Sermon Cloud

 

Have you ever wondered why it is that we admire beautiful things?

 

 

 

Why do we admire an arrangement of flowers

• Why do are we attracted to a spectacular scene of nature
• Why does a sunrise stir an emotional response
• Why does a painting of a scene of nature or a fine sculpture of art draw our appreciation?

 

 

 

Why is it that those things of beauty, be it a flower or a mountain range

• Why do we call them beautiful?
  • Why are they appealing to us?

 

 

 

Why do we find certain people to be physically attractive to us

• Why do we say that certain physical qualities, like straight teeth or clear skin or a straight posture
  • …why are those things appealing to us?

 

 

 

 

…Why do we enjoy music…

• Why does the arranging of certain tones that are arranged in a specific order and performed with a certain timing…Why does that move us to tears?

 

 

 

Every person appreciates beautiful things…

• Your style of music may be different from mine…But everyone enjoys some kind of music…
• You may not find the same things beautiful as I do…But everyone finds something beautiful

…why is that?...

 

 

 

The appreciation of beauty is evidence of God…

 

 

 

If we are creatures that are simply the result of millions of years of evolution

• Then our desire for beauty makes no sense at all…

 

 

 

 

But, we are not products of evolution, we are image-bearers of the King

• And God has placed in all of us, a built-in desire for Him
  • Every human heart has a God-sized hole, so to speak, that can only be filled with God…

 

 

…and one of the indicators of that God-sized hole in our hearts, that void that only God can fill

• …is an appreciation of beauty…
• Because…Christ is the beauty that we are created to appreciate

 

 

 

 

Christ is the magnificent nature scene

• Christ is the symphony orchestra
• Christ is the masterpiece of art
  • Christ is the ultimate beauty that we are intended to appreciate, and adore, and love…

 

 

The problem that we have human beings too often have is that we are too easily satisfied…

• We have the beauty and the majesty of Christ right before our very eyes
• But instead…we seek to find satisfaction in things that never satisfy

 

 

 

We have the splendor and the majesty of the Himalaya Mountains right outside our window

• But instead…we pull down the shades and choose to look at a postcard of the foothills…

 

 

Our heart cries out for the beauty of Christ

• And we try to fill that need with false beauty that was never intended to satisfy

 

 

 

It’s like trying to satisfy the desire to see the Grand Canyon by looking at postcards

• …it never satisfies…

 

 

 

 

But we have…right outside our window

• That object of beauty that surpasses all other
  • That object of beauty that we were made to adore
  • We have the Risen Christ
    • As big and as grand as the Himalayan Mountains

 

 

 

…and Matthew paints for us a picture of the beauty of the Risen Christ

• A picture that shows us His magnificence and His glory and His splendor
• And a picture that shows us three peaks of Christ’s beauty
  • Like three peaks of the Himalayan Mountains that rising above the clouds proclaiming; majesty, glory, and splendor…

 

..and we’re going to look at those this morning…

 

 

Turn with me to the gospel of Matthew

• We are going to read from the 28^th chapter
• beginning in v 1 through v 10
  • and then skip down to v 16 and read through the end of the chapter…

 

 

 

Matthew 28.1-10, 16-20 

 

 

So…Matthew writes to us of the Risen Christ

• and Matthew records only two times in which the Risen Christ appears
• He appeared more than that, but Matthew only records these two instances…

 

 

 

And Matthew has a point that he is trying to make b y recording these two appearances of the Risen Christ in the way that he records them

• Look with me at the first appearance…v 9

 

 

 

v 9

And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

 

 

 

 

Now…look at the second appearance of Christ…

• Found in v 17

 

v 17

And when they saw him they worshiped him

 

 

 

…don’t miss the common element for both of those appearances…

• In each instance…they worshipped the Risen Christ…

 

 

 

…now, think back with me three years…

• Jesus is just beginning His ministry
  • And in Matthew 4, Jesus goes into the wilderness to the tempted by Satan
    • And Satan says…
      • All these kingdoms I will give to You if You will do one thing…fall down and worship me…

 

 

And what does Jesus respond?...

 

 

 

 

It is written…you shall worship the Lord you God only and Him only shall you serve…

 

 

 

 

No one is to be worshipped except God

• And now, Christ receives the worship of His followers…
  • …and we want to continually play games with the Bible and make believe that Jesus never claimed to be God…
    • He claims to be God all over the place…

 

 

 

 

But what I want us to see is this;

• The only appropriate response to the Risen Christ is sublime worship
  • Falling on our faces and reaches out for the ankles of our Savior
    • And worshiping Him…

 

 

 

…When men and women encounter the Risen Christ…they fall at His feet in sublime worship

• Do you see what that means?...

