From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Not everybody, obviously, in our world believes in the resurrection of Jesus. Christians around the world are getting together on this Sunday celebrating the empty tomb, but not everybody celebrates that. Not everybody believes it.

The atheists don't believe it, the agnostics don't believe it, the skeptics don't believe it. They question that. So here is a question for you to consider: what if the skeptics are right? What if Jesus did not rise from the dead?

Guest (Male): This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, and today an uplifting message for your Easter reflection. It's called "The Big IFs of Easter." Just suppose the skeptics are right and Jesus never really rose from the dead. Would that make a big difference for you? Yes, Christianity would literally fall apart and we would have no hope for heaven.

Today we'll uncover the truth about the resurrection from Paul's masterful argument in First Corinthians chapter 15. Pastor Jeff challenges us to consider the profound implications of the resurrection of Jesus, emphasizing that the resurrection was not just an historical event, but the foundation of the gospel.

If you miss any of this lesson today, then you can revisit it when you go to FromHisHeart.org. Right now, though, open your Bible to First Corinthians chapter 15 and let's see what happens when we seriously consider the consequences of accepting the "ifs" of Easter. Here's Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Paul asks the question in First Corinthians chapter 15, beginning in verse 12. He says, "Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?"

And it starts a list from verse 12 to verse 19 of seven "ifs." You can count them up. There are seven "ifs" from verse 12 to verse 19. I'm calling this message "The Big IFs of Easter." And Paul says, "Well, what if He didn't rise? What does that mean for you and me? What are the ramifications of that if the skeptics are right and Jesus didn't really rise from the dead? What does that mean for you and me?"

Well, two conclusions for us. Number one: if there is no resurrection, then Christianity collapses like a house of cards. See, the resurrection is not an incidental aspect of Christianity. It's not incidental; it is fundamental.

Jesus lived, He died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He rose again from the dead on the third day. That's not a minor piece of the gospel. That is the heart of the gospel.

And if Christ, verse 14, has not been raised from the dead, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that He raised Christ whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.

So what does that say if there is no resurrection of the dead? Well, Jesus didn't rise from the dead. This would make Jesus a false teacher. This would make Jesus a false prophet because Jesus clearly said, John chapter two, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up and rebuild it in three days."

And they say, "You're going to rebuild the temple in three days? It took 46 years to build this temple." Ah, but John says he was speaking of the temple of his body. Jesus said he would rise again.

And if he didn't rise, then he's a false teacher. In the Old Testament, if you were a false prophet, if you said God was going to do something and He didn't do it, they would stone you with stones.

But not only would Jesus be a false teacher, the preaching of the gospel would be a lie. And this would make believing the gospel a joke—a cruel joke at that. And not only that implication and that consequence, but number two: if there is no resurrection, then we are eternally lost—lost forever.

Because we're looking to Jesus to save us, but if he didn't rise from the dead, he can't do that. So he goes on to say in verse 16, "For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, guess what? Your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we had hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied."

A dead savior can't save you. He couldn't save the Corinthians; he can't save you, he can't save me, he can't save anybody. He's dead. Now, the resurrection is critical in securing eternal life.

And the resurrection is God's acceptance of Jesus offering himself for the sins of the whole world. And the Lord God the Father said, "Son, I accept your sacrifice for the sins of all of humanity." And how does he accept that sacrifice? By raising him from the dead.

The resurrection is not an incidental thing; it's a fundamental thing. Now, if there's no resurrection, the Bible goes on to say in verse 32, "If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die." What's the point?

As one man said, "If Jesus didn't come out of that tomb, nothing really matters. But if Jesus did come out of that tomb, nothing else really matters." The resurrection is a fact of history that changes all of history.

It's a fact that Jesus Christ rose. Now, Lee Strobel, he's studying and studying and studying and interviewing all these scholars so he can disprove Christianity. But he can't disprove it.

And Lee Strobel said that the "Four Es" of the life of Jesus and the sacrifice of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus that you can't get around, he said they're the "Four Es" in his mind that make it extremely crystal clear: this really happened.

First "E": Execution. Execution—and the skeptics will agree—Jesus really did live and Jesus really did die. He was crucified. Now, the Romans knew how to crucify somebody. And crucifixion had a death rate of 100%. No one ever was crucified and lived to tell about it. So that's the first "E" is execution.

The second "E" is Early Reports, the early confession of the church. What was the early confession of the church? Well, it's First Corinthians 15, the gospel: Jesus died on the cross for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to all these people. So it's not a legend; it is the early confession.

Third: The Empty Tomb. You know, nobody really says that the tomb wasn't empty. I mean, that's easy to know if the tomb was empty or not empty. And the very first denial of the resurrection was from the religious leaders. And so that story went out widely that they stole his body away. So the empty tomb was not disputed.

And then the last "E": Eyewitnesses. Paul says that when Jesus rose from the dead, that he appeared to Cephas, who was Peter, and then to the twelve, the disciples. After that, he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep, some have died.

