Easter Special: The Prophesied, Redeeming, Risen Christ

The Prophesied, Redeeming, and Risen Christ. Today is an Easter special edition of the Christian Reel View Radio Program where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. I'm David Wheaton, the host. The Christian Reel View is a non-profit, listener-supported radio ministry We are able to broadcast on the radio station, website, or app on which you are listening today because of the support of listeners like you.

Thank you for your prayer, encouragement, and support. You can connect with us by visiting our website, thechristianreelview.org, calling our toll-free number, 1-888-646-2233, or writing to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331 The prophets foretold him. The gospels reveal him. The epistles explain him. All of scripture exalts him. Him being Jesus Christ, the God-man who lived among us, was crucified by those he had created, who miraculously rose from the grave and then ascended alive into heaven.

This is way beyond the, quote, greatest story ever told. Rather, Jesus Christ is the greatest one who ever lived. His crucifixion, burial, resurrection is the greatest, most significant event in human history. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. John 14, 6. Scripture also says, For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

That's from 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. This Easter weekend, we're going to talk about the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. We'll examine the most detailed Old Testament prophecy about him in Isaiah 53 and see how it was precisely fulfilled. We'll also hear some of the most profound hymns about Christ's sacrificial death for man.

We hope your Easter is made more meaningful as you listen to this special edition of the Christian worldview radio program. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament about Jesus the Christ. Christ meaning the anointed one or the Messiah. Even going back all the way to Genesis chapter 3 at the beginning of the Bible, where God is meeting out the consequences of the original sin to Satan and Adam and Eve. He says this in Genesis chapter 3, starting in verse 14. He's talking to Satan. The Lord God said to the serpent, and I will put enmity, or hostility, opposition, between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, that's her seed, shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

What does that mean? Christ isn't mentioned by name. But as you read scripture, you realize that aside from God declaring himself a Trinity in the first chapter or two of Genesis, here in chapter 3 is the first reference that there's going to be a redeemer, or you could say a champion, a victor that's going to come from a woman. That the son Jesus Christ will deal a fatal blow to the head of Satan, bruise you on the head.

He did it at the cross, winning victory for all time over him. And that Satan will give a bruise to Christ, bruise him on the heel. That's what would take place at the crucifixion. And sure enough, Satan entered Judas Iscariot himself to betray Christ, and to deal that bruise to Christ's heel.

But it would turn out to be a fatal blow for Satan. Moving forward, one book in the Old Testament from Genesis to Exodus, the institution of the Passover, which started during the tenth plague when the Jews were in Egypt. And God was using these plagues against Pharaoh to bring his people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. And this last plague was the killing of the firstborn male in every home across Egypt that did not obey God and put blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes. And this was rich with prophetic significance to the shed blood of the future lamb who would take away the sin of the world.

That would be Jesus Christ. Listen here in Exodus chapter 12. Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be the beginning of months for you.

It is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying, on the tenth of this month, they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, a lamb for each household. Verse 5, your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old. Notice, it had to be an unblemished lamb, just like Christ was the sinless son of God who takes away the sin of the world. Verse 6, you shall keep it, the lamb, until the fourteenth day of the same month.

Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. This is the exact day and time, thousands of years later, that Christ would be crucified on this day of Passover. As the Jews were sacrificing lambs, Jesus Christ was being crucified and being sacrificed on the cross for sin. Verse 7, Exodus 12. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood of the lamb and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.

In other words, over the doorframe, they are to apply some of the blood of this lamb, just in the same way that the death and blood of Christ covered the posts of the cross and spiritually covered the sins of the believer. All the parallels and the foreshadowing between the first Passover and the future Passover where Christ would be sacrificed. Verse 11, Exodus 12. Now you shall eat it, the lamb, in this manner, with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, God is saying, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments.

I am the Lord. Verse 13, the blood that you put on the doorpost shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live, and when I see the blood I will pass over you. That's where you get the word Passover. And no plague, no death of the firstborn will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. And so what does God do for those who put their faith and trust in the blood of Christ as covering their sin?

God passes over you from judging you when he sees you as one who has trusted in the blood of Christ as being the way to be forgiven of your sin. And then we get to the prophecy of all prophecies in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 52 and 53, I just want to read what it says in the MacArthur Study Bible about this particular section. It says, this section contains unarguable, incontrovertible proof that God is the author of Scripture and Jesus is the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy.

