Jesus Christ is Risen
This blog post is Part 13 of a series entitled, "Orthodoxy" by Pastor Jeffrey Dean Smith of Donelson First in Nashville, TN.
Message Date: April 9, 2023
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There have been people who have done some pretty amazing things while on this planet!
Sir Tim Berners-Lee Sir Tim worked at MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science where he played with the idea of using hypertext to share information so that others could see the information at any time during the day. The result: In 1994, he changed the world with the creation of the World Wide Web!
Irena Sendler At the young age of 29, Ms. Sendler pretended to be a nurse to get inside the Warsaw Ghetto in 1939 to help free more than 3,000 Jewish children who otherwise would have been arrested and most likely killed by Nazi Germany.
John Harvey Kellogg Mr. Kellogg was a health guru in the 1890s. He told audiences around the world, “The key to a happy life lies in the digestive tract.” I would say that our newest puppy, Boone, must have a very happy and lively life because his digestive tract is extremely happy! Mr. Kellogg worked to create low-calorie meals for patients in hospitals. But it was his fear of patients returning to their unhealthy eating habits once leaving the hospital that motivated him to create a -ready-to-eat breakfast food that would eventually adorn breakfast tables and late-night snackers all across the world. The food: Toasted Corn Flakes. And now, Tony the Tiger has added a sugarcoating to them and says, “Thereeeeee great!”
People with compassion and vision and creativity who have impacted so very many others!
But nothing, absolutely nothing man has ever done compares to what Jesus Christ, God’s Son, did to pay the price for humanity’s sins by dying on the cross.
To better understand the cross and the reason why we celebrate the empty tomb today, we first must understand the fullness of what Jesus did and why He did it!
Foundational Principle #9: Jesus Christ died for humanity.
This one decision is unlike any decision or act that has ever, ever happened on our planet. I want to answer 1 very important and frequently asked question about the actions of Jesus and His decision to die for humanity. The question: Why? Why did Jesus come to earth and die for me?
I will answer this question with three answers:
Why did Jesus come to earth and die for me?
1. God’s love.
To die for another is an act of love that has happened countless times throughout the history of time on planet earth. Stories of soldiers and medics and police and firefighters and missionaries and parents...
Each of you has probably heard a story of one brave and selfless who has given their life for another.
But there is no one who can say, as Paul wrote about Jesus:
...the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
1 Timothy 2:5-6
And then there is, possibly, the most quoted verse in the Bible:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
No other verse in the Bible so clearly and succinctly explains God’s love for you.
I discovered something very significant this week! While reading about other worldly religions, I could not find the use of the word “love” when articulating the basis or foundational principles of such religions. For example...
Bahai (ba HI-E): This religion doesn’t even speak about love in its talking points. Instead, the focus of the Bahai religion for 7M+ people is concerned with social ethics.
Hinduism: This religion of 15M doesn’t speak of love either. Their focus is on helping a person to rediscover his/her inner god in order to reach a state of nirvana (eternal bliss.)
Buddhism: And for the 360M followers of Buddhism, they too never mention “love,” but rather the attainment of spiritual freedom
Islam: The Muslim religion, 1.3B strong worldwide, not only does the follower of Islam not speak of love. They actually believe that their god, Allah, is not even a loving god.
Christianity is the only religion that can say one God, Jesus Christ, came to earth, lived, died, was resurrected, forgives, restores, completes, changes, redeems, and empowers me through and for and because of love.
Another reason as to “why” Jesus came to earth and died for me...
2. God’s plan.
This was God’s plan all along – that His Son would come to earth to die for humanity. Throughout this series, we have spent much time in the book of Genesis. And we have discovered much evidence that proves the Creation story is about much more than planets, stars, animals, and oceans. It too is about God’s redemptive plan for humanity. Just 3 chapters into Genesis, we see that God is already pointing us to a Savior who will redeem us all.
Adam and Eve sin, and God says to the serpent, Satan: Genesis 3:15
We looked at this verse just last week and understood that God is showing us it will be through the offspring of a woman, Mary, the mother of Jesus, not through a man that a Savior will come. And He will not merely come... He will come to... (look at the second part of Genesis 3:15...) Genesis 3:15
He will come to crush the serpent – Satan!
