Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew 28, where our brother just read. Matthew 28, let's read the first
eight verses together. In the end of the Sabbath, as
it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there
was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat
upon it. His countenance was like lightning
and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers
did shake and become as dead men. And the angel answered and
said unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that you seek
Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen
as he said. Come see the place where the
Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples
that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you
into Galilee. There shall you see him. Lo,
I have told you. And they departed quickly from
the sepulcher with fear and great joy and did run to bring his
disciples word. With today being Easter. Our Lord's resurrection is being
celebrated and remembered and acknowledged in Christianity
all over this world. All over this world. I would
venture to say that almost, I will throw in the word almost, I would
venture to say every religious organization in Kingsport, Tennessee is acknowledging the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ today. And it is most definitely an
event that is worthy to be acknowledged. Most definitely. But what I would
like for us to do this morning is not just acknowledge that
it happened. I want us to dig into the scripture
a little bit and find out why it happened. That's what I want
us to look at today. I've titled this message. Why? Why? Why did Christ rise from
the dead? Why did Christ rise from the
dead? In order for us to really understand
this, we need to backtrack a little bit and find out why He came
into this world in the first place. And we need to find out why He
died in the first place. If we're going to understand
anything of why he arose from the dead, we need to understand
why he died in the first place. It's so important. So that's what I want us to do
this morning. I want us to as clearly as we can see why Christ
came into this world. We know that he came. Everybody
knows that he came, but why? Why? We're going to see why Christ
died on a cross. Everybody knows that he died. The question of salvation. If
we want to get to the heart of salvation and if we want to know
salvation, why? Why did Christ come into this
world? Why did Christ die on a cross? Why? And why did Christ rise from
the dead? We know that He arose from the
dead, but why? Why? Truly knowing the answer
to this is knowing salvation. It is. It's knowing salvation.
So let's just go in that order and step by step, we're going
to see if the scripture will reveal these things to us. Why? Why? All right. Turn with me,
if you would, to Romans chapter five. Everything that we look
at today. We're going to prove it with
scripture. I think often, I'm one who likes to turn a lot in
the scripture, and I think about you, and I think about overturning
you, telling you to turn, turn, turn, and overturning you. And
I don't want to do that, but this is too important. What we're
looking at today is just too important. If you want to see
it with your own two eyes, you can turn with me. Romans 5 verse
12 says, And this may sound familiar to
you. We heard this about 30 minutes ago. Romans 5 verse 12 says, Sin entered into the world, and
let me show you something that is so critically important, I
can't put it into words. Look at the next few words. It
says, and death by sin. Get a hold of those words. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
Why did Christ come into this world? He came for two reasons. He came for two reasons. Number
one, it was because in Adam all died. All died. That's the first reason why.
If we don't understand that, if we don't understand that in
Adam all died, we will never understand why Christ
died. You mind if I repeat that? If we don't ever truly understand
that in Adam all died, we'll never understand why Christ died. Adam did not just receive a slap
on the wrist. Whether people realize it or
not, that's what many people think. Many people think that
he was banned from the garden. That's not. He didn't. He wasn't
just banned from the garden. He was cast out, but he wasn't
just cast out. He died. He died spiritually. Spiritually. Which led to physically. The Lord said to him in the garden,
he said, in the day that you sin against me, thou shalt surely
die. And Adam sinned and he died.
That's what happened. Look right here at Romans 5 verse
18. It says, therefore, as by the offense
of one, Judgment came upon all men to condemnation. By the offense of one, judgment
came upon all. Why is that? Why is that? People hear that and they say,
well, that's not fair. I didn't do it. Adam did it. Why is that? Really? Why? That's our question. That's the title. Why? Why is
that? It's because in that moment,
Adam didn't just commit sin, he became sin. It's critical,
critical to know. He did not just commit sin, he
became sin. And all that sin can produce
is sin. Again, that's what we just heard.