The details in this passage are so minute that no human could have predicted them by accident and no imposter fulfilled them by cunning. Clearly, this refers to Messiah Jesus as the New Testament attests. Now this is a familiar passage to many, but we're going to read it today in this Easter special edition of the Christian Rule of Your Radio program starting in Isaiah chapter 52, just the last few verses of that chapter, starting in verse 12. Isaiah describes the exalted servant before he gets to the suffering servant in Isaiah chapter 53. So Isaiah 52, starting in verse 13. God is talking here, my servant is Christ, will prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted, just as many were astonished at you, my people. So his, Christ's appearance, was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of man. Thus he, Christ, will sprinkle many nations.

Kings will shut their mouths on account of him. For what had not been told them, they will see, and what they had not heard, they will understand. What turned out to be the case was that Christ was marred terribly by the abuse of the soldiers, and then again by being hung, nailed to a cross. The kings, the great kings of the earth, their mouths will be stopped because they don't understand who this Jesus is. They think they're a king, but he is the king of kings and Lord of lords, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Most of the world does not understand who Jesus is or what he did, but all will someday and every knee will bow. So now we turn to Isaiah chapter 53, where it starts out as, who has believed our message? A question. Into whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? In other words, who's going to believe this message?

I'm about to tell you. Verse 2, for he, again referring to Messiah, grew up before him, God, like a tender shoot and like a root out of a parched ground. He, the Messiah, has no stately form or majesty like a king that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. Verse 3, he was despised and forsaken of men. He's a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Jesus was not tall, strong, and handsome. He was not some smiling motivational speaker that just made people feel good. No, he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

He was actually despised by the very people he created. But now we go to verse 4. Listen to the substitutionary atonement of what this Messiah, what Christ, did for sinful men and women. Verse 4, surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging, or stripes, another version said, we are healed.

All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity, or sin of us all, to fall on him. The sinless, innocent Messiah, Jesus, stood before God the judge and took the penalty for our sin.

He was a substitute in our place. And God can justly accept that substitute because Jesus has no sin of his own to pay for. So God can be just in punishing sin, and he can also be the justifier.

He can declare us righteous because Christ did everything for us. Verse 7, he, Christ, was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. Christ never defended himself. What did he pray when he was taken to the cross? He prayed, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing. Verse 8, by oppression and judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living?

For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due. His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. Again, the actual description of the way Jesus Christ really was. He was buried in a rich man's grave, Joseph's grave.

Joseph and Nicodemus, who were two members of the religious ruling Sanhedrin of the day, they came to believe in him, and it was Joseph who took his body and placed it in his own tomb that he owned. Verse 10, but the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

As a result of the anguish of the Messiah's soul, God will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant Jesus, will justify the many, and he will bear their iniquities. This was not cosmic child abuse of God, of his own son. The Lord was pleased to crush him, to put him to grief, because God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God loved us so much that he was willing to send his own son to pay the penalty that we deserve to pay for our own sin. And so God's justice and wrath could be satisfied through the sacrifice of Christ. The final verse of Isaiah 53, Therefore I will allot him, the Messiah, a portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he, the Messiah, poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many against substitution, and he interceded for the transgressors.

Jesus was numbered with transgressors, the two criminals on either side of him he was crucified with, but he bore the sin of all who would repent and believe in him, and he intercedes for those believers before God today. According to hymnary.org, a man named Thomas Chisholm was born in Franklin, Kentucky in 1866. His boyhood was spent on a farm and in teaching district schools. He was converted to Christianity at the age of 26. His aim in writing was to incorporate as much as scripture as possible and to avoid flippant or sentimental themes. And this is the hymn he wrote, He was wounded for our transgressions. He was wounded for our transgressions. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. For our guilt he gave us peace, from our bondage gave release, and with his stripes our souls are healed. He was numbered among transgressors. We did esteem him forsaken by his God, as our sacrifice he died that the law be satisfied, and all our sin was laid on him. We had wandered, we all had wandered, far from the fold of the shepherd of the sheep, but he sought us where we were, on the mountains bleak and bare, and brought us safely home to God.

Who can number his generation? Who shall declare all the triumphs of his cross? Millions dead now live again, myriads follow in his train, victorious Lord and coming King.

