Sermon Cloud

 

We all have something in common this morning…

 

 

If you are alive and hearing what I am saying, if you are a human being, then we share something in common…

• We all have deep human needs

 

 

No person ever lived or ever will live that does not have deep human needs;

 

 

We all have physical needs

• Such as;
  • The need to eat, and breathe, and sleep, and the need for water

 

 

We have social needs

• Such as the need for companionship and intimacy with others, and the need to feel accepted

 

 

We have self-esteem needs

• Such as the need for confidence, and a sense of usefulness, and a sense of purpose and success…

 

 

 

…all of these are part of being human

• Everyone shares these common needs
  • And some of these are very deep needs, very important needs

 

 

Needs that, when they are not met in our lives…

• …can be very harmful to us…

 

 

 

 

…If we live our lives with no sense of purpose or meaning whatsoever

• If that need is not met in our lives…
• …then our lives will be just as dysfunctional as if the need for food or sleep was not being met…

 

 

 

So these are things common to everyone who is a human

• …and everything that you do in life is in some way an attempt to meet those needs…

 

 

[…]

 

 

…Today is Resurrection Day

• Today is the that we glory, and celebrate, and worship, and praise in the fact that He_is_Risen
  • And this morning, I am going to attempt to point out to us how the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead meets your deepest, most important needs
    • The deepest longings in your life are met by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

 

 

 

Turn with me to that familiar passage of Scripture pertaining to the resurrection

• Turn to 1 Corinthians 15, p 961

 

 

 

1 Corinthians 15.12-20

 

 

 

 

 

Now, Paul writes about six things that would be in shambles if Christ did not rise from the dead

• …six things that would be in vain, be futile in our life
  • …if Christ did not rise from the dead
    • …and then in v 20, Paul reverses the whole paragraph by saying
      • …But Christ has been raised from the dead

 

 

 

…So let’s look quickly at these six things;

• Look with me in your Bibles as I go through these…

 

 

1. Verse 14; If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then our preaching is in vain

 

2. Verse 14; If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then our faith is in vain

 

 

3. Verse 15; If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then we are found to be misrepresenting God, literally; we are bearing a false witness about God…because we have testified that God has raised Him from the dead

 

 

4. Verse 17; If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then your faith is futile and you are still in your sins

 

 

5. Verse 18; If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then those who have fallen asleep in Christ (those Christians who have died) have all perished

 

 

6. Verse 19; If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then we above all men are to be pitied

 

 

..now, those are pretty simple for us to see, they are right there in the text, quite plainly…

• But, I think what makes the lights go on in this text for us this morning
  • What really makes this text come alive with meaning for us is when we turn all of those negative statements around and restate them in a positive statement

 

 

 

…and I think when we do that

• We will all see how the resurrection of Christ meets our deepest human needs and our most profound human longings…

 

 

 

We often think of the Resurrection of Christ from the dead as something that God had to do in order to secure victory over sin and death

• Jesus Christ paid our sin penalty on the cross…
  • …and when He bore that penalty in His body…it killed Him

 

 

 

…The wages of sin is death…

• And so the wages of our sin was death for Jesus Christ
  • …but there was no sin in Jesus Christ
    • (Peter says…He committed no sin, neither was there deceit found in His mouth)
    • (and John says…He appeared to take away sins, but in Him there is no sin)

 

 

…so since the wages of sin is death, and there is no sin in Jesus

• He couldn’t stay dead…
  • He rose…He must rise…alive and victorious
    • And we rejoice greatly in the fact that when we trust in Christ…when we surrender to Him
      • That our salvation is secured by His resurrection…

 

But perhaps we have never thought about the other needs that are met by Jesus’ resurrection

• It is those other needs…those deep human longings
  • …that Paul speaks of here in this 1 Corinthians text…

 

 

And so, by turning around a negative statement into a positive statement…

• …I think we will all see Paul’s meaning here…

 

 

 

So let’s look at these one by one;

• I am going to change the order of these somewhat…
  • Because I want us to see a pattern in these needs that fits the human experience…
    • …and the first need that we must have met is our need for forgiveness

 

 

Paul says in v 17…

 