David said, In sin did my mother conceive me. Why, David? Why would she do that? Because
that's all she can do. She's a sinner. That's all she
can do. A dog cannot produce a cat. Cannot. All that a dog can produce
is another dog. A bird can only produce another
bird. And a sinner can only produce
another sinner. That's it. It's not just what
we've done. It's what we are. Okay. Sin. Why did Christ come into
this world? It's because in Adam, all men
and women became sin and died. When God made everything, it
was perfect. He looked at it and said, it's
very good. Everything is very good. And
in Adam, mankind became sin and died. That's the first reason.
The second reason why Christ came into this world is because
God the Father chose In the wording of scripture,
it says He elected some of those dead ruined sinners to save. God chose some sinners to save. Why did Christ come into this
world? It's because the Father elected
a people to save. I want to prove that to you.
Let me prove that to you with a few scriptures. Turn with me
to John 17. John 17 verse 1 these words spake
Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the
hour is come glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify
thee now watch verse 2 very carefully as thou has given him power over
all flesh who is not included in all flesh Who is outside of His control
and sovereignty and power? No one. As thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to all
flesh. Is that what it says? That He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given Him. You see that? Verse six,
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me
out of the world. Thine they were and thou gavest
them me and they have kept thy word. They have heard me, they
believed on me, they have looked to me with the faith that has
been given to them and performed in them. Verse nine, he said,
I pray for them I pray not for the world, but for them which
thou hast given me, for they are thine." The ones you chose
and gave to me. Look with me at 1 Thessalonians
1. 1 Thessalonians 1. First Thessalonians chapter 1
verse 2. We give thanks to God always
for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father. Verse four says, knowing brethren,
beloved, your election of God. knowing God elected you. 1 Peter 1 verse 2 says, elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Before the
foundation of the world, foreknowledge means election. That's what it means. Romans
8, 29 says, whom He did foreknow, whom He did elect, He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's
what God the Father chose to do. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, it
says, But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. He said, from the beginning,
God chose you to salvation. So that's why Christ came into
this world. He did not come to give men and
women a chance. He did not come to show men and
women how to save themselves. He came because all of mankind
became condemned in sin and died. But God who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved his people, he chose
to deliver them from that condemnation. That's why Christ came into this
world. That's the reason why he came into this world. All
right, now, let me show you something that is so important to understand. In my heart, I believe this is
the most important message I've ever preached in my life. I really
do. All right, this is so important
for us to understand. This is of critical importance,
eternal critical importance. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
3. 1 John chapter 3. This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 5 says. And you know that he was manifested
to take away our sins. Now watch this. And in him is
no sin. None. None. Now, why? Let's really get to the heart
of something here. The scripture says the wages
of sin is death, okay? We just read in Romans 5, by
one man, sin entered the world and death by sin. Sin is what
causes death. Everything in and on this earth
has been affected by sin and that's why everything in and
on this earth dies. The whole creation groaneth because
of sin. That's the reason why. The reason that there is no death
in heaven is because there's no sin in
heaven. That's the reason why. Sin is the cause of death. If you want to know whether or
not a person is a sinner, a lot of people believe that, you know,
the grandmother patriarch of the family is sinless, you know,
reads her Bible all the time and all that kind of good stuff. Is she a sinner or not? Is he
a sinner or not? Well, all you have to do is wait
and see if he or she dies. It's all you have to do. If a person dies, it means sin
was present. If sin does not exist, death
cannot exist. This is critical. Sin has to be present for death
to occur. So let's get to the heart of
this question right here. Why did Christ die? If in Him is no sin, why did
Christ die? How could Christ die? How could
Christ die? You say it's because that mob
came and laid hands on Him and forced Him into it. Mobs did
that to Him all the time. They did that to Him all the
time. He just walked right through them. Whether they wanted to
lay hold of Him and force Him to be their earthly king or whether
they wanted to throw Him over a cliff, He just walked right
through them. They did that to Him all the time. Christ died
willingly. He gave His own self to that
death because that's what God the Father sent Him to do. But
here's the thing about it. If all that we understand is
that He willingly died for sin, which pretty much everybody understands. If all that we understand is
that He willingly died for sin, we do not understand salvation.
