The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST-PART I (Mark 15:38 to 16:6)

Do you have any core beliefs that you will not compromise on, that you cannot be dissuaded from, and that you will stand up and proclaim no matter the audience, no matter the danger, and no matter the consequences to you?

Such beliefs must be important to you personally for them to have such meaning.  They must be things like your integrity, your belief in the inherent rights of the individual to life, liberty, and their ability to choose how they will exercise that liberty.  For many they include the right to worship God freely in the manner they choose without interference from the government or others.  

These core beliefs are what define you as an individual.  They define how you will react in a given situation, what you stand for, what you will tolerate from others, and what you will choose to put your life at risk for.  They are what drive a young lady to stand when a cowardly man with a gun in his hand demands that all Christians are to stand up.

Every true believer in the gospel message of Jesus Christ has at their foundation two such beliefs:

(1) The death of Christ.  Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins.  It is the blood of Jesus that was shed on the Cross that makes our salvation possible.

(2) The resurrection of Christ.  Christ rose bodily from the dead.  He conquered death and sin with His resurrection, and because of this, we can have eternal life in heaven with Jesus.

The gospel declares that Jesus was made sin for us, (this means that He took on our sin, He paid the penalty for our sin,) that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, (our ability to stand before God, clothed in the righteousness of God, is only because Jesus died for us and was raised again for our justification.)

The unique fact of the gospel is the Resurrection. All other religions record the death of their leader. Only the Christian faith records the Resurrection of its Founder. 

All other religious leaders are dead. 

Only Jesus is alive.  Listen to this podcast to learn why this is absolutely important and imperative for you to know and believe.

TO KNOWINGLY DISBELIEVE (Mark 12:13-27)

The criminal justice system in our country makes a distinction between those who commit crimes either ignorantly or accidentally, and those who commit crimes knowingly, willfully, and with malicious intent.  This distinction has been playing out in our media for the last several weeks.  However, the justice system has a special dislike of those who commit crimes knowingly, willfully, and with malicious intent. 

This same principle works in the spiritual realm as well.  The Bible is clear that there are degrees of punishment in Hell, as well as levels of reward in heaven.  There is no doubt in my mind that a person like Stalin, or Hitler, or Charles Manson, or a person who would intentionally harm a child, has a special place in the hottest, loneliest, darkest, and most pain filled place in Hell reserved for them.  It is a place that they will spend the eons of eternity being tormented in.

But imagine the penalty that will be imposed by God on those who have willfully, knowingly, and maliciously rejected Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the sacrifice that He made on the cross for the sins that they have committed. 

These people have heard and rejected the gospel message of Jesus Christ on the TV, the radio, in books and magazines, and the personal testimonies of family and friends who told them how a gracious God has sent His only Begotten Son, so that they may have eternal life.  They have then compounded this sin by convincing others to reject Christ, or even persecuting those that are Christians.  They have made this choice knowingly, willfully, and maliciously.

Listen to this podcast to hear how Jesus Christ exposes the willful ignorance of those that would reject the Word of God and the great Biblical truth of the resurrection of the dead.

THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD (Easter)

Today, believers all over the world are celebrating Easter Sunday.  If you are a believer, if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Master, then Easter should be every bit as important to you as the celebration of the birth of our Savior on Christmas.  This is because on Easter, we are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  

One of the great Biblical truths for all of us as believers is that the arch of the gospel rests upon two great pillars: 

1) The death of Christ.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified on the cross for our sins.  He physically died on that cross.  He didn’t just fall into a coma or a deep sleep.  Jesus Christ died on that cross, and it is the precious blood of Jesus that was shed on the Cross that makes our salvation possible.

2) The resurrection of Christ.  Christ rose bodily from the dead.  He is not in the grave, for He arose and walked on this earth, talked to people, ate with them, and then ascended into heaven.  Both events are absolutely essential to my salvation and to yours.  The resurrection of Jesus means that we have:

a) A master to confess: It provides us with a living Jesus Christ sitting on the right hand of God the Father.  He is sitting because He has accomplished all that God has asked Him to do.  

b) A message to convey: The resurrection of Jesus Christ provides us with a message to tell others:

• About Eternal life.
• About Power over sin in our lives.  
• About The hand of the One who will bring us into the presence of God when we enter Heaven’s Gate.  Where we can stand clothed in the robe of righteousness purchased with His Holy blood.  

c) A mandate to complete:  Jesus has commanded us to go out into the world and preach the gospel of His death, burial, and resurrection, baptizing them in the name of the Lord.  

