Transformed by the Resurrection

Transformed by the Resurrection
John 21:15-25
April 9, 2023

“If you ask where God’s glory is most seen, I will not point to creation, nor to providence, but to the raising of Jesus from the dead.” [Spurgeon]

We make much of the resurrection.  For good reason.  It is one of two fundamental pillars of salvation:

• We are dependent on the cross. We have sinned and someone needs to die for our sin.  And we are the most natural candidate for paying the debt penalty of our sin.  And it’s not just enough to find someone else to die for us; the One who will die in our place must be perfectly sinless — both in deeds and desires.  And that was Jesus. 
• We are dependent on the empty grave. If Christ was only crucified in our place and not resurrected, then we have no hope of living either.  He would be just another dead religious leader.  Christ’s resurrection is God’s exclamation of His acceptance of Christ’s death for us.  Because He lives, now we have confident hope of life.

Thomas Watson rightly noted the effect of the resurrection for us — “We are more sure to arise out of our graves than out of our beds.”  This is the hope of the resurrection.  He lives.  We will live.  We will be freed from sin — we will never again sin; we will not even feel the slightest inclination of desire to sin.  We will have bodies that are perfected — no more forgetfulness, weight gain, or illness.  We will have life that is eternal.  All these things and more are a certainty.  Praise the Lord for those graces.

But they are all future.  What about today?  What good is the resurrection for you and me today?  Because while we will have eternal life, we have to die in this body to get there (or be raptured).  So, are the benefits of the resurrection (only) in the future, or are there some benefits today?  Now?  In this world?  There are.  The final accounts of the resurrected Christ in John give us a glimpse into the benefits of the resurrection:

Christ’s resurrection provides eternal benefits (which have already begun).

What is the benefit of the resurrection?  Though the words “resurrection,” “risen,” and “raised from the dead” are not in this passage, the truth of the resurrection dominates these verses.  What is the benefit of the resurrection?  In these final words of John’s Gospel, we find four glorious benefits of the resurrection for our lives today (and into eternity).

1. The Resurrection Provides a Redemptive Solution to Sin (vv. 15-17)
2. The Resurrection Provides a Worthy Savior to Follow (vv. 18-19)
3. The Resurrection Provides a Hopeful Reason to Endure (vv. 20-23)
4. The Resurrection Provides an Incomparable Person to Believe (vv. 24-25)

Download the rest of this sermon on John 21:15-25.

Garden Tomb by upyernoz.

The audio will be posted on the GBC website by tomorrow.