The Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead

The Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead

Ian Thomas

Main Idea: The resurrection was the sovereign plan of God to vindicate Jesus as our Savior & Lord.

I. The Sovereign Plan of the Resurrection

Peter quotes Psalm 16 in order to draw attention to:

1. The bodily resurrection of Jesus

“Jesus’ body kicked back to life on that Easter morning. It was a spiritual resurrection and a physical resurrection. His amino acids began to flutter about, his brain stem booted up, and his heart began to pump. Jesus is alive.” ~ J.A. Medders & Brandon Smith

Romans 8:22–23: 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

2 Peter 1:16: For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

2. Jesus’ resurrection as the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7)

“The resurrection of Christ is not just something to believe in; it’s something to be lived. Christ is not a dead teacher. If he was a dead teacher, then being a Christian would just be to believe what he said. Since he’s a risen Lord, he comes and penetrates our lives with a new order of being.” ~ Tim Keller

II. The Saving Power of the Resurrection (2:24)

“The pangs of death were, so to speak, the labor pains of a new life. Christ is the firstborn from the dead.” ~ Herman Bavinck

1 Peter 1:3-5: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

He Descended to Hell

He Descended to Hell

Ian Thomas

Main Idea: Upon death, Jesus went to the place of the dead to proclaim victory & begin his exaltation as King.

I. What Does Jesus’ Descent Mean?

The Hebrew conception of the universe is three-fold: the heavens, the earth, and the place of the dead (Sheol or Hades). Within the place of the dead there are different compartments:

1. Righteous Compartment (Paradise; Abraham’s Bosom; place of comfort)

2. Unrighteous Compartment (Gehenna; place of torment)

3. “Tartarus” (the “abyss”; place of fallen angels)

Apollinarianism: False teaching that Jesus had a human body but not a human spirit. This means Jesus was not fully human, and this line may have been added for the purpose of refuting this belief. 

II. What Does The Bible Say About Jesus’ Descent?

• Acts 2:27-31: 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, Or let your Holy One see corruption… 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

• Revelation 1:17-18: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

“The descent is the first of three stops on Jesus’ victory tour: first he proclaims victory in the realm of the dead, then he proclaims it in the realm of the living, and then finally and universally he proclaims it in the heavenly realm. In other words, the descent begins Christ’s exaltation through the universe’s three tiers: the underworld, the earth, and the heavens.” ~ Matthew Emerson

• 1 Peter 3:18-19: 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison

• Ephesians 4:8-10: 

8 Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

“Jesus transforms the nature of Paradise, from expectation to reality. Those Old Testament saints who sat waiting in the darkness of death for the coming Messiah in whom they trusted in life now see by sight what they formerly only saw by faith. Jesus is with them and soon he will be raised as a sign of their coming resurrection from the dead. And when he is raised on the third day, he will lead “a host of captives” those who were formerly captive to Death but now by virtue of their faith in the Messiah who has defeated death are in his resurrected presence until they, too, are raised on the last day.” ~ Matthew Emerson

III. Why Does Jesus’ Descent Matter?

3 Implications:

1. Jesus is King over everything & over every realm

Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

“Christ conquered on the cross, Christ conquered at the cemetery, and Christ is conquering in the clouds right now.” ~ Charlie Dates

2. We can have hope in death

3. “Fear Not” (Rev. 1:17)

“There is no possible cause for fear to any soul that believes in Christ. You shall ransack the corruptions of your heart within; you shall count your trials without; you shall imagine all the tribulations that shall come tomorrow; you shall reflect on all the sins that were with you yesterday and in the past; you shall peer into the shades of death and horrors of hell, but I declare solemnly to you that there is nothing in any of these which you, believing in Christ, have any cause to fear. No, if they all should unite, if the whole together, the world, the flesh, the devil, in trinity of malice should all come against you, while you have a living faith in a living Savior, “Fear not” is but the logical inference from that precious fact. Carry this fearlessness in your life…Be of good courage, Jesus is King of Hades. Fear not.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

Was Crucified, Died, and Buried

Was Crucified, Died, and Buried

Andrew Lovette

Main Idea: Jesus finished work on the cross brings us complete salvation, complete forgiveness, and complete victory.

I. Complete Salvation (Colossians 2:11-12)

And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:4-5)

II. Complete Forgiveness (Colossians 2:13-14)

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.” Micah 7:18

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!” ~ Martin Luther

III. Complete Victory (Colossians 2:15)

“saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12) 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

Ian Thomas

Hebrews 2:10-18

Jesus’ suffering with and for humanity qualifies him as our sympathetic savior & faithful high priest.

I. The Solidarity of Jesus’ Suffering (2:10-13)

Isaiah 53:3-4, 7:

3 He was despised and rejected by men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed him not 4 Surely he has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted… 7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted;

“There are many points in which Christ could not save us without suffering. He could not be a perfect Substitute unless he bore our sin and shame. He could not be a perfect Sympathizer unless he bore our suffering. This, perhaps, is the main point in which Christ is perfected; he becomes capable of entering into all the griefs that disturb the many sons whom he is to lead to glory. In our Elder Brother, the heir of all things, there is an epitome of all the sorrows of all the rest of the family.” ~ Charles Spurgeon

1 Peter 4:13: But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

II. The Success of Jesus’ Suffering (2:14-15)

Jesus’ success in suffering:

1. He destroys the power of death itself

2. He frees us from our slavery to the fear of death

“All religions talk about death and the afterlife, but in general they proclaim that you must lead a good life in order to be ready for eternity. Yet as death approaches, we all know we have not even come close to doing our best; we have not lived as we ought. So we stay, with warrant, enslaved by the fear of death until the end. But Christianity is different. It doesn’t leave you to face death on your own, by holding up your life record & hoping it will suffice. Instead, it gives you a champion who has defeated death, who pardons you and covers you with his life. You face death “in him” and with his perfect record. To the degree we believe, know, and embrace that, we are released from the power of death.” ~ Tim Keller

III. The Sympathy of Jesus’ Suffering (2:16-18)

“Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Who Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit & Born of the Virgin Mary

Who Was Conceived by the Holy Spirit & Born of the Virgin Mary

Ryan Whitfield

Luke 1:26-38

God’s grace is designed to meet our present faith.

