A New Beginning

Based on your instructions, here is the transcript for the episode "What the Resurrection of Jesus Means to You."

Greg Laurie: On the cross, God treated Jesus as if He had lived your life so He could treat you as if you had lived His life.

Guest (Male): Jesus took our sins and gave us His righteousness. And Pastor Greg Laurie says Jesus rose again for our justification.

Greg Laurie: The resurrection of Jesus assures me I am accepted by God. Isn't that great to know? You're accepted by God, you're loved by God. Listen, God's not mad at you; God is mad about you.

Dave: Most of us are wired to look for a good deal. We like to exchange something of lesser value for something of greater value. Well, on a spiritual level, Jesus offers us an arrangement that's too good to refuse. We owed a debt we couldn't pay, but Jesus stepped in and paid a debt He didn't owe.

Today on *A New Beginning*, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us appreciate the price paid at Calvary. But even more remarkably, after Jesus died for our sins, He rose again.

Greg Laurie: Hey everybody, why don't you grab your Bible and turn to two passages of scripture, Mark 16 and John chapter 20. And the title of my message is "What the Resurrection of Jesus Means to You." If you've ever lost a loved one unexpectedly, you know how it feels. There's shock, there's disbelief, sometimes followed with denial, even anger. A deep sadness that sets in.

You realize at that person that was so much a part of your life is no longer there. You can't have a conversation with them, you can't hear from them again. Your world as you know it suddenly changes overnight. I bring that up because that's exactly how the disciples felt 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ, their Savior, their Lord, their Master, was murdered in cold blood before their very eyes.

They watched it happen and they watched the Roman soldier take his spear and thrust it into Jesus and out came blood and water, indicating a complete heart failure. Clearly, he was gone. And they never got to say goodbye. He was taken from them. So in their minds, the dream was over. And also in their minds, I might add, it appeared that Jesus had failed in his mission.

This is indicated in a conversation he had after his resurrection with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, as recorded in Luke's Gospel. They did not realize they were talking with the risen Lord and he asked them what had been happening lately. And they said, "Well, haven't you heard about Jesus and all the things that he did?" And then, I think it's kind of funny really, Jesus said, "No, tell me, what things?" And they're telling Jesus about Jesus.

And here's what they said: "We were hoping he would have been the one to deliver Israel, but it's been three days since he was crucified." Hoping, notice, past tense. Their hope was gone. The dream was gone. And everything seemed to be going perfectly up to that moment when Jesus got on that donkey and rode into Jerusalem and the people laid the palm branches down before him, crying out "Hosanna."

The disciples thought, "Finally everyone knows what we've known: that this is the Messiah." But then suddenly he's not himself, or so it would seem, in the Upper Room when he's talking about betrayal. And then one of their own turns out to be the betrayer, Judas Iscariot. And then Simon Peter, of course, denies him. And they see him unraveling, as it would seem, in the Garden of Gethsemane as he is crying out to the Father and literally sweating blood.

All of this was happening, but here's the problem: the writers of the Gospel had never read the Gospels, you see. They were experiencing this in real time. They didn't know how the story actually ended. They didn't understand that the incarnation was for the death of Jesus. The incarnation was for the purpose of the atonement. The birth of Jesus was so there would be the death of Jesus. It was all part of God's master plan.

Later, Simon Peter, preaching to the very men who crucified Jesus, said in Acts chapter 2, "This Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands." Did you catch that? It was the deliberate, well-thought-out plan of God. The crucifixion, the resurrection—the deliberate, well-thought-out plan of God.

And by the way, God has a deliberate, well-thought-out plan for you as well. Because I know there are things that happen in your life that make no sense when you lose a loved one, or when you get bad news from a doctor, or when some tragedy befalls you. You think, "Where's God in all this?" God is right there and He has a plan and He has a purpose.

Maybe with the passing of time, you'll understand that plan and purpose. And maybe you won't fully understand it till you get to the other side and you realize in heaven why God allowed that to happen, but just be assured of this one thing: God has a deliberate, well-thought-out plan for you. And ultimately, that plan for you is good because God can take your ending and turn it into a new beginning. And that's what happened for these disciples.

In our last message, we talked about what the death of Jesus means for you. Now let's talk about what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means to you. Mark chapter 16, I'm reading verses 1 to 8. "Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus' body.

Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb and on the way they were asking each other, 'Who's going to roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?' But as they arrived, they looked up and saw the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. And when they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were shocked.

And then the angel said, 'Don't be afraid. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here. He's risen from the dead. Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus is going ahead of you into Galilee. You'll see him there, just as he told you before he died.' The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened."

So Jesus has been crucified and an amazing series of events are happening in the aftermath of it. First of all, there was that global darkness that took place, you remember, from 12:00 in the afternoon to 3:00. Then the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. In the temple where the Jews would go to worship God, there was a veil, which was really a very thick curtain. It would almost be like a wall, a material wall of sorts, that separated the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.

