I Believe… In Jesus’ Death & Resurrection

The Foundations of The Faith

As many of you know we are doing a series of teaching in the Apostles’ Creed, and we thought that it would be good for us to go through what we call the foundation of the faith.

The Apostles’ Creed sums up in two or three paragraphs what the whole Bible teaches.

It’s very important for a Christian to remember, what is it that actually they think are the foundations – the key foundations of their faith. And to my understanding – and I think to many Christians before me – the Apostles’ Creed sums up in two or three paragraphs what the whole Bible teaches.

Now, each of these points that we are looking at creates a few challenges or difficulties among Christians – but these will be some of the main things that people will believe. And as I said before if you do want to test and see which thoughts are Christian and which thoughts are not Christian, and a good place to go – if you are looking for a short place – will be the Apostles’ Creed.

So I will invite us to read it together.

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the place of the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father,
I believe he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy universal Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

The Death & Resurrection of Jesus

This evening we will be looking at the death and resurrection of Jesus. So literally what we are saying is I believe in Jesus: “I believe that he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. I believe that he descended into the place of the dead. On the third day he rose again.”

We will stop there.

So we are looking at the death and resurrection of Jesus as a foundation to the Christian faith: Two very important teachings of the church. Can you forgive me – I like to start my talks with some nice stories and I’ve tried this week – I’ve really, really tried very hard – and I couldn’t find a good story that will mix the resurrection and the death of Jesus Christ together. And I really try hard, so please forgive me for that.

So all I will say is we will talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Right. That is like a short introduction! And talk about a catchy introduction! That’s it. We are going to look at Jesus.

The God Who Died

Let me say that a God who dies has always been a very shocking thought.

It was easy for Jews to understand that God will come and earth and save his people. It was very difficult for them to understand that God will die, that God could die, and that God did die.

And once Jesus – and we discussed last week on why he came – once he died it was very difficult for many people to believe that he was actually alive. Just like me and you would struggle if we were told that someone was raised from the dead. As far as I know he is the only person throughout history who die, rose again, and he is still alive. Or at least we claim so as Christians.

Everybody else we’ve heard of who died and rose, unfortunately died again. And somebody said it must be terrible if you have to die twice.

1. The Death Of Jesus

So I would like us to look at the first thing which is the death of Jesus. And why do I think that this thing is very key to the Christian faith? I will develop that a little bit later. But it’s so important for us to believe that Jesus, who is the son of God, who is God who became flesh, actually died.

Now the Bible testified to that. The passage which was read to us is from Luke chapter 23. I think Luke devotes these last two and a half chapters to Jesus’ death and then on to his resurrection. Now there are a few things if you look at all the gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, there are a few things that you see in parallel concerning Jesus’ death.

Now I will look at a little bit more theory now, and then we will try and see where we can apply this.

Why Was Jesus Put To Death?

First of all, from the passage we’ve just read now, Jesus didn’t die because he was a bad guy. Although he was mixed with criminals, he was not a bad guy. A gentile judge, and experienced judge, could look at him and say he was not guilty.

Jesus didn’t die because he was a bad guy.

So if you go to Luke 23:13-16 you will see this:

“Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ¹⁶ I will therefore punish and release him.”

Jesus Did Nothing Wrong

You have a non-believing judge, you have a gentile judge, in a court of law, who looks at Jesus and realises that he didn’t do anything wrong.

A gentile judge could look at him and say he was not guilty.

Christians hold – as I said again last week – that Jesus was born sinless, without sin, never did anything wrong. He lived his who life without ever doing anything wrong, and in a human court this was proved. A non-believing judge – a human judge – looked at this man and said “this man has done nothing wrong”.

Jesus never died for his own sin. Pretty obvious isn’t it. He never did anything wrong to deserve death.

Let me argue that if what Romans reminds us of, that the wages of sin is death, then what we have here is really a clear proclamation that Jesus did not actually deserve to die. That Jesus could not die because he had not done anything wrong.

Jesus Took Another’s Place

The second thing – and after that I will link these two points together to come to something else – but the second thing is, and you notice, the reason he died is because he took somebody else’s place.

Luke 20:18-25:

“But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.”

The Swap

Jesus died. He did not commit anything – the judge looked at him and said, “There’s nothing wrong with you”. And yet here is a man who’s created insurrection, who’s caused the death of so many people, who many, many – with his own hand – has killed many people – here is somebody who really deserves to die.

We have a murderer walking around free, and an innocent going to the cross.