And that particular hymn was based right off the passage we just read in Isaiah chapter 53. You are listening to a special Easter edition of the Christian Real View radio program where we're discussing the prophesied, redeeming, and risen Christ. I'm the host David Wheaton and we'll return to the Christian Real View right after this. You pray for revival as if it must come, but you go on working as if it will not come.

We must carry on witnessing for Christ, living a holy life, seeking to know Christ better, following his ways, following his path, making unity and peace among God's people wherever we can, supporting the preaching of the word by our prayers and our encouragement, and being, quite frankly, godly Christians. That was from the film Revival, the Work of God, which surveys some of the great revivals of the past 500 years. This two-hour, two-disc DVD documentary is our new featured resource.

Normal retail is $40 plus shipping, and for a limited time, you can order the film for a donation of any amount to the Christian Real View. Go to thechristianrealview.org, call 1-888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Here's a unique resource and product for you from the Christian Real View. We put the top 15 programs of 2022 on a great looking bamboo USB flash drive adorned with the Christian Real View logo. Programs like, What is the Christian's duty to God versus government? 12 mega clues that Jesus' return is nearer than ever. How America's new woke religion is not good news. Transhumanism and the quest to be like God. And what really happens when you're born again? Simply plug the flash drive into the USB port on your Windows or Mac device and you will have the top programs at your fingertips.

Plus, with the large 4 gigabyte capacity, you'll have plenty of extra space to load your own files. The flash drive is $25 and you can order by calling 1-888-646-2233, or going to thechristianrealview.org, or writing to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Welcome back to the Christian Real View. I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit our website, thechristianrealview.org, where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter. Order resources for adults and children and support the ministry. Today's program is a special Easter edition, where we are discussing the prophesied, redeeming, and risen Christ. The word redeem means to save or to purchase out of enslavement, to buy back. And we've been reading from the Gospel of Luke today, so let's continue in Luke chapter 22 about the redeeming work of Christ on the cross, starting in verse 1. Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, we just read about this in the first segment, was approaching. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him, Christ, to death, for they were afraid of the people.

Here you have the religious leaders of the day trying to figure out how to kill their Messiah. Verse 3, and Satan, here he enters the scene again, all the way back from Genesis 3, entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. Judas was one of the twelve disciples. And he went away, Judas, and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Jesus to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money, so he consented and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Jesus to them, apart from the crowd.

Now just consider the hardness of unbelief. Judas was with Jesus for the previous three years. He heard Him, he saw His miracles, and yet he still would not believe. Consider the hardness of these chief priests and scribes, these Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders of their day, hearing about and seeing the miracles and knowing the Old Testament. They should have known that this was the prophesied Messiah. He saw Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, but they would not believe.

He was a threat to their power and their profit, and they were envious and jealous of Him. Verse 7, Luke 22, Then came the first day of unleavened bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. As we were reading about back in Exodus 12, they're still doing the same thing a couple thousand years later. And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it. Now Jesus is going to be partaking of the Passover meal. Verse 19, And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of Me. And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. So Jesus is initiating a new covenant between God and man. And Christ is going to ratify this covenant with His own shed blood on the cross. And now instead of having a high priest as the mediator between God and man, Jesus Himself is going to be the mediator, the intercessor between God and man. And after this Last Supper, the disciples and Jesus go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is praying. He's in agony.

He's sweating great drops of blood. Eventually Judas comes with soldiers. He betrays Jesus with a kiss on the cheek. Jesus is arrested. The disciples are scattered. Jesus is treated unjustly, cruelly.

Peter denies Him three times. And finally, toward the end of Luke chapter 22, we see what the unregenerate, God-hating, God-rejecting world is like in all its evilness. Verse 63, Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, Prophesy, who is the one who hit you? And they were saying many other things against Him, blaspheming.

Verse 66, When it was day, it was all done at night previous to this, the council of elders, again the religious people, the so-called good people, assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, If you are the Christ, tell us. But Jesus said to them, If I tell you, you will not believe. And if I ask you a question, you will not answer. Belief is more than just intellectual assent. It's a matter of surrendering the will.

You will not believe. But from now on, Jesus went on to say, The Son of Man, which He liked to call Himself, will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. And they all said, Are you the Son of God then? And He said to them, Here's what Jesus said, Yes, I am. Verse 71, Then they said, What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.