No, it's not in a warehouse somewhere, if you watched *Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark*. So there they had the Ark of the Covenant, and that veil symbolized that separation between God and man. Now the veil is ripped, not from bottom to top as a man is doing it; it's ripped from top to bottom because God is saying, "This veil is gone and you have access to me through my Son, Jesus Christ."

Also, we're told that dead people were resurrected and were walking around the streets of Jerusalem. This is one of the most interesting verses in the Bible to me. So you're walking in town and you go, "Hey, is that Uncle Harry? Didn't we just bury him a couple of days ago?" It was sort of like a preview of things to come. Dead people were coming back to life. I see dead people who are alive again.

And so then there was a great earthquake that followed. So this is an amazing series of events. And so these women that we just read about come to the tomb, hopefully to anoint the body of Jesus, and they find the tomb empty and the angel tells them that Christ is risen. Matthew tells us of this event in Matthew 28:8: "They went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy."

Have you ever had fear and great joy at the same time? Maybe when you got on a roller coaster. There is fear, like "I'm going to die," and there's great joy, "But it's so much fun." Personally, I've given up on roller coasters, by the way. I rode them many years and then one day I just realized, "I don't even like this and I don't know if I ever liked it."

As you get older, you don't want to take those kinds of risks anymore. For me now, taking a risk is ordering something different in the restaurant. "I'm going to try that chef's salad instead of the normal hamburger and fries I get every time." Listen, you know you're getting old when you go to the same table in the same restaurant at the same time and order the same thing.

There's a lot of signs of getting older, aren't there? You know you're getting old when you drop something and when you bend down to get it, you wonder if there's anything else you can do while you're down there.

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Dave: Well, today, Pastor Greg is helping us peer through the lens of scripture to the first century when the disciples are filled with mixed emotions, having learned that Jesus is no longer dead but alive. Let's continue today's message.

Greg Laurie: They're experiencing this joy and excitement and they're trying to figure it out. They don't understand what has actually happened to them. And then they see the risen Lord. We have to pull from different Gospels to get the whole story. In Matthew 28, we read: "They went to tell his disciples and behold Jesus met them, saying 'Rejoice.' So they came and held him by the feet and worshiped them."

Now it's an interesting phrase there when it says "Jesus met them." It speaks of the common greeting that one would receive in the marketplace. Just if you saw someone and said, "Hello." If you're on a walk, you see someone walk by, "Hey, how are you? Have a nice day." Just common greeting. That is the phrase that is used here when it says "Jesus met them."

I find that fascinating because it's so low-key, it's so casual. You know, in different parts of the country, we greet each other in different ways. If you're in the South, you'll say something along the lines of, "Hey, hey, how y'all doing? How all y'all doing?" right? In Hawaii, it'll be "Aloha" or "How's it, brah?" In Australia, they'll say, "Good day." In New York City, they ignore you and then they'll say something like, "What are you looking at me?" followed up by "Well, forget about it." That's one word, by the way.

And here is the risen Lord who greets his disciples so casually. He's just like, "Oh hey guys, how's it going? Aloha. How are you?" Really relaxed about the whole thing. And they can't believe their eyes. They are looking at Jesus and so they grab him by the feet and they worship him. And that's because they recognized he was God.

A number of years ago, I was driving with two of my grandkids in the car, Allie and Christopher. At that particular time, Allie was age five and Christopher was age three. And they're having this conversation, and Allie turns to Christopher and says, "Christopher, Jesus is God and God is Jesus." And I'm thinking, "That's very good, you know, for a five-year-old to understand that."

I was very impressed by that. And then she said, "He lives in our heart and someday he'll live in our stomach." No, that's... we have to talk a little more about what that all means. But Jesus was God and he was worshiped by his disciples.

Coming back to our story, we see Mary Magdalene is mentioned in verse 1. What a unique lady she is. Mary Magdalene first to the tomb. So she sees that the stone has been rolled away and immediately tells Peter and John. And if we go over to John's Gospel, we'll see that they then began to run to the tomb.

So she says "Jesus is risen" and they run to the tomb. I love that, you know, boys will be boys, right? And it became an actual race because John mentions he beat Peter in the race. He says, "The disciple whom Jesus loved outran the other one." So that's maybe one of the perks of writing a Gospel; you get to remind people about who actually won the race.

So they see the empty tomb and they come back. John believes. He looks in there, he realizes what has happened, that Christ is alive. And the Bible says Peter walked away perplexed. And that brings us to our next text, John chapter 20. Let's see what else happened to Mary Magdalene.

John chapter 20 verse 11: "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they've taken away my Lord and I don't know where they've laid him.'

Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?' She, thinking he was the gardener, said, 'Sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've laid him and I'll take him away.' And Jesus then said, 'Mary.'

Mary responded by saying 'Rabboni,' which means teacher, and she grabs hold of Christ. And he said, 'Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father and to your Father. And I'm going to ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.'" Wow. The persistence of Mary paid off, didn't it?

