Resurrection Sunday

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

            “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:1-6a).

            A man named Jesus walked all over Palestine preaching about the coming kingdom, healing the sick, and claiming to be God’s Son. He walked into Jerusalem, angered the authorities, and within a week was killed on a Roman execution device. Three days later, this dead man walked out of His borrowed tomb very much alive.

            Do you believe this?

            Do you believe that this man represented the Passover Lamb, a sacrifice meant to achieve the solution for our sins, sins that deserved death?

            Do you believe then that by putting your faith and trust in this man, Jesus, God has forgiven you of your sins?

            Then what more do you need to know?

            Nothing…and everything. This profession, that Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins and rose again to eternal life, is only the first step in your journey of faith. It is enough to be saved from judgment. But the journey of faith is an ever expanding experience as we follow Jesus to the ultimate conclusion.

            When Paul heard about the faith of the Christians in Ephesus, he wrote to them and explained to them the riches of being in Christ. Then he prayed for them that they would know more fully, more deeply what this all meant. This is a pastoral prayer for a church that believes in the risen Jesus.

1. Praise God for your faith

Believing is as simple as confessing what you know in your heart. What we believe, our faith in Christ, on the other hand, is no simple thing. To believe in God means believing that He had an elaborate plan to gather a people to Himself before the world even began.

            Consider Paul’s language earlier in chapter one: “…he chose us in him before the creation of the world…” (4); “he predestined us to be adopted…” (5); “In him we have redemption through his blood…” (7); “…he made known to us the mystery of his will…” (9); “…you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth…” (13). God’s forethought of you and I is amazing to behold.

            Considering God’s plan of salvation, considering that you are no accident but are included in God’s purposes, considering at what great cost God sent His Son to accomplish this, our belief may be simple but what we believe is complex.

            This is why Paul prays for the believers in Ephesus. He prays that they may grow in this faith. But first, Paul praises God that they have faith. “…ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus…”

            Paul’s words are carefully chosen. When Paul writes about Jesus, usually he writes “Christ Jesus” or “Lord Jesus.” He deliberately addresses Jesus as Messiah or as King. This is a reflection of the post-resurrection reality of who the Lord Jesus is in the hearts of believers. So when Paul states that he has heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus, there is a direct reference not only to the humanity and historicity of a person named Jesus, but to their confession that Jesus died and rose again.

            The evidence for Paul that this faith is genuine manifests itself in the love these people have for others who believe in the Lord Jesus. “…ever since I heard about…your love for all the saints” Jesus expressed His will for the church, the gathered people of God, that the world would recognize them by the love that they had for each other (John 13:34-35). This love was a hallmark that assured Paul that their faith had roots in the teaching of Christ. Unfortunately, in a few short decades, the church would lose this initial love (Rev. 2:4).

            Take a local church, any local church, and think about what brings these people together. They have different interests, disagree on politics and ethical issues…the church is a gathering of people that should just not get along. Yet they have one common unifier: faith in Jesus Christ. And because of this faith in the Lord Jesus, they love each other.

            I thank God for your faith KEMC. I thank God for people who love the Lord as I do and who understand my worldview for the most part as it pertains to Jesus. I thank God that I am not alone but have the church to stand with.

2. Praying that you might know

Paul had praised the Ephesians for their faith in the Lord Jesus, the crucified, risen Lord of glory. They had proved their faith through the love and faithfulness they had shown. Now Paul prays for them that they would be able to grasp the deep truths of the faith they profess. Some of these amazing truths are hard to comprehend, for them and for us.

            Though we may not grasp all the depths of this gospel, we need to know that we are complete in Jesus, that we have everything we need to be Christ-followers. At the same time, we want to understand all that we have been given in Christ. Thus the prayer…that we might know:

a) That you might know the mystery of God – What we need to know cannot be taught in a class or read from a book. We have talked these last few Sundays about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and it is only through the Spirit that we can grasp the mystery of God.

            Paul prayed, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you might know him better” (17). What is a spirit of wisdom and revelation? What Paul wants the believers to have is a complete understanding of their position in Christ and of what they possess in Christ. The revelation of who Jesus Christ is, that He is the Son of God who reveals the Father to us, can only be seen with spiritual eyes. The world cannot know Him. The world cannot fathom a man dying on a cross and rising from the dead.

            Around Easter time every year, skeptics begin a relentless campaign. This year, McLean’s top article was about a new research that uses memory analysis to disprove that Jesus even existed. A so-called NT scholar was quoted as the originator of this theory that the early believers’ memory was faulty and that as time passed they made up stories about Jesus. This scholar, it turned out, was an agnostic skeptic. For some reason, cynics like to drag everyone down into their unbelief.

            Paul’s prayer then is crucial for the believers – that we might comprehend the mystery of God, that a man claiming to be God’s Son, dying on a cross and rising from the dead, saves us.

            Paul’s prayer continues in this theme: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (18). We sometimes talk of visualizing something with our mind’s eye. Did you know that your heart has eyes? The heart is the seat of our understanding, thinking, and feeling (not just feeling). It is a combination of what we feel and think. We sing, “Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you…” and rightly so. We want to be able to see the Jesus of the gospels. We want to know the hope that knowing Him brings us. We want to know that because of the cross we are acceptable to God and nothing can separate us from His love. We know this through the enlightening of our hearts.

