Resurrection Sunday 2022 At the cross, Jesus paid it all
Unknown · Apr 17, 2022
Holidays, No. 01
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261926403724

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Morning. Today, I think, is the most important celebration in Christianity, the resurrection of Christ. So, to start with, I want to talk about 1 Corinthians 15, the gospel. Paul says to the Corinthians, I deliver it unto you as of first importance. Would I also receive that, number one, Christ died for your sins, according to the Scriptures.

And that he was buried, and that he was raised the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve and many others. And then down in verse 11 he says, whether then it was I or they. So we preached and you believed. That's the issue. We preached and you believed.

So, in the hungry heart this morning, I thought it was appropriate, when the believer looks at the cross, he sees there the fact that not only did the Lord Jesus die for him, but that he himself was taken down into his death in order that the practical reality of his resurrection, his resurrection life might transform him into divine likeness. And that was a quote from J.C. Macintosh.

So today we're going to talk about the resurrection, that part of the gospel termed the resurrection, and we're going to look at it from several viewpoints. One, how the resurrection relates to God. Two, how it relates to Christ, how it relates to the believer with God, how it relates to understanding what the victory over the power of evil, and how it relates to all of creation in general. The resurrection is proof that a man has glorified God, and that's the theme. Think about this.

We're talking today about a man who has glorified God. So if you look in John 12, 27 and 28, the Lord Jesus says, now my soul has become troubled and what shall I say? As Jim read, Father saved me from the sour, but for this purpose I came to the sour.

Father, glorify your name. Then a voice from heaven came out of heaven and said, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again. You know, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, raised Lazarus from the dead, and he was glorified in doing that. He's gonna glorify himself when he's raised up. And we read in another place, he was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.

In John 13, 31, it sort of capsulizes it in a small statement. Therefore, when he had gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. Think about the fact that a man has glorified God. There's tremendous information to be conveyed in that. A man has glorified God. and the glory declared that man himself.

If you just dwell for a moment on what that is to God, what that means to him, it's not merely that Christ has come and satisfied the Father when man had failed to do it under every trial. If we look at the history of man, as the scriptures recount it, We will see that the more God revealed himself to man, the more man failed. And so in the end, the Lord says, I have labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing and in vain. But now, what has the father done? He sent his son. And his son says, I come to do thy will. Oh God, that's it, I came to do your will.

Not only did he do that in private in his life for 30 years, but he also, when his public ministry started, he demonstrated that everything he did satisfied the Father. and he came as a healer of the break between man and God. I don't think we realize that when Adam sinned, there was a break between man and God, and no man from that time until Christ ever satisfied God, ever, like the Lord Jesus could. The climax of the father's satisfaction really is shown to us on the Mount of Transfiguration when he says, when the voice comes out of heaven and said, this is my beloved son, hear him, listen to him.

And now from this point, Jesus goes down from the Mount of Transfiguration, he goes down to die. And not only was he in every way lovely to God, as a man upon the earth, but he's gonna bear the judgment that rests on man. The judgment is death. And there is not merely sins on man, but death is on him also. Therefore, the Lord descends from the mountain, and he says, this is your hour, and the power of darkness has come. Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus, to the lights of God, as a man here upon the earth, anticipated the terrible judgment that he was gonna bear.

Great as that was, it wasn't all. The marvelous work was that he who came to bear the judgment on man, not only bore it, but in bearing it, he glorified God. We'll take a look a little later on this, and not only bore the judgment due to man, he gave up his life to which sin could be attached.

But he could say in John 10, 17, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. So unwaveringly maintained All that was due God in this terrible moment, he glorified God. And God said, that God was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. So, contemplate the resurrection as it relates to God now.

God is no longer dealing with men, with a man Let me start over. God is no longer dealing with man as he has been dealing with him in Adam. He's dealing now with the Lord Jesus Christ and working upon man, making judgments of him. All of that's over in Adam. He doesn't do that anymore. But now God works from his own side. If we get a hold of what's going on here with God, it'll be a great help to us. God works now downward from the glorified man to us. If we understand that, we'll get some idea of what the resurrection is to God.