And what we have here is a swap. We have a change. We are having somebody who doesn’t deserve to die actually taking the place of somebody who deserved to die. We have a murderer walking around free, and an innocent going to the cross.

The Shame of The Cross

Now the cross was the worst of punishments. It is said that one Roman citizen – a very prominent Roman citizen – said that a Roman worthy of the name, should not even think of dying on the cross. So they shouldn’t think of killing a roman on a cross, on a wooden tree.

It was reserved for the worst criminal of all time; the people who have done so much wrong.

In my mind it’s like if you are in Bukavu and your child dies on the cross, I think you move cities, you just leave, because you can’t live with the shame.

It shows that you failed education, you failed I don’t know – whatever, but you just leave. It’s so shameful.

It was for the worst criminals of all time. And yet, the guy who’s never done anything wrong, is the one that takes the place of the guy who does.

The Substitutionary Death of Jesus

Well Christians believe in what is called the substitutionary death of Jesus. They believe that Jesus died as a substitute; Jesus died here in the place of somebody else. And that somebody else, my dear friend, it’s very clear in the Bible, that that was us as man. That was man as man and woman – the whole of the human race.

God became a man so that he could die on the cross to save the people that he loved.

What we see here is really a transfer that’s what really Jesus achieves through his death.

He died a death that he did not deserve, so as those deserving death would not die. And that’s the message at the core root of the Christian faith. It’s that God became a man so as he could die on the cross to save the people that he loved, the people that he made, the people that he created.

But these people were not always good and deserving – they were not always deserving of this.

So come with me to 1 Peter 3, you will see that very clearly from that passage, and then we will go to 2 Corinthians 5:21 again, and you will see that in that first passage as well.

The Righteous Takes The Place of The Unrighteous

1 Peter 3:18:

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit”.

What is Peter saying here? Well Peter is saying something that the Bible says again and again. And I think this is the wonderful message of the gospel. Peter is saying that the unrighteous doesn’t have to die anymore because the righteous has taken his place. The righteous has died in his place, so as the unrighteous will never die.

But he does identify who the unrighteous is. Who is a person who is not right with God? Well he says “us”. Christ died – the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God.

What Is The Goal Of Jesus’s Death?

So what do we have here? It is not only how the death of Jesus happened really, the part that we tend not to see, but it also gives us the goal of Jesus’ death.

Jesus died so as the unrighteous could be close to God.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, and was buried. Well why did he suffer? Well he suffered because of the unrighteous. Why did he die? Well he died because of the unrighteous. Why was he buried? Well because of the unrighteous.

Jesus died so as the unrighteous could be close to God. And I’ll come back just now in Luke and we will see one or two phrases that explain this whole idea of bringing us to God and how that was effected.

We Can Be Right With God

2 Corinthians 5:21. Now if you’ve been long enough around here you should know that by heart. When you have the bracelets it says something like that. But 2 Corinthians 5:21, what does it say?

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

God made him to be sin, so that we can be right with God.

So he had no sin, God made him to be sin, so that we can be right with God.

Now I’m gonna come back to that concept of God made him sin. And it’s a very shocking thing, and sometimes it shocks us, but it’s just what the Bible really teaches.

So Jesus had no sin, we were sinful, and what we have is a trade. The sinful guy takes the place of the non-sinful guy – the sinless guy. And the sinless guy takes the place of the sinful guy. It’s called substitutionary death: he took my place.

The Purpose of Jesus’ Death

Now come with me to Luke 23 and we will see that second thing that not only he died when he was sinless, he died in my place, in the place of the guilty – and if you take those two points you have this concept of substitutionary death. There’s a third thing. The purpose of his death. And that we see from Luke 23:44:

Now Luke 23:44 basically describes Jesus’s death. He says:

^“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.”

Now what’s the purpose of Jesus’ death? Why does he have to die? Why did he die actually?

Well we know one thing – he died not because he deserved to die but because somebody else deserved to die, and so he took that person’s place. But why did he take their place?

Why The Curtain Was Torn In Two

Well, the answer is to bring us to God; to reconcile us to God. And that’s what you see there. It says the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Now if you are not a Jew then you wouldn’t understand what they are saying. Now I am not a Jew, so the first time I read it it didn’t mean anything. So you have to go and dig a little bit deeper and figure out what is this saying.

Well when you start studying this you realise that in the former time there was a temple. So if you wanted to talk to God you had to go to the temple. And in the temple there were priests. There were people who could make it between you and God. Well why did they have to stand between you and God? Because the Bible is very clear, God is holy and man is sinful.

