Job, a broken man sat in ruins near his home. All his earthly possessions had been destroyed. The lives of his children had been snuffed out by tragic events. As Job pondered the events in his life, and thought about the happier times now gone, he, in utter despair asks the question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” You may want to ask the same question today, as have millions through out the ages. If one dies, can that person live again? (P) Death is inescapable. Death is everywhere. It comes to us on the highways, on the battlefields, at the end of a long life, or illness. Death is a fact of life. It touches all of us, and will eventually claim us all. It is an unescapable reality. Yet death is feared by our society. Many people immediately become quite uncomfortable with the subject of death. There is nothing wrong with that of course, because we are created to live, and live our lives to the fullest. So to talk about death can be rather morbid and depressing, but that is not our aim this morning. In fact, I want to talk about life, not death. The only thing is, we cannot talk about life without at least mentioning death. (P) The Bible has much to say about death. “. . .man is destined to die once,” it says in Hebrews 9:27. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall” (1 Peter 1:24). But we should be aware that when the Bible talks about death, it most always does so in the context of life. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die (John 11:25-26). This means that death has been conquered. For the believer there is no morbidity about it anymore, for death becomes life!

Of course, I am talking about the resurrection, which always had top priority in the thinking and the preaching of the followers of Jesus: apostles like Paul, Peter and Timothy. These folks were often preaching to people who were completely baffled by this resurrection talk. Belief in such a thing in the first century AD was indeed atypical, especially the resurrection of the body. The Greeks had no problem with the immortality of the soul. They believed that the soul went to the underground, a mysterious abode called Hades. But the idea of a bodily resurrection was not accepted at all. Even the Sadducees, a sect of the Jews bitterly opposed the idea of the resurrection of the body. Yet the Christian message has always been based on the fact that Christ rose from the dead. There is no question about it. It is simply accepted as fact. The passage from Scripture we have just read, tells of Paul having an encounter with a group of intellectuals from Athens, the center of Greek culture and religion. Listen again to the results of this meeting. “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." A few became followers of Paul and believed” (Acts 17:32-34). Did you notice three different reactions to Paul’s preaching? Some sneered, some procrastinated, and some believed. Isn’t that the way it always has been when people hear about the resurrection? I believe that the only reasonable response should be the last one, yet, there are choices here. How will you choose?

We should always remember that the resurrection is the cornerstone of our faith. Without the resurrection faith is meaningless. “. . .if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith,” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:14. That Jesus was raised from the dead is indeed the basic message of the gospel. Again Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” As I have said in a previous sermon, these are facts, not suppositions, but biblical facts. The details around the resurrection of Jesus are among the best attested to in all of history, not just in the Bible, but other historical writings as well. Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived and wrote sometime before 100 A.D. said, “Now there was about this time, Jesus a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many Jews, and also many of the Greeks. This man was the Christ. And when Pilate had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the first did not forsake him for he appeared to them alive on the third day, the divine prophets having spoken these and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And even now, the race of Christians, so named from him, has not died out.” Paul too, offers proof by naming actual eyewitnesses to the resurrection. He names Peter, and James, and all of the apostles. In fact Jesus was seen by more than five hundred people.

When we look back att he burial of Jesus we read that he had been put in a sealed tomb with a military guard placed outside. Some have suggested that his body was stolen, but that would have been impossible. It would have taken several people to roll away that heavy stone and the government seal on it would have been broken, which would have been a felony against the Roman Government. Pilate himself had order the government seal on this grave, as well as the guards because he had been told that Jesus had said that he would rise from the dead in three days. You can read that in Matthew 27:63-64. The soldiers did spread the rumor that Jesus body had been stolen while they were asleep, but they did so under certain protection. If that had really been the case, they would probably have faced the death penalty for falling asleep. So there is no good way to explain the empty tomb, other than, Jesus rose from the dead.

Besides, how could more that five hundred people have been deceived? And, can we not put our trust in the apostles, men and women of high moral standards? What would they have to gain by lying about the resurrection? Not only that, as you know, a story often changes from one person to another. Yet the resurrection story didn’t. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and that is all there is to that. The resurrection remains as the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Is it yours as well?

The believer sees the resurrection of Jesus as a real source of hope. Paul wrote, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1Cor 15:19-20). I like the way the Living Bible has these verses. Listen. “. . .if being a Christian is of value to us only now in this life, we are the most miserable of creatures. But the fact is, Christ did actually rise from the dead, and has become the first of millions who will come back to life again some day.” Christ’s resurrection is the believer’s hope. . .a sure hope, not just a wish but a hope. . .the assurance that he or she will one day be raised in him. The very last enemy of life, namely death, has been destroyed.

An old legend tells of a parish priest who found a branch of a thorn tree twisted around so that it resembled a crown of thorns. Thinking it a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ, he took it into his chapel and placed it on the altar on Good Friday. Early on Easter morning he remembered what he had done. Feeling it was not appropriate for Easter Sunday, he hurried into the church to clear it away before the congregation came. But when he came into the church, he found the thorn branches blossoming with beautiful roses. What a great illustration. The starkness of death turned into blossoming life. There is no hope, without the resurrection. Only in Christ can we face an eternal future with certainty and a spirit of optimism.

The resurrection is the ultimate proof of God’s love for his people. We have heard the verse from John 3:16 so often. It is perhaps the most familiar verse, but also these days often the most ridiculed. Remember the people who sneered at Paul? People still sneer today. Let me explain. In an effort to get the message of God’s love across to millions at once, some people had the idea to make placard with the reference “John 3:16" written on them. They would then take these to ball parks of football games, and when ever they would notice a TV camera pointing their way, they would lift up their placard making sure it would be caught by the TV camera so millions would see it. It was a good idea, until some other people began to do something similar. People began to do the same thing to promote their so called heroes. One person comes to mind, a villain of the WWF the World Wrestling Federation, named Steve Austin, or Stone Cold Austin. As a result, you can buy a keep sake of this so called star which is a T-shirt with his picture, and below the picture, the caption “3:16.” This is totally contrary to what the people in the ball stadia had in mind, but even more so, contrary to what Jesus had in mind when he spoke the words, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God represents total love and all that is good. Stone Cold Austin represents total hate, and all that is destructive. As one former WWF star said in a recent interview on TVO, “kids used to support the good guys, in our business, now they support the villains.” I urge you parents to be aware of what your kids are watching.

Christ died as a sacrifice for sin, and the resurrection was God’s stamp of approval on Christ’s work of redemption. It was the work of love! Yes, God loves us enough to come to us in person, and yet some want to procrastinate. . .to put him off . They want to hear more, sometime, but not just now. Its like the story of a man in Wales who sought to win the affection of a certain lady for 42 years before she finally said, "Yes." The couple, both 74, recently became "Mr. and Mrs."

For more than 40 years, the persistent, but rather shy man slipped a weekly love letter under his neighbor's door. But she continually refused to answer. Finally after writing 2,184 love letters without ever getting a spoken or written answer, the single-hearted old man eventually summoned up enough courage to present himself in person. He knocked on the door of the reluctant lady and asked for her hand. To his delight and surprise, she accepted.

Now, just imagine God's dilemma. Time and time again He tried to get His message of love through to His people with little response. Finally, when there was no other way, He wrapped up His message in person. (Richard Armstrong, Make Your Life Worthwhile)

Some believed Paul. What is your attitude to the resurrection. Do you believe it? We all must have Christ, for he has overcome death for us. He has already done it, for you, and for me. In addition he promised eternal life. Won’t you put your trust in him today, and always?