************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 45 ************
Doctrine: The Apostles' Creed, "Christ ... rose"
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on April 15, 2001
Q & A 45
Luke 24:1-12
"The Resurrection Benefits"
Introduction
Topic: Resurrection
Subtopic: Of Christ
Index: 2410-2415
Date: 4/1996.15
Title:
You all know of Death Valley. The lowest place in the United States, it is 276 feet below sea level. It is also the hottest place in the country, with an official recording of 134 degrees. Streams flow into Death Valley only to evaporate in the scorching heat, and a scant 2½ inches of rain falls on the barren wasteland each year. But some years ago, an amazing thing happened. Due to a freak weather pattern, rain fell into the bone-dry earth for nineteen straight days. Suddenly, millions of seeds, which had lain dormant for untold years burst into bloom. The Valley of Death exploded into a Valley of life and beauty and color.
On this Easter morning this is the message of Christ's resurrection. Life springs forth from death. A desert becomes a garden. Beauty transcends the ugly. Love overcomes hatred. A tomb is emptied. The grim and haunting outline of a cross is swallowed in the glow of an Easter morning sunrise lighting up an empty tomb. Peace has come upon a troubled land.
Christ has risen! He has risen indeed. He has risen from the grave. Death could not keep hold of Him. This means three things for us: we share in Christ's righteousness, we have begun the new life, and we shall share in Christ's glory.
I We Share in Christ's Righteousness
A During the past month and a half we have looked at the suffering, crucifixion, burial, death, and descent into hell of Christ. And, we've looked at why the Lord underwent all this: so that the sins of all those who believe in Jesus are forgiven.
To be acceptable in God's sight, however, it is not enough to have our sins forgiven or covered or removed. All that forgiveness does is remove our debt of sin; it does not leave us with any credit or standing before God. Something more is needed. That something more comes to us by way of the resurrection of Christ.
When we present the Gospel we can not talk about the cross and forgiveness as being all of the Gospel message. For then we miss a crucial part. "If Christ has not been raised," says Paul, "your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor 15:17). A fuller confession, a more complete presentation of the Gospel, is to speak not only of the cruel cross and its consequences but also of the empty grave and its consequences. To present the full Gospel message is to say what the Apostle says in Romans 4:25: "He (i.e. Christ) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."
I want you to of yourself as a bucket or pail. Apart from Christ your bucket is filled with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lies, and such (cf Col 3:5-9; Gal 5:19-21). When God, in Christ, forgives you this sin your pail is emptied and all this evil has been poured out. However, you are now an empty pail. Before you can have status and standing before God, there needs to be poured into you such things as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility, a forgiving spirit, and such (cf Col 3:12-17; Gal 5:22-24).
B Jesus, says Paul in Romans 4:25, "was raised to life for our justification." And, according to the Catechism,
... by his resurrection he has overcome death,
so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death.
Because of Christ's resurrection we share in His righteousness. An alien righteousness is added to us and credited to our account because Jesus was raised from the dead.
What is this righteousness of Jesus? The best way to answer this question is to describe the righteousness of Jesus. We know that Jesus loved His friends and treated them perfectly. He spent time and energy on unpopular people. He firmly resisted all temptation. He criticized self-righteous people but accepted unrighteous people. He was willing to die rather than go against the will of God. His was a sinless, perfect life in a sinful, imperfect world.
Because of His resurrection all this righteousness or goodness of Christ is mysteriously transferred to us – as if we had acted in just the same way Jesus did. Our pail, formerly filled with sin and evil, is now filled with Jesus' holiness, Jesus' sinlessness, Jesus' perfectness; this is added or granted or credited to us (cf Q & A 60).
Because Christ has risen do you know what God sees when He looks at believers? He sees the perfect life of Jesus. Yes, we are still sinners; yes, all that we do and say and think is still stained with sin. But because Jesus has risen from the grave God sees none of that – all that He sees in us is the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ.
This is the first blessing of Christ's resurrection: not only has our debt of sin been paid but our righteousness has also been obtained.
C Easter means we share in Christ's righteousness. This reminds us that our righteousness is in Christ Jesus alone. The only way to approach God is to be cloaked or clothed in Christ's righteousness. Nothing else will do. If you try to appear before God cloaked in your own righteousness – no matter how nice it looks – it will be revealed and exposed as filthy rags of sins.
An analysis of the dust from the pants of suspected counterfeiters disclosed that clothes can betray guilt. Particles of certain metals and chemicals used in this irregular way of making money convicted them.
In the same way, your clothes will betray you as you approach the Lord God of judgment. If you are dressed in your own righteousness you will be cast forth as was the wedding guest who appeared without the proper wedding garment. The only way to approach the God of all holiness is to be clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You and I must never seek our righteousness within ourselves. We must always seek our righteousness outside of ourselves and in Christ Jesus.
On this Easter Sunday the resurrection of Christ Jesus gives us such comfort and hope. It tells us that we don't have to forever dig in our own souls for something that encourages us to stand before God. We don't have to be anxious about our salvation on account of our many sins and shortcomings. Instead, our righteousness is in Christ.