 

v 17

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

 

 

 

So negatively…if Christ has not been raised…then there is no forgiveness of sins…

 

 

And so, the reverse of this says that because Christ has been raised from the dead

• …Those that place saving faith in the redeeming work of Christ
  • Have received forgiveness of sins…
    • …and that is the most basic need of all…
    • That is the longing of every human heart…
      • …the need to be forgiven of our sins…

 

There are no other blessing to be enjoyed from God if God has left us in our sins…

• We have all sinned…
  • …and if God leaves us in those sins
    • And God is against us in our sin
    • And He has left us in that sin with all the judgment and all the wrath of God against us…
      • ……Then there is no hope for anything else from God

 

 

 

The foundation for every other blessing from God

• …is that God will not hold our sins against us
  • Everything hangs on the forgiveness of our sins before a holy God…

 

 

 

…Every human being has a deep need to be forgiven before God

 

 

 

…Every human being has an intense, inner longing to be forgiven by the God who gave you life…

 

 

 

All humans have this need…

• Because all people inherently know that they have sinned against their Creator
  • Paul tells us in Romans 1 that all men know that
    • Somewhere…deep inside every person is the knowledge that he has sinned against God

 

 

…And all people have that need to experience forgiveness…

• Everyone in this room has that need deep inside you…
  • We long to be accepted by God
  • We long to be right with God

We long to not have any more guilt on our backs

• Guilt that we try to drown in booze
• Or television
• Or work
• Or hobbies
  • …trying to drown what cannot be drown except in the blood of Christ…

 

 

 

Paul says in Romans 4.25

• That Christ was handed over to death on account of our transgressions and He was raised from death on account of our justification
  • …the resurrection of Christ from the dead fulfills man’s deepest need…the need to find forgiveness before God…
    • …and we all have that need, whether you feel it or not…it’s there…

 

 

…and that is offered to us this morning with resounding certainty

• Through the resurrection of Jesus…

 

 

 

…Secondly, Paul says in v 14

 

v 14

And if Christ has not been raised, then…your faith is in vain.

 

 

 

And so, that is the negative statement

• If we turn that around to a positive statement
  • Because Jesus has been raised from the dead
    • Our faith is not in vain…
    • …or IOW; Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is Someone we can trust absolutely…

 

Everyone wants a friend who is absolutely trustworthy…

• …I believe that is also one of the deepest needs of all people…

 

 

 

I believe that all people have a longing for someone that you can count on

• Through thick and thin
• Regardless of how difficult things get
• Regardless of what you may face

 

 

We all long for someone whom;

• If we put our complete trust in them…it won’t be in vain
• We won’t be let down…

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

…We were made by God to have an inner need to trust someone…

• To have someone by our side that is utterly reliable

 

 

 

God put man and woman in the Garden of Eden

• For the purpose of living by faith and trusting in an absolutely trustworthy person…God

 

 

And when man and woman sinned in the garden;

• That was a choice…a decision, not to trust God…
  • …but to instead trust in themselves and in Satan…

 

 

And since that time…man has discovered that neither one is trustworthy…

 

And so…We now long for a friend that can always be counted on…through anything

• Someone who is strong enough to overcome every obstacle
• Someone whose care and concern is deeper, and more powerful than any betrayal of their trust that we may commit
  • Someone who will be there…no matter what
    • Someone who, when the best friend, the most trusted ally has long since forsaken us…this friend is still there

 

 

 

…and when Christ rise from the dead

• He showed you that your faith
  • Your trust
    • Your confidence in Him is not in vain…

 

 

 

…and never will it be in vain

• Never will He forsake you
• Never will He change
  • Never will He leave you
    • Never will He die…

 

 

 

 

…and so, the second longing that every person brings to this service this morning is for a friend

• Who will always be there…who will always be trustworthy…
  • …and the resurrection shows that that friend is the Risen Jesus Christ…

 

 

 

 

Now, thirdly,

• v 15

 

v 15

If Christ has not risen from the dead… We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

 

 

 

