THE ALL-CONQUERING RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 31, 2024 under 2024 |

Bethany Bible Church Resurrection Sunday Sermon Message, March 31, 2024 from Various Passages

Theme: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is crucial to our salvation because of the things it conquers.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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When I first trusted Jesus as my Savior and Lord a little over fifty years ago, many things changed for me. And among them is how I greet what I have come to call ‘Resurrection Sunday’.

Before then, this holiday was fun to be sure. There was a basket, there were treats, and there was family. But the real meaning and significance of it never gripped me. I knew it had something to do with Jesus, but I wasn’t sure why He was significant to the day. It really wasn’t explained to me all that much. And I suppose I really didn’t care much about it one way or the other.

But when I finally came to terms with the fact that I was a sinner and that I desperately needed to be saved, and when I heard the good news that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I placed my faith in Him and believed. And after I placed my trust in what Jesus did on the cross for me, when this holiday came around, I truly celebrated for the first time with understanding and gratitude. The same Jesus who died for me also rose from the dead for me. He’s alive! And over the years, the significance of this day has never faded for me. It’s only grown stronger.

I hope that has been your experience too. I don’t believe that the cross of Jesus can really mean anything to someone unless their true spiritual condition hits home for them: that they’re a sinner who desperately needs to be saved. Likewise, I don’t believe that the resurrection of Jesus can really mean anything to someone unless they have trusted the crucified Lord for their salvation.

Did you know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an absolutely essential part of the gospel? A genuine faith in the whole story of Jesus is what saves us; and that includes the story of His literal, bodily resurrection from the tomb.

The apostle Paul wrote a great deal about this in 1 Corinthians 15. At the beginning of that chapter, he wrote,

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

We can’t do without the message of Jesus’ resurrection. It’s key to the gospel that saves us.

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This morning, I’d like for us to think about what I call ‘the all-conquering resurrection of Jesus’. I’d like to open up the Bible with you and show you the things that His victorious resurrection—the literal fact of it—gives to us. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is crucial to our salvation because of the things it conquers for us.

So then; what are the things that Jesus’ resurrection conquers for us?

When I ask that question, I’ll bet something comes to your mind right away. It’s almost so obvious that it hardly needs to be said. Jesus’ resurrection conquers the greatest enemy there is …

DEATH.

We’ve already opened our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15, where the apostle Paul has shown us that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a key part of the gospel that saves us. Look at what he wrote at the end of that chapter. He calls death “sleep” for the believer; because the believer in Jesus will rise. And so, starting with verse 50, he goes on to say;

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:50-57).

Our Lord, by His resurrection, gave us victory over death. He was crucified in the flesh but was raised by the Spirit. When we believe on Him, God sends the Holy Spirit to take residence in us; and because Jesus rose from the dead—by the power of the Holy Spirit—so will we. In Romans 8:11, the apostle Paul put it this way:

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

So the first great thing that our Lord’s resurrection conquered for us—the greatest and most threatening enemy that we could have—is death. He has gained the victory over it for us. He Himself has even told us so. Do you remember what He Himself said when He went to raise His friend Lazarus from the dead? In John 11:25-26, He told Lazarus’ sister Martha;

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

He spoke those words before He Himself was crucified and was raised from the dead. And then after He was raised—in Revelation 1:18—He confirmed it when told the apostle John;

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:18).

So, what a great reason we have to celebrate today! Jesus’ resurrection has conquered death!

And that reminds us of something else the Lord Jesus’ resurrection has conquered for us … or perhaps it would be better if I say ‘someone’ that it has conquered. And I’ll bet you can also think right away of who that is. It’s …

THE DEVIL.

The devil is also a great enemy. And yet, our Lord has conquered Him and has made us victorious over Him. As it also says in the Book of Revelation—in 12:10-11;

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:10-11).

You see; when the Son of God came into this world, He submitted to being born into the human family as one of us. He became a ‘flesh and blood’ man who could experience death—just like us—so that, by His death, He could gain victory over the devil who introduced sin and death into the human family. As Hebrews 2:14-15 says;

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15).

