Rick Warren - How the Resurrection Gives Us Hope

The Church of Jesus Christ is by far, by far

the largest organization on planet Earth. Nothing else comes close.

The Church of Jesus Christ is bigger than China. The

Church of Jesus Christ is bigger than China and Europe

put together. The Church of Jesus Christ is bigger than

China and Europe and the United States put together. Nothing

is bigger on this planet. than the church of Jesus Christ.

One out of every three people are followers of Christ.

How in the world did that happen? What caused Christianity

to grow from a dozen poor Jewish fishermen to 120

people and then to thousands and tens of thousands and

then millions and now billions? What caused that growth? Why

did Christianity spread so far And so fast, one reason,

we had the resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is

the single most significant event in history. It splits history

into AD and BC. Even your own birthday is dated

by Jesus Christ's resurrection. Nothing is more significant than God

invaded earth. He said, I'm gonna prove I'm God by

letting him kill me and come back to life three

days later. And that news spread like wildfire because there

were so many eyewitnesses. And it filled the followers of

Jesus Christ, those early followers, with a hope that was contagious,

with a love that was contagious, with a fearlessness, a

courage that they didn't care what happened to them because

they had seen the resurrected Jesus Christ. It's interesting that

in the Bible, in the New Testament, before the resurrection happens,

the word hope is only used one time, only one

time in the first part of the New Testament. After

the resurrection happens, the word hope is used over 80 times.

Our hope is because Jesus Christ proved he said he

was who he claimed to be by resurrecting three days later.

Now let's just distinguish the difference between a resuscitation and

a resurrection. Today, there are all these books coming about

how people who die and come back to life, and

they tell you what heaven's all about. You can throw

all those books away. Those aren't resurrections. Those are resuscitations.

If you've been dead for 20 minutes or an hour

or two hours, that's a resuscitation. If you faint, if

you go into a coma, we can resuscitate you. A

resurrection means you've been buried for three days. And then

you come back to life. That's a big difference. That's

not a resuscitation. That's a resurrection. Only Jesus has resurrected. Now,

today what I want us to do is look at

the six reasons that followers of Jesus Christ are the

most hopeful people in the world, why we have far

more hope than anybody else in a world that seems

to be full of hopelessness.

Why do we have hope?

Six reasons. If you're writing these down, here's the first one.

Number one, the first reason Jesus' resurrection gives us hope

is we have been completely forgiven. We have been completely forgiven.

Jesus repeatedly said over and over, I'm gonna die on

the cross to pay for all your sins. He said

it over and over and over. And then he said,

and then I'm gonna come back to life three days

later to prove that I am who I say I am. Now,

if he hadn't done the second part, the first part

doesn't really matter. If he didn't come back to life,

then I have every reason to doubt that he died

for my sins. The two go together. Now, let me

give you some good news. There on your outline, the

Bible says this, Ephesians chapter one, verse seven, in Christ,

we are set free by the blood of his death.

And so we have.

Forgiveness of sins because of God's rich grace. Now we're

all imperfect. So we all carry regrets and we all

carry remorse. And we always wish we had done things differently.

We all have sins and things that we feel bad

about and guilty about. And God doesn't want you carrying

guilt through life. God doesn't want you carrying a load

of shame through life. The whole reason he died on

the cross was so that you could be free from

all of that guilt, all of that shame. Guilt wastes

an awful lot of energy. It fatigues you. It tires you.

It robs you of peace of mind. But Jesus said,

I came to die for your sins so you don't

have to die for them. I was hung on the

cross so you can quit hanging yourself on the cross.

I don't know if you've ever asked the question or

thought about it. Who really killed Jesus? Who put Jesus

on the cross? Who is to blame for Jesus being

on the cross? Well, it wasn't Judas. and it wasn't

Caiaphas the high priest, and it wasn't Pilate the governor,

and it wasn't the Romans, and it wasn't the religious leaders,

and it wasn't even the crowd. The answer is twofold.

Who put Jesus on the cross? And this may shock you.

This may shock you, but the answer is twofold. The

first is, the first.

Answer is this. God did. God did.

God put Jesus on the cross. It was his plan

from the very beginning. It's why Jesus came to earth.

to die for our sins. That's the whole reason. It

was God's plan before any of us were ever born.

Here's what the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 53 in

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

the Bible. All of us have strayed away like sheep.

In other words, we've all done our own thing. We've

all left God's plan to follow our own. Yet the

Lord laid on him, talking about Jesus, the guilt and

sins of us all. From prison and trial, they led

him away to his death. But who among the people

realized that he was dying for their sins, that he

was suffering for their punishment?

He said, nobody realized that at the time.

He had done no wrong. He had never deceived anyone.