Man has broken God’s law and continues to break God’s law. So they needed somebody to stand in between. They needed somebody who was relatively clean who could make it between God and man. In this situation of non-friendship, somebody had to mend it.

And that was the whole priesthood’s function.

The Workings of The Temple

So in the temple, you would go to the temple – and this was a reminder again to people that they were sinful and that God was holy. And that we are far away from God, and they could not even get close to him. Now if you were a woman even worse.

Alright. So in the temple you had the non-Jews, you had first of all the people with the lambs and the people with broken hands and broken whatever on the side; and then you had the gentiles on the side. And then you had the women – so not the worst – and then after the women you had the men, and after the women you had the priests. And then after the priests you had the high priest.

And then after the high priest you had this big curtain. Very thick curtain. That reminded people that they were sinful and that they could never get into the presence of God. They would never get into communion with God.

Once a year – once a year! Somebody, who had gone through intensive purification processes, would go in there. And you will go in there not sure if he is actually really clean to meet God. So they will tie a rope around his waist, and they will put a small bell on his foot, and then he will go and bring the sacrifice of a whole nation in there.

So as long as he is walking, the bell is making some noise, everybody know, “OK! Ah, it’s fine”. If he stops walking and no more noise, they will start pulling the rope. Because they will know that he’s been struck by the Holy God.

And we read Luke – just this small little sentence – and he says “the curtain was torn in two”. What is he saying? He is saying that because the sinless guy died, he took away with him all the things that stopped people from meeting God.

He is saying: no more need of a curtain, now God can be accessed. No more need for rituals, now God was happy to meet people.

4 Concepts Show Us What Jesus Achieved

Now there’s four concepts that the Bible uses to show what Jesus achieved at the cross.

1. Propitiation

Now the first thing is propitiation. Now, 1 John 4:8-10 – you can look at that later. The first word is propitiation. Now it’s a big word but all it says is God was angry with man, and Jesus came and calmed down his anger.

God was angry with man, and Jesus came and calmed down his anger.

Now people don’t like that. They don’t like the idea of an angry God. But my dear friend, if we have to have a holy God, a God who sets up the rules of what is just and what is not just, what is right and what is not right, then that God – surely – must be really upset when people don’t follow what he says.

A non-angry God – I like to say – a non-angry God is an unjust God. Imagine, a million people were killed some places and God says, “Well… what do you want me to do? I can’t get angry”. No! If God sets laws he’s got to uphold those laws. Because you see he is a holy God, and when you upset his rules, then he’s got to judge you. He can’t smile.

Jesus came and quenched that anger. God is not angry anymore.

And so what we have in the Bible here is it says that God was angry with man, Ephesians 2, it says man was an object of his wrath, of his anger, and Jesus came and quenched his anger. Just like when you feel thirsty and you drink some water, Jesus came and quenched that anger.

Now God is not angry anymore. He’s not angry.

2. Redemption

Second thing, it talks of redemption. Now the concept of redemption you can find that in Romans 3:21-27. Redemption is people were so dead to sin, they could not rescue themselves and Jesus comes and takes them out of it.

Now there’s a song we like to sing. ‘I am no longer a slave’. Well what do you mean? I mean do you really understand the concept of slave? Now we don’t have an image in our context now, but a slave has no rights; a slave only does what his master says.

You will no longer be slaves to sin and in rebellion against God.

Well Jesus comes and he says, “You will no longer be slaves to sin and in rebellion against God”. Who are they now? They are children of God.

3. Justification

The third concept is the concept of justification. Now Justification – OK, sorry… propitiation is a word you use in a kind of religious environment, right? Redemption is a market word. Right? Justification is for lawyers, right!

So you go to a court of law and the judge says, “I do not see anything wrong with you, I will acquit you, I will justify you”. What the Bible is saying (Romans 3:21-27 still) is that through Jesus’ death man is found without guilt; he is justified.

God looks at man and sees no problems; no sin, because of what Jesus has done.

4. Reconciliation

The last thing is reconciliation. Jesus did achieve reconciliation. You see we were enemies with God, our relationship with God was not right. And why did Jesus come? He came to restore this relationship – he died so that that relationship could be restored.

We who used to be enemies now can be called children of God, now can be called friends of God.

Quenching The Holy Anger of God

Now my dear friends these concepts are sometimes very difficult to understand. Because when you come to understand the holiness of God you will understand how angry he can get. But you should remember, somebody paid for you.

You should remember, somebody paid for you.

