glorious. Just to be clear, I do not wish you a happy funeral. I want people to be heartbroken at your funeral. And, because of Jesus’ Resurrection on the first Easter Sunday there is hope beyond the grave. At your funeral, I want you to be at Jesus’ side. Rather than saying goodbye forever, I want your funerals to be See you Later ceremony!

If we believe in the resurrection and commit to living for Jesus, we are witnesses to resurrection. Knowing that we will live forever changes how we live. We do not need to store up money, obtain a particular status, or try to maximize comfort. In Christ, we already have all the treasure, the ultimate status, and guaranteed of eternal comfort. Christians are a people so moved by the resurrection that it defines our existence. We share about the resurrection with excitement when opportunities come our way, that more people would have funerals marked by Hope.