Everyone else was gone, but she stayed and she meets the risen Lord. And what does he say? "Don't cling to me." She's holding on to him. Now you wonder what's going on here because it's not that you could not touch the risen Lord. In fact, he appears in the Upper Room to the disciples and Thomas, who we call Doubting Thomas, was there and Jesus said, "Go ahead and put your hand in my side and touch the wounds in my hand."

So he could be touched. Maybe it was the way she was holding on to him. She was grabbing so tightly and he says, "Mary, don't cling to me." I think in effect he's saying, "Mary, everything has changed now. Effectively, it's a whole new ballgame. It's not going to be the way it was before.

In the past, I was there where you could reach out and touch me physically, but it's going to be different, Mary, and it's going to be better. Because now I'm going to come and live in your heart and I'll always be there and we'll never be separated again." And what is true of Mary is true for all of us.

By the way, it was a revolutionary thought to say to a first-century Jew that God was their Father. They would not refer to God in such a way. But Jesus is saying He's our Father now too. How did He teach us to pray in what we call the Lord's Prayer? He said, "After this manner therefore pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name."

And by the way, Jesus made many post-resurrection appearances. Acts chapter 1 verse 3 says he presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them for 40 days. That phrase "seen by them" could be translated "to be eyeballed by him." So in other words, they're not believing their eyes. They're looking at Jesus and he's appearing again and again and again.

He appears to Peter—and we don't know what happened there; we just know he appeared to him. Then he appeared to him again in John chapter 20 and recommissioned him. Then he appeared to Thomas that I mentioned. On another occasion, he appeared to 500 at one time. He appeared to the two disciples walking on the Emmaus road.

But remember the title of this message is "What Does the Resurrection of Jesus Mean to You?" The resurrection of Jesus assures me I am accepted by God. Let me say that again: the resurrection of Jesus assures me that I am accepted by God. Romans 4:25 says he was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Somewhere, I don't know how this happens, but people, even Christians sometimes, think that you must earn the favor of God. You must do certain things and then God will love you. But the opposite is the case. There's nothing you can do to earn the favor of God. And the fact is God loves you no matter what you do.

The resurrection of Christ proves this. We read again there in Romans 4:25: "He was raised to life for our justification." What does that mean? That means when you put your faith in Christ, you are justified. To be justified means, number one, you're forgiven of all of your sins. So if you've put your faith in Christ, your sins are forgiven by God and they're forgotten by God, and he has put the righteousness of Christ into your moral bank account, if you will.

On the cross, God treated Jesus as if he had lived your life so he could treat you as if you had lived his life. That's not original to me, but it's a perfect description of justification. Let me repeat it: on the cross, God treated Jesus as if he had lived your life so he could treat you as if you had lived his life.

So again, the resurrection of Jesus assures me I am accepted by God. Isn't that great to know? You're accepted by God. You're loved by God. Listen, God's not mad at you; God is mad about you.

Dave: Great encouragement about our standing before God from Pastor Greg Laurie's message today on *A New Beginning* called "What the Resurrection of Jesus Means to You." And there's more to come. We have an important guest here with us today, Dr. Jeremiah Johnston, and Pastor Greg will introduce him in just a moment.

Greg Laurie: So as you've been listening today, maybe you've thought to yourself, "Man, I wish I had this relationship with God that is being talked about." Well, you can. He's only a prayer away. You see, becoming a Christian, it doesn't take years, it doesn't take months, it doesn't take weeks, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen in a moment.

The Bible describes it as turning from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. But before that happens, the Bible says you need to have your eyes open. And here's the amazing thing: it's just like in a flash, a light goes on and you say, "This is all true."

That's how it happened for me. I just heard the Gospel and all of a sudden I realized this is all true. And maybe you've realized that as well. Let me ask you: would you like Jesus Christ to come into your life? Would you like Him to forgive you of your sin? Would you like this relationship with God we've been talking about today? If so, why don't you just pray a simple prayer with me?

You could pray it out loud if you like, but say this to God: "Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Jesus, I turn from my sin and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord, as my God and friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer and I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen."

Hey, did you just pray that prayer? If so, I want to send you, at no charge, what we call a "New Believer's Bible." Here's Dave to tell you more. And let me just say, congratulations. You've made the right decision.

Dave: Yeah, that's right. And listen, to help you begin to live this new life, this life where you're at peace with God and can begin to enjoy the peace of God, let us send you Pastor Greg's "New Believer's Bible." It's the perfect resource for someone who's new to the faith.

We'll send it free of charge if you'll just contact us and request it. Call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God." And then, thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.

Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry, to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly.

Online, you'll find us at harvest.org and there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now. That's harvest.org. Or write us at "A New Beginning," Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call. Again at 1-800-821-3300.

Well, Pastor Greg pointed out that the resurrection assures us that we're accepted by God. But that's just one of six ways the resurrection impacts our lives. Pastor Greg has more for us next time. Join us here on *A New Beginning* with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.