Gtcotr/ss040118
Happy
Resurrection Day! He is risen! Jesus is alive!
Today
coincides with the day in history when Jesus was raised from the dead. I’ve
visited the empty tomb where Jesus was buried just outside the walls of the old
city of Jerusalem. On the third day Jesus was raised victorious over sin,
death, hell and the grave. Death has no more victory and sin has no more sting.
All praise to the living God … He is risen indeed!
For
the past several weeks we have been learning how to identify and how to defeat
the enemies of the soul. This morning we will discover The Last Enemy. How can
we defeat this last enemy? Today I have some Good News!
1 Corinthians 15 NKJV
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare
to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which
you stand,
2 by which also you are
saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless
you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you
first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and
that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He was seen by
Cephas, then by the twelve.
6 After that He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the
present, but some have fallen asleep.
7 After that He was seen by
James, then by all the apostles.
This is the Gospel: Jesus died for our sins,
was buried, rose to life again the third day and showed Himself alive by many
infallible proofs.
8 Then last of all He was
seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the
apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I
am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more
abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me.
11 Therefore, whether it
was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 ¶ Now if Christ is
preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that
there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no
resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
14 And if Christ is not
risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
17 And if Christ is not
risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
18 Then also those who have
fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
What a shame it would be to have believed and
taught and lived a lie …
20 But now Christ is risen
from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen
asleep.
21 For since by man came
death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own
order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His
coming.
24 Then comes the end,
when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule
and all authority and power.
25 For He must reign till He
has put all enemies under His feet.
26 The last enemy that
will be destroyed is death.
The Last
Enemy - Death – Greek: Thanatos = The separation of the body and the soul of man when life on earth
has ended, when darkness and misery claims the soul because of sin. This is death!
Hebrews 2 NKJV
9 But we see Jesus, who was
made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God,
might taste death for everyone.
14 Inasmuch then as the
children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the
same, that through death He might
destroy him who had the power of death,
that is, the devil,
15 and release those who
through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage.
There
will come a separation of your soul and your body when your life on earth has
ended. And, were it not for the resurrection, death, darkness and misery would
claim and hold your soul forever. The Good News is that if you will put your
trust in Jesus and make Him the Lord and Savior of your life, you will enter
into His victory and you will never taste death ….
1 Corinthians 15:54 Death
is swallowed up in victory.
The
resurrection is your only hope. In order to escape eternal death, we must be
born again and receive eternal life through Christ by faith. This is the Good
News and it is the only story worth telling. We must go and tell!
I
know it can be hard to witness to friends and family and tell them that you
have seen, heard, felt and believed in Jesus. No one knew the disappointments
that can come with being a witness for Christ better than Mary Magdalene did on
that first resurrection morning in Jerusalem. She saw Jesus, He called her by
name and sent her to tell others that He was alive. Mary obeyed the Lord with
joy and excitement only to find that her friends didn’t want to hear the Good
News. They did not believe it …
Luke 24:11 And her words seemed to them like idle
tales, and they did not believe them.
Mary
shared the Gospel because Jesus asked her to. When she obeyed Jesus, He became
responsible for the outcome. Jesus did not leave Mary without backing up her
story and neither will He abandon you. His promise is to work with you
everywhere confirming the Gospel in the hearts and minds of those you tell. He
watches over every seed that is sown.
Man’s
only hope is Christ, crucified, buried and raised from the dead.
Jesus
is alive! Death has been defeated! Now, go and tell everyone the Good News! The
Last and Worst Enemy is dead to those who are in Christ.
Jesus
will work with you confirming the truth and …
All
who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus shall be saved.
