Outline Seventeen


Raised Him From The Dead
(Romans 10:9-15)

   

Intro:

We need to linger at Calvary, but not stay there! Easter is the time when we remember the resurrection of Christ. Paul has linked it to the necessity of salvation as well as other things. It ought to be clear to anyone that belief in the vicarious death of Christ is necessary, but why the resurrection?

Easter is in the spring which is the time of resurrection for the earth. Things that appear dead come to life. This continued cycle provides evidence. (John 12:23-24) In other words, there is not much sense in discussing the death of the seed if it does not come forth in life.

The Resurrection demonstrates three very necessary things:

1. The power of God

Man has always been impressed with power, so long ago he learned to harness a horse which is many times more powerful than a man. As the years passed by and man has built his great locomotives, rockets and machines, he has impressed himself with this ability. As man’s power is perceived to increase, the less willing he is to recognize a greater power.

A powerless God is able to do nothing for you. If you are on the search, look for one who is exceedingly powerful beyond your capabilities. Try this one on---come out of the grave! Christianity is unique, for it totally depends upon this display of great power…the resurrection of its leader. No other religion needs this.

When a young preacher, Dwight L. Moody, was faced with his first funeral he searched the Gospels for a funeral sermon by Jesus, but could find none. All Jesus ever did was break up funerals…why? He has the power over death.

John Lennon said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now…” Does even the most fervent Beatles fan really believe that John came out of the grave? How many dope heads or drunks ever got the victory in the name and power of John Lennon?

2. Salvation is completed in the Resurrection – Romans 4:20-25

(A). Imputed righteousness means ‘charged to the account of’ or ‘righteousness received from another.’ It was Christ’s righteousness that brought Him forth. It is sin that stands guard over the graves of mankind. You need His righteousness which is so pure that death cannot hold Him.

The next time Christ shows up His righteousness will be on open display. Revelation 1:13-18

(B). Justification – Did you ever justify your child’s bad behavior….terrible two’s, no nap, A.D.D., too much sugar? God does the same, but the basis of the justification is the blood. Romans 5:8-10 But the justification is incomplete without a resurrection, for His blood would have been human and not of a divine source if Christ hadn’t come out of the tomb.

3. My future rides on Christ’s coattails - I Corinthians 15:19

Christianity isn’t just for now! A wealthy family in England took their children to the country. While swimming in a pool, one of the children began to drown and was rescued by the son of the estate’s gardener. The grateful parents asked how they could possibly repay the rescuer, and the gardener offered the fact that his son wanted to be a doctor. With much enthusiasm the parents said, “We will pay for his education!”

When Winston Churchill was stricken with pneumonia after the Teheran Conference, the King instructed that the best doctor be found to save him. Dr. Fleming, the developer of penicillin, was called. In a strange twist of circumstances this was the same individual who had rescued Churchill from drowning as a child. “Rarely,” said Churchill, “has one man owed his life twice to the same rescuer.”

Christ has rescued me twice---once now, once yet to come!
I Corinthians 6:14; II Corinthians 4:14 

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