The Day That Changed The World

There is nothing more central to the Christian faith than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the death Jesus died for our sins would have no power. Without the resurrection there would be no salvation, no gift of the Holy Spirit, no hope of heaven. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ there would be no opportunity for forgiveness, no way to remove our guilt or shame. There would be no joy, no peace, no life. There would be nothing to believe in. So, yes, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest single event in the history of man. So, for the next few minutes, I want to share with you some of the greatest blessings Jesus made possible for us when He rose from the dead. These are the blessings that not only changed the world on that first resurrection day, but they are also blessings of the resurrection that can change your life today. And the first blessing is this:

1.His Resurrection Verifies Jesus is Divine
In Romans chapter one, Paul tells how the resurrection verifies that Jesus is the Son of God. Speaking of Jesus, he revealed how God the Father verified His divine nature, saying: “who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 1:4

It was Jesus who said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” John 11:25-26 But it was not until Jesus rose from the dead, did we learn that He truly is who He said He is. That He is the resurrection and the life. That he actually had to power to give life, eternal life to you or to anyone. Only God can give life to people. Only God has power over life and death. So then, Jesus rising from the grave on the third day proves that Jesus God – but it also verifies that He has the power to give life to anyone who believes in him.

Like Jesus said of himself in the book of Revelation: I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Revelation 2:18 That is why the third day is the day that changed the world forever. And now because Jesus is alive, that means He can change your life forever. For since Jesus is divine, since He is God, He can give you life, His life, eternal life. This is His promise: Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned but has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24 This is the power of God’s Word. Jesus says if you hear His word and believe the Father sent Him, you will possess eternal life the moment you believe. This is the amazing reality that became possible the moment Jesus rose from the grave. So, it’s not just the day that changed the world. It’s the event that can change your world forever, if you put your trust in Jesus! The resurrection of Jesus verifies He is God.

2. His Resurrection Defeated Sin
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 When Jesus rose from the dead, He defeated sin. The moment Jesus rose from the grave, Jesus’s resurrection broke sin’s hold on humanity once and for all. That’s why you can be forgiven today. That’s why there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And this is why this day is a day that changed the world and can change your world too. Think about it? Since Jesus rose from the grave, He defeated the sin that enslaved you. But you might say, “Wait a minute. I still sin. I still do things God doesn’t want me to do. I still drive too fast, still lose my temper, say hurtful things, don’t love my neighbor. I still ignore the poor, still lust, still envy, still find myself wanting things more than I want God. If God were to look at my heart, He’d still see there’s a lot of pride, greed and envy He needs to clean up. What gives?”

Sin has tremendous power. Sin can make us do things we don’t want to do. But the moment Jesus rose from the grave, He destroyed sin’s power over you. How? How can we avail ourselves of this power? How do we get this resurrection power to help us from being defeated by sin? Simple. Jesus gives us this power by giving us His Holy Spirit.

The apostle Paul explains the difference between being enslaved by sin and being controlled by the Spirit: Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. Romans 8:5-9

In other words, now that Jesus has defeated sin by His resurrection, He makes that same power available to those who believe. That power is the power of the Holy Spirit He puts in you when you trust in Him. We’ll talk more about that new life in you in a moment. But this is why the resurrection can change your world. For now, God has given you what you need to defeat death and please Him.

3.His Resurrection Defeated Death
Listen to this amazing Scripture from the book of Acts: But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:24 Talk about not being able to keep a good man down. Peter tells us here that the grave could not hold him. This is why we sing “My Redeemer Lives!” This is why we have unspeakable joy. This is why we can have a confidence that this life is not all there is.

How many of you have every heard the story of Joni Eareckson Tada? When she was just seventeen and full of life, she permanently injured herself diving into a lake. Ever since that day she has lived as a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. While she was trying to come to terms with her horrible accident, she would go to church in her wheelchair.

The problem with being in a wheelchair, she found, was that at a certain point in the worship, her priest called everyone to kneel – which drove home the fact that she was stuck in a wheelchair. Once she was at a convention in which the speaker urged people to get down on their knees and pray. Everyone did except Joni. “With everyone kneeling, I certainly stood out. And I couldn’t stop the tears.” But it wasn’t because of self-pity. She was crying because the sight of hundreds of people on their knees before God was so beautiful – “a picture of heaven.” And then she continued weeping at another thought:

“Sitting there, I was reminded that in heaven I will be free to jump up, dance, kick and do aerobics. And… sometime before the guests are called to the banquet table at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, the first thing I plan to do on resurrected legs is to drop on grateful, glorified knees. I will quietly kneel at the feet of Jesus.”

“I, with shriveled, bent fingers, atrophied muscles, gnarled knees and no feeling form the shoulders down, will one day have a new body, light, bright, and clothed in righteousness – powerful and dazzling. Can you imagine the hope that the resurrection gives someone who is spinal cord injured like me?” Only in the resurrection of Jesus Christ can we find such enormous hope to live! Jesus’ resurrection defeated death to give us the hope of heaven. This is indeed a day that changed the world.