There it is. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. There's only two responses to that. Either He's a liar, or He's telling the truth, and He's the Lord He claimed to be. And the question for everyone listening today is, Where does the evidence about Jesus lead you? Is He a liar, or is He the Lord?

And if He is the Lord, have you believed in and surrendered and submitted to this Lord? Flipping the page to Luke chapter 23, verse 13, where it says, Pilot, summon the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion. And behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man, regarding the charges which you make against him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us, and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Therefore, I will punish him and release him. Even Pilate, the Roman governor, is not finding any grounds to hold Jesus criminally responsible for anything.

But the religious leaders of the Jewish people would not have this. They were out for blood. But they cried out altogether, saying, Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas.

He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city in for murder. They're calling for his release, a criminal's release, and an innocent man, a perfectly innocent man's crucifixion. Verse 20, Pilot, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on calling out, saying, Crucify, crucify him. And he said to them the third time, Why? What evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt demanding death.

Therefore, I will punish him and release him. Verse 23, But they were insistent with loud voices asking that he be crucified, and their voices begin to prevail. In other words, they just shouted, Pilot, down.

Just like you see a crowd today demanding something in the street, it's the same principle back then. Verse 24, And Pilot pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. He acquiesced.

He gave in like a coward. Verse 25, And he released the man they were asking for, Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus to their will. That is one of the most profoundly troubling statements in all of Scripture. The Jews would say in another Gospel, His blood be on us and on our children.

Just think about that. They wanted a criminal, an insurrectionist murderer to be released, and the Son of God to be crucified. The last part of Luke 23 now, when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. And just to pause to say, in all of the Gospels, the crucifixion is not described in graphic, gory detail. It's just there they crucified Him.

I will surmise that God inspired this to be limited in His description. We can imagine what a crucifixion is like, certainly, because the physical suffering of crucifixion was not the worst part of the sacrifice of Christ. It was Christ taking the sins of the world on Himself and having His Father pour out His wrath on His Son that was the hardest part of this whole thing, not the physical pounding of the nails through His hands and His feet. Verse 34, But Jesus was saying, as they were crucifying Him, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

And they certainly didn't. They did not know they were crucifying the Son of God. And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves, and the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, Not enough to put Him on a cross, now you've got to mock Him more.

He saved others, let Him save Himself, if this is the Christ of God, His chosen one. The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine and saying, If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself. Now, there was also an inscription above Him, This is the King of the Jews. Another mocking sign, like, Here's your King, nailed to a cross. Verse 44, It was now about the sixth hour, or twelve noon.

And darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, three p.m., because the sun was obscured, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. Again, a new covenant here. You don't need a high priest anymore to go in and represent the people one time a year to the Holy of Holies. Now we have the great high priest, Jesus Christ, who goes right into the presence of God for us on our behalf. Verse 46, And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.

Having said this, He breathed His last. He died at His own appointed time. Now, when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, Certainly this man was innocent. And just as predicted in Isaiah 53, the burial of Christ comes next, and a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, he had not consented to their plan in action, a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a tomb cut into the rock where no one had ever lain. It was the preparation day, Friday, and the Sabbath, Saturday, was about to begin. Now the women who had come with them out of Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

They saw where his body was laid, then they returned to the city and prepared spices and perfumes, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. This is Christ's redeeming work on the cross for us. O sacred head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, now scornfully surrounded with thorns, thine only crown, O sacred head, what glory, what bliss tis now was thine, yet though despised and gory, I joy to call thee mine. What thou my Lord has suffered was all for sinner's gain, mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain. Lo, here I fall, my Savior, tis I deserve thy place, look on me with thy favor and grant to me thy grace. What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest friend, for this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end? O, make me thine forever, and should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to thee. Final stanza, be near me when I'm dying, O show thy cross to me, and for my rescue flying, come, Lord, and set me free. These eyes new faith receiving from Jesus shall not move, for one who dies believing dies safely through thy love. You are listening to the Christian worldview radio program about the prophesied, redeeming, and risen Christ, this special Easter edition of the Christian worldview radio program.

I'm David Wheaton. What is the Christian worldview radio program really about? Fundamentally, it's about impacting people, families, churches, with the life and eternity changing truth of God's word. We know the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message that saves us from God's wrath, by God's grace, for God's glory.