When you come to understand how far you are from God and how unreconciled with God you are, how unfriendly you are, well isn’t it wonderful to know that somebody paid and now I can be friends with God?

When you realise that sometimes sin has so much power in your life that it almost feels like you have no choice but to sin, isn’t it wonderful to know that somebody has freed you and actually you can get out of it. You are not condemned anymore to be forever enslaved.

Isn’t that wonderful when your heart condemns you – you’ve been in the wrong and your heart condemns you. Isn’t that wonderful to know that somebody else has paid for me and now I’m declared just.

There’s a wonderful song that we sing and we say, “Because the sinless saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free”. So it’s important for us as Christians to believe in that, not only because the gospel teaches it, but because it is true.

2. The Resurrection of Jesus

The second thing I want to talk about, and quickly – I have five minutes – it’s the resurrection. Now in Luke 24 you will see it starts, the title is there, the resurrection.

This saviour of ours, Jesus, did not remain dead. The Bible affirms that he rose from the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul says not only did he rise from the dead but 500 people saw him. So it was physical resurrection; bodily resurrection. It wasn’t the imagination, it wasn’t that the body was stolen, it was physical.

Jesus Is Alive

Jesus is alive, we sang today – we read it – he is seated at the right hand of his Father, he is not dead. And so our faith is not in vain. So when we pray, we don’t pray to a dead guy, we pray to a living guy. When we talk of Jesus we are not talking of a king who died and we hope that someday he is going to raise – with Christ we are talking to a person who is alive, who is living, who is powerful.

When we pray, we don’t pray to a dead guy, we pray to a living guy.

I think, like Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 again, that if we don’t believe in the resurrection then we are wasting our time. Because our faith is really a dead faith. We are just hoping that what Jesus did on the cross was actually true.

What Jesus Said Is True

But when he rose from the dead he proved that what he said was true. That when he says I have reconciled you with God it’s true. When he says you’re justified, you are no longer condemned, it’s true. When he says God is no more angry with you, it’s true. When he says you are no more a slave to sin, it’s true.

Well how do I know it’s true? Because he said he would die and rise again, and he rose again, so I can trust what he says.

How do I know it’s true? Because he said he would die and rise again, and he rose again.

He Will Raise Me From Death Too

But you know also, my dear friends, that when I know that Jesus raised from the dead, I know that when he says that one day you will die but you will live because I will raise you from the dead, I know that he will raise me from the dead – because I can trust what he says.

So it’s important for Christians to believe in the resurrection. Because if we don’t, and there’s enough facts in the Bible to give us grounds for this, but if we don’t then our foundation is shaky. It could be an exercise – kind of like some people like to say about positive thinking – and you hope that you are right with God, and you wish you are right with God, but you don’t know you are right with God.

That’s Why The Resurrection Is Important

But my dear friend, with the resurrection we know we are right with God. With the resurrection we know that when we die in this world he will raise us and we will be with him, because we trusted him.

The power that raised Jesus from the dead is within you.

So not only for our present reality, for our future reality, not only is the resurrection important for our faith now, and I mean I like this, there’s a song that some guy sang and I think that he picked it up from Ephesians, he says that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is within you.

I mean isn’t it a great thing to know that the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit living in me. Isn’t that great? Isn’t that great to know that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the Spirit that is giving life every day in my battle with sin, in my battle with faith?

I mean sometimes I don’t really believe God and I know that Spirit is in me is giving me life and working. But if I don’t believe in the resurrection I don’t see much hope to what we are saying and professing.

Let’s apply this. Let’s put this together.

Did Jesus Die In Vain?

Now, if Jesus died, let me ask you a question – very simple – did he die in vain? Right? Did he waste his life? You see sometimes we make Jesus waste his life, as Christians. It feels like it was a waste.

I mean this morning again we had this discussion, and people still think that by what they do they will get to heaven! And I’m like, “Then why did Jesus die?”

If you could get yourself to heaven why then did Jesus die?

Why did he die? If you could get yourself to heaven why did he die? Did he just waste his life?

Number two. You get people, when life is hard and things are very difficult, saying, “Oh! God doesn’t love me!” and I am like, “What?!”

My Relationship With God Is Secure

If Jesus died, and he is our propitiation – he is the guy who’s quenched the anger of God – then I know my life can be hard, but it’s got nothing to do with my relationship with God, if I believe in him. Then I know things can go wrong but it’s got nothing to do with how God sees me.