And so, negatively, Paul says that if Christ has not risen

• We are false witnesses about Jesus Christ
• And since Jesus Christ tells us in John 14.6…I am the way, the truth, and the life
  • Therefore, Paul says that if Christ has not risen from the dead…
    • …if “the Truth” has not been truthful about Himself
      • …then there is no truth

 

 

 

But positively,

• Since Jesus Christ has risen from the dead…
  • We can say with confidence that…There is absolute truth in this world
    • And this meets the third great longing of every human…
      • Every human needs absolute truth

 

 

…This is something that we have all but given up on in our culture…

 

 

…the next generation has been taught and has believed that there is no absolute moral truth in this world…

• And because of that…we are producing a generation of people that are absolutely lost…
  • …without direction
  • …without morality
  • …without anything guiding them in their life except their own selfish desires…

…a generation of people who are largely unwilling to say…

• Sex outside of marriage is wrong…everytime, for everyone
• Homosexual activity is wrong…everytime, for everyone

 

 

It’s not just wrong for those who think it’s wrong

• It’s wrong for everyone, in every situation

 

 

 

Our culture believes that if you think sex outside marriage is wrong for you;

• …then fine…don’t do it…
  • …but don’t import your values onto me
    • Don’t impose on others, those things that are your values
      • …because, there are no absolute rights and wrongs…

 

 

That’s how America thinks today

• …and that the end of America
  • …because, if everyone does what is right in their own eyes…
    • Then, there’s a word for that…it’s called anarchy

 

 

 

…Because, if there are no things that we can agree upon as a culture that are right or wrong for everybody

• …if there are no things that we as a race of human beings can agree on as being right for all people and wrong for all people…
  • …then we are done for…

 

...becau

se the only thing that is left is me

• I will rip you off or you will rip me off
• I will steal for you or you will steal from me
• I will kill you or you will kill me…
  • …that’s where we end up when we have no absolute truth…

 

…But human beings have a deep, inner need for moral absolutes

• We are just like the young child…who, although he may say that he doesn’t like his parents rules
  • Deep down, they give him a sense of comfort and safety
    • Because they tell him where the boundaries are…

 

 

 

We, as humans, have a deep need to know where the boundaries are…

 

 

 

...and Christ gives us that when He rose from the dead…

• Because when the One who said that He is the way, He is the truth, and He is the life
  • When that One rose from the dead
    • He qualified Himself to tell all people what is right and what is true

 

 

 

He qualified Himself to tell every teenager

• Every child
• Every adult
• Every man
• Every woman        
  • …what is right and what is true

 

 

 

So, when anyone asks…

• What right do we have to tell others what is right and what is wrong
  • Or what is true and what is untrue?

 

 

 

…it’s not a right we claim for ourselves..

 

 

But Jesus Christ, the Son of God

• Came, and lived, and died, and rose again
  • He is at the Father’s right hand reigning today…

 

 

He rules the world, He made the world

• And He is coming back to judge the world

 

 

 

And He has declared what is good for the world, what is healthy for the world

• Therefore…I will declare, based on His authority that He established when He walked out of that tomb…
  • …I will declare what is right for the world, and what is healthy for the world
    • And what is wrong and unhealthy for the world…

 

 

 

It’s because He rose from the dead that He has the right to tell the practicing homosexual

• …what you are doing is wrong

 

 

It’s because He rose from the dead that He has the right to tell the teenager engaging in sex outside of marriage

• …what you are doing is wrong

 

 

…and it is on His authority that we proclaim such absolute truth…

• He is God…He wrote the Book…

 

[…]

 

 

We have a longing for truth…

• And it is because He is raised…He is absolute truth

 

[…]

 

 

Next…from v 19

 

v 19

If Christ has not been raised from the dead…then we have hope in this life only, and …If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

 

 

 

So negatively, if Christ has not been raised…we have placed our hope in a lie

• And we, beyond all people, should be pitied

 

 

 

Now, positively…Since Christ has been raised…

• We are to be envied…

 

 

 

Our lives are not in vain…our lives are not without purpose

• In fact…because Christ has been raised from the dead…
  • Our lives are full
    • Meaningful
    • Purposeful
    • Valid
    • Valuable
    • Significant…
      • And in this way, the resurrection meets one of the deepest needs of the human heart…
        • …the need for purpose and significance and meaning…