But he was buried like a criminal. He was put

in a rich man's grave. But it was God's plan

that he should suffer. God, it was God's plan. Yet,

when his life is made an offering for sins, he

will have a multitude of children. In other words, there'll

be people who will follow him. I don't know if

you noticed in this passage the change in tense. The

first part is in past tense, and then it goes

to future. When his life is made an offering for sin,

he will have a multitude of children. You know why

the change in tense, past tense to future? Because this was.

Written 700 years before Jesus Christ.

This is a prophecy.

Prophecy.

And Isaiah 700 BC is telling and predicting exactly what's

going to happen to the Messiah, the Savior, the Son

of God who comes to earth. And this happened exactly

how it happened. It was part of God's plan. But

the second one may surprise you too. Who put Jesus

on the cross?

We did. I did. You did.

If none of us had ever sinned, Jesus wouldn't have

to die for our sins. The Bible says this in

Romans chapter four, Jesus was handed over to die because

of our sins. And he was raised from the dead

to make us right with God. So we've been completely forgiven.

That gives me hope. I'm not facing any judgment. I

have hope because I have been completely forgiven. Number two,

second reason Jesus' resurrection gives us hope is we're no

longer afraid to die. we are no longer afraid to die. Now,

I mentioned this in the Good Friday services, that when

Jesus Christ died on the cross, one of the things

he did is he broke the power of death, and

he broke the power of the fear of death. The

fear of death is a universal fear. Everybody has it.

I've traveled all around the world.

One time I went.

40 6,000 miles in 40 days, literally went circled completely

the earth. And I found the fear of death everywhere

because it's unknown.

We don't know.

But what did Jesus do? He came back to life.

Let me explain this. If Jesus Christ hadn't resurrected from

the dead, you wouldn't even know that there's life after death.

You wouldn't even know it. You might guess at it.

You might say, well, I hope there's life after death,

but you'd have nothing to prove it. But Jesus Christ

came back, said, I've conquered death. There is greater life

after death.

And that's good news. That gives us hope. Here's what

Jesus said.

John chapter 11, verse 25. Jesus promised, I am the

John 11:25

resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me Even though

they die, like everyone else, they will live again.

That's a reason for hope. That's a reason for hope.

If Jesus Christ hadn't resurrected on Easter Sunday, we're all

helpless and all hopeless.

Death is the end. It's over. That's it.

Now, when Jesus died, they buried him in a tomb.

In those days, they didn't bury people under the ground

as much as they buried them in caves, kind of

like mausoleums. and they would put a stone in front

of the cave, and they would roll it away and

put some body in and then roll it back. And

they did this because entire families for generations would have

like a family tomb. And there would be a lot

of people buried in the same cave. And so after

Jesus died, Joseph of Arimathea volunteered his tomb, and they

rolled a huge stone in front of it, but then

Pilate had it sealed so it couldn't be moved back,

and he posted Roman guards on either side. Now, the

12 disciples who were followers of Jesus at this time,

they're scared to death. They run, they turn tail, and

they run, they're scared. None of them believed the resurrection

would happen. And so they're hiding in fear. They're disillusioned,

they're depressed, They're afraid they're going to be executed next

as the followers of Jesus. And so they're running away

and they're hiding. Every year, Christians from all over the

world remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by

traveling to Jerusalem where they walk the path that Jesus

took on the way to the cross. That path is

called the Via Dolorosa. Now, since you may not be

able to ever travel to Jerusalem, I want to suggest

a way for you to celebrate and reflect on and

pray about what Jesus did for you on the cross.

So I've created a brand new one-of-a-kind resource, Journey with Jesus.

A deluxe, hardcover, gift edition book that's illustrated with really beautiful, high-quality,

glossy photos of mosaic tile artwork that reflect each of

the stops that Jesus made on his journey to the cross.

You're not ever going to forget this gift. It's a

great book to keep and to study over and over again.

And it'd make a great gift for your family and

your friends too.

This one-of-a-kind resource is only available through Daily Hope. Quantities

are limited, so be sure to get yours today. Just

call 844-467-3900 or visit dailyhopetv.com to get yours today.

Now, three days later, on Easter Sunday morning, one of

the women who's traveling with the disciples, Mary Magdalene, decides

she's going to go to the tomb to be there.

So she goes to the tomb, and when she gets there,

she finds the seal has been broken, the stone has

been rolled away, there's no body there, and the grave

clothes that Jesus had wrapped him are folded and sitting

there on a step in the tomb. By the way,

some people say, well, maybe they stole the body. If

you ever steal a body, leave the clothes on him.

There would be no reason to take the clothes off

of a person and steal the body. If you're going

to steal it, you may as well steal it with

the clothes on it. But they're left there. And so

Mary thinks the body's been stolen. I mean, that's the

logical conclusion. And then all of a sudden she hears

a voice and she turns around and Jesus is standing there,

the risen Jesus Christ. And he says to her, Mary.

