Christianity stands or falls on the fact of the resurrection of the Lord Christ from the dead. This is the centrality of the Christian faith, the establishment of not only Christendom, but Western civilization, and of course, of the hope of mankind. This sermon series continues to focus upon the resurrection message of the Lord Christ and the victory of the promised Messiah. A Role Covenant reading coming from Psalm 110, Psalm 110, the most quoted Psalm of the New Testament, Psalm 110. David writes this coronation theme. By inspiration of God, he says this. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning. Thou hast the due of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen. He shall fill the places with the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads of the many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way. Therefore shall he lift up the head." Paul writing to the church at Corinth, chapter 15, beginning in verse 12 through verse 28. By the same spirit, the apostle Paul says this. Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen, and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up. If so, be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. Ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order cries the firstfruits after a day that of Christ it is coming. Then cometh the end. when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did put all things under him. and when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things unto him, so that God may be all in all. Thus far is the reading of God's most holy, inerrant, and finally authoritative word. The grass withers, the flower thereof fades away, but the word of God stands forever, and by his holy word is the gospel of the resurrected Christ declared unto us this day. Now throughout the history of Christianity, there has been a series of changes. So throughout the history of Christianity, it had to go through a series of changes, perhaps a better word for changes, perhaps augmentations or clarifications. Christianity, of course, had to at least adopt a boldness, which it did eventually, especially in the face of extreme tyranny. The Reformers coined a Latin phrase to explain this phenomenon of clarification and change, and they said this, ecclesia sepramanda est. In other words, the Reformed Church is always reforming. They were emphasizing that the Reformation was not the last word on Scripture, but they realized that they had to bow to the Word of God whenever and wherever they were in error, or whenever they had to refine their thinking. And it was much to refine, especially in light of the Roman church's mystical, ritualistic understanding of the gospel. They had a lot of work to do as far as the Reformation was concerned. They understood that biblical knowledge would increase as the years progressed. As men of faith would study the scriptures, they would come to the knowledge of scripture more clearly, more accurately. And they understood that. They were not so prideful as to think that they, just because they were the Reformers and they had this Reformation idea, that they had all knowledge concerning Scripture. Knowing this, they continued to be humble. They continued to humbly study the Word of God. Now, after Christianity's introduction into the first century, the apostles sought to maintain its purity. But quickly, they discovered that heresies, even in the first century had quickly begun to take root, had begun to attack even the veracity of scripture. The heresies of Gnosticism and the religion of Zoroastrianism already had crept into the Christian framework of doctrine, mainly as a result of Israel's intermarriages with the Babylonians and the Persians during the exile period. And this is why God forbade these marriages, knowing that they would corrupt the truth, and they would also corrupt the integrity of God's people. And while Israel may have been liberated from the Babylonian and the Persian captivity, they were still in bondage to many of those ideas, those religious ideas of Gnosticism and Zoroastrianism, and we even have those with us today. Now this resulted in a shift from the pure declaration of the Word of God to a theological defense of the Word of God. They had to defend against these heresies. So instead of just declaring the resurrected Christ, they had to transition into a theological defense of the Word of God and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so apologetics took the stage of their evangelism. During the second and third centuries, Christianity came under persecution from the state, which once again forced Christians to take another approach to the fulfillment of its commission of Matthew 28. And by the early fourth century, around 315 AD, Christianity found itself in still another situation, which required augmentation or change. With the Edict of Toleration by the Emperor Constantine, Christianity was no longer a persecuted religion. It was now not only tolerated, but it became the accepted national religion of the Constantinian empire. In other words, Christianity shifted from its hiding and its sequesting of their doctrines to an open declaration, empire wide. And so Christianity saw the need for change, not so much in doctrine, but now they had to change in their evangelical tactics. They didn't have to hide anymore. They were able to go out freely because Constantine had decreed that this was now the religion of the empire. But the one constant truth throughout all of these times of change, throughout all of the early church years, was the