LUKE: YEAR OF OUR LORD (WEEK 49): BECAUSE HE LIVES

To be honest, as I was trying to put together the message for today, it hit me how mundane, how routine, this story may be to some. For preachers, it’s hard to find a new angle, or an exciting new way to tell the story of the resurrection. I spoke with my dad, who is also preaching an Easter message today, and he confirmed how difficult it can be at times to go from the Yawn to the Yahoo!, or - as I put it, from the Yada Yada Yada to the Yaba Daba Doo!

If you think through some of the greatest events in history, you might think of the victory in WWII, the Emancipation Proclamation. You might think of the moon landing or the fall of the Berlin Wall (that was pretty significant!). But as you go through these events that have shaped our culture, events that have shaped world history, you have to come to grips with the idea that there has been nothing at all greater than the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead.

Now maybe you don't feel the same way I do about the resurrection, and if that’s you, I would challenge you to view this event with new eyes this morning. I’d challenge you to not underestimate the significance of the claim that Jesus rose from the dead.

For believers, it’s important for us to view the resurrection with the proper perspective as well. It’s not just A doctrine of the Church; it is THE doctrine of the Church. If Jesus stayed dead, if God would not have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, then God’s plan to redeem mankind (to buy us back from the penalty of our sins) DIDN’T WORK.

If there had been no lifting up of the Son of God from the grave, then there would be no lifting up of the curse that sin had brought to this world. 

So…in the scope of things, I would say that makes the resurrection pretty important.