If all that we ever see is that Christ willingly gave Himself
for the sin of His people, we do not see salvation. If we do
not see why he died, if we do not see how he died, we don't
see salvation. It takes sin to die. And in him, in the nature and
the character and the person of him is no sin. So why did he die? Turn with
me to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. It says, for He hath made Him,
God made Christ, He hath made Him to be sin for us. If your Bible has italicized
words, you see that to be, those are in italics, which means they
were added by the translators to make it more readable. And
it means, that's what it means. But if you take them out and
read how it was originally written, it says, he hath made him sin
for us. God made Christ to be sin for
us who knew no sin, no sin in him. that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. He made Him to be sin for us,
even though He had no sin in Him. He bore our sin in His body
on the tree, even though He had no sin of His own. He was made
to be ours. And just like Adam, Adam didn't
just commit sin, he was made to be sin. Therefore, Christ
our Savior, as our substitute, He did not just hold our sins
in His hand. You know, you break the law and
the police officer gives you a ticket. There you go. You sinned.
Here's your ticket. Christ did not just grab the
ticket and say, I'll pay it. He couldn't have died. If a sinless
man held the ticket, he couldn't have died. If a sinless man got
a bowl full of the sins of his peoples and brought, he could
not have died. Just like Adam was made to be
sin, Christ was made to be sin for His people. And that's why
He died. This is the greatest news a sinner
will ever hear in his or her life. Because there was no sin in Him.
The only place He could get sin was from me and you. He had to
take it from us. It had to be laid on Him, pressed
into Him. If he was not made to be the
actual sin of his people, he could not have ever died, but
he did. And it's because he took our sin and our sorrows, he made
them his very own. He wasn't just the carrier of
them, he was the bearer of them. He bore that burden to Calvary,
the burden of being the one to pay the ransom price. The burden
of being the one to atone our souls. That means cover our souls
in His blood. He bore that burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. That's why and how He died. Now, with that being understood,
if that's what He was made to be, He was made to be sin and
that sin, our sin, brought death to Him. Why did He rise from
that death? Why did He rise from that death?
You don't see other people rising from the death that sin brings
to them. You see other people doing that? People die. Do you see them, you know, after
three days or after however long, they come back? You don't see
other people doing that. Why did He? Why did He rise again from the
dead? Here's the reason why. is because
he paid the price in full. No sinful man or woman can pay
the price that God demands for sin against God. But he did.
But this man, he did something. He accomplished
something that no other man or woman could accomplish. That's
why he came into this world. That's why he was made to be
the substitute for his people. He did something no other man
or woman could do. He satisfied God. No other man
or woman can do that. In John 17, he said, Father,
I finished the work thou gavest me to do. On the cross, as he
bowed his head in death, he cried, it is finished. What was finished? all the payment for all the sin
of all of his people. He was finished. Turn over to
Hebrews chapter 9. I'm wrapping this up. Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9 verse 11, it says,
but Christ being come and a high priest of good things to come
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained. And that's the word I want to
point out. obtained eternal redemption for us all of us himself and
his people he obtained it hebrews 10 verse 11 says every priest
standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sins but this man After
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. Verse 14 says, for by one offering,
he hath perfected forever. I love that word hath. That means
it's over. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Perfected forever means the sin
is gone, it is dealt with, it is put away, never to return
again. Never to return again. Hebrews
9 verse 27 says, As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment, So Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin. Without sin. He took it from
all of his people. He bore it. He took it to God.