doctrine of the resurrection. That never changed. Despite the infection of the Babylonians and the Persian heresies, Christianity's unmovable truth was the resurrection of Christ from the dead. That was the hub of Christianity's belief structure. That was the core. That was the central component. That never changed. While tactics might have changed and focuses might have changed here and there, that was the hub. The gospel of Christendom revolved around, of course, the incarnation of the son of God, the fact that Christ is God, the validity that he was the promised Messiah by the performing of his miracles. It revolved around, of course, as an important component, his crucifixion, his death, his burial. And then of course, the hub, the resurrection. Coupled with all of this was the doctrine of the atonement because of the crucifixion, focusing upon that perpetuation through Christ for the sins of his people. These are all the truths of the Gospel. These are all the truths which undergirded the message that the Kingdom of God had come. But the centrality of the Christian message was the resurrection of Christ from the dead. That was it, and that's what Paul was telling his Paganized Corinthians, which most of them were coming to faith, knew coming to faith. They didn't understand all of this. There was confusion. There were arguments. There was, well, I'm not so sure if the resurrection of the dead could be really so. And Paul was saying, no, this is the central hub of the Christian faith, the resurrection of the Christ of God. This is the reason why the kingdom of God had come, because of that direct result of that Christian's idea of the resurrection and the reality of Christ's resurrection. So the reason why the kingdom of God has come was a direct result of that hub, of that resurrection of Christ. So it was the centrality of the resurrection which the early church focused upon, not the crucifixion and not so much the atonement. Unfortunately, today's modern church has once again shifted, but not out of a need to defend or advance the gospel, but rather the shift has been toward a diminishing of the centrality of the Resurrection, the centrality of the Gospel. And so somewhere along the way, the Church departed from the centrality of the Resurrection and began to focus upon the Crucifixion and the Atonement on par, at least, with the central theme of the Gospel message, the Resurrection. This was a dramatic shift from what the early church had taught. And that's what Paul was trying to relate to the Corinthians. He was saying, this is the central part of Christianity, the central theme, which is the basis and the foundation of the hope of eternal life. The Reverend Andrew Sandlin explains it this way, why this is the case. He says, most of today's Christians understand how Christ's death is essential to the Christian message. Why is this? Mostly because this aspect of salvation has been strongly emphasized in the Church for about the last 1,000 years, while the resurrection has been under-emphasized for the early Church The Resurrection was the most important event in human history. And while the Incarnation, the Life, the Death, the Crucifixion, and the Atonement are absolute essentials, essential components of the Gospel, and they all should be recognized, it is the Resurrection which is key to the Kingdom of God and the message of the Scriptures. Christianity stands or falls on the truth, the reality of the resurrection. And again, that's what the Apostle Paul was getting at. As theologian John Frame observes, quote, he says, the early church not only celebrated Easter, but celebrated the resurrection every week as they worshiped on the first day rather than on the seventh, because the resurrection means victory for God's kingdom. earthly dominion for Jesus' people and a future-oriented cultural outlook. To believe in the resurrection is to recognize by word and life that Christ is not only Savior, but Lord, and that He rules all things in heaven and in earth. He is sovereign, not only over human salvation from hell, but over all of history and over all of the affairs of the world. So to worship on the first day, which is also the eighth day, is to be declaring Christ's victory. To stay worshiping on the seventh day is to negate the reality of victory, the reality of conquest, the reality that Christ had come. Whenever the crucifixion and the atonement become the focal point of the Christian message, it becomes a gospel of individualism to the point of actually becoming narcissistic at best and idolatrous at worst. Because when you look at, oh, Christ died for me, Christ died for me. It's all about me. It's all about me. It's about the resurrection of Christ and his conquest, his victory for not only you, but the world at large. So when we focus only upon the cross or the atonement, it becomes a gospel of personal salvation only. and not a gospel of Christ's sovereignty or of the kingdom's coming by His conquest. If the crucifixion and its atoning power was central to the early church, they would have celebrated Friday as their focus. But they did not. While they recognized it, they did not celebrate it. And while the Friday before the resurrection was indeed recognized, actually it was meditated upon, it was Sunday, not Saturday. The day of the resurrection, that is what was celebrated. Once again, Andrew Sandlin comments, he says, quote, it should not surprise us, therefore, that we believers following the early Christians meet to worship the Lord on Sunday, the first day of the week, not on Friday, which is