Preaching About the Risen Christ
Preaching About the Risen Christ
“On the third day he rose again.” That’s the next phrase in our plan for preaching a doctrinal series of messages. You’ll find the first post here. In this post we will consider preaching about the Risen Christ as part of our series.
A Good Introduction To The Story
I’m taking this introduction from a man named Jeff Strite. If you read this blog regularly, you’ve seen his name. This is from his sermon on Easter, 2024:
Back in 1865 Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. For weeks afterward… they displayed Lincoln’s body in Washington D.C. and various cities in the nation as it made its way to his home in Springfield, Illinois. There his body finally “laid to rest” in a cemetery… but Lincoln didn’t get much rest.
In 1876, there was a plot to dig Lincoln up and steal his body… didn’t work. Eleven years later (because of rumors that his body wasn’t in that grave) they dug up his coffin and opened it to confirm it was there. It was. But the rumors continued… so 14 years after that, they dug up the coffin again.. Both times witnesses confirmed that Lincoln was still in the grave. Lincoln’s body moved 17 times and his coffin opened 5 times before he was finally resting in peace 36 years later inside a steel cage beneath 2 tons of concrete that was poured ten feet high over his coffin.
That will catch peoples’ attention, especially if you follow it with a statement like: Long before that there was another person that people attempted to ensure that he would stay in his grave.
The Importance of Preaching About the Risen Christ
There are several reasons why preaching about the Risen Christ is important to our doctrine. Think with me of some of them as you anticipate a message on this subject:
- The resurrection affirms what Jesus claimed about himself, that he was not an ordinary human being. He was divine;
- The resurrection affirms action in being the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus finished the work of paying for our sins. and Jesus noted that when he said, “It is finished,” Remember that the promise about Jesus was that he would save his people from their sins. Paul claimed that this is of first importance. Paul puts it this way in I Corinthians 15: 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
- Jesus affirmed his claim to be the resurrection and the life. Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep–that is Paul’s claim in 1 Corinthians 15:20. We will live after we die.
- He is coming again!!
Conclusion
There are so many resources for this subject, that I’m going to leave you with this: preaching about the risen christ is one of the most important things you can do. This doctrine, too, is central to our faith.