And we know the Bible is the inspired word of God, providing the only way to think and live to the glory of God. We are a nonprofit listener-supported ministry. If you would like to help us impact listeners with the biblical worldview and the gospel, consider becoming a Christian worldview partner who regularly give a specified amount to the ministry. As a thank you, Christian worldview partners automatically receive many of the resources featured on the program throughout the year. To become a Christian worldview partner, call us toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. You pray for revival as if it must come, but you go on working as if it will not come.

We must carry on witnessing for Christ, living a holy life, seeking to know Christ better, following his ways, following his path, making unity and peace among God's people wherever we can, supporting the preaching of the word by our prayers and our encouragement, and being, quite frankly, godly Christians. That was from the film Revival, The Work of God, which surveys some of the great revivals of the past 500 years. This two-hour, two-disc DVD documentary is our new featured resource.

Normal retail is $40 plus shipping, and for a limited time, you can order the film for a donation of any amount to the Christian worldview. Go to thechristianworldview.org, call 1-888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Welcome back to the Christian Real View, I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit our website, thechristianrealview.org, where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. We are so grateful that you have joined us today on the Christian Real View radio program, where we have been discussing the provision of the Christian Real View radio program. We are so grateful that you have joined us today on the Christian Real View radio program, where we have been discussing the prophesied, redeeming, and risen Christ. In the first two segments, we've gone over the prophesied Christ from Isaiah chapter 53 and other passages from the Old Testament. In the second segment, we discussed the redeeming work of Christ on the cross against the redemption of sinners, that the debt that we had accrued to God through our sin, that He paid in full for those who would repent and believe in Him.

And now in the third segment, we're going to talk about the risen Christ, or the victorious Christ over sin and death, and how His resurrection, the fact of His resurrection, guarantees that those who believe in Him will be resurrected to eternal life as well. Sticking in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 24, But on the first day of the week at early dawn, they, the women, came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Remember, they had saw it there.

They go back. The stone's rolled away, and there's no body. Now they were perplexed about this. Behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing, and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the man said to them, Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men? He was. And be crucified?

And He was. And now, in the third day, rise again. And they remembered His words and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven disciples and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James. Also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles, and these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in.

He saw the linen wrappings only, and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened. Now, there is no most important part of this Easter weekend, whether it's the crucifixion, the burial, and the resurrection. All three have rich meaning, and they really are dependent on each other. But the resurrection of Christ does prove at least four things. Number one, that Christ was who He said He was. He said He was going to be crucified and rise from the dead on several occasions. So He wasn't a liar. He was the Lord.

He is who He said He is. Number two, the resurrection proves that God was satisfied with His atonement. God didn't leave His Son in the grave to decay.

No, He was satisfied. His wrath and justice over our sin was satisfied. Christ had atoned. He had done the work that God had sent Him to do, and God raised Him from the dead.

Our sin has been atoned for. Number three, the resurrection of Christ proves that the Christian faith is true. We're going to find that out as we read from 1 Corinthians 15 in just a second. Number four, the resurrection of Christ proves that the believer will rise again to heaven, because if Christ rose from the dead, He promises that believers in Him will rise again from the dead and go to heaven. And this is all laid out in 1 Corinthians 15. You can read it for yourself.

I'll just read a couple of short passages in here. It starts out in verse 3, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas or Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all as to one untimely born, Paul writes, He appeared to me also. So the resurrection of Christ was not some made-up event.

There were actual eyewitnesses, hundreds of them. And then Paul goes on to say in verse 13, If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. He's making the argument here, if there is no resurrection, not even Christ has been raised, and then your faith is just worthless.

He finishes the section by saying this, If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. That just goes to show you that the Christian faith is willing to be fully examined. And it's not a blind faith, it's a faith based on evidence and faith based on facts, the fact of Christ's resurrection.

So the Christian faith is real. But more than that, the resurrection guarantees heaven for those who believe in Christ. 1 Corinthians 15, but now Christ has been raised from the dead.

He's the firstfruits of those who are asleep or dead. For since by a man came death, Adam, by a man, Jesus, also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. In other words, for the believer in Christ, Jesus Christ's resurrection from the grave guarantees that the believer will also be resurrected from their own grave someday. And just to close this section from 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes, Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

You can't go to heaven with the body you have now. Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, we won't all die, but we will all be changed. Believers will all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, this is in the future, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. So those who have had perishable bodies who have died and decayed and decomposed, they will be raised with an imperishable body and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable body and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. He finishes in verse 57 by saying, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the great hope for the believer.