traditionally believed to be the day of Christ's death. Why not meet every Friday in celebration of Christ's death? Christ's death is a crucial part of the Gospel message, and there can be absolutely no salvation without it, so why the somewhat greater emphasis on the resurrection in the early Christian community? There is a simple but powerful answer to that. For the early Christians, Christ's resurrection was the culmination, and notice on the first day of the week, was the culmination of His great redemptive work accomplished on earth. And so while the atonement justifies the sinner before God, the resurrection empowers the sinner to become a saint so they might declare the kingdom in an effort to reorient the culture Godward. So notice, while the atonement justifies the sinner before God, the resurrection is the empowerment, it is the hope. By the power of God, the resurrected soul is now fit for the mortification of sin and the obedience of faith. The resurrection power of regeneration therefore qualifies the saint for the work of Christian evangelism and Christian reconstruction. As Dan Garlington states in his work on justification and perseverance, he writes this, quote, now justification by Christ's blood is a great thing. And yet there is something that from a certain point of view is greater And that is the completion of the work. When Paul refers to the life of Christ, he means, of course, the resurrected Christ. When we speak about the Lord Jesus Christ, we're talking about not the crucified Christ. We're talking about the resurrected, victorious, conquering Christ. Jurgen Moltmann, in his book, The Future of Creation, observes this. God did not deliver Christ up merely for our sins. Christ is not only the author of faith, but through and beyond faith, the author of life from the dead as well. He was, in general, not merely raised for our sakes. He was raised for the sake of the new creation of the world and the universal lordship of Christ. In other words, he means the universal sovereignty of Christ. Again, the words we use, conquering. Conquest, victory, sovereignty. That is why he said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. So he's not the crucified Christ that still is on the cross. As you see in some churches, he's come down from the cross. He's been laid in the tomb. He was in the grave, but no longer. And this is the Apostle Paul's intent. when he wrote in Romans chapter 14, verse eight and nine, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Paul here is simply reiterating what Peter told the people in his Pentecost sermon of Acts chapter two, In verse 29 and following, notice what he says. As he's trying to relate to the people the centrality of the resurrection, he says, men and brethren, now notice he's addressing two groups of people, the pagans, men, and the Jews, my brethren, men and brethren. Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch, David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. Notice the resurrection, conquest, sovereignty, raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He doesn't say he just rose the Lord Christ from the dead. No, he didn't just rise him from the dead. He rose him for a purpose. He raised him from the dead. The resurrection was for a purpose to sit on his throne. He's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell. Neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus notice this Jesus had God raised up. Whereof we all are witnesses, therefore being the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith of himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. A quote from Psalm 110. And what is Psalm 110? But a psalm of conquest, a military psalm of victory against the enemies. It was a psalm that was quoted throughout the Old Testament, here in the New. Until I make thy foes thy footstool, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, borrowing from Psalm 2, John concurs with Peter and Paul. In Revelation 19, beginning in verse 15, notice this. And out of his mouth, out of Christ's mouth, the glorified sovereign king of the universe, the coronated Christ, and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. This is reflecting not only Psalm 2, but Psalm 110. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So the resurrection message is about conquest. The centrality of Christ's resurrection is also evident in the Great Commission of Matthew chapter 28. All power is given unto me. I have conquered. I am the conquering king. I am the dominion lord. in heaven and in earth. So the resurrection had activated the work of salvation in the elect and had put Christ upon the throne. And it is interesting here in Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 when Jesus comes and speaks to them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. He is referring to his coronation event in Daniel chapter 7. And for the astute Jew at that time, they might have, they should have, we should connect Daniel chapter 7 when Christ is given dominion and power and a kingdom that all nations would bow before him. As Sandlin states, quote, there can be no salvation without the resurrection because the crucified and risen Lord is not an idea but a reality and a power that is not of this world and which cannot be driven from this world by any power of man or subtlety of the devil. The state cannot negate the resurrection. Man cannot negate the resurrection. Philosophy cannot negate the resurrection. Pontifications about there can be no resurrection of the dead cannot negate the reality of the