            This hope is made more astounding as we see that we are “his glorious inheritance.” Earlier, Paul said that the Holy Spirit is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (13-14). Here we see that we are Christ’s inheritance. He looks forward to having us! He wants us! That’s why He went to the cross with such determination. Jesus went to cross “for the joy set before him” (Heb 12:2). That is our hope and joy.

b) That you might know God’s power – Next Paul prays that we might know the mighty power of God at work in our lives. This request is so important that Paul used four different words to describe the “incomparably great power for us who believe.”

            The first word “power” or “dunamis” is where we get the English “dynamo.” This kind of power is inherent power that resides in something or someone by virtue of its nature. Paul heaps on an adjective to emphasize that it is “exceedingly great” power.

            The second word is “working” or “energia” from which we get the English word “energy.” We get energy from the Holy Spirit to live for Jesus day by day. He is at work within us to give us power to live as Christians.

            The third word is “mighty” or “ischus.” It speaks of ability or strength. The power of God within us gives us supernatural spiritual ability to do what would otherwise be impossible. It is the same word Paul uses when he says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

            And the fourth word is “strength” or “kratos.” We have been given dominion over our lives and that which God gives us. We have the power over life to live for God.

            What I find amazing about this power is the illustration that Paul uses to describe it. He says, “That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead…” (19-20). We understand the dynamics of planting, growing, creating, and nurturing. We can make a plant spring to life; we can even create artificial life through robotics. But if something dies we are powerless to bring it back. When a plant dies, it’s done. Humankind fantasized about making dead things live in the fictional story of Frankenstein, but that’s all it is – fiction.

            But God can make the dead come to life. Jesus was dead and buried. Three days he was in the tomb, decomposing. He was dead – crucified – speared in the side – dead. And with the breath of His mouth, God raised Jesus to life. That’s a power that humankind cannot replicate. That is pure power.

            Now Paul says that this is the power at work within you and me. Paul prayed that we would know this power, experience this power, to believe that God can do amazing things in us and through us. This power is in you!

c) That you might know Christ’s majesty – Paul’s third request for the believers is to know the Lord Jesus glorified. Jesus Christ finished the course; He did the work; Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours be done,” and went to the cross. He completed the work the Father had given Him to do. So when God raised Him up, He really raised Him up – He seated Jesus at His own right hand (20), giving Him a position of power and authority, as Paul said “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given…” (21). Jesus rules!

            You know how I like to quote the first part of the hymn in Philippians 2, how I underline that Jesus left the riches of heaven, His station with God, to become a servant and a slave to death, even death on a cross. Now is the time to quote the rest of this hymn. Because Jesus died on the cross at the will of God “…God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 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” (Phil. 2:9-11).

            God gave the crucified Lord Jesus the crown, making His Son the King of the Universe, not just over spiritual things but over all things, seen and unseen, living and dead, with a title that supersedes all titles (president, prime minister, queen) for ever and ever.

            And when you call Jesus “Lord” you are acknowledging that He is the King, that He is the Lord of all things and the Lord of your life. You are His subject and you acknowledge that His way, His will, His word is your way, will, and word, to the glory of the Father.

            “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (22-23).

Do you believe what I have been saying?

Those who understand, even a little bit, of what I am saying have experienced the victory of Christ that we celebrate on this day, this Resurrection Sunday. You grasp the truth of what we have in Christ. You live and speak and act on what you know to be true. It is a simple thing. You “get it.”

            Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would “get it.” And I want to “get it” too. I want to know more about this Lord Jesus and all that is mine in Christ through cross. Do you want that too?

            My hope and prayer is that we will know the spiritual blessings that we already have in Christ. That incredibly great power that is at work within us, that overwhelming claim that Christ has upon our lives.

            The incredibly wealthy William Randolph Hearst was a great collector of paintings. One day he read about a particular painting and became determined to own it, regardless of the cost. He sent his people out all over the world to find it. When they reported back to Hearst, they told him the painting had been found – he already owned it. The painting had been stored in one of his warehouses for years. He already owned it.

            We already have so much in Christ, more than we know or understand. I pray that we would know with the eyes of our hearts, with our experiences, and that we will live like people who know that these things are true – because in Christ, they are true.

                                                            AMEN

Our heavenly Father, thank you for Resurrection Sunday, for this day that we celebrate the Risen Lord! Thank you, that even though we are centuries removed from this incredible event, we have the Spirit of revelation to show us that Jesus lives and that He is now King.

            We have many facts and words written down for us, and we are the recipients of great knowledge. But we know that when we bend our knees, open our hearts, and invite the Spirit of God to show us these truths in the Word of God, this knowledge becomes living and attractive and compelling. Lord Jesus, help us to know you better, that the eyes of our hearts will be enlightened, and our faith will be empowered.

            We confess that we are sinners, because we know that only those who admit their sin can know this grace and receive this Lord Jesus. Now live in us and through us so that others may know this grace and truth.

            In Jesus name we pray…Amen!