This downward working from the throne of grace where everyone who is saved now by that light that comes from that place, the glory of God resting on a man at the right hand, it is the light of heaven. If you look at 2 Corinthians 4, three and four, Paul says, and even if our gospel is hidden, it is veiled to those who are perishing. in whose case the God of this world has blinded their minds of the unbelieving so that, quote, why? They might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, which should shine on them who is the image of God. You know, man and Adam is utterly ruined and under judgment of death.

But we're looking now at the resurrection as it is to God. I hope we can see that now God works from another man, and I'm going to repeat this phrase a couple more times. We're not looking at the resurrection that is in relation to the believer yet, we'll take a look at that in a minute, but it is as God looks at it. Even when Christ bore the judgment of man who dishonored God and then glorified God so that instead of man being at the greatest distance possible from God, man and the blessed person of Christ is now at the right hand of God. And from that point, God now works.

If we grasp that and rest in that, we'll find it to be a wonderful opening for our souls and a real delight for our hearts. Now resurrection implies that there was a death. Death is a judgment on Adam. But also it assures us the man who died has risen out from among the dead. He came out from among the dead.

Jim read Romans 6.10, for the death that he died He died unto sin once and for all, but in the life that he lives, he lives unto God. The man who was under judgment has been judicially terminated from God's eye. Now let's look at understanding the resurrection as it relates to the Lord Jesus. The first thing with Christ is that Through it, Christ opened the way for God to express his heart in the full satisfaction of what he saw in the Lord Jesus.

Remember the story of the prodigal son. The things that were going on there were kind of confusing to the older brother who stayed at home. But the resurrection of Christ, I think, makes it clear. The son who was a disgrace to the family should be greeted with great affection and set in the highest place. But the son who had always conducted himself well should not receive anything like the same character that the prodigal did. Why is that? Because the prodigal is brought in on the ground of the glorified man. The older brother is brought in on the ground of his own goodness. Believers dwell on the importance of forgiveness, but forgiveness, as great a grace as it is, is a real small part of the gospel. Because the gospel is not merely the benefit gained of the sinner, but there is God's part in it.

As Christ has said after his meeting with a woman in Samaria in John 4.32, he said, I have food to eat that you don't know about. And then in John 4, 34, two verses later, John said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Brought in on the glory of the work of his son. What's he saying? I want to let my Father's heart come out according to all its enormous volume and express it to the poor prodigal. We're prodigals, all of us. So the first point in connection with the resurrection as it is to Christ is I don't think we can estimate what joy it was to Christ when he said, I've glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And then he said, I have new family. I have a new family now.

In John 12, 24, the Lord says, except a corn of wheat fall on the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. And again in 2017, He, John 20, 17, he tells Mary, go to my brothers, my brethren. So I'm speaking now of the resurrection of Christ as it is to Christ.

He says, I will declare your name to my brethren. In Hebrews 2, 11, but he that sanctifies and they that are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he is not ashamed to call us brothers, brethren. This is the new family members, the many grains out of the corn of wheat.

Later he says to Mary Magdalene, go to my brethren, go to my brothers and say to them, I ascend to my father and your father. to my God and your God. And then he says, I'm gonna make known in John 17, he says, I'm gonna make known your name to them. I will declare your name to my brethren and I have made your name known to them and I'll make it known so that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them. So it's now revealed that the Lord Jesus has a company of people that are just like him. They're accepted. And it's a mystery about this, but we have been made flesh and blood. We are members of his body. It is not that he is of us, but that we are now of him. This is a great mystery and I speak concerning Christ and the church.

J.B. Stoney made a point about this. He said, I desire the youngest here that should apprehend the wonderful change that has taken place as to everything on this earth because of the resurrection. I think we do not really apprehend it. I speak for myself. I am learning, thank God, and I am increasingly impressed and thankful to be impressed with the magnitude of the things resulting on the resurrection. But as I said before, I believe there is a natural reluctance in us to accept it. I'll talk about that in a minute.

So what have we seen so far? that the man under judgment of death has gone in judgment in the cross of Christ. Christ never sees us in Adam anymore. The man who bore that judgment and removed it is the only man now before the eye of God so that God can say, can be the just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.