Praise God that Jesus was willing to be obedient to God’s will, and Praise God that from the foundations of time, the triune God has had our salvation in mind.  God sent His Son that we might have everlasting life, and the power of God raised Him from the grave so that we might walk as a new creation in the newness of life.  This is why this Easter holiday is so important to us as believers.  Jesus Christ is alive and we are going to be with Him for all of eternity.

 

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD

The ascension of our Lord and the work that He is performing today for us as our High Priest is significant to our faith.  Jesus is alive and working for us today.  Jesus did not just go off into heaven and leave us never to be heard from again.   His work on earth has provided us with a perfect and complete salvation.   His work in Heaven continues our salvation as our great High Priest in the Holy Tabernacle in Heaven.  Jesus is alive.  Jesus is working for us in Heaven, and Jesus is coming back.  These are things that distinguish our faith from all other religions.  These are things we base our faith on.

THE RESURRECTION BODY-PART III (1 Cor. 15:46-58)

In this closing section on the resurrection, Paul tells us what happens to those believers that are alive at the time of the resurrection.  He provides us with the order of the change to the resurrection body for the believer, and then he describes what the resurrected body will be made of.  Listen to what God says about the body you will spend eternity in.

THE RESURRECTION BODY-PART II (1 Cor. 15:40-45)

How will our resurrection bodies be different from our earthly bodies?  How will those changes affect the body, soul, and spirit that comprise our human nature?  Paul answers these questions in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Cor. 15:40-45. Learn how we will be able to explore the entire universe in our new body, and how our new bodies will no longer grow old, never ache, never get sick, never fail, and never sin.  Listen and rejoice to what awaits each believer on that resurrection day.

THE RESURRECTION BODY-PART 1 (1 Cor. 15:29-39)

The form and capabilities of the resurrected body has been a topic of discussion among Christians ever since Christ told the disciples that He was going to Heaven to prepare a place for them.  Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians is a treasure trove of information about our resurrected body.  Of course, those that do not believe in an afterlife, find no need to discuss what form the body they will spend eternity in.  For them the grave is all that awaits their physical body, and they live their life in accordance with this belief.  The secular world says eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.  The grave is it, and there is no value in thinking about the resurrection.   In this verse-by-verse study of 1 Cor. 15:29-39 Paul tells us about the value of the resurrection, and then he begins a description of the resurrected body.  Listen and rejoice to what God says about the body you will spend eternity in.

THE ORDER OF THE RESURRECTIONS (1 Cor. 15:20-28)

Contrary to what most religions will tell you, there is not just one general resurrection where, based on their works, God chooses the good from the bad, and the good go to heaven and the bad go to hell. 

 

Absolutely not.  There are multiple resurrections and they each have an important role in fulfilling God’s plan for the redemption of a sin-cursed earth and a sinful man. 

 

In this verse-by-verse study of 1 Cor. 15:20-28 Paul tells us the order of these resurrections, and we will discuss which of the resurrections each of us will participate in, based on one single question, “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, or not?”

 

Listen as Paul tells us that there is something beyond the grave for each of us, and we get to choose what that is. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION (1 Cor. 15:12-19)

 This lesson is on the importance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There is no middle ground on this subject.  This is not an issue that as believers we can equivocate on and try to be politically correct so as not to offend anyone.  We cannot say things like "Well, we can't be sure about the Resurrection, so let's not say too much about it."  This fact is so important that we must take our stand.  We stand on a foundation; that foundation is the Rock, and the Rock is Christ.  He came back from the dead.    Christianity rises and falls on that Rock.  If Christ did not rise, then our faith is in vain.  Our sins and our iniquities cling to us still.  Hell has triumphed.  Death has won.  Satan was victorious.  The curse remains.  Judgment for all looms.  Our faith is folly.  Listen and glorify God as Paul confronts this issue head on.  Christ did rise and He lives today.  Rejoice as Paul describes in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Cor. 15:12-19 what the Resurrection means to you and I.

THE PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION (1 Cor. 15:5-11)

The gospel message of Jesus Christ rests upon two indisputable facts, the death of Jesus Christ as propitiation for our sins, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.  If Christ did not rise, then His death had no meaning.  It would mean that Jesus was not the Son of God, that He was instead just another man.   It is because Christ rose from the dead that you and I know that He conquered death forever and that we can have eternal live with Him if we make Him our Savior.  The work of our salvation was completed when Jesus Christ came out of that tomb.  Listen as Paul describes the proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in this verse-by-verse study of 1 Cor. 15:5-11.