In St. Nicholas’ Church in Kent, England, there is a painting that depicts a game of chess.  In the picture, the mythical figure, Faust, is engaged in a competitive game of chess against the Devil.  And at first glance, it appears Faust is losing.  Satan stands there, grinning smugly.  He thinks he has the victory in hand.  He is looking at the chessboard with an evil leer and he is gloating.  You can almost hear the devil thinking: “Checkmate!  Game’s over!  I win!” However, a person with a keen eye, someone who knows chess well, will see that the match is not over at all.  Faust has one move and one move only – that will give him the victory!

The painting has a very real meaning to us because it is a parable of the good news of Easter.  Think of it.  When we look at the cross on Good Friday, it looks, at first glance, as if evil has won.  It looks like the defeat of righteousness.  It looks like goodness is dead and buried forever.  It looks like Jesus has been silenced and conquered.  But then, Easter Sunday morning reveals God’s greatest “checkmate” move of all time!  Christ comes out of the grave and into our lives in victory!  “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?”  God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Friends… Let the Celebration Begin!!

Every year, thousands of people climb a mountain in the Italian Alps to visit the stations of the cross.  They work their way to the crucifix and there they worship.  On one occasion, a tourist noticed there was a little trail that led beyond the shrine of the cross.  He fought through the overgrown weeds and to his surprise, he came upon another shrine.  A shrine that symbolized the empty tomb.  It was neglected.  The brush had grown up around it.  Almost everyone had gone as far as the cross, but there they had stopped.

Too many people have gotten to the cross, and have known the despair and heartbreak that comes with the death of Jesus Christ.  But far too few have moved beyond the cross to find the real message of Christianity – the message of an empty tomb because of a resurrected Christ!

While there is not always a huge battle over the crucifixion of Christ, (no one really disputes it), there is a monumental battle over the resurrection of Christ!  It is as fierce today as it’s ever been, and it seems every Easter season there are a ton of new books that come out to try to discredit the Easter message.  The empty tomb proves Jesus’ claim to be God is true!

The Apostle Paul, earlier in this letter to the Corinthians, said, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (15:17)  He didn’t say, “If Christ had not been crucified.”  He said, “If Christ has not been raised.”  Friends, listen:  Christianity without the resurrection is not simply Christianity without the final chapter, it is not Christianity at all.  Did you get that?  Christianity without the resurrection is not Christianity at all!

The question is often asked:  How can we really know that the resurrection really happened?  The only answer I need is because God has told us in his Word.  But not only do all the Gospel accounts tell us of this event, brilliant minds throughout history have challenged it, and investigated all the claims – and no one has ever yet been able to disprove the resurrection!

It is hard to argue with the resurrection.  1 Corinthians tells us Jesus was seen by over 500 people at the same time!  Forget about all the theories about hallucinations or wishful thinking – 500 people saw Him at the same time!  And individually He was seen alive by women and men.  He was seen in the morning and at night.  He was seen walking along the road and by the seashore.  He was seen by groups that were small and groups that were large.  And when Paul wrote these words about everyone who witnessed Jesus, he said that most of them were still alive at the time he was writing!  One person said that if you took all the witnesses into a court, and gave each of them 6 minutes to testify to the risen Christ, you’d have over 50 hours of testimony that Jesus rose again!

No, my friends, Easter is not just something we make up so that we know what to do in the springtime.  It’s not just something we do to fill our churches on a given Sunday.  Easter is the story of the risen Christ!  He is alive today!  He is even now sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven!  Yes, He died.  But unlike other would-be saviors, He didn’t stay dead!  He went into the tomb, but on the third day, He came out of the tomb.  Jesus Christ is living today!  And you know how I know? … I talked to Him this morning!

OK, you’ve heard this before.  And let’s say you are even convinced Jesus is risen.  Then, your question becomes: “So what?  What difference does the resurrection make?  What does it mean to me today?”  Well, our passage makes it clear. We have sinned.  And because we have sinned, one day we will die.  And our sin is what makes our death sting.  It separates us from God for good and leaves us in hopelessness.  Sin leads to death which leads to hopelessness.  But now, Jesus’ resurrection gave us the victory over sin!  And what happens when you remove sin?  It takes the sting out of death!  And hopelessness turns to hope!