resurrection, because the resurrection is not an idea. It's a reality. Christ's entrance into history and His victory over sin and death, as proven by His resurrection, is the reason why we have the Scriptures. In other words, history comes before the Holy Scriptures since the Holy Scriptures are the testimony of history, or as what many refer to as redemptive history. Once again, Dr. Sandlin explains, he says, we do not have Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension as Christian doctrines because of the Bible, we have the Bible because of Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension. History comes first. Christian belief is possible because of Christian history. In other words, God's great redemptive work in history and the person of our Lord Jesus and Savior Jesus Christ. What he's saying is, in other words, history is the outcome of Christ's resurrection. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ gives meaning to history, it gives us hope for eternal life, and it gives hope for the inhabitants of the world, including all of human institutions and cultural structures. The resurrection is the fundamental and most essential component of redemptive history because the resurrection is the power of God, which initiates and solidifies Christ's lordship, rule, and regal authority. The resurrection resulted in Christ's enthronement, His dominion conquest as King and Lord over the entire universe. And that's what Paul argues in Romans chapter 1 verse 1 and following. Notice, he begins his letter to the church at Rome by stating, Paul, a servant, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated him to the gospel of God, which he had promised, notice his parenthesis in verse 2, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, notice verse 4, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Again, the centrality of the resurrection. In verse 16, of that same chapter, chapter 1, which is a continuation of Paul's thought and doctrine, he compares the power of God by the resurrection with the power of God by the gospel, making them one and the same. So when you preach the gospel, you are also preaching not only the resurrected Christ, but the fact of His conquest, that He is King, and we need to bow before that King. All men need to bow before that King. So the Apostle Paul says, For I am not ashamed, this is verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God. So if the resurrection is the power of God, what is the gospel of Christ but the declaration of the resurrected Christ, the conquering Christ? For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then he repeats this in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 4. For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God, the resurrected power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God. What does that mean? By the resurrected power of God toward you. So again, resurrection is central in all of these statements. Paul is saying that the power of the gospel is the declaration of the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ once again, as he's doing over and over once again here, making the resurrection the central aspect of Christianity and the hope of eternal life. Paul's careful to make this point over and over in one way or another. whenever he's writing in his epistles. Even look at this, at the Church at Colossae, in Colossians chapter 3, verse 1, If ye then be risen with Christ, if you are resurrected with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. So he connects the resurrection with the conquest, the dominion, at the right hand of God, seated upon the throne. To the Church at Philippi, he writes this, Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, 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 that 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." Notice verse 9 and following, "'Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him.'" What does that mean? He conquered. He's victorious. He's on the throne. He has dominion. And given him a name, an authority, which is above every name, every authority. Remember the name, whenever you read the word name, it means his authority. That at the name, the authority 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. So again, the centrality of the resurrected, sovereign, victorious, conquering Christ. and to the Ephesians. Notice he writes this in Ephesians 117 and following, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Revelation of what? The revelation of the power of the resurrection. in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling through the resurrection, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe the resurrection, the exceeding greatness of his power, according to the working of his mighty power, the resurrection power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. conquest, victory, sovereignty, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under His feet." I usually say, when I read this verse, I say, How many things? All things. How many things? All things. What didn't He put under His feet? Nothing. Everything is under His feet. "...and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church." In other words, for the benefit and for the sake of the church of Jesus Christ, His own people. The Apostle, along with the early church, saw the resurrection as key, not only to salvation, but it was key to history itself. And it was this historical event, which was not simply a theological discussion that made Christianity distinct from all