Luke 24:1-7
Luke 24:1-7
Now on the first day of the week, very
early in the morning, they, and certain
other women with them, came to the
tomb bringing the spices which they had
prepared. But they found the stone
rolled away from the tomb. Then they
went in and did not find the body of the
Lord Jesus.
Luke 24:1-7
And it happened, as they were greatly
perplexed about this, that behold, two
men stood by them in shining garments.
Then, as they were afraid and bowed
their faces to the earth, they said to
them, “Why do you seek the living
among the dead? He is not here, but is
risen! Remember how He spoke to you
when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The
Son of Man must be delivered into the
hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again.’”
Why is Easter so important?
 The Crowning Proof of Who Christ Is
– If the Resurrection did not take place, then
Christianity is a false religion
– If it did take place, then Christ is God and the
Christian faith is absolute truth
 The Greatest Victory in History!
– There have been many victories in God’s dealings
with men
– But the GREATEST triumph of them all was the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
– Jesus conquered the three greatest enemies of
mankind: SIN, SATAN and DEATH
– Jesus Christ won the victory by His resurrection!
Man’s Greatest Enemy
 Death
Hebrews 2:14-15
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
Death - Man’s Greatest Enemy
Death has conquered all men but Christ

–
No matter how brilliant or rich or strong
•
•
•
–
No man is wise enough to outwit death
No man is wealthy enough to purchase freedom
from death
No man is strong enough to vanquish death
The grave always wins and man returns to the
dust
The triumph of death applies to all things

–
–
–
–
Animals die and plants die
Cities and nations are born and grow and then
fade away
Homes and automobiles and clothes wear out and
eventually go back to the dust
The universe itself is running down and heading
toward an ultimate “energy death”
The Bondage of Corruption

Romans 8:21
21 because the creation itself also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of
God

The Second Law of Thermodynamics
–
A universal law in science
•
•
–
No known exception ever observed
Every system tends to become disordered, to
run down and eventually die
The Law of Increasing Entropy
•
Entropy, a measure of disorder, always tends to
increase
The Uniqueness of Christ

All other men have died
–

Buddha, Mohammed, Zoroaster,
Confucius, Caesar, Marx
But Jesus Christ is alive!
–
–
–
–
It is true that He died and was buried, but
unlike other men He resurrected His own
dead body
He emerged from the tomb, alive
forevermore!
The greatest of all miracles
Proves that Jesus is indeed God, just as
He had claimed to be
Man’s Only Hope for Victory
Victory Over Sin

From the garden of Eden, man has
been engaged in a battle against
sin
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as
through one man sin entered the
world, and death through sin, and
thus death spread to all men,
because all have sinned.”
–
Victory Over Sin
Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24 - “For what I am doing, I
do not understand. For what I will to do, that I
do not practice; but what I hate, that I
do....For I know that in me (that is, in my sinful
nature) nothing good dwells; for to will is
present with me, but how to perform what is
good I do not find. For the good that I will to
do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do,
that I practice....O wretched man that I am!
Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
– The answer to Paul’s question: Jesus Christ has
triumphed over sin by His resurrection! He and He
alone can deliver us!
v. 25 “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Victory Over Sin
 By His death on the cross and His
resurrection, Christ provided a way that
our sin can be removed and God can
declare us perfectly righteous in Him
Romans 4:25 “who was delivered up for our
offenses, and was raised for our
justification”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord”
Victory Over Sin
 It is the power of the resurrection that
gives us DAILY victory over sin
Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and
the power of His resurrection, and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death”
Ephesians 1:19-20 “and what is the exceeding
greatness of His power toward us who
believe, according to the working of His
mighty power which He worked in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead and
seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places”
Victory Over Satan
 Satan – 5000 years trying to destroy God’s plan of
salvation!
– He caused CAIN to kill righteous Abel - but God gave Seth!
– He caused ABRAHAM in unbelief to bear Ishmael - but God
miraculously gave Isaac
– He caused JOSEPH’s BROTHERS to sell him as a slave to
Egypt - but God saved his whole family through Joseph’s
faithfulness!
– He caused DAVID to sin a sin worthy of death - but God
gave him a repentant heart
– He caused HEROD to kill all the babies two years old and
under - but God directed Joseph to take baby Jesus to
Egypt
– He caused Judas to betray Christ, leading to the crucifixion
of Jesus
• There was the triumph Satan had waited for!
• 5000 years of diabolical planning had paid off!
• For three days Satan and his demons had a victory party!
Victory Over Satan
 But early on the third morning, Christ
rose from the dead, and Satan was
defeated!
1 Peter 3:21b-22 “...through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven
and is at the right hand of God, angels and
authorities and powers have been made
subject to Him”
1 John 3:8b “For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested, that He might destroy the
works of the devil”
Victory Over Satan
 Satan is a defeated enemy - he cannot
have control over us, as long as we are
controlled by the living Christ!
Colossians 2:14-15 “having wiped out the
handwriting of requirements that was
against us, which was contrary to us. And
He has taken it out of the way, having
nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed
principalities and powers, He made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them in
it”
1 John 4:4 “Greater is He that is in you [the
living Christ] than he that is in the world
[Satan]”
Victory Over Death
 Followers of Jesus Christ have no need
to fear physical death
John 11:25-26 ‘I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in Me, though he may
die, he shall live. And whoever lives and
believes in Me shall never die. Do you
believe this?’”
Victory Over Death
 Because of the resurrection, physical
death to us is simply an entrance into
the presence of the Lord!
2 Corinthians 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well
pleased rather to be absent from the body
and to be present with the Lord”
Philippians 1:21,23 “For to me, to live is
Christ, and to die is gain....For I am hard
pressed between the two, having a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far
better”
Victory Over Death
1 Corinthians 15:54-57 “So when this
corruptible has put on incorruption,
and this mortal has put on
immortality, then shall be brought to
pass the saying that is written: ‘Death
is swallowed up in victory.’ O Death,
where is your sting? O Grave, where
is your victory? The sting of death is
sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ”
What If?

If all this is somehow a delusion and if
Jesus of Nazareth did not really rise
from the dead, then He is no different
from other great men who are also
dead
–
–
Worse - either a charlatan or a madman
Jesus staked His claims to absolute deity
on His promise to return from the dead
What If?

But, if the Resurrection is really a fact
of history, then not only are His claims
true, but so are His promises!
1 Peter 1:3 He has “caused us to be born
again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead”
1 Corinthians 15:20, 22 “But in fact Christ has
been raised from the dead, ... so also in
Christ shall all be made alive”
What If?

Dead in our sins, we have only one
hope for new life
–
Trusting in Jesus Christ and relying on His
death and resurrection for our salvation
John 14:6 Jesus Christ, the Messiah is “the
way, and the truth, and the life”
John 11:25 “whoever believes in Him, though
he die, yet shall he live”
What Happens?

The moment you commit your life to
Him, three things happen
–
Your sin is removed
–
The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your
heart as your protection against Satan
–
You have eternal life!
John 5:12 “He that has the Son has life...”
What an Exchange!

Our sin for Christ’s righteousness!

Our weakness for Christ’s power!

Our death for Christ’s life!