 

 

 

Everyone in the room has a deep need for your life to not be;

• Pointless
• Empty
• Useless
• Insignificant
• Meaningless

 

 

 

There is a desire that your life be significant

• That it counts for something…
  • …everyone has that need this morning…

 

 

 

You want your life to count

• You don’t want to come to the end of your life and realize that you have impacted nothing and no one…

 

 

You don’t want to come to the end of your life and know…

• That you have lived, and worked, and suffered, and sweated, and bled
  • …all for nothing

 

 

…because the efforts of your life have all wasted away to nothing

• Like the rainwater that washes into the gutter…

 

 

 

…and what this says is that life for those who follow Christ is not something that is pitiable

 

 

 

…this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…

 

 

Everything we do for Jesus has value

• Everything we do for Jesus has meaning
  • Everything we do for Jesus has purpose
    • Not just now, but for eternity…forever…never-ending deep purpose…

 

 

 

Everyone needs to come to the end of their life and know they have not wasted it

• There is a deep longing within us to know that our lives have been well-spent
• There is a deep longing within us to know that our lives count for something

 

 

And that is found only in the resurrection of Jesus Christ…

 

 

 

This is why Paul will end this chapter on the resurrection of Jesus Christ this way..

 

v 58

 

 

 

Not in vain!!

• That’s the longing of our lives

 

 

 

O Lord…let it not be so

• Let me not come to the end and not have that assurance that it has all counted for something…

 

 

 

Everyone in the room wants to come to the end of your life

• And not have those haunting words looming over your head
  • …I’ve wasted it…I’ve wasted it…

 

 

 

Christ meets that need in His resurrection…

 

 

 

And finally this morning,

 

v 18

If Christ has not risen…Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

 

 

 

We have a deep longing to come to the end of our lives

• And know that it all counted for something
  • And know that it had purpose and meaning

 

 

…But we also have a deep need to come to the end of our lives

• And know that it is not the end…

 

 

…we have a need to live…

 

 

 

God created us as eternal creatures…

• We are created for eternity
  • And we all instinctively know that

 

 

…no culture, no people anywhere has to be told by God that this life is all there is

• All people everywhere know in their hearts that this is not the end…

 

And so, all people have a deep need within their souls

• To not only have fulfillment and joy in this life
  • …but at the end of this life…to go right on living
    • And have eternal joy forever…

 

 

 

And so Christ meets this…

• …The most urgent need of all
  • …because, if we live the most joyful, happiest, most purposeful life of all
    • …and when we come to the end…and there is nothing more…
      • …then of what good is it?

 

 

 

Christ tells us in John 16.22

 

John 16:22

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

 

 

 

[…]

 

 

 

The resurrection of Christ from the dead meets our deepest human needs…

• The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us joy eternal…life eternal

 

 

But, in closing, look again at v 14

 

v 14

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain

 

 

…If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain

 

 

If Christ has not been raised, then no one has been affected in any way by what I have said this morning

• Because I have preached Christ raised…and if Christ is not raised, then my preaching is meaningless, and it has been in vain

 

 

 

If Christ has not been raised

• Then the preaching of the gospel has changed no lives
  • Has saved no marriages
  • Delivered no one from drugs or alcohol abuse
  • Given no one purpose
  • Given no one meaning
  • Brought no forgiveness
    • Given no one life…

 

 

…If Christ is not risen…then the preaching of this gospel is meaningless…

 

v 20

…But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead

 

 

 

 

 

He_is_risen……

 

 

 

 

On this hangs everything...

 

 

If you have trusted Christ this morning…if you have placed faith in His completed work on the cross

• Forsaking all others…acknowledging Him as the only Son of God
  • That He died for your sins and rose again…
    • …then His resurrection has met your deepest needs…
      • The deepest of all…the need for forgiveness and salvation

 

 

 

If you have not trusted in Christ this morning…

• Then He stands, humbly with open arms
  • Ready to meet your deepest human needs
    • Ready to offer forgiveness and salvation
    • Deep meaning and purpose
    • Ready to be your absolutely trustworthy friend
    • And ready to give you life and joy eternal…