 

 

 

The Resurrection was the certification that Jesus is the Son of God

• Not in the sense that we are sons of God
  • But in the sense that He is God

 

 

 

And therefore the legitimate object of our worship…

 

 

 

And the day will come when that is the response that all creatures will give the Risen Christ

• We will proclaim with one voice…Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
  • To receive glory and power and majesty…
    • Worthy is the Risen Savior…

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

The Risen Savior is the embodiment of all beauty

• And the Risen Savior is all things attractive
• And the Risen Savior is all things appealing

And Matthew shows us here in this text…three of these things

• Matthew intends for this text to be a window of worship
  • A window through which we gaze to drink in the beauty of the Risen Christ

 

 

 

A window through which we gaze at the beauty of the Savior…and we see through that window…

• Three of the peaks, like peaks of the Himalayas, rising above all the false beauty of the world
  • Rising above all of the things that we try to make into gods…

 

 

 

Matthew will show us…Three reasons the Christ is the object of beauty to be desired…

 

 

 

..and the first is His power…

 

I see this in v 18

 

 

v 18

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

 

 

 

 

I wish there were some words that I could speak this morning that would help us all to see so very clearly that Jesus Christ has more authority that Barack Obama

• Jesus Christ has more authority than Washington DC, or Moscow, or Beijing, or the United Nations

 

 

 

I wish that I could illustrate for you this morning

• That if all the authority and all the power of all the governments and all the armies of the world
  • Were put into a balance
    • And on the other side was the Risen Jesus Christ
      • They would go up like air…

 

[…] 

 

 

 

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to the Risen Christ…all of it

 

 

 

The Risen Christ has the authority to tell every man, every woman

• What to do
• What to say
• What to feel
• What to think
  • Every second of your life…no exceptions…

 

 

 

Absolute authority…for He is God…

 

 

 

 

Here is the message that Resurrection Day speaks to the world

• The Risen Christ is your King…whether or not you care to admit that…
• The Risen Christ lays claim to every person…
  • Every situation
  • Every decision in your life
    • We can fool ourselves for a little while…
      • ..but that changes……nothing

 

The Risen Christ has absolute authority over your marriage

• Over your sex life
• Over your children
• Over your job
• Over your television
• Over your finances
• Over your career…

 

 

 

He has authority over your work your leisure

• He has authority over your vacation and your body
  • He owns you…

 

 

 

 

 

…All authority on earth has been given to the Risen Christ

• But notice also, that all authority in heaven has also been given to the Risen Christ…

 

 

 

This means, of course, that the Risen Christ commands all of the angels and heavenly beings…

 

 

 

Now, be careful, that the significance of this not be lost on you

• And I think Matthew tries to make us see the significance of this in v 2

 

 

vv 2-4

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

 

 

The apostle John, when coming into the presence of an angel

• Fell at his feet in worship of the angel
  • It was not until the commanded John not to worship him that John could look and see the Christ…

 

 

 

 

We know relatively little about angels from the Scriptures

• But we do know this…
  • Angels are not meek little creature with feathery wings
  • Angels are not fat little babies with a halo cocked to one side

 

 

 

If that is your idea of what an angel is…this it doesn’t impress you very much that the Risen Christ commands angels

• But, if you can imagine how powerful an angel really is
• If you can imagine how terrifying it is to be in the presence of an angel
  • And if you can imagine how many angels God has created
    • Myriads upon myriads of angels…innumerable the Bible says…

 

 

 

If you can imagine what it will be like when the Risen Christ mounts that white stallion

• And rides at the head of that heavenly army to once and for all stamp out all of the mutiny against His power…
  • …then you will be impressed when I tell you that the Risen Christ commands them with a word
    • They do His bidding,
      • And in their immortality… they serve Him night and day

 

 

What Matthew wants us to understand when he tells us that the angel descends with an earthquake

• And his appearance is like lightening
• And his garments are like snow
• And the guards fall down as if they are dead
  • …what Matthew wants you to see this morning is this
    • All authority has been given to the Risen Christ
      • And the angels, thousands upon thousands of indestructible angels…obey His word…

 

 

 

…the Risen Christ holds all power and authority on earth and in heaven…

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

 

Secondly, Matthew wants us to see and admire the beauty of the Risen Christ’s kindness…

 

 

 

I see this first of all in vv 5-7

• The angel tells the women not to fear…
  • And instead, to go and tell the disciples that the Christ is risen
    • And He will meet them in Galilee

 

 

 

And then, in v 8, they go to do just that

• But look at v 8

 

v 8

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy

And then, a marvelous thing happens in v 9

• Jesus intercepts them on the way

 

 

 

The women receive the instructions from the angel

• They turn to obey
  • And no sooner have they turned, than Jesus is there to meet them…

 

 

 

And then, Jesus says these words in v 10

 

v 10

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid

 

 

 

 

Why did Jesus intercept them?

