Ligon Duncan on Resurrection

Today's extract is from a sermon by Ligon Duncan on 1 Corinthians 15 called 'Why the Resurrection Matters.'

What is the Significance of the Resurrection? Now. What does Paul teach us about the significance of the resurrection? There are several things that Paul teaches us consecutively in the book of Romans. So if you would, please turn with me to the book of Romans, chapter 1. There isn’t time for an indepth survey of the significance of the resurrection. It is so rich. We could, for instance, point out the fact that the resurrection distinguishes Jesus Christ from all other world religious leaders. Buddha never claimed to be raised from the dead, nor did Mohammed, nor did Confucius. None of the world's great religions have at their core a resurrected savior. And so the resurrection sets Jesus apart from the rest of the world's religions. But I want you to focus in on four things that Paul says about the significance of the resurrection beginning in Romans, 1. We will see this in Romans 1, Romans 4, Romans 6 and Romans 8. In Romans 1:4, Paul says that Christ Jesus was declared the Son of God, with power, by the resurrection from the dead. And so, the resurrection is the proof of the atoning character of the death of Christ, and His deity, and His divine exaltation. We know that He is who He said He is, by His resurrection. He is the Son of God. And we say that He was the Son of God by His resurrection. This is a vitally important truth about the resurrection. If you go 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul tells us that Jesus was vindicated in the Spirit. When was He vindicated in the Spirit? He was vindicated when, as 2 Peter reminds us, He was raised, by the Spirit from the dead. God gave an incontrovertible testimony that His Son was the divine, living Son of God by the resurrection. That's the first and most important thing that the resurrection witnesses to. It gives us proof of his deity.

Secondly, if you will turn forward to Romans 24:25, Paul emphasizes that the resurrection is a testimony to the certainty of our justification. Our redemption rests upon the truth of Jesus' resurrection. Look at what Paul says in Romans 4:25: "He, who was delivered up for our transgressions..." Jesus was delivered over, betrayed into the hands of His enemies in order that He would suffer in our place, for our transgressions; the first part of the clause. Then Paul goes on to say, "and was raised for our justification". He was raised for the sake of our justification, for the purpose of our justification. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is that which gets us our justification, by grace. It is that which gets us the forgiveness of sin. It is that which gains, for us, our redemption. And so, our assurance of salvation rests upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is not an afterthought. It is absolutely essential to our salvation.
Thirdly, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only something that points us forward to the resurrection at the last day, it is something that helps us, day by day, because, Paul teaches that the resurrection is the source of the new life that we live now, as believers. Look at Romans 6:4, Paul says, in this great verse, "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism, into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, so we might walk in newness of life." Now, you know what you are expecting him to say? You are expecting him to say that, "So that as Christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the Father, we, one day, will be raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father." And that is true. That is a very true thing, but that is not what Paul says here. As Christ was raised by the glory of the Father, then we, too, may walk in newness of life. What is He saying? He is saying that our union with Christ, by faith in His resurrection, provides us the source, the energy, the power, the grace to live the Christian life right now. It is one of the great distinctive aspects of the New Testament teaching about the Christian life that we do not do it in our own strength; that we do it in the power of the grace of the living God. Where do you get that from? From your union with Christ, in His resurrection. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in you, now. That's a staggering truth and its really hard to believe. And if you didn't really believe what Paul has already said about the resurrection of Jesus christ, and if you don't really believe what the Scripture says about that power, you will find it very hard to take that in. But that is precisely what Paul is saying.

Fourth and last, Paul tells us that the resurrection is the guarantee of our resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of our resurrection. In Romans 8:13, here the apostle emphasizes, beginning in verse 11, this glorious truth -"if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through His Spirit who indwells you." If the Spirit of Jesus dwells in you, and He is the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, so also He will raise your mortal bodies from the dead. In all these ways Paul points to the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for us as believers.

Many people would say this doctrine is "pie in the sky, by and by." "It's wishful thinking." Far from it. Notice that much of what Paul says about the resurrection is about this life that we are living right now. An important part of it, to be sure, is to come. But much of what he says about this resurrection is about 'right now.'

Secondly, notice that this truth is a truth that Paul already knew to be counterintutive. You see, we can't think, "Okay we've gotten so smart in our post-modern age that we've moved beyond the fairy tale belief in the resurrection." Folks, there were already Greeks and Jews in Paul's day saying this is a fairy tale. And Paul, one who did not believe in Jesus Christ himself at first, was constrained on the road to Damascus to believe in this truth of the resurrection, not because he was already temperamentally, emotionally, inclined to believe it, but because the reality was forced upon him when Jesus met him personally. You never had to convince Paul of the grounding of the truth of the resurrection in reality. He had met the risen Lord. And though it was against every instinct of his being he came to embrace it, not just because it was good, but because it was true. Its the most true thing that you could ever imagine. And therefore, because of its truth, all of life is changed. May God grant you that change of life through the gospel.

Read the complete sermon at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/Topical_Seasonal%20%20Sermons/easter%20sermons/2002.htm