And God dealt with it and put it away. And the next time he
comes back, no sin is coming with him. Without sin. What did Christ accomplish in
His death? He accomplished the putting away
of all the sin of His people. He accomplished the satisfaction
of the justice of God, what God's justice demanded. He accomplished
the demands of the law. The reason we have sin on us
is because we broke the demands of the law. So he accomplished
the demands of the law. He accomplished the full redemption
and reinstatement of everything that man lost in the fall. He
put it all back. He accomplished complete and
total victory over death, hell, and the grave. And that is the reason why he
arose from it. That's the reason why he arose
from it. It's because the grave could conceal him no longer.
Christ had conquered it, conquered it all. That's why he arose.
That's the very reason why he rose. Now, one more question. If Christ came into this world
and died on the cross and rose from the grave, why did he ascend
back to glory? Why did he ascend back to glory?
I love the answer to this question. I absolutely love the answer
to this question. Turn over to Philippians chapter two. Philippians 2 verse 5 says, let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought
it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth. and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. That's why he ascended back up. It's because Acts 2 36 says God
made him to be Lord and Christ. What does that mean? That means
his throne is forever and ever. That means he is King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. That's why he ascended back up.
That's where his seat is. That's where the throne of his
sovereignty is. He is not right now roaming the
earth, knocking on people's doors. He's seated in the heavens doing
whatever he wants to do. Among the armies of heaven, the
inhabitants of men, none can stay his hand or ask him, what
are you doing? He's the king. Why did he ascend
back up? He's the king. That's the reason
why. That's the reason why. And the
glory of that is not only did he say that he was going back
to prepare a place for all of his people. But with that, he
said he was going back up to make continual intercession. for all of His people until the
day that He comes to gather all of them to Himself. When it comes
to everything concerning our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
everything, His coming, His living, His dying, His resurrection,
His ascension, His return. When it comes to everything concerning
our Lord Jesus Christ, what we celebrate and remember and acknowledge
is His accomplishment in it. His accomplishment in it. Oh,
the accomplishment of His resurrection. I'm so thankful He arose because
of what He accomplished in it. And I was going to give you a
story. I've told it to you so many times, but I'll give you the short version. It just applies so well to what
we're looking at here. You know, this thing of, you
know, at Christmas time, acknowledging that he was born. Why? Why? This thing of acknowledging
that he died, you know, we observe these ordinances and why? And then once a year, acknowledging
that he arose, why? Why? What does this mean? It reminded me of this true story. This couple back in the late
1800s traveled to England and wanted to hear Charles Spurgeon
preached. They had read his books and things like that, and they
wanted to go to Metropolitan Tabernacle and hear him preach.
So they did, Sunday morning, and they couldn't get in. It
was just too packed. And they were turning people
away. And you know that's packed. because we'll pack people in
the aisles and everywhere. I'll put chairs up here if need
be before we turn somebody away. But they were packed and so they
couldn't get in. So the man and his wife looked down the street
and said, well, there's a church right down there. Let's go down
there. So they went in and the pastor of that church was a charismatic
man. He was very well educated, very
spoken. And they listened to that man
preach. And when it was over, they walked
out of that place looking at each other saying, what a sermon. What a sermon, which is what
people are hearing today. Sermons all over the place, all
over the place. And they walked out of that,
that church building saying, my, my, what a sermon. My, what
a sermon! And that night, they went back
to Metropolitan Tabernacle, and this time they got in, and after
they heard Spurgeon declare Christ, they walked out of that place
with tears rolling down their face saying, what a Savior. Oh my soul, what a Savior. And
that's what I want us to understand the difference of. Let's not
just come together once a year and celebrate the fact that He
arose. Let's enter into why He arose.
What that really means for us. Who He means it for. Who did
He do all this for? Sinners. That's who He did it
for. And let's celebrate this Savior.
What a Savior. Oh, my soul. He came, He lived,
He died, He arose, He ascended, He reigns, He rules, and He's
coming back. What a Savior. Amen.