Another wonderful thing the resurrection did that day is this:
4. His Resurrection Made Forgiveness Possible
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging Him on a cross. God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that He might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. Acts 5:30-31

Jesus’ resurrection proved that His work of forgiveness on the cross was valid. As the Scriptures tell us: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:17 But since Jesus did rise from the dead every sin you’ve ever committed can be forgiven. Because Jesus rose from the grave you don’t have to be weighed down by the guilt of your sin. Because Jesus rose from the grave you’ve
been set free. God will no longer hold anything against you. There is nothing so bad that you have done that God can’t forgive. He forgives murderers, thieves, and deceivers. He forgives angry jerks, arrogant liars, and hateful bullies. He forgives gossipers, traitors, and adulterers. There is nothing so bad that you have done that He cannot forgive.

That’s the good news of the resurrection. You no longer have to live with the guilt of your sin or fear of condemnation. God will never judge your sin if you trust in Jesus. For once you believe in Jesus, the Bible says, as far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12 That’s what God does with your
sins. He lets them go forever and promises to never bring them up to use them against you. He sets you free. That’s why this is the day that changed the world, because of this day, God can set you free.

But the resurrection does so much more than just ensure that we are cleansed forever:
4.His Resurrection Makes New Life Possible: Here Paul describes what takes place when you believe in in the resurrected Jesus: We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Romans 6:3-5

The moment God raised Jesus from the dead, He made it possible for you to experience the power of the resurrection. He made it possible for you to receive His resurrected life by faith. For God’s Word tells us right here that when you believe in Jesus, He unties you with Jesus in a resurrection life like His. This hope of new life is not just a future goal; it is a present reality.

And this new life is a transformational life. It is meant to change you. It is meant to you give you power over sin. It is meant to fill you with joy. Just think about the disciples in the upper room on the day of Christ’s resurrection. They were gathered in this upper room out of fear. They had not seen Jesus alive. But they had heard the testimony of Mary saying He was alive. But they were still full of doubt. They were still processing their grief, their sadness and the shock of Jesus dying such a violent death. They didn’t understand what had happened, and had no idea of what would happen next.

Yet, that’s when they met the resurrected Jesus. He came to them in their confusion, fear and sadness. But at that moment, everything changed. For when Jesus showed them his hands and his side, they were no longer sad but became instantly glad. Meeting the resurrected Jesus changed them. And that’s what’s meant to happen to anyone who believes in the risen Christ. For the moment you put your trust in Jesus, everything doesl change.

And reason everything changes, is that Jesus takes up residence in your life by the Holy Spirit. Everything becomes new. The Holy Spirit fills you with Christ’s love, His joy, His peace, His patience, His kindness, His goodness, His faithfulness, His gentleness and His self-control. He creates in you a new heart and gives your life new meaning and purpose.

This is why today is the day that changed the world, for once you believe in the risen Jesus, He changes your life. Oh, you may still have doubts and confusion, but once the resurrected Jesus comes alive in, your life will be changed forever. That’s the power of the resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection changes everything. Which all leads to this final blessing that can be yours because Jesus rose from the grave:

6. His Resurrection Makes Salvation Possible
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

Believing in Jesus begins in the heart. And the focus of that belief is trusting in the reality that Jesus rose from the grave and is alive today. Why the heart? It’s because the resurrection of Jesus challenges you to change what you’ve been trusting in for your salvation. For at the
moment you believe in your heart that Jesus is truly alive, your trust is no longer in a religious system to save you. You see the emptiness of religious ritual. It has no power to save you. Your trust is no longer in trying to earn your salvation by good works. Those now seem so insignificant in comparison to the work Jesus did by dying in your
place on the cross.

No, now that God has raised Jesus from the dead, your heart can experience how the Son of God loved you by doing for you, what you could not do for yourself. You can now see how Jesus defeated sin and death by His resurrection. You can now grasp the hope of eternal life, because Jesus is alive. You can now see the miracle of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, and rejoice in the reality that Jesus has taken away all
your sin, all your fears, and all your guilt. And your heart can find it’s deepest longings fulfilled, knowing that because Jesus lives, your life can take on meaning and purpose that you never thought possible. For now with Jesus’ resurrection, he made it possible for you to know God.

This is why today is the day that changed the world, because what happened on that day means that God can change your world… forever. All you have to do is declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and your will be saved.” So let me ask you:

Do you believe that Jesus’ resurrection proves He is God?
Do you believe that by His resurrection He defeated sin?
Do you believe that by His resurrection Jesus defeated death?
Do you believe that by His resurrection makes forgiveness possible?
Do you believe that by His resurrection Jesus makes new life possible?
Do you believe that by His resurrection Jesus has done everything needed to make your salvation possible?

If the resurrection speaks to the longing in your heart, and you want what Jesus has provided, then believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and you will be saved.

Put your trust in Jesus, not in religion, not in your good works. Just put your belief in Jesus, and God will change your world forever.