Hey, you want to check? Most of them are still alive. So go check with them, ask them. They saw the risen Christ. Then they said he appeared to James. James was the half-brother of Jesus. James was a skeptic. James didn't believe in Jesus.

But when he met the risen Christ, his half-brother, he did believe in Jesus. He became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. And then to all the apostles, and last of all as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. Paul said, "I saw Jesus raised from the dead." Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It's a fact of history.

Now look at it again, verses 20 to 22. "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who are asleep." The Jews had a feast; it was called the Feast of Firstfruits. It was after Passover, that first Sunday after Passover.

And they would take a sheaf from the barley harvest and they would wave it around and they would offer it to the Lord. It's the Feast of Firstfruits, and that meant, "Lord, this is the first of the harvest and we give it to you, which is an indicator that it all belongs to you."

Jesus is the first to rise from the dead, never to die again. But because he rose from the dead, that tells us that he's going to raise us up from the dead. Paul said there is certainly a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked.

The righteous are resurrected to glory; the wicked are resurrected to horror and to hell. But Jesus is the firstfruits. And then he says, "For since by a man," verse 21, "came death"—talking about Adam—"by a man also came the resurrection of the dead."

Jesus was as much man as though he were not God at all, yet as much God as though he were not man at all. For by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Very important to the gospel: Adam plunged the human race into two things, sin and death. Romans chapter five, verse 12 says, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned."

And the Bible makes it clear, Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Is there anyone in here who would say, "Well, Jeff, you're wrong, I have never sinned"? Nobody. No, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And what do we have? What's our wage for being a sinner? For the wages of sin is death. You get death from being a sinner. All have sinned and all are going to receive death, not just death of the body, but death of the soul—death completely.

You're going to perish; you're going to be utterly destroyed in hell. And that we got from Adam. As in Adam all die. How do you get in Adam? You're born. That's it. That's all you have to do. It's not a real tough one. I come into this world, I'm in Adam. I'm born in Adam.

How do I get into Christ? Because in Adam all die. I don't want to be in Adam. I want to be in Christ. How do I get from Adam to Christ? Jesus said you have to be born again.

Jesus purchased our salvation and he offers it to any and all who will do two things: repent—that means turn from sin—and believe. You repent and believe. The Apostle Paul said he was solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of two things: repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's salvation. It's really nothing you do. It's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. But you have to let go of sin and you have to embrace the Savior. You have to put your faith and trust in him.

You have to say with doubting Thomas, "My Lord and my God," and you give your life to him and surrender your life to him. And when that happens, you go from being in Adam to being in Christ. From being in the domain of darkness, to use the language of Colossians chapter one, He delivered me from the domain of darkness and transferred me into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Now, I think this is so beautifully pictured on the cross, as Jesus was crucified between two thieves, one on his left and one on his right. Now, the Bible doesn't tell us their names, but early church history came up with names for these guys.

And they said you had the one thief named Gestas, G-E-S-T-A-S, who was on his left. And you had the other thief named Dismas on his right. Now, the Bible says that when Jesus was crucified at about 9:00 AM, Jesus is crucified and everybody's hurling abuse at him.

"Ha! He said he was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Come down from the cross and we'll believe you!" And they were mocking him and laughing at him. And both of these guys, Gestas and Dismas, were also hurling abuse at him.

But this guy over here, Dismas, he's watching Jesus. And he's seeing how he responds to all this ridicule and all this mockery and all this hatred coming his way. And he says, "Wow. Here is Jesus saying, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'"

And so Gestas is continuing to mock Jesus. And then all of a sudden something happens and Dismas says to Gestas, "Do you not even fear God?" He said, "We're under the same sentence of condemnation. All three of us are dying. We're getting ready to meet God. Do you not fear God?"

He said, "We are dying justly for what we did." He and Gestas were probably cohorts along with Barabbas in an insurrection. Barabbas should have been the guy on the third cross.

So there's good indicator that Dismas knew Gestas. And he says, "You don't fear God? Hey, we're dying for our sins and rightly so, but this man has done nothing wrong." And then he deals with the sin. "I'm a sinner, Lord, but you are holy."

Then he says, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Now, Gestas had said to Jesus, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us." He wanted to be saved. He asked to be saved.

But he wanted to be saved just like so many people today: he wanted to be saved from where he was. He wanted to be saved from his circumstances. He didn't want to be saved from who he was.

Dismas wants to be saved from who he is. And he asks Jesus to save him. Jesus doesn't say anything to Gestas, but he says to Dismas, the thief on his right, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise."

Now, the Bible tells us that Jesus is the holy one of God. And this white represents the holiness of God. The Lord made him, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus is dying for the sins of the world. He doesn't become a sinner, but he bears all the penalty of sin, and God treats Jesus as He would treat the worst sinner because Jesus is dying for the sins of the whole world.