Ephesians 3:9-11
Scripture is showing us God’s plan to accomplish His will through Jesus.
3. God’s justice.
At the conclusion last month of the trial of the South Carolina lawyer found guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul, Judge Clifton Newman, who presided over the Murdaugh trial knew Mr. Murdaugh for many years. They were in court together many times and often socialized together at community events and parties.
Judge Newman said this at the conclusion of the trial: “Alex Murdaugh was known and respected and loved by so many people in this community for years. Having such a well-loved and prominent man now seated here with his freedom hanging in the balance was difficult for us all to witness. I did not enjoy doing what had to be done. But justice, above all, always prevails.” Clifton Newman, Judge 14th Circuit Court, South Carolina
I can’t imagine what that must have been like for a judge, an associate, and friend of Mr. Murdaugh, to be in such a position as Mr. Murdaugh received the verdict of guilty which sentenced him to prison for the rest of his life. But, as Judge Newman stated, justice always prevails.
God is a loving God. God is a righteous and just God. God cannot change and will not change. God’s eternal order requires that justice always prevails.
You see, because of one man’s sin, we all have sinned. And it only takes one sin to render a guilty verdict on us all.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
The Bible confirms these 2 realities about me:
1. I am a sinner. 2. I must die for my sin.
Because God is a God of justice, just as Judge Newman is a judge of justice, there is only one verdict that can be handed down for the sins of man: guilty.
For the wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23a
Therefore, God requires that a price be paid for the sins of humanity. Because every one of us is a sinner, we each deserve death. This is where Jesus steps in!
Foundational Principle #9: Jesus Christ died for humanity.
Paul, a follower of Jesus Christ, explains to us exactly why Jesus came to earth to die for us: Romans 3:25-26
Do you see what Paul states? Prior to Jesus dying for each of us, God had been forgiving the sins of people in the Old Testament, but no penalty had been paid for these sins. So Jesus came and, as Paul states that, you and I are punished for our sins?... No! Jesus is punishment for my sins!
Romans 3:26
As we often do here at DF, look at the original text, the Greek, of this passage to better understand what we are reading!
Justifies /Greek/ dikaioo = to vindicate; to put one in a proper relationship with another.
When Jesus died for me, He vindicated all of my sins and made the way for me to be put in a proper relationship with God. Aren’t you so glad He did! This leads us to:
Foundational Principle #10. Jesus Christ was crucified, died, and was buried for three days. S
I want to answer an important question that I am often asked as it relates to the death of Jesus Christ.
The question: Was there any other way, other than the death of Jesus, for God to save humanity?
Well, it is first important to note that God did not have to save anyone! He is God. He can do as He pleases. From the first sin forward, and at any moment thereafter, God could have said...
“That’s it! I gave humanity a chance. They blew it. They sinned. It’s over!” He could have done this, and He has every right to do so. After all, He did exactly this to many angels who rebelled against Him. Did you know this?
2 Peter 2:4-9
God did not spare the angels who rebelled against Him. God did not spare the world during the time of Noah’s life before the flood. God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah. He could have done the same with all of humanity. But He did not! Aren’t you glad He did not? I sure am!
Was there any other way, other than the death of Jesus, for God to save humanity? Since God chose NOT to pronounce a guilty verdict on all of humanity, the answer is... No. The death of Jesus was the only way to offer humanity a not-guilty verdict. Since God decided to offer humanity a way to be saved, the death of God’s Son Jesus was the only way to make things right between God and each of us.
Before Jesus, the people of the Old Testament offered sacrifices of animals to God. However, as we discussed earlier, this practice did not suffice the true penalty for sins. Look at what Paul says about this in the book of Hebrews:
Hebrews 10:4-10
I am a sinner. I deserve death. Nothing I do can ever change this reality. In order for me to avoid this death, someone has to die in my place. This is exactly what God’s Son, Jesus, did.
On Tuesday of this past week, I took some time to sit and to focus on, to the best of my ability, what death by crucifixion must have been like for someone. I am sure, even with my best intentions, I sorely failed in my attempts to imagine such a cruel and horrific and demoralizing and embarrassing and excruciating death such as the death by crucifixion.