It affects each of us in three ways.  First, it changes your past.  Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world.  For everybody.  Everywhere.  And He rose again to prove He had paid the price.  His resurrection is the victorious announcement of forgiveness!  For everybody.  Everywhere.  How many times do you find yourself thinking: “Am I really forgiven for that?”  Yes – God has really forgiven you for that!  Easter means you can put your past behind you forever.  When the devil tries reminding you of your failures, you remind him of his failure!

The second way our lives are touched by the resurrection is that it gives us power to live in the present.  Living in the world we live in today, we need a little something extra, don’t we?  A month ago Dawn and I went indoor rock-climbing.  Before you start up the walls, you have to learn to belay one another with a rope, attached to the climber’s harness through an anchor point at the top of the wall, down to your partner below.  Even though they were the “easier” ones, the walls we climbed were extremely challenging to us! J I can tell you that more than once, I slipped and fell while trying to get to the next step.  And when you slip and fall while you are 40 feet above the ground, you need to know something is going to hold you up!  Each time, my harness, anchored to the rope, anchored to my partner below, held me up with no trouble.

Well, life is more difficult than climbing a wall.  And there are times we slip and fall.  And there are times when we just need to know that someone has our back.  And friends, here is what the resurrection means for us right now.  We are connected securely to a living Saviour!  He’s got our back!  He died rose again, and connected us to Him through faith!  The love He showed us means He will never let go of us.  So whatever challenges loom ahead for you, whatever failures you make, Jesus is there for you.  Because He won the victory on Easter!

Finally, because of the resurrection, we have a future.  Jesus’ resurrection guarantees our resurrection.  “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (v.22).  Imagine the mystery and delight of hearing the resurrection story the very first time.  Like the time a primitive tribe in the jungles of East Asia was exposed to it.  Some missionaries went there with the Jesus film.  Now get this:  they had never heard the name Jesus and they had never seen a movie projector!   Ever.  Then, all at once, on one unforgettable evening, they saw it all!

They saw the story of Christ in their own language – visible and real on film.  Imagine how it would feel for the first time to see this man Jesus, who healed the sick and cured the lame, and was adored by children…held without trial and beaten by soldiers.  As they watched this, the people came unglued!  They stood up and began to shout at the cruel men up on the screen!  They demanded this outrage would stop!  And when nothing happened, they attacked the missionary, who was running the projector!  Maybe he was responsible for this injustice!  So he was forced to stop the film and explain that the story wasn’t over yet.  That there was more…

So they settled back on the ground, and tried holding their emotions in check as the movie projector started once more… And then came the crucifixion!  Again, the people could not hold back, and they began to weep and wail with such loud grief that once again the film had to be stopped!  And again, the missionary tried to calm them down, explaining that the story still wasn’t over.  There was still more!

Once again, they composed themselves and sat down to see what would happen next.  And in the next segment of the film…came the resurrection.  When Jesus came out of that tomb on the first Easter, those tribal people from Asia broke out into pandemonium!  And the gathering spontaneously erupted into a party, and the noise now was the noise of jubilation, and they were slapping each other on the back and doing whatever it is they do that emulates a “high five” over there, and the missionary again had to shut off the projector!

But this time, he didn’t tell them to calm down.  Because what they had seen was the greatest excitement and joy someone will ever know!  My friends, if we consider what Easter really means for us, we would be standing up and high-fiving each other, slapping each other on the back, and having a party of jubilation!!  Let the Celebration Begin!

 “Thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Because He is living, we have HOPE!  And it’s not a hope-so hope.  It’s an absolute certain hope.  That because Jesus broke out of the tomb, and gained the victory over death, He promises that one day, we too shall have that experience!  So put your trust in Him!

Here’s my “Easter question” for you today.  Do you believe in Him?  You might say, “Pastor, I’m a good person.”  That’s not the question.  “Well, I come to church once in a while.”  That doesn’t really matter.  The question is:  Has the Holy Spirit led you to believe that Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has given you the victory over sin and death?  It’s not about church.  It’s not about doing good works.  It’s not about going to classes.  It’s not about a standard you have to live up to in order to measure up to God.  It is about what we are celebrating today: Christ won the victory over death and proved that his promise of forgiveness can be counted on!  He says, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Do you believe this?”

Today, when we have our minds so full of other things, preoccupied with everything but the real message of Easter, when you get a quieter moment later on, I want you to honestly ask yourself this question: “If I were to die today and stand before God, and He were to say to me: ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would I say?”  Friends, you can say: “Because I know that my Redeemer lives!”  Let the Celebration Begin!   Amen.