 

 

 

They were obeying what the angel said…Jesus doesn’t give them any new information

• He just repeats what the angel says…

 

 

 

I think it was this…

• Sheer kindness…
  • …a desire on the part of Jesus to take away the fear in their heart

 

 

Those kinds of things happen in your life, when you’re obeying the word of God

 

 

 

 

Some of us this morning might ask…

• Where is the kindness of the Risen Christ in my life?...

 

 

 

Do you know what Mary Magdalene would say to that question?

• She would say…it’s about 5 steps down to road of obedience…
  • ……not far…….

 

 

 

Now, why do you suppose it was that the women were afraid to begin with?

• The angel told them to not fear, and they went away fearing
  • What were they afraid of?...

 

 

 

 

We are not told…we are left to speculate

• But do you know why I think the women were afraid

 

 

 

They have just been told that Christ has Risen

• And they are sent to tell their friends, the disciples, of this news…
  • …you remember the disciples…
    • They are the ones who have just forsaken the Christ
      • And denied the Christ
        • And fled from the scene

 

 

 

And here, the Risen Christ has come again

• As far as the women know…to set up His earthly kingdom…

 

 

And so, they are not afraid for themselves…

• But for their friends…

And look what the Risen Christ, in His kindness does to calm their fears

• The angel says to go and tell the disciples the news in v 7
• And Christ tells the women to go and tell…My brothers…

 

 

 

What a difference?...brothers!

 

 

 

 

Has anyone in this room ever deserted the Christ

• Has anyone in this room ever forsaken the Christ?
  • ……..Has anyone ever not forsaken the Christ?

 

 

 

 

If you will go to Galilee, I will meet you there

• If you will obey My word, My kindness will cover you like a blanket
  • I will meet you on the way and I will call you brother or sister…
    • And I will make sure your fears are gone!

 

 

 

 

 

And as if that were not enough evidence of His kindness…

• Look at how Matthew ends the book

 

v 20

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

 

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

The Risen Christ is powerful

• The Risen Christ is Kind

 

 

 

 

And thirdly, the Risen Christ is purposeful…

 

 

v 18

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations

 

 

 

 

The Risen Christ has one, solitary purpose

• And all that He does is done to that end…

 

 

 

We cannot admire someone who is powerful and kind

• And yet, has no purpose
  • Has no singular direction in life

 

 

 

Isn’t the reason there are so few people to admire today the fact that there are so few people who have singleness of purpose?

• We all seem to do a little bit of this…and that…and off on this kick, and that
  • Who sticks to it?...

 

 

 

 

How many people can you look at and say

• There is a life devoted to one thing

 

Jesus knows why He has Risen

• Jesus knows why He reigns

 

 

 

The purpose of the Risen Christ is to empower His church to make His authority known in every culture that He might receive worshipers from every tribe, every nation, every people in the world…

 

 

 

 

He wouldn’t have said to us in the end

• That He is with us always, even unto the end of the age
  • If this was not His mission, His business, His purpose

 

 

 

He aims to fill His kingdom with worshipers from;

• Vietnam
• China
• The Sudan
• South Africa
• Canada
• Peru
  • And all corners of the globe

 

 

 

The Risen Christ is not going in circles trying to figure this all out

• He is not thumbing through the assembly instructions
  • He is not scratching His head and thinking…What am I supposed to do about that?

 

 

 

 

He wrote the book…and He has an unwavering purpose in this world

And so I close this morning with this question…

 

 

 

Don’t you hunger to admire that kind of person?

 

 

Isn’t there something deep in you that longs to admire

• An infinitely powerful
  • Unlimited kind,
    • And singularly purposeful Person

 

 

 

Can you really be satisfied with anything less than that which we were created to admire and praise and worship?...

 

 

 

 

Don’t you want to see in the Risen Christ that which we were intended to see and admire and worship?

 

 

 

 

How do you do that?

 

 

 

First, confess your blindness to God

• Pray that He remove from the eyes of your heart
  • All of the deadness, all of the insensitivity that your heart has to the Risen Christ
    • And that you may see and feel and experience anew, afresh
      • The glory of the Risen Christ

 

 

 

And then put your feet, like Mary Magdalene

• On the road to Galilee…
  • On the road of obedience in your life

 

 

 

Mary was still fearful…but she obeyed despite her fears…

 

 

 

 

And placing your faith in the Risen Christ

• The One who died that we may live
  • And lives that we may die to our sins and walk in newness of life with Him...

 

 

 

…forsake all the other things that compete for our admiration

• And turn to Him alone
  • Him alone…for only He is worthy of our praise and honor and worship…