And when she calls out his name, as she'd heard

her name called many.

Times, she knew it was the Lord.

And he says, Jesus says, go tell all my brothers,

go tell all the disciples that that I'm alive and

I'm coming to see him. So Mary runs to this

house where the disciples are inside with the door locked

for fear. She bangs on the door, they let her in,

and she says, you guys aren't gonna believe this, Jesus

is alive. And you know what these great men of

faith did? They doubted her. None of them believed her.

None of them said, Mary, you've either seen a ghost,

you've had a hallucination, you're just in deep grief.

They don't believe her at all. So the point is this.

Even the disciples, none of Jesus' followers actually believed he'd

come back to life until they became eyewitnesses of it.

It wasn't just hearsay. They said, I've got to see him. Now,

let me ask you a question. If you saw someone

walking down the street that you had just buried three

days earlier, how would you feel about that? Maybe confused?

maybe scared to death, frightened, fearful, excited? Do you think

you would ever forget that experience?

Not likely.

Would it change your worldview about life and death?

Oh yeah. Would it give you new hope? Oh yeah.

That there might be life after death? Oh yeah, absolutely.

One of the things that's difficult to explain without the

resurrection is the sudden change in the disciples because at

the crucifixion, they're all scared to death. They're running, they're defeated,

they're demoralized, they're in despair, they're disillusioned, they're depressed. Three

days later, they're ready to take on Nero and the

Roman Empire.

What happened? They had seen Jesus. They were eyewitnesses. They

knew Jesus.

Physically something that had happened. Not just them, but a

lot of other people did too. But now they've got

courageous confidence. Now they've got contagious hope. Why?

They're eyewitnesses.

Here's what Peter wrote down in his book. When we

told you about the powerful coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,

we were not telling made-up stories that someone invented. Rather,

we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And not only these

original 12, but Jesus came and stayed on earth for

another 40 days, walked around Jerusalem.

For 40 days.

That's why literally tens of thousands of people became believers

in a very short time because there were so many eyewitnesses.

Here's what the Bible says, Acts chapter one, verse three.

For 40 days after his death, Jesus appeared to people

many times in many ways that proved beyond doubt that

he was alive. They saw him and he talked with

them about the kingdom of God. Can you imagine being

one of the executors who put Jesus on the cross,

one of the soldiers, and you saw that guy die

and all of a sudden he's walking down the street

and you go, he's back. That would be strange. Paul

lists just a few of the eyewitnesses. This isn't even

an entire list. 1 Corinthians 15, he says, Christ died

for our sins just as the scripture said. Then he

was buried. And then he was raised from the dead

on the third day. Then he says he was seen

by Peter. And then he was seen by the 12 apostles.

After that, he was seen by more than 500 of

his followers at one time. Most of them are still alive,

though some have died by now. He sits on a

hillside and teaches 500 people. Then he was seen by James.

Later he was seen by all the apostles. Last of all,

I saw him too. This isn't even an entire list.

For 40 days he has multiple meetings with a lot

of different people. Friends, this is what's called conclusive proof.

This is what's called definitive evidence. Having 900 eyewitnesses would

stand up in any court anywhere in the world. If

I were to tell you That this afternoon over at Starbucks,

I saw the Queen of England. You might have a

reason to doubt that. Because it's just one guy saying it.

But if there were 900 different people who said, oh no,

she's been here for 40 days. She's staying at the

Quality Inn. And we had dinner with her the other night.

And somebody said, well, we had breakfast. And another guy goes, well,

we went fishing with her. And I said, oh, no, well,

we had her over for dinner. And another said, well,

we heard her with 500 people at a symposium. And

you had 900 eyewitnesses right off the bat. Friends, now

you've got a problem with your doubt. Because it's not

just me saying it. It's eyewitness after eyewitness after eyewitness

for 40 days.

This is why the church exploded. And within years, there.

Were 30,000 members of the church just in Jerusalem. And

then it had grown to nearly a half a million.

And it exploded all over the Roman Empire. And what

had been persecuted within 300 years is now the official

religion of the Roman Empire.

Why?

Because of the resurrection. There were so many eyewitnesses. Now,

there's a third reason we have hope.

And it's this.

We now have God's spirit in us. We now have

God's spirit inside of his spirit of power, his Holy Spirit,

his spirit of love. The night before Jesus went to

the cross, before he dies, he says, guys, I'm gonna

be leaving. I'm going back to heaven, but I'm gonna

send my spirit to be inside you. Now, at the

end of 40 days, Jesus ascends back up to heaven.

But before he did, he tells him, he says, Don't

do anything until I send your spirit. Don't try to

do anything on your own power. Wait for my spirit.

