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The Power of the Resurrection

04/07/07

I. Introduction

How many of ya’ll know what tomorrow is? Easter! Yay!

Easter has its many traditions which include the classic tale of the Easter Bunny who brings us all Easter baskets filled with peeps and Cadbury eggs and the beloved Easter grass. We play hide and seek with Easter Eggs…they hide and we hunt them. And of course the person who finds the most eggs wins.

But the true reason we celebrate Easter is much deeper. In fact, it’s even deeper than why many churches across town celebrate Easter.

Why do many churches across town celebrate Easter?

Because of the resurrection of Jesus.

But it’s much more than it seems!

Ephesians 1:17-20 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

The resurrection of Jesus is not just about a dead body coming back to life.

Illustration = dead body back to life.

The resurrection of Jesus was the ultimate manifestation of the power of God.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross as himself. When JC died on the cross, there were other people on the cross with Him. Anybody know anyone else who was on the cross with him?

Gal. 2:20

Jesus died on the cross, in reality, as every person who had ever or who would ever live. You see, when Jesus was raised from the dead, He wasn’t just bringing one body back to life. God raised every person who had ever lived or who would ever live; He raised us all from the dead.

This is the power of God!

But what kind of power did it take to raise the whole human race from the dead?

Jesus wasn’t just resurrected out of the grave. When Jesus hung on the cross and said, “It is finished” and his spirit left his body, the suffering had just begun. When his spirit left his body, his spirit went somewhere. He didn’t just hang out in a grave for 3 days, and he didn’t play checkers with the angels.

Because he was dying as you and you were doomed to eternity in hell, his spirit had to go to hell.

Psalm 88:6-7 6 You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves.

When JC was there in the depths of hell, he wasn’t just laying on the ground there in the pit of hell. Every demon, every principality and power, jumped on him and beat him. The spirit behind every sickness and every disease attacked him. Every tormenting spirit ravaged him. And there came a time when even satan himself jumped on him. The one who had the power of death and one who authored death, satan himself, jumped on him.

And right then, when it seemed that Jesus had took his final blow, and all of hell thought victory had been wrought, right then something happened. The biggest concentration of spiritual dynamite that had ever been released in a moment of time, came from on high down into the universe passing the upper regions of hell down to the lowest pit right where Jesus was and that energy exploded in him. And when that energy exploded in him, he suddenly jumped up and threw off all the forces of darkness. Every demon and force that would ever come against you or I in any way, he threw it off and utterly defeated it. Through the explosion of that power of God.

Colossians 2:15 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Ephesians 1:19-20 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

Jesus went to hell not as himself, but as whom? US. So when he was raised up, who was raised up with Him?

Ephesians 2:5-6 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,