"And Death Shall Have No Dominion"

"Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. . . 1 Cor 15:1-8 " Are you a Christian? If you are, are, are you a Christmas Christian or an Easter Christian? Easter is the most important day of the Christian calendar. But it is only the second most important day (or less) on the secular calendar. The most important day is Christmas, not Easter. The birth of Christ has eclipsed the death and resurrection of Christ for a lot of reasons. Christmas has a baby in it. The central symbol of Christmas is a cradle. The central symbol of Easter is a cross, a bloody and horrible form of execution. Christmas is about “peace on earth, goodwill to men.” But peace can only come at the price of the cross. Without Easter, Christmas is an empty promise. A lot of people claim Christianity, but leave out the Cross. They are “halfway” Christians, because they believe in Jesus--just not all the way. They believe part, but not all. They trust in part, but not all. The harder parts of the story are simply ignored. When Paul wrote I Corinthians 15, he was writing to a church which had already started declining from full acceptance of the Gospel to partial acceptance. Christ was a moral principle to them, not a life-giving Savior. We know this from verses 15:12: "If it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? " I find it incredible that there were Christians at Corinth who were Christians yet did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. An interview with them would go like this: Are you a Christian? “Yes, of course.” Do you believe that Christ rose from the dead? “Yes, of course.” Do you believe that you will be resurrected from the dead? “No. I believe this life is all there is.” It is easy to imagine a person who believes in the resurrection, and not in Jesus. It is harder to imagine one who believes in Jesus’ resurrection, but not in his own. If there is no resurrection from the dead, then what does it matter how we believe? We will all end up in the same place! Why does the Christian have any advantage over the atheist? If we are only here to enjoy this brief life, so we may as well do as we like. In the news this week there was a man who stole a Canadian fighter plane and flew it over the United States. When he was caught and captured, he told authorities that he had planned to commit suicide. He was going to give his life for a thrill ride on a fighter plane. If there is no resurrection, then what is fundamentally wrong with that? Why not trade your life for a ridiculous thrill? Why not spend this life anyway we wish? Churches are full of halfway Christians. They live a life of moral justification based on the teachings of Jesus. As far as any supernatural force that might give them a new life, they are comfortable being two millennia away from it. The resurrection of Jesus makes no difference in His life, only his teachings. Are you different because you believe in Christ’s resurrection? Or are you practicing public Christianity and practical atheism, as if this world were all that mattered? A recent poll showed there is a falling away of religion in America. We ought not be surprised by this. We know that many who attend church do not experiencing a single direct result of their faith. Religion is a moral guide, not a living reality. Paul believes it makes a difference whether we believe in the Resurrection or not. For that reason he offers a series of proofs in How do we know if the resurrection is true? Paul offers the following proof—a series of eyewitnesses accounts. Ø He appeared to Peter. Ø Jesus appeared the other disciples. Ø He appeared to five hundred people at once. Ø Finally, as an ultimate proof, “He appeared to me, also” Why does Paul’s witness carry more weight than Peter’s? Peter wasn’t there. Those five hundred people weren’t there, either. But they knew Paul. He visited them, and he will visit them again. His life is the ultimate proof. Paul had everything going for him—position, education, family. Yet he gave it all up to become an itinerant preacher. The harder things got for him, the more he preached. He actually felt grateful to suffer for Christ, because he would also be included in Christ’s reward. Paul was the “real deal.” The secret of his life-changing faith was the resurrection of Christ. The Apostle Paul is no longer with us, but there are others who offer the same kind testimony. Read the books of Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, or Brother Andrew. Read about Richard Wurmbrandt, a Ukrainian pastor tortured for Christ. Read about White House aide Charles Colson, or novelist Anne Rice, who have been transformed by the resurrection. They have all been transformed by a personal encounter with a real resurrected Lord. These people can attest to the fact that Christ’s resurrection produces our resurrection also. His resurrection is the key to our rescue and revival. Jesus brings about our rescue. We are not really free, but prisoners. The same inevitable fate awaits us all. We must all bow to hunger, thirst, loss, aging, and death. But the resurrection of Jesus in us changes that. His death rescues us from death. Imagine you have cancer. The doctor tells you the kind of cancer you have is incurable. Then the next day you read where a man had been cured of the very kind of cancer you have. Wouldn’t you go to any length to find our how he was cured, and get your hands on the same treatment? Well then, what’s the difference? We have been told that death is inevitable. Then we read in the Bible that one man rose from the dead. Should we not go to any length to find out how he did it, and see out that same power for ourselves? Jesus holds the key to revival. If we may be rescued from death, isn’t it possible that we can be rescued from regret, hopelessness, grief, or depression? If we may be rescued from death, then anything is possible Jesus has the cure for death, then He must hold the key to everything else. All the other inevitable consequences in life also fall before the empty tomb. We can escape regret. We can escape aging—spiritual aging, at least. Like Nicodemus, we can be born again. We escape grief, depression, addictions, illness, loneliness, hopelessness, and fear. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:11: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. So if the resurrection is true, then the rest must be possible. Paul describes the mystery of the resurrection this way in verses 51-57: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "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. So, are we Christmas Christians or Easter Christians? To we believe that Jesus was a great moral teacher only, or do we believe he is the one who broke the bonds of death, and set us free from the fear of it? Do we believe that we may leave regret cut ourselves free from depression and the despair? As the Dylan Thomas expressed it: “And death shall have no dominion. Dead mean naked they shall be one With the man in the wind and the west moon; When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone, They shall have stars at elbow and foot; Though they go mad they shall be sane, Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.” Because of Easter, death shall have no dominion over us. We are free to be born again through the power of the resurrection.