And I love Paul in Romans 8. He ends with this wonderful verse where he starts with, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. Well why? Because Jesus quenched God’s anger for them, because Jesus has reconciled them, because Jesus has bought them back, because Jesus has made them right.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So when God looks at them he doesn’t see anything wrong – sin cannot separate them from God. Then he goes back now towards the end and he says what shall ever separate me from the love of God? And he gives you a list, and you pick whatever you like (Romans 8:35-39) – at the end he says none shall ever separate me from the Lord.

While I Was A Sinner, He Died

Now when I say this some people don’t like this – I’m accused of encouraging young people to sin. Let me say this: even sin cannot separate you from God, because it never did separate you from him. Why did Jesus die? So as he could free you from your sin. Were you a good guy when he died? Were you a sinless guy for minutes, so he said, “OK, let me die now so as to save you from your future sins”.

No. He died while I was a sinner – so sin did not stop him from dying for me.

I can have assurance of salvation. I can be sure of my salvation. I can be as sure as I’m alive. I can know that when I die I’ll see God. And if I don’t die now and he comes before I die, then I will see him face to face.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not giving you any comfort if Jesus is not genuinely the Lord and the saviour of your life. That’s not what I am doing.

I’m saying to those who fearfully believe – genuinely – and you know in your heart, and God is testifying to your heart that you are his child, then let me say to you words of comfort: that nothing can separate you.

He’s Done It All

Why? Because he’s your propitiation: God can never be angry with you anymore. Because he’s your justification: God doesn’t see anything wrong with you. Because he’s your redemption: he’s taken you away from the sin. Because he’s your reconciliation: he has made you right with God.

Now if you don’t feel God in your life, it’s your fault. It’s not God’s fault. Because you’re not entertaining that relationship. But the door is open.

It is possible now for men to be right with God.

And if you are here this evening and you feel that the burden of sin is over you and wanna try this Jesus I’ll be quite happy to talk that through with you at the end of the service.

But I want to say that it’s possible. The curtain was torn because he died – it is possible now for men to be right with God and nothing, nothing, nothing shall separate those who’ve trusted in him from God. Nothing.

So here we believe that you can’t really lose your salvation. If you did get it, then it will be there. Because it is of God and it is a work of the Spirit in us.

How Does The Resurrection Affect Your Life?

Let me ask this question, my dear friends: how does the resurrection affect your life?

If the death of Jesus gives me assurance that I am right with God – that it is possible for me to be right with God and that if you’re not right with God it’s your choice but it’s not because God has not given you the invitation.

If you’re not right with God it’s your choice.

On the other side the resurrection gives me the power to live daily and to trust in what is to come.

I live in the power of the resurrection now. Because I know my weaknesses are no more an impediment to God’s work. It’s not because I am weak that God can’t do it!

The God of The Impossible

Yesterday we had a time of prayer with some people and there was a wonderful prayer that somebody read. And it was the God of the impossible: now if he could raise from the dead, what could he not do?

If God is not doing something, then it’s because he doesn’t think it’s right.

And it just shifts your mind, and you know that if he is not doing anything, then it is because he doesn’t think it’s right. But it’s not because it’s too hard for him.

Now I get a lot of young people saying, “I’m going through a difficult time. Why is God not intervening? And I need money for school – why is God not providing?”

And I say, “Well, God can and he is able to do. If he is not doing it he’s got his reason, but it’s not because he is weak”.

The God of The Invisible

But at the same time when God says you shall be the light of the world, my dear friend, it means we should attempt great things for him. Knowing that he is able to do things that we don’t see. And sometimes this is the hard thing, isn’t it? Me and you walk by seeing, but God is able to bring the dead to life, so he can do the things that we don’t see.

Do we believe him, in his power?

I’m gonna end. I missed my thirty minutes by five but it’s OK!

We Believe in Jesus’s Death & Resurrection

The Christian believes that Jesus suffered. He didn’t suffer because he was sinful. He didn’t suffer at the hands of a human judge because of his own wrongdoing. He wasn’t crucified because he’d done something wrong that deserved death. The unthinkable happened: God died. Not because God had sins of his own but because of me and you; because of our rebellion.

He didn’t die because of himself, he died because of us.

He didn’t die because of himself, he died because of us.

But he didn’t remain dead – and that’s the wonderful news – he rose from the dead on the third day so that our faith could be made strong, and so as we could trust in what he said. So as men could be reconciled with God. So as men could be accepted in God’s sight. So as men could be freed from sin and devoted to live for God.

That’s what we believe as Christians.