It is believed that the Romans crucified about 30,000 people/year. This is an average of 82 people a day!
Crucifixion was the accepted form of death for prisoners & criminals of various crimes. It wasn’t just a cruel form of death. Crucifixion humiliated its victims. This barbaric act was finally abolished by Constantine in the 4th Century AD. But anyone living during these times knew all too well the sights, sounds, and smells associated with this cruel act. With an average of 82 people a day being crucified, this meant that at any given time during the day, an average of 3 people were being crucified by the Romans. How interesting, and of course of no coincidence, as to why 2 others were crucified at the same time as was Jesus. Prophecy was being fulfilled. However, for the Romans, it was just another day of torture and death! The people living in and near the city of Jerusalem clearly knew of the place called:
Golgotha /Greek/ = place of the skull
This was a normal part of everyday life in the city of Jerusalem. Though I am not sure how anyone could ever get used to hearing the sounds of nails being driven into a person’s body, nor the screams of a victim hanging in agony on a tree, or the smell of blood that was a constant aromatic reminder of death. What is unique about this death on a cross is that the one being crucified would experience an extremely slow and agonizing death of suffocation. A person hanging with arms outstretched and nailed on the cross would have to use his arms to support the weight of his body. The chest cavity, when taking a breath, would be pulled upward and outward, making it almost impossible to get a full breath of air. In exhaustion, the person would push up with his feet, also fastened to the cross. Pushing upward would momentarily allow for a breath and a quick and short release of some of the weight his arms bared. However, in doing so, this would place a majority of his weight on the nails holding his feet. Additionally, this would require more of the body weight to be positioned off the arms and onto the hands, which too had nails driven through them. Additionally, with each breath, the one hanging would scrape his back against the cross.
This would be excruciating pain over and again, as his back had been split open countless times from the pre-crucifixion flogging he endured. The flogging would have consisted of Jesus being naked most likely tied to a pole with his hands tied above his head. Jesus would have been beaten with a whip consisting of broken bones and sharp rocks. The area of the body flogged typically consisted of the shoulders to the back of the knees. The Romans trained their guards to extensively hit the back side of those receiving the flogging, making sure not to leave any area of that part of the body unbeaten. The length of the whip was usually long enough to wrap around the entirety of the body, thus penetrating the skin from shoulder to knees completely on both sides of the victim's body. Those living in Jerusalem during these barbaric years of crucifixions fully understood the reality of this horrific act.
This is why, when Mark, an apostle of Jesus, writes: And they crucified him. Mark 15:24a ... the reader would fully comprehend the weight, agony, imagery, bloodiness, and inhumanness accompanying these four words!
Of course... The greatest pain Jesus endured while on the cross was that of taking the blow of and assuming the guilt for, my sin.
Here is a question for your consideration: Have I ever felt guilty for something I have done?
Of course, you have! I sure have.
When I have done something wrong, my heart is in anguish. I feel a heaviness, and I have a very deep sense that what I have done is not right.
I believe the more that I strive to live in holiness, the greater the sense of anguish toward the unholiness in my life.
Would you agree with this statement? For every “holiness-pursuing” follower of Jesus, I am sure you can agree with these words!
Or consider this question...
Have I ever felt guilty over the actions of someone else?
Our 2-year-old canine son, Bentley, understands this fully, especially as it relates to his new younger canine brother, Boone. We now have this 5-month-old “puppy beast,” Boone, who thinks that pooping on or near our feet is fun! I guess he thinks this, because no matter how much we scream, teach, clean up, and say, “No poop!” when he does it, he still continues to do so.
Well, I can come into a room, and even if I don’t see (or smell) the “poop puppy’s” surprise pile, all I have to do is look at Bentley, the older one, to know that his younger brother has made a mess...literally! Mostly every time, Bentley is over in a corner hunched over and looking terribly sad and worried. It's like he is carrying the guilt for his younger brother's mistake!