II We Have Begun the New Life
A Christ has risen from the dead. "By His power we too are already now resurrected to a new life." This is the second benefit of Christ's resurrection! I am raised with Christ!
Do you remember the Heaven's Gate cult. Four years ago 39 members of this cult killed themselves in an attempt to rendezvous with a spaceship they thought was trailing the Hale-Bopp comet. They thought the space ship would carry them to a higher plane of existence. But they didn't need a comet, they didn't need a spaceship. And they didn't need to wait for the future either. To get to a higher place of existence all that they needed was Christ. For by His power we are already now resurrected to a new life.
We have to ask ourselves the question, When is it that I was resurrected with Christ?
First, it is completely accurate to say I have been raised with Christ at the grave.
Second, in answer to the question When is it that I was resurrected with Christ?, it is completely accurate to also say, I have been raised with Christ at my baptism.
Third, in answer to the question When is it that I was resurrected with Christ?, it is completely accurate to also say, I have been raised with Christ at my conversion.
When, then, were we resurrected with Christ to a new life? We did rise with Christ at the grave. His resurrection is guaranteed as ours when we are baptized. And we personally taste this new life only when we are converted.
B The Catechism, like the Bible, takes seriously our union with Christ. Whatever happened to Jesus also happens to those who are "in" Jesus. Thus, the New Testament teaches not only that we died with Him and were raised with Him but also that we were exalted with Him in His ascension and are seated with Him at God's right hand (Eph 2:6). Furthermore, when Christ is revealed in glory we also will be glorified with and in Him (Col 3:4).
We too, congregation, should take with the utmost seriousness our union with and in Christ. What he has, we have, because we are in Him. What He underwent, we underwent, because we are in Him. Because He has risen from the dead "we too are already now resurrected to a new life."
C Because we have already been resurrected with Christ to a new life we can say we are now "dead to sin" (Rom 6:11). Because we have already been resurrected with Christ to a new life we know that sin and Satan no longer have the last word in our lives; sin no longer has a stranglehold on us. Rather, we are "alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom 6:11). It is Jesus Who is Master of our life and Lord of our heart. The orientation of our heart has been changed: from evil to good, from disobedience to obedience. And, every day the Spirit of the risen Lord continues His blessed work within us, converting our old desires into new ones, making us "whole-heartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him" (Q & A 1).
The Bible teaches us to not only confess this new life because of Christ's resurrection but also to live it:
(Rom 6:12-13) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (13) Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
(Col 3:1-3) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (2) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (3) For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When most people think of the teachings of Easter they think of life after death, or the resurrection of the body. In other words, they think that the truth of Easter applies to the future. But we are reminded that Easter affects the here and now. We are to live here and now by the power of Christ's resurrection. Because of Easter ours is new life now.
This, then, is the second blessing of Christ's resurrection: that ours is new life right now. A most dramatic example of this is Alice Cooper:
Topic: Conversion
Subtopic: Examples of
Index: 835
Date: 9/1996.19
Title:
Alice Cooper used to dress up like a reptilian demon; he looked like he was peering out from just inside the gates of Hell. His bloody stage act used to promote rebellion, death, and gore. It included a pretend decapitation complete with a bloodied head. His songs included "Time to Kill", "Dead Babies," and "Welcome to My Nightmare."
Today, he goes by the name Vince Furnier and is a new man in Jesus Christ. In the lyrics from one of his latest albums, "The Last Temptation," he says of the devil that "it's over." Satan has no power and is lost, "and I'm found and I'm heaven bound."
What a contrast from what he used to sing, dressed in demonic garb.
And, what Christ did for Alice Cooper, He also does for you and for me and for all who believe. By the power of His resurrection you and I have new life now and must live that new life now.
III We Shall Share Christ's Glory
A Finally, here is the third benefit of Christ's resurrection: "Christ's resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection."
"Christ," says the apostle, "has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor 15:20). A firstfruits is a foretaste, a promise, of the other fruit to come. So we know that there will come a day when we, like Christ, will be raised from the grave. Or, we know that there will come a day when we will be like Christ: when He "will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (Phil 3:21).
B We can never underestimate the comfort and hope to be found in this message of Easter. Let me ask you:
What is it that gives a widow courage as she stands beside a fresh grave?
What is the ultimate hope of the cripple, the amputee, the abused, the burn victim?
What helps prevent depression among the parents of brain-damaged or physically disabled children?
Why would anyone who is blind or deaf or paralyzed be encouraged when they think of the life beyond?
How can we see past the martyrdom of some helpless hostage or devoted missionary?
Where do the thoughts of a young couple go when they finally recover from the grief of losing their baby?
When a family receives the tragic news that a little daughter was found dead or their dad was killed in a plane crash or a son overdosed on drugs, what single truth becomes their whole focus?
What is the final answer to pain, mourning, senility, insanity, terminal diseases, sudden calamities, and fatal accidents?
What gives us peace in all of this? You know the answer: Easter! Christ's resurrection is a guarantee that someday we also will be raised. Christ's resurrection gives us peace in any and every situation.