He's going to give you power. And in Acts chapter one,

verse eight, Jesus says this before he goes back to heaven,

when the Holy spirit has come upon you, you will

receive power. And you'll tell people everywhere about me in Jerusalem,

throughout Judea and Samaria.

And to the ends of the earth. They had seen.

Jesus face to face, and then he says, I'm going

to send my spirit to be in you, and he's

going to give you power to do things you couldn't

do on your own. So now they've gone from fearful

to fearless, right? They've gone from hopeless to hopeful. They've

gone from being cowards to being courageous. Let's take on

the Roman Empire. Nothing is gonna stop them. Now they've

seen Jesus alive.

He is who he said he is.

And now he's saying, I'm putting my spirit in you

and they're empowered by God's spirit. Do you know that

God never intended for you to go through life just

on your own power? God wants to have a personal

connection with you. He wants to put his love, his

power and his spirit Inside you that gives you a

supernatural advantage.

It gives you additional.

Power that you don't have on your own When you

don't have that power you say things like this i'm

at the end of my rope I'm barely hanging on

i'm ready to throw in the towel. I'm sick and

tired of being sick and tired I'm running on fumes.

I'm out of gas. I don't feel like I can make.

It to the weekend Why because you were never meant

to live your life just on your own power God

wants you to be plugged into the power. Until you're

plugged into the power, you can't fulfill your purpose. A

blender can't fulfill its purpose unless it's plugged into the power.

A vacuum cleaner can't fulfill its purpose unless it's plugged

into the power. You can't fulfill your purpose unless you're

plugged into God's power.

Now, here's the amazing thing.

The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead,

split history into A.D. and B.C., that same power is

available to you on a daily basis.

Yeah, come on, Rick.

No, I'm serious. Look at this next verse. Ephesians chapter one,

verse 19 and 20. I pray that you will begin

to understand, this is the Bible talking, how incredibly great

his power is, that's God's power, to help those who

believe him. It is the same mighty power that raised Jesus,

raised Christ from the dead. What is this power? It's

the power of God's spirit in your life. Now listen, say, well,

what does that mean to me? If God's spirit can

raise a dead Jesus, he can raise a dead marriage.

If God's spirit can raise a dead person, he can

raise a dead career. If God's spirit resurrection power can

raise a dead man, he can raise a dead dream

He can do anything in your life. He can do

anything in your life.

It's all easy. What is this power?

It's the power to be free from your past. It's

the power to break those memories that have been holding

you back. It's the power to start over when you

feel like giving up. It's the power to change things

you think you could never, ever change, and you can't

on your own. It's the power to overcome habits and

hurts and hangups that hold you back. It's the power

to keep going when you feel like giving up. That

power is available to you. That's resurrection power. That gave

them hope. It's the reason we have hope today. Number four,

the fourth reason we live with the most hope, why

we have more hope than anybody else is because God

will never stop loving us. God will never, never, never

stop loving us. Jeremiah chapter 31 in the Bible, verse three,

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

God says this, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

Did you know that?

God has never made a person he doesn't love. In fact,

you can't make God stop loving you. You can try,

but you'll fail because God's love is based on who

he is, not who you are. God will never stop

loving you. And this is the fourth reason why Christianity

spread so fast is because they carried not just a

message of hope, but they carried a message of love.

God doesn't wait for you.

To love him before he starts loving you. God loved

you first. In fact, the only reason you're breathing is

because God made you to love you. And the most

famous verse in the Bible is John 3, 16 and 17.

It's that next verse.

God so loved the world that he gave his one

and only son, that's Jesus, that whoever believes in him

shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did

not send his son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through him. God wants you

to know his love. God not only wants you to

know his love, he wants you to feel his love.

Because when you feel God's love, it transforms you. And

then you know what? He expects you to pass it

on to other people.

Every year, Christians from all over the world remember the

death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by traveling to Jerusalem

where they walk the path that Jesus took on the

way to the cross. That path is called the Via Dolorosa. Now,

since you may not be able to ever travel to Jerusalem,

I want to suggest a way for you to celebrate

and reflect on and pray about what Jesus did for

you on the cross. So I've created a brand new

one-of-a-kind resource, Journey with Jesus. a deluxe hardcover gift edition

book that's illustrated with really beautiful, high-quality glossy photos of

mosaic tile artwork that reflect each of the stops that

Jesus made on his journey to the cross. You're not

ever going to forget this gift. It's a great book

to keep and to study over and over again, and

it'd make a great gift for your family and your friends, too.

This one-of-a-kind resource is only available through Daily Hope. Quantities

are limited, so be sure to get yours today. Just

call 844-467-3900 or visit dailyhopetv.com to get yours today.