The devil made us his victims through the terror of death. But Jesus has released us from the devil’s power by conquering death. And thus, His resurrection has also conquered the devil. He’s still around. He’s still active. But he’s been defeated and we’re now out of his power. Praise God!

Now; that leads us to think of yet another thing that the resurrection of Jesus conquered for us; and that’s …

SIN.

Our sin was what the devil used to accuse us before God. It’s the sting of death. And Jesus took the devil’s argument away by dying for our sins and by being raised from the dead. And what’s more, having trusted His sacrifice for our sins in the past, Jesus’ resurrection also conquers the sin in our lives in the present. His resurrection sets us free from bondage and slavery to sin.

The apostle Paul wrote a great deal about this in Romans 6. He said to his believing brothers and sisters;

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:1-2).

We might be surprised to hear that. We might say, “Really? We’ve died?” And the answer for the man or woman in Christ is that yes, we have. When we believed on Jesus, God placed us in Jesus so completely and intimately that whatever happened to Jesus is now counted by God to be true of us. He died; and as far as our Father is concerned, our old ‘self’ also died with Him. He also rose; and as far as our Father is concerned, we also rose with Him to new life. The apostle Paul went on to write;

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (v. 3).

In ancient times—as today—when someone wanted to change the color of cloth, they’d dip it in a vat of dye. When they pulled that cloth out of the vat, it would become the color of that dye—and would forever be identified by that dye’s color. The name that was used to describe that ‘dipping’ was ‘baptism’. And we have been ‘baptized’ by the Father into His Son. God the Father—as it were—dips us into Jesus so that we become forever identified with all that Jesus did. Paul went on to write;

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord (vv. 4-11).

Dear brothers and sisters; before we believed on Jesus, we were the helpless slaves of sin. Sin told us what to do, and we had to obey. But Jesus has not only died for our sins but He was also resurrected for us unto life. We have died with Him, and sin now has no more authority over us than it has over a dead person. And because we have been raised with Jesus, we are now also set free to give ourselves to a new Master—God our Father. So; here’s another thing that Jesus’ resurrection conquers for us. It conquers our old slave-master sin! Jesus’ resurrection has set us free!

And along with sin, our Lord’s resurrection also conquers another thing for us; and that’s …

CONDEMNATION.

Our guilt for sin was what condemned us before a holy God. We stood before Him as sinners who were absolutely worthy of eternal judgment. But Jesus’ death for our sins took all of our guilt before God away. And it was His resurrection that proved to the whole world that God the Father was satisfied with the payment that Jesus made for our sins. If I may put it this way, Jesus’ resurrection was proof to us that the cross worked.

In Romans 4, the apostle Paul wrote about how Abraham believed God’s promises to him, and by his faith in God’s promises, Abraham was declared justified in God’s sight. And that’s when we’re told that the resurrection of Jesus conquers condemnation for us. In verses 22-25, Paul wrote,

And therefore “it was accounted to him [that is, to Abraham] for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:22-25).

To be “justified” means that we’ve been declared 100% righteous in God’s sight. And can you see it? Because of our faith in the Father’s promise through the gospel—who gave His Son to die for our sins, and who then raised Him from the dead in victory—we’re declared 100% righteous in the Father’s sight too. Just think of what it says in Romans 8:1;

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus … (Romans 8:1).

Jesus, our Lord, has—by His resurrection—conquered condemnation for sin!

And with it, He conquered something that was brought about because of our former condemnation; and that is …

SEPARATION.

Separation is a horrible result of sin. When Adam sinned, a division occurred between himself and his wife Eve. And together, they became separated from God. God called out to Adam, “Where are you?” There’s no more dreadful ‘separation’ that we can experience than separation from God our Creator; and that separation from our holy Creator was a result of our fall into sin.

But God sent His Son to die for our sin; and Jesus’ resurrection has conquered that separation. It ended our separation from God by reconciling us to Him. As Paul wrote in Romans 5:6-11;

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when 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. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (Romans 5:6-11).

