Can't Keep a God-Man Down!
by Pastor Bill Limmer of Point of Grace, Milwaukee, WI
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome to God’s living room,
In The Jungle Book: Mowgli, the man cub, asks the animals what’s
the most feared thing in the jungle. He’s told that when two animals meet on a narrow path that one must step aside and let the other pass. The animal that steps aside for no one would then be the most feared.
Mowgli wants to know what kind of animal would that be? One tells him it’s an elephant. Another tells him it’s a lion. Finally the wise old owl exclaims, “The most feared thing in the jungle is death. It steps aside for no one.” It doesn’t matter how physically strong, financially rich, fantastically popular or overwhelmingly powerful. Death is an absolute truth for all of us unless Jesus comes back first because death was not the destiny of Jesus Christ. Since He was God in the flesh, death had to step aside for him
Lk. 24:1-8 – 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! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.
Today we continue to celebrate Easter for Rom. 6:9 – For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.--A celebration that death could not keep a God-man down!
That is the difference between Christianity and all other religious leaders. Death did not cave in for Muhammad or Buddha or Confucius. Their religious teachings made an impact on the world but they died never to be seen alive again. But Jesus was more than a great teacher, more than a man, He was God and He proved His superiority over all religious teacher by conquering the grave. Stan Jantz: “To this day, hundreds of millions of people put their faith in Muhammad, Buddha or Confucius, but they all died centuries ago. Not one of them rose from the dead – none even claimed that they would come back from the dead. Of all the great spiritual leaders who walked the earth, Jesus is the only one who died and then rose again from the dead.”
Jesus’ resurrection is the most important and crucial part of our faith. If the resurrection did not happen, then the claims of the New Testament are nothing more than a lie. “No resurrection, no Christianity.” Without the reality of the resurrection, our Bible is just a collection of good sayings and good advice. The resurrection is important to our faith because it’s what guarantees the absolute validity about who Jesus was and the truth of His teachings. If there was no resurrection of Christ, then our faith is based on the teachings of a mere man. If there’s no resurrection then there’s no life after death. If Jesus stayed in the grave, then so will we. If His work on earth ended at the cross, He can’t give eternal life to anyone because you cannot give away what you do not possess yourself.
If there was no resurrection then there’s no meaning in life. This world is a pretty meaningless place without the hope of eternity. --1 Cor. 15:17 – If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for you sins. 1 Cor. 15:19 – If we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world. If there was no resurrection then there’s also no forgiveness of sins.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely essential for us to have any hope at all. In case you curious about this, keep in mind that the disciples died for it. They believe it. They wouldn’t die for a lie. And the New Testament records 11 visits of the resurrected Christ to people including over 500 people witnessed him at one time.
The most convincing report of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances is given to us by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 15:6 – “Jesus was raised on the third day according to the scriptures and he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time most of who are still living.” Paul is saying that resurrection of Jesus didn’t happen in a corner somewhere. Large numbers of people saw Him alive: in different locations, at different times, and in different circumstances over a forty day period. Lee Strobel, The Case for Easter points out that if every person the Bible identifies as being an eyewitness to Jesus’ resurrection were called to the witness stand to be cross-examined, it would take 129 hours to hear their testimony at only 15 minutes a person. So it would take from breakfast on Monday until Friday at dinner time listening around the clock to hear the testimony of those witnesses.
An additional proof is the work of Jesus today. The risen Jesus is still working people’s lives today. Yes…Jesus still touches lives today. There are those here in this church who will tell you the same thing about their lives Jesus’ power has touched them. They will tell you that Jesus’ resurrection power has freed them from alcohol or drug addiction. It has saved their marriages, brought them out of deep depression and given them a purpose
Some of them will tell you that the reason they are still alive today is because they’ve met the risen Jesus.
According to Dr. Robert Browning, The November, 2001 Sports Illustrated magazine was covering the baseball World Series in which the Arizona Diamondbacks recovered from a slump to defeat the New York Yankees in the last inning of the final game. It started the editors thinking about the greatest comebacks in history. So, they produced their list of the "TOP TEN COMEBACKS OF ALL TIME." It was quite a broad list. Elvis Presley was on it, as a result of his TV special in 1968 that revived his sagging career. Muhammad Ali made the list when he returned from his forced seven-year exile from boxing, to reclaim the world championship. Harry Truman made the cut, owing to his 1948 victory over Thomas Dewey when all the polls had him losing by a large margin. When Michael Jordan gave up baseball and returned to his first love of basketball, he found a spot on the top ten comebacks in history. Even humanity was on the list-after recovering from the Black Plague of the 14th century when 25 million Europeans died. Number two among the all-time comebacks was a tie between Japan and Germany, devastated in the Second World War but becoming world economic powers within a generation. And number one- named by the editors of Sports Illustrated magazine in the November 12, 2001, issue-the greatest comeback of all time ... Jesus Christ. AD 33.
Do you need a comeback? Life has you down and feeling defeated. Your chances are slim and none and slim just took the bus out of town. That’s okay. You can place your hope and trust in the greatest comeback of all time: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Through Him you can experience victory both in this life and the next.
Death could not keep the God-man, Jesus Christ, down. If you’ll truly trust in Him, there’s nothing that can keep you down, either. Ray Stedman: “The resurrection is not only good news; it is the best news possible. Rom. 6:3-5 – “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”