Consider:
Jesus. Fully God, fully man. Perfect. Sinless. Holy. In complete obedience to His Father... Out of complete love for me... Took the blow for all sins, every sin, and specifically, my sin.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
Laid /Greek/ awon = to strike; to attack
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12
Bore /Greek/ nasa = to carry; to forgive; to erase
Look at what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says God allowed to happen to His Son:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Be /Greek/ poieo = to commit; to carry out; to represent.
God allowed Jesus to represent me as having actually been the one to have committed my sins.
Now... This doesn’t mean that God thought Jesus sinned. Jesus did not sin. But what it does mean is that in terms of “guilt,” Jesus carried the weight of my sin as if He had actually committed them.
This is unthinkable! I have difficulty wrapping my head around this reality.
Not only does it seem unimaginable that the Son of God would carry the weight of all sins...
This becomes very personal, convicting, and quite the stomach-punch when I fathom the truth that the Son of God would carry the weight of, and assume the guilt for, my sins.
Think about that:
Every lie I have told, Jesus felt it. Every lust I have thought, Jesus consumed it. Every gossip I’ve spread, Jesus carried it. Every pornographic image I’ve viewed, Jesus saw it. Every anger I’ve felt, Jesus stomached it. Every sin I have committed, Jesus bore it.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness... 1 Peter 2:24a
All of this I am sharing with you is truly humbling and equally convicting for me today.
I want to end with:
Foundational Principle #11: Jesus Christ rose from the grave and offers salvation by grace to everyone who believes in Him and surrenders life to Him.
John 20:1-8
First, I must note that it appears John is a much better runner than Peter!
Imagine! Just three days earlier, you witnessed your best friend murdered in a most horrific way. And now, you realize Everything He said is true!
How could this be? How could someone actually be raised from the dead? Well...
This is what separates Christianity from all other religions. No other religion can say their “god” died, was in a tomb for three days, and then rose again from the dead. No other religion can say this because... No other religion can do this.
Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead? Jesus Christ did because His Father gave Him the permission to do so!
The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:17-18
Jesus said this when speaking to one of Lazarus’s sisters:
I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. John 11:25
Not only did Jesus Christ conquer sin and death and come back to life, but when He did, He ultimately made a way for me to do the same.
When Jesus rose from the grave, He made it possible for me to have a “forever new life” in Him.
This is why Paul wrote about this in the New Testament when he wrote to the church in Ephesus and Colossae:
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-6
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1
When Jesus came out of the tomb and back to life, He provided a way, through His resurrection, for me to avoid the deserved penalty for my wrong choices, sins, and to be made right with God. And this is why God no longer sees my sins when He sees me! When God looks at me, He no longer sees my sins. The resurrection of Jesus made it possible for God to see past my sins and to see Jesus standing in my place. And now, I too have this same resurrection power! This is why Paul also wrote to the church in Philippi to say:
I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Philippians 3:10
The Greek word for “know” is from where we receive the English word “dynamic.”
Know /Greek/ dynamis = miracle; ability to perform
Paul is saying he desires that we, as Christians, know, “have the ability to perform,” using the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead! This power is now alive and in me! So then, as we end, here is an extremely important (and fun) question you most likely have never asked:
Can I raise someone from the dead?
I know that if I respond with a “Yes” stating that you, in fact, can raise someone from the dead, such a response may encourage some to say, “That new pastor @ DF is little bit coo-coo!” And, if I say, “No,” then are not I going against the very Scriptures where Jesus stated this about my ability as a Christian to be used by God to do the unthinkable and supernatural:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
Each of these words in the Greek, “even,” “greater,” and “things” means the same:
Even greater things /Greek/ meizon More greater; louder, bigger; weightier.
You may be thinking, “Well Jeffrey, I have not raised anyone from the dead! Why not?”
To do even greater things than Jesus, including the miracle of resurrection, I must include in the process:
1. God’s will. 2. My faith.
Could it be God’s will for me to raise someone from the dead? - - Maybe.
Could God do this if He desired? - - Yes! Absolutely.
Could God use me to do this if He desired? - - Yes! Absolutely.
If I have faith.
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Jeffrey Dean Smith is a husband, father to Bailey & Brynnan, author, and the Senior Pastor at Donelson First in Nashville, TN. If you are in Music City, meet Jeffrey and enjoy iced tea on the front lawn each Sunday at 10:30a.