And so here is the holy Son dying as the spotless lamb for the sins of the world. The Bible also says, Isaiah chapter one, verse 18, "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you consent and obey, you'll eat the finest of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you'll be devoured by the sword. Truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

And God says, "Let us reason together. You have all this sin. And if you'll come to me in repentance and faith and you'll confess your sin to me, I will clothe you in garments of salvation. I will wrap you in a robe of righteousness. I will forgive you; I will redeem you. You don't have to be in Adam; you can be in Christ."

Here's the amazing thing on that day. You had Gestas dying in sin, covered in the slimy fingerprints of sin. His sin was as scarlet. It was red like crimson. He was guilty, guilty, guilty before God, but he wouldn't confess his sin.

And then you have Jesus. He is dying for sin, for the sin of the whole world. And then you have Dismas. He is dying freed from sin, wrapped in a robe of righteousness. He has the assurance from Jesus, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise."

And just as an aside, he didn't go to heaven. He went to paradise. Paradise is not another name for heaven. When people in the Old Testament died, the righteous dead, those who put their faith and trust in God's provision for their sin, they went to a place called paradise.

It's not heaven; it's not the presence of God face to face, but it's heaven-like. It's also called Abraham's bosom. All those who died without putting their faith and trust in Christ, they went to a place called Hades. Hades is a lot like hell, but it's not the final hell.

And so when Jesus died on the cross, people wonder, where did Jesus go for those days? He died on Friday evening; he rose on Sunday morning. Where is he the rest of the time, that in-between time? He's in paradise.

He's telling the people, the Old Testament saints, "Hey, I am the one you believed in. I am the one you put your faith in. You didn't know my name. You just knew that I was God's provision for your sin and you put your faith and trust in God's provision for your sin. Well, that's who I am. I am Jesus."

And the Scripture says that when Jesus went down to the lower parts of the earth, he led captivity captive. He took all those people who were in paradise and he took them to heaven to be with the Father.

Because nobody can go in the Father's presence until the Son sacrificed himself, until he said, "It is finished, paid in full." So they were just in a holding place, a good place, a holding place until he emptied out heaven and he led captivity captive so that all those could enter in to the presence, the full presence of God.

Now listen, the big "ifs" of Easter. What if Jesus didn't rise? Well, he did. And that changes everything. And so here is how it's specific for you. See, every one of us, Jesus died between two thieves. Every one in the world is a thief and a criminal before God because we're all sinners.

And all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So the question is not, "Am I a sinner?" The question is, what kind of sinner are you? What kind of thief are you?

Are you like Gestas, holding onto your sin, wanting Jesus to fix your problems but never willing to confess your sin and put your faith and trust in him? Lots of people that come to church are just like this. And they've never reasoned with the Lord and confessed their sins to him and received his righteousness. Are you Gestas or are you Dismas who received the robe of righteousness and the garments of salvation and knew that his sins were forgiven in Jesus Christ?

At the end of it all, here's the deal: are you in Adam or are you in Christ? And that's going to determine where you spend your eternity.

Guest (Male): Easter is the most powerful and hopeful moment in our story as Christians—the day Jesus rose from the grave. It's more than traditions or Sunday filled with bouquets and Easter eggs. Easter reminds us that God kept His promises and that life wins over death.

It's the heart of our faith where sorrow turns to joy and darkness gives way to light. In a world that feels unreliable, the resurrection gives us a reliable hope, not just for the future, but for now.

Whether you've celebrated Easter your whole life or you're still figuring out what it means, this season is an open invitation. You're invited to experience the power, love, and peace that comes from the risen Christ.

Easter reminds us that God still brings hope to the weary, purpose to the searching, and confidence to the believer. It's a time to reflect, to celebrate, and to respond to the life-changing truth that Jesus is alive.

Are you ready to put your faith and trust in Christ today? The Lord offers you forgiveness for your sin and freedom to live for him. This isn't a request from me or anybody; it's a request from God directly to you to repent of your sin, accept the gift that God is offering you in Jesus.

Ask him to come in, to save you, and to be the Lord of your life. If that's you right now, if that's what you'd like to do, pray this with me from your heart: "Dear God, I admit I'm a sinner and I need your forgiveness. I believe Jesus died for my sin and rose from the grave. I repent and turn from my sin. Jesus, come into my heart, save me, and be the Lord of my life. Thank you for the eternal life that you have given me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

If that was said from your heart to God's heart, praise God. And if you've just received Christ, we would rejoice with you and we pray that you'll make it public. Tell the ministers at your church or if you don't have a church, find a Bible-believing church and start there. And contact someone you know who is a Christian who loves the Lord, who would love to walk with you in this journey.

We'd love to hear of your decision and provide you some free materials to help you grow in your Christian life. Just go to fromhisheart.org/free-stuff. That's fromhisheart.org/free-stuff for free materials to help you get started. God bless you.

Thank you for joining us today on From His Heart. We pray this Easter time is especially meaningful to you and yours and that you will draw nearer to him. Next up, Pastor Jeff will continue his powerful series "Soul on Fire: God's Plan for Revival." Join us then as Pastor Jeff opens up God's word to speak real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart. Happy Easter!