We talked about the elderly brother and how unacceptable it was to him that the prodigal, who was a disgrace and a scandal, should be received with the greatest affection and distinction, and simply because he was received on the ground of a glorified man, and not merely on the ground of a forgiven sinner.

How can now, God can now come forth in the fullness of his heart to every one of us, every returning one to him, because we are accepted in the beloved. Stoney said, no one can fully estimate the greatness of this reception. How the blessed God can greet the returning prodigal. We read of it as a parable, but it's a communication of infinite blessing to us. We could not be in a better acceptance. It could not be improved on. So we need to enjoy this acceptance. That's what today's all about. And I don't want us to confound my enjoyment of the acceptance with the acceptance itself.

The acceptance is according to the greatness of what Christ is to God. Our enjoyment of it is as we walk in the Spirit. The one is because of all that has been done by Christ, and the other is as you, by the Spirit, are consciously of the grace of God all the time. Our faith must be simple, clear, that God's acceptance of us could not be greater than it is.

So the question is, do we enjoy the acceptance? That's a different question. The prodigal son didn't enjoy it at first, but he was brought into the enjoyment of it because he was fitted out for it. We're fitted out for it. It is His fitness, but His fitness did not improve the acceptance. The acceptance was already there, but it made Him capable of enjoying the acceptance.

How God is to the believer because of the resurrection, that the man who was under judgment has gone in the judgment of the cross of the Lord Jesus, who glorified the Father. The man under judgment is not merely removed in the cross, but Christ glorified God in His death. The blessed Lord so unshakably maintained in the darkness and most distant spot all that was due to God. That he glorified God there and therefore was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. So we get, we can see how the resurrection is for God to us. So let's look at now the understanding the resurrection as it relates to the believer with God. I mentioned before that there's a reluctance in our nature to accept the resurrection. We know well that while everyone likes to have forgiveness, and boy do we ever, we don't really like resurrection. You know why? Because if we accept it, we must separate from the old man. We have to walk away from him. And that's a hard thing to do.

A lot of believers who have the faith in the virtue of the blood of Christ don't have the faith to appropriate the resurrection for themselves. Acceptance with God never alters, nor can it be improved. But our own enjoyment of it will improve, but we can't improve God's acceptance. This section is really important to us, I think. Do we have the faith to understand the resurrection as it is for us with God? Again, I don't want us to confound the resurrection as it is for God to us with the resurrection as it is for us with God.

The only man before God today is Christ, who glorified him in bearing the judgment. and he is at the right hand of God right now, and from him in glory, God now works in opening the eyes and turning people from darkness to light. That's his side. Our side is we must realize that it's an immense grace that our old man is crucified with Christ and thus removed, therefore we can count we can account for the reluctance to receive the truth of resurrection. To live in the truth of separation from my old man is a very difficult thing. But what makes it real to me is when I understand that I have been totally accepted by the Father in Christ Jesus. We've discussed in Sunday school a couple of times Can a forgiven sinner stand before a holy God? Is he accepted there? A forgiven sinner, answer no. You know why? Because he's still a sinner, forgiven or not.

When we stand before God today, we are in the resurrected glorified Christ. He's not a sinner. From a definition and positional standpoint, neither are we. We can't go before God as a man in Adam who was removed in judgment on the cross. God doesn't ever return to that man. If you grab hold of this by simple faith, let nothing get in your way from it. That the man under judgment is gone from the judgment eye of God. The only man before his eyes today is the man who glorified him.

We are to own the acceptance which we hold in faith. And it's not only by faith that we see ourselves free of the law of sin and death, but we are free how? By the law or the principle of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Our faith doesn't make us free. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who does and we're in him. Some seek to be free by believing that we are free instead of being really free by the Spirit of God. We find in Romans 5 that we are justified by faith. And next, in Romans 8-2, I repeat, the law or the principle of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law or the principle of sin and death.

I'm free. We are clear. It's simple, it's wonderful, and it's beautiful. God has removed all from his eye. Hold on to that. It's unalterable. But you might say, like I have said a thousand times, okay, he might be gone from your eye, but he's not gone from my eye.