I. God’s Promise of Grace

II. God’s Design of Divinity

III. God’s Perfect Plan

“He cannot be our Lord if we insist on ruling ourselves. If he is Lord, then we are servants—glad servants of God. This is how faith replies to grace. When God promises you a Savior, say, “Let me have him!” When God announces his plan for your life, say, “Amen! Let it be so! Not my will, but your will be done, God!’” - Thabiti Anybwile

Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord

Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord

Ian Thomas

Colossians 1:15-20

Jesus Christ is the divine, eternal, preeminent Son who became man for us and for our salvation.

I. Jesus is the Son

1. Jesus is Creator

“It was his overflowing love for the Son that motivated the Father to create, and creation is his gift to his Son. The Father makes his Son the inheritor, the ‘heir of all things.’ And so the Son is not only the motivating origin of creation: he is its goal. The Son is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of creation.” ~ Michael Reeves

2. Jesus is the Heir of All Things

Hebrews 1:1–3: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Abraham Kuyper: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

II. Jesus is the Christ

John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Philippians 2:9–11: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

III. Jesus is Our Lord

Creator of Heaven and Earth

Creator of Heaven and Earth

Pat Kappenman

Revelation 4:1-11

Main Idea: God created and sustains all things so that we, His creatures, might fully enjoy His beauty and magnificence.

Why do we (on earth) think and respond differently to God as Creator than they do in heaven?

1. When we think of God as Creator, we Him imagine more like a designer, the inventor of all that has been made. When they think of God as Creator, they regard Him as the owner, the ruler of all that has been made.

2. Because of how we tend to think about God as Creator, when we look at what has been created, we focus on its mechanics and magnitude, as if it were some vast amazing machine, a museum artifact to be studied, analyzed and explained. When they look at what has been created, they see it as the source and reason for expressing glory and honor and power to its Creator. 

3. When we think of ourselves as creatures, we tend to think both too little and too much of ourselves at the same time. When they think of themselves as creatures, they step fully into their respective roles and rejoice completely in the centrality of the Throne.

How might we remedy the situation?

Three suggestions:

1. Regularly confess and give thanks for God’s governance over your life and His world

2. Stress less about the science and superstitions behind creation skeptics and sing more about the beauty and blessedness of the Creator

3. Step fully into the reality of Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.

God the Father Almighty

God the Father Almighty

Ian Thomas

Ephesians 1:3-14

Main Idea: God is the praiseworthy, eternal, and almighty Father who brings to pass every purpose of his will.

I. The Always Father

Christians believe in a trinitarian God: 

• God the Father is the architect of redemption

• God the Son accomplishes redemption

• God the Spirit applies redemption.

John 17:24: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Since God is, before all things, a Father, and not primarily a Creator or Ruler, all his ways are beautifully fatherly. It is not that this God ‘does’ being Father as his day job, only to kick back in the evenings as plain old ‘God.’ It is not that he has a nice blob of fatherly icing on top. He is Father. All the way down. Thus all that he does, he does as Father. That is who he is. He creates as a Father and he rules as a Father; and that means the way he rules over creation is most unlike the way any other God would rule over creation.” ~ Michael Reeves

II. The Adopting Father

Our adoption in Christ is:

1. Planned 

2. Plentiful

3. Powerful

4. Permanent

“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father… If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father.” ~ J.I. Packer

III. The Almighty Father

Introduction to the Apostles' Creed

Introduction to the Apostles' Creed

Panel Discussion

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

 I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

“This is what Christians believe—what all Christians believe. The Apostles’ Creed collapses time and space, uniting all true believers in the one, holy, and apostolic faith. This creed is a summary of what the Bible teaches, a narrative of God’s redemptive love, and a concise statement of basic Christianity… All Christians believe more than is contained in the Apostles’ Creed, but none can believe less...There is such power in knowing that when we confess the Apostles’ Creed, alone or in corporate worship, we are declaring the truth of the Christian faith with the very words that gave early Christians hope, sent martyrs confidently to their deaths, and have instructed Christ’s church throughout the centuries.” ~ Al Mohler

The Risen Redeemer

The Risen Redeemer

Ian Thomas

Luke 24:13-35

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching, but whether or not he rose from the dead. That is how the first hearers felt who heard reports of the resurrection. They knew that if it was true it meant we can’t live our lives anyway we want. It also means we don’t have to be afraid of anything, not Roman swords, not cancer, nothing. If Jesus rose from the dead, it changes everything.” ~ Tim Keller

Main Idea: The resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of promised redemption, securing hope and igniting faith.  

I. Life Without Resurrection (24:13-24)

1 Corinthians 15:17–19: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

II. The Necessity of the Resurrection (24:25-27)

2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God find their yes in him

“That he died manifests his love and willingness to save. It is his rising again that manifests his power and his ability to save. We cannot be saved by a dead Christ, who undertook but could not perform, and who still lies under the Syrian sky, another martyr of impotent love. To save, He must not merely pass to but through death. If the penalty was fully paid, it cannot have broken him, it must need to have been broken upon him. The resurrection of Christ is thus the indispensable evidence of His completed work, of His accomplished redemption.” ~ B.B. Warfield

III. The Power of the Resurrection

Ephesians 1:18-20: “...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead...”