I love what the apostle Peter wrote about this. In 1 Peter 3:18, he said;

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit … (1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus, by His resurrection, has brought us to His Father in a condition of full reconciliation with Him. Jesus’ resurrection has conquered separation.

And briefly consider just a few other things that Jesus’ resurrection conquered for us. It has, for example, conquered …

DESPAIR.

It’s a horrible thing to be in a condition of hopelessness and despair. And if all that we had to hope for was what we saw and experienced in this world, we’d have reason for hopelessness and endless despondency. But the apostle Peter has told us how Jesus’ resurrection has conquered despair for us and has given us joyful hope. In 1 Peter 1:3-9—in a truly glorious introduction to a letter he wrote to suffering Christians—he said;

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:3-9).

In Jesus, we have a glorious eternal inheritance. It’s guaranteed to us by Jesus’ resurrection; and we now rejoice in it—no matter what else may happen in this world. His resurrection has completely conquered despair!

It has also conquered …

CONFUSION.

I’ll admit that I have a hard time naming this thing that Jesus’ resurrection has conquered for us. ‘Confusion’ is the best name I can think of for it. But what I mean by it is that Jesus—by His resurrection—has removed all questions about who we should look to or trust for our salvation. The tangled mess presented to us by different philosophies and religions has now been cleared away. God has made the way to salvation absolutely clear to us.

In the Book of Acts, the apostle Paul was preaching to the people of Athens—people who were famous around the world for their many conflicting philosophies and religions. They worshiped all kinds of false gods and sought various paths to salvation. But in Acts 17:30-31, he told them;

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

And so now, all people of all cultures can know the truth. The confusion is taken out of the way. God has made it easy for everyone to know the way to salvation. It’s all centered upon the Man that He raised from the dead. Paul said the same sort of thing at the beginning of the Book of Romans—a book of the Bible that sets forth the gospel to us very clearly. He introduced it this way:

Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:1-4).

So now, all who want to can know the truth. Now, all who sincerely desire salvation can perceive the way to God. Now, no one has to wander around in spiritual darkness—groping through the confusion for the path to God. Jesus has conquered the confusion by His own resurrection from the dead.

Another thing His resurrection has conquered is …

WEAKNESS.

We often think that we’re just too frail and helpless in this world to live in the way God wants us to live. We often fear that we just don’t have it in us to defeat our sinful habits and addictive behaviors, and to live the holy life we should. But that’s because we don’t understand what the resurrection of Jesus has shown to us. It shows us the greatness of the power of God at work in us.

In Ephesians 1:19-23, the apostle Paul prayed for his believing friends that they would have ‘the eyes of their understanding enlightened’ so that they might know … among other things …

… what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:19-23).

By ourselves, we truly are weak and helpless. But the Holy Spirit now dwells in us by faith—empowering us to live according to God’s will. And how great is the Spirit’s life-changing power in us? It’s the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at the Father’s right hand in power and glory. So; Jesus, by His resurrection, conquers our weakness. We can now do all things through Him who strengthens us.

And let me add one more thing that Jesus’ resurrection conquered. His resurrection has conquered …

ME.

I was once the enemy of the heavenly Father. I walked and lived in rebellion against Him. But He has conquered me—in the very best and most wonderful way—by the resurrection of Jesus. In Ephesians 2:1-7, the apostle Paul wrote;

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-7).

I’m eternally grateful and glad that the resurrection of Jesus has conquered me. The apostle Paul was glad too. In Galatians 2:20, he was able to say;

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which 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).

I hope you’ve been conquered by the resurrection of Jesus too; and that you are now happy to have been set free by Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; as you can plainly see, the all-conquering resurrection of Jesus Christ is an essential part of the gospel. It’s good news by which we are saved. We see the things that Jesus has conquered for us by His resurrection. He’s conquered death, the devil, sin, condemnation, separation, despair, confusion, weakness, and even me. Praise God for the all-conquering resurrection of Jesus Christ!

And what should we do about it? The apostle Paul told us what we should do in Romans 10:9-11 when he wrote;

… that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:9-11).

AE