Weekly Reflection 4/2/24

The Tomb Is Empty! Therefore…

How would you live your life if you knew you could not physically die? It seems that it would have a significant effect on how we live. “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John‬ 11‬:25‬-26‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ How could you not help believe it on Easter? But if I watched you on Tuesday night, would I say, “The way this person thinks and acts and responds could only happen because they’ve embraced the resurrection of Jesus.  This man’s relationship to his wife is formed by the resurrection. These parent’s love and patience is formed by the resurrection. This person’s engagement in the neighborhood is formed by the resurrection. This person attends school with a resurrection mentality. This worker works as someone who believes in the resurrection.”  The empty tomb should develop a radically different lifestyle for the Christian. 

1 Corinthians 15, a great celebratory chapter on the resurrection, actually doesn’t start or end with a note of celebration; it starts with a reminder and ends with a call. The apostle Paul wants us to think about how the empty tomb demands a different lifestyle for the Christian. The resurrection is not just something you celebrate. The resurrection is something you live. Paul intends—God intends—that there be a practical effect of what he has said. He intends for the effect to be verse 58. And the word “therefore” shows that he intends for verse 58 to happen because we know and remember the resurrection. 

Christ has come. He has died for you. He took all your sins on Himself. He satisfied the demands of the law for you. The sting of death is removed. There is no condemnation. No hell. No fear. Though your body be laid in the grave, Christ will come, and the trumpet will sound, and this mortal body will put on immortality and this decomposing, decaying body will become imperishable. Death is swallowed up in Christ’s victory. THEREFORE… Verse 58 is God’s will for my life—and yours. And Paul says, it happens because you know and remember what is in verses 3-57. 

The empty tomb results in a lifestyle of unusual stability. 

• “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians‬ 15‬:58‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
• Is your life a picture of that kind of stability? 
• Is it firm and anchored in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? 
• Or are you blown by the winds of circumstances, blown around by the difficulties of relationship, blown around by the harsh realities of life in a fallen world, blown around by disappointment, blown around by temptation? 
• Because of the empty tomb there is a steadfast, immovable life for us in Christ.
• The empty tomb teaches us three things about God which you can build a stable life. 
• Here’s the first thing, the empty tomb is an argument that God is faithful. 
• Everything He promises He will do.
• The empty tomb displays God’s awesome power. 
• He not only has faithfulness to His promises, but He has the power to deliver everything He’s promised. 
• There is no limit to the power of God. And I can’t think of of anything that is a more magnificent demonstration of power than power over death. 
• This great final enemy, death, God has defeated. The empty tomb proves it. 
• The empty tomb overflows with God’s love.
• God was willing to die on the cross.
• This willingness is overflowing with love. 
• “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John‬ 15‬:13‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬
• We ought to be blown away by this picture of the willingness of God to give the gift of life to arrogant, rebellious, self-righteous people like us.

The empty tomb produces a lifestyle of active purpose.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians‬ 15‬:58‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ I love the words here, “always abounding”.  Abound carries the meaning of overflow, excelling, superabound. Because of the empty tomb our lives can overflow with the work of the Lord. Overflow with purpose. The empty tomb should fill us with courage and passion to work for Jesus, to advance His Kingdom, to love people, to serve people, to give our lives for His purposes, purposes we were created for. 

If the dead can rise, then what would we be afraid of? We believe in victory. We believe in life. We believe in life abundant. We believe in transformation. We believe in deliverance. We believe in resurrection. You can’t believe that and be passive, it is irrational. The open tomb should make you courageous and hopeful and active. The resurrection is not a bunker to hide in. The resurrection is a life that is pushing back the gates of hell as it advances the Kingdom of God. Because of the empty tomb our lives can overflow with the work of the Lord. Overflow with purpose. And overflow with meaning and value.

The empty tomb gives us a lifestyle with eternal value.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians‬ 15‬:58‬ ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Let’s go back to Good Friday, what were the followers of Jesus thinking? It seems they must have thought, was all this in vain? Did I just follow this man for three years for Him to die this way? Why would Jesus have such an amazing ministry and than willingly let them crucify Him? Was it all in vain? Looking back, we can clearly see that Jesus’ life and death was not in vain. The life and death of Jesus’ followers is never in vain. All that we do in the Lord has eternal value.

The tomb is empty! Therefore…

• Paul is reminding us under the inspiration the Holy Spirit…. be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
• Paul knows that this side of heaven there’s a war fought on the turf of our heart every day. 
• It’s a war between faith and doubt. It’s war between courage and fear. It’s a war between disappointment and hope. It’s a war between temptation and righteousness. 
• And Paul would say, root your heart in this truth; the tomb is empty. 
• Your God is faithful. Your God is powerful. Your God is willing. He has conquered sin and death. Because of that you can stand with stability. You can live with active purpose.  And in the face of the darkest of times, you can have hope knowing that all of your life in Jesus has value, none of it is in vain.
• Do you believe this?