INTRODUCTION

1. The enemies of Jesus thought that He was defeated when they crucified Him, but they were wrong. Jesus overcame death, and He lives again.

2. Proof of Christ's life after His crucifixion was abundant after His resurrection, and His enemies could not refute it.

   1. There were more than five hundred witnesses of Jesus after His resurrection (1Cor. 15:5-8).  Only two or three were required to prove a fact (Matt. 18:16).

   2. There was also an empty grave that no longer held the body of Jesus.  His enemies would have silenced and stopped Christ's disciples if they had produced His body, but they could not (Matt. 28:1-15).

3. Because of this proof, we know that Jesus lives.  What does His life now mean to us?  The answers to this question are the subject of our present lesson.

    

BECAUSE HE LIVES...

1. Because He lives, we know that He is Lord and God.

   1. Crucifixion was a brutal means of execution that men did not survive.  Jesus certainly died on the cross as witnessed by men (John 19:30-42), and the only way He could live again was by the supernatural power of God.

   2. If Jesus had remained dead in the grave, then we would know for certain that He was not God.  Instead, He would have been an ordinary man subject to death and decay like all others.

   3. However, Jesus did not remain in the grave, but instead He was raised to live again.  Concerning death, Peter said that "it was impossible for Him to be held in its power" (Acts 2:24).

   4. Because of His resurrection, Thomas declared the only possible conclusion concerning Jesus: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).

   5. In Romans 1:4, the Scripture says that Jesus "was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead."

   6. Likewise, when Peter preached of His resurrection, he showed that it proved Jesus to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

   7. His resurrection is a convincing sign of His deity that He Himself prophesied and promised (Matt. 12:38-40; John 2:18-22).  The fact that He lives proves that He is Lord and God.

2. Because He lives, He now intercedes for us.

   1. This fact is stated in several passages of Scripture:

      1. Romans 8:34 -- Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

      2. Hebrews 7:25 -- Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

      3. 1John 2:1-2 -- ¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

   2. Christ's work for us did not end when He departed from this world.  He continues to work on our behalf as a High Priest, an Intercessor, and an Advocate.

   3. This means that He stands between us and the Holy Father, pleading for us and communicating on our behalf.  He is uniquely qualified for this work, for He is God, but He has lived as a man (Heb. 4:14-16).

3. Because He lives, we know that God will judge the world through Him.

   1. Consider the words of Paul in Acts 17:30-31:

      ³⁰"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, ³¹because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

   2. The present life of Jesus following His crucifixion proves that He will be the Judge of the world because it gives evidence of who He is and of what He said.

      1. If Jesus had not been raised and did not live today, then He would have been liar and a false prophet, for He said that He would rise from the dead (Matt. 16:21; John 2:18-22). He certainly could not be a Judge if He remained in the grave.

      2. Because He was raised just as He said, we know that His words were all true, for the power and truth of God obviously were in Him.

      3. Among His promises was the claim that He would raise the dead and judge them (John 5:22-30).  His own resurrection is proof that this claim is true like all of His other claims.

   3. Now we wait for His coming, "for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2Cor. 5:10).

4. Because He lives, we shall be raised from the dead.

   1. The resurrection of Jesus indicates that all souls will be also raised from the dead.  Consider 1Corinthians 15:22, which says, "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive."

   2. The Lord Jesus said Himself that He would call all of the dead from the tombs.  Those who did good deeds will experience a resurrection of life, but those who committed evil deeds will receive a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).

   3. Because He lives and has been raised from the dead Himself, we know that He will raise us also just as He said.

5. Because He lives, we shall be saved from the wrath of God.

   1. Notice Romans 5:9-10:

      ⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.  ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

   2. The death of Jesus by the shedding of His blood justified us (made us righteous) in the sight of God and reconciled us back to God. We desperately needed these blessings through Jesus, but we also needed more.

   3. We also needed to be saved from the wrath of God, which is now possible because of the life of Christ.

      1. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23a), which is paid out of the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom. 1:18).

      2. All men have been subject to death since the time of Adam, for death spread to all men (Rom. 5:12-14).

      3. Even those who have been justified by Christ's death are still subject to physical death, but they shall be saved from this condition because He lives (Rom. 5:15-21).  In other words, because Jesus was raised from the dead to live forever, believers in Him will also be raised from the dead to live forever (Rom. 6:5-9).  In this way, we shall be saved from the wrath of God.

      4. In the same way, Christ's life also saves infants and children who die without the guilt of sin. They will not be held in the power of death forever because Christ has already broken that power (Heb. 2:14-15).

      5. In the end, this world will be destroyed by the wrath of God, but we Christians will be spared from this wrath because Christ lives and we live in Him (1Thess. 4:13-18; 2Pet. 3:7-14).

          

CONCLUSION

1. In truth, everything has its existence and purpose because He lives, for "all things have been created by Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16).

2. Because this is true, it is our duty to dedicate ourselves to His service.  We live because He lives, and unless we live for Him, our lives will be in vain.