I'm a lot like that prodigal. but God has given us the spirit so that we might be in Christ before him in power, divine power. So as clear of the old man practically as we are in God's eye because of the work of Christ, I'm speaking now of a new position that we have, which we occupy by the spirit of God. This is our side. As we walk in the spirit, It is absolutely impossible to fulfill the desires of the flesh. Well, you might look at God and say, well, yeah, I lost my temper this morning. And I would say, well, you're not walking in the spirit, are you?

It is always faith which appropriates God's side. For he never alters, and we are always in the same acceptance we've always been in. He never turns to the old order. He never receives the things from the old order. I'm not saying here that walking in the flesh he won't judge us because he will.

The point is is that if you look at the man that was turned over to Satan in first Corinthians, what was he turned over for? For the destruction of the flesh. So he wouldn't rely on it anymore. When we understand our new position by grace, then we understand that we are severed from that old man by the death of Christ. We are dead with Christ. We're severed from the man under judgment. And so now we learn to say, I have been crucified with Christ. Nonetheless, I live. But it's not I that lives, it is Christ who lives in me. That's my experience.

The man under judgment is gone in the eye of God, never to return for the believer. Hold on to that. Finally, there's another great thing that goes on in this resurrection. We're all gonna have a glorious body like his someday. And we don't really know what that's like for sure.

But since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Christ is the first fruit of them that slept. So the second to last issue is the resurrection ever relates to evil. Christ in rising from the dead has overcome all the powers of evil. If you ponder on the immense range with the resurrection embraces, it will greatly be helped.

In Hebrews 2.14, he says, therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself, the Lord Jesus, also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. He triumphed over all in death. He told John on Mount Patmos, I have the keys of hell and of death, I have them. You have put all things in subjection under his feet and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Jim read Ephesians 119, it's so appropriate here. But what is the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe? These are in accordance with the working of his strength of his might which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that's named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

So now Christ is risen from the dead, or risen out of death, better said. A man in the person of Christ has overcome all the power of Satan. A man has done that. He submitted to the utmost of Satan's power, and then he vanquished it. He in death, death overthrew. God always was greater than Satan, but in the gospels we see the marvelous fact that a man has greater power than Satan.

And so that the devil himself exclaimed, thou art the son of God, in Mark 3.11. Christ destroyed him that had the power of death, the devil, and delivered them who through fear of death all their lifetime were subject to bondage. Even now when we are in the world and Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour, for there is no one for God here who has not been assailed by him, we resist. whom we resist, steadfast in the faith. Paul says, you resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Why? Because when he comes at you, what does he see? He sees Christ in you. So, that's not all.

If you look at Ephesians 6.11, Paul says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Obviously our power comes from him who has been raised from the dead, he glorified God, he has brought forth much fruit, his brethren, and he has put us in this wonderful place of superiority here, but we've gotta put on the armor. How do you put the armor on? I remember Miles Stanford said, well it's real simple, you just believe that you already have it on.

We are often assailed by Satan, but the Lord allows us to be assailed in order that he may prove to us the superiority of his power. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome, the power of evil seemed to have succeeded, but the Lord used it as an occasion to reveal his mind more fully.

And lastly, understanding it from all creation. In John 20, verse one, the first day of the week, we read that our blessed Lord, that he is the beginning of the creation of God. Everything in creation now suits him. You know, when God created the first time, he created everything that suited Adam. But when Adam sinned, it all turned against him. It didn't suit him anymore, and we live in that environment.

But now, at the resurrection of Christ and the new creation, everything will suit Christ, the man. and will suit us because we're in him. When we see that the resurrection is as for what God is to us, that he can receive us on the fullest affection and favor because of Christ who glorified him bearing the judgment on man. And he has given us a spirit so that we can say the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the principle of sin and death. Christ is also superior to all power of evil, and he is the beginning of the new creation, and he will make all things new. In the last chapter of 2 Peter, we find that there will be a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. We get the same in Colossians where we read that he will reconcile all things to himself, things in heaven and things on the earth.

So in closing, I trust that the Lord will lead each one of us to have a deeper and a fuller apprehension of the magnitude of the resurrection. And I'm sure, and I thank God for it, that the more we dwell on it as it is to God, to ourselves in relation to it, the more we will be impressed with the blessedness of it. Amen? Amen.