Not a hopey-hope. A hope based on the assurance of the promises of God that if you are a believer in Christ, based on the fact of Jesus rising from the dead, that those who believe in him will also rise from the dead someday and receive an imperishable body fit for heaven. That is the good news, the greatest news of this Easter weekend, that sin and death do not have to be our greatest enemy, but that we can be saved through the person of Jesus Christ and his work for us on the cross. But we must believe in that by faith, and if we reject that, we will rise again as well, but we will rise again with a body fit for judgment in hell. The Bible says, He who believes in the Son has life, eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son, the wrath of God abides on him. The choice is clear. Choose Christ. Choose eternal life with him in heaven.

Just listen to this substory of the big story that needs to be your story. We find this in Luke chapter 23 and also in Matthew as well, where it gives the account of these criminals who are crucified on either side of Jesus. And just as some context, it says in Matthew that as the criminals were nailed to the cross besides Jesus, both of them were mocking and insulting Jesus. But then we find out in the Gospel of Luke a little more information. Here's where it says, One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Jesus, saying, Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us. Here he is hanging on the cross in the dying moments of his life, still mocking the Son of God. But the other criminal answered, and rebuking him, said, Do you not even fear God?

He has an about face all of a sudden. Since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man, Jesus, has done nothing wrong. And he was saying, this one criminal who had the about face, the change of mind, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.

And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise or heaven. So you have two criminals. They each saw the same Christ on the middle cross, and they responded in two completely different ways. One of the criminals just hurled abuse in a most blasphemous, disbelieving way. Save yourself and us.

Get us down from this cross. But the other all of a sudden had this turnaround where he recognized who Jesus was. He expressed that, I'm a sinner.

I deserve it. He said, We're suffering justly for the wrongs we have done. But this man, Jesus, is innocent.

He's done nothing wrong. He understood this criminal that the soul lives on after death, and he just pleaded with Jesus to remember him. He believed that Jesus was king of the universe and could save him if only Jesus would just remember him. He exercised faith in who Jesus was and what Jesus could do to save him. And Jesus affirmed this criminal's faith, and he affirmed that he would be in heaven.

What's significant about this is, it was the last dying moments of his life. This criminal was hanging on the cross, and he would soon die and enter eternity. Moments before, he was headed to hell. He was mocking Christ, not believing in him.

Then minutes later, he went from mocking to believing and asking Jesus to save him. There were no good works involved. He wasn't baptized. He never took communion. He never had last rites administered to him. He never went to church. He never went to Bible study. He never signed a prayer card. He never raised his hand in an evangelistic event or went forward to the front of the auditorium. He just expressed in his words, I believe in you, Jesus.

Please save me. There was no faith in his own goodness because he didn't have any. There was only faith in God's goodness through the person and work of Christ.

It's the sub-story of the big story that needs to be your story. How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure that he should give his only Son to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing loss. The Father turns his face away as wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons to glory. Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders.

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life.

I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. We hope like the criminal on the cross because we're all criminals, sinful criminals before God, that you understand that God is your Creator.

He is your just judge. This is a God who loves you and wants to redeem you. I hope you realize that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the wages of that sin is both physical and eternal death.

But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ for by grace you have been saved. God is offering you a gift of grace to forgive you and save you from your sins through what Jesus did on the cross. Receive the gift. Don't reject the gift.

Receive the gift today. Confess that you're a sinner before God and believe in Jesus Christ as the one who paid the debt in full that you owed to God for your sin. I want to thank you for listening to this special edition of the Christian worldview this Easter weekend. We hope the reading of Scripture and some of the great hymns of the faith has brought a greater understanding and appreciation and love for our God who sent his son Jesus into the world to die for our sins and God proved that those sins were completely covered by raising him from the dead. If you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ, please go to our website thechristianworldview.org and click on the page What Must I Do to Be Saved?

Or you can also call us toll free 1-888-646-2233. All of our contact information is given again immediately following today's program. In just a moment there will be information on how you can hear a replay of today's program. Order transcripts and resources that we offer and also support this non-profit radio ministry. Let's remember that God sent his son into our sinful world to save sinners like you and me and that Jesus Christ and his word are the same yesterday and today and forever.

So until next time, think biblically, live accordingly and stand firm. The mission of the Christian worldview is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end.

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