other religions, changing the course of human events and the destiny of the entire global order. Today, what we have is people having theological discussions about the resurrection, but not subduing themselves to the power of the resurrection. So they'll live like the devil, but they'll talk like a saint. As Andrew Sandlin so rightly asserts, quote once again from Reverend Sandlin, Jesus Christ's resurrection and his ensuing royal enthronement decimate all claims of religious and other relativistic pluralism. It boldly utters There is one God who has manifested Himself and His eternal co-equal Son, the Person of Jesus Christ, who substituted Himself for man's sins on the cross, rose victoriously from the grave, and is presently ruling and reigning over the universe. Man's only hope in his individual life, his family life, his work, his politics, and in the wider society is submission to Jesus Christ as Lord." The future hope of mankind rests upon the resurrection of Christ. Now consider for a moment the centrality of the resurrection and the eschatological doctrine of post-millennialism. Post-millennialism means that Christ is not going to lose at the end only to have to come back and fix everything. He is fixing everything now, and he will be ultimately, comprehensively, totally victorious in time and in history. And at that time, according to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, then he will deliver the kingdom up to the Father. So from the moment of the creation account, when God uttered, let there be light, victory over the darkness of sin and its effects on the culture became the theme. When Jesus met the men on the road to Emmaus, he told them that from the very beginning of Genesis 1, he was the anticipated victorious Christ. According to Moses, the anticipation was very specific. Within the confines of the historical account of creation, God anticipated the resurrection by focusing on the light which shines in darkness. From the very beginning, God anticipated man's fall by providing a way of escape from his righteous judgment through the promised Messiah. from the very first moment of creation. When the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, God was already teaching that in order for the gospel chaos of darkness and chaos to be taken from the world, light had to be dispelled. And it was that light which anticipated the coming of the Messiah and his resurrection from the dead. That would discriminate between good and evil. That would discriminate between darkness and light. That would discriminate between lawlessness and obedience. Now sometimes, I hear this often, maybe not in this company, but I hear this often. Couldn't God have initiated a perfect world immediately? Couldn't God have initially made the earth with form, not in darkness? Why did he make the earth in the beginning void without form and in darkness? Couldn't he have just made it right? And the answer is, of course he could have. God could have done that, but he didn't. And the reason why he didn't is because he was making a point. Because everything of scripture points to one thing, one thing, the resurrected Christ, the victorious Christ. And so even in the words, in the beginning, or as the Hebrew puts it, in beginning, Christ is called the beginning one. He is the Alpha and Omega. So even there, there's an allusion to the resurrected Christ. And so God did not create the world perfectly. because he was making a gospel statement that without the light of the world, without the resurrected Christ, the light of the world, without the victorious resurrection from the dead, the world would remain void, a form covered in darkness. In other words, without the saving and victorious work of Jesus Christ, reorienting the culture in justice and righteousness, the human race, the entire societal construct is guaranteed to continue in chaos and the lawlessness that comes from it, enveloped totally in darkness. And so from the very beginning of the creation, the resurrection power of Christ is anticipated. The word of God written in this declarative and propositional fashion and revealed in the writings of the patriarchs, the Psalms and the prophets testify of the word made flesh, the anticipated resurrected Christ of God. And so Jesus is declaring that he alone has and is given lordship preeminence in the entirety of the Holy Canon, as well as the entirety of the world itself. In other words, He is the object of the Old Testament and its theme is the fulfillment of God's covenant oath to save a people for Himself so that they might go forth reorienting the world Godward by the preaching of the Gospel as a result of the resurrection of Christ. This is why Christ after the resurrection said, teaching all nations. Make sure that all of the nations come to the obedience of faith. And so by his atoning blood sacrifice, he redeems a spiritual army who share in his passion, who share in his victory. And by the power of his resurrection, they go into the world with the testimony of the risen, sovereign, victorious, conquering Christ, who is the rightful king of the universe. Jesus is telling these men, and revealing to their hearts that the totality of the Bible is about him. The power of his resurrection light and his subsequent victory, the Bible is about that. And so he begins in Genesis chapter 1. In fact, previously, he pointedly told the unbelieving Pharisees that Moses clearly spoke of him in his Pentateuch writings. In John chapter 5, verse 46, notice what he says. For had ye believed Moses, the Old Testament law. Ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. Moses wrote of the Christ, anticipating the coming of the Christ. And so from the very beginning, Christ is revealed. And this is why John launches his epistle with the phrase, in the beginning was the word, focusing us back to the creation account where Moses states, in beginning, God. John's intention is to show that from the very start of the Holy Scriptures, Christ is anticipated as the creator and restorer of all things by bringing resurrection light into history. Now remember, that's the point of resurrection, the restoration of justice and equity and peace, the restoration of a world gone dark. The time stamp beginning tells us that before history, there was only God and nothing else. All of God's creative power took place in the confines of time. And so the first thing that God creates is time. And within the confines of time, Christ is the focus. Christ is the theme. Christ is the centrality and His redemptive power. There is no other account of God's creative act before the beginning period since eternity is the abode of God alone. John then goes on to say that all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that were made. In fact, anything that was made was made within the confines of history. Establish him as the creator and God of the universe separating God the creator from man the creature within the time that God had created But if that wasn't enough John goes on to declare in John 1 for in him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in darkness Genesis chapter 1 and The darkness comprehended it not This is gospel language coming right out of Genesis chapter 1, anticipating Christ, the light of the world, the resurrected Christ, where he judges between the light of righteousness and the darkness of lawlessness. Moses tells us in Genesis that there is a distinguishable difference between that which is good and that which is evil, that which is right and that which is wrong. And only by rightly understanding God's holy word and the definitions of right and wrong, good and evil, can we make any choices, any decisions. But then God plants a garden. And this is critical. He plants a garden east of Eden. In Genesis 2, 8 and following, and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became four heads." Note that out of Eden, see the garden, we talk about the garden of Eden, we say, oh, the garden of Eden. It was a garden east of Eden. It wasn't in Eden, it was east of Eden. And we call it the Garden of Eden, makes sense, but it's actually technically east. Out of Eden, out of that paradise, came the water. Out of Eden, God waters the garden. Without that water, which was life-giving water to the garden, the water of life, the garden would be a dry, parched ground, much like the wilderness sojourn of the Israelites, and the tempting of Jesus in the desert. But God gives it the water of life so that the garden would flourish. Without the water of life, we cannot flourish. Without the water of life, the cultures cannot flourish. Society cannot flourish. But God gives it the water of life so the garden would flourish, anticipating the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as a result of Christ's resurrection and the coronation as King. So that when we declare the gospel of God, it is as the scripture says in John 7, 38, he that believeth on me, as the scriptures has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. We are to water the world with the gospel of resurrection. We then see Adam, the first Adam being formed in the garden. His commission, till the ground, steward the earth, subdue and take dominion. In other words, protect it and maintain it for God's glory. Adam was to be its gardener so that the garden would flourish and fill the earth. Adam would, however, only maintain his commission by obedience. I have always asked the question, if the garden east of Eden was so perfect, if the water of life was so perfectly watering the garden of Eden, what did Adam have to subdue? And the answer is quite easy, his own propensity to disobey, because he had that ability. He was told to subdue, take dominion. To disobey meant failure. It meant that if he failed, he would be dispossessed of Eden's inheritance. He would lose the garden of God, and he would be exiled from its beauty. And as we all know, he failed. And to Jesus Christ, the faithful son of God, the last Adam, the resurrected Lord. He would not fail as Adam did. He could not fail for he was himself the incarnate God. And so when Jesus finally resurrects on the third day, Mary sees him, but not immediately as he was in the identity that they were accustomed to. She sees him as the gardener. She sees him as the last Adam. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Why the gardener? Well, because as a faithful second and last Adam, by his resurrection victory, he accomplishes what Adam could not. He restores the hope of the Garden of Eden. He restores paradise for us. By inaugurating the kingdom of God as a result of His resurrection and in anticipation of this glorious resurrection accomplishment, we can now enjoy what Isaiah writes about in Isaiah 35, 7 and Isaiah 41, 18. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the inhabitants of dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes. For I will open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. That's our hope. God's promise through Isaiah was to be fulfilled at the coming of the Lord, accomplished by his crucifixion, his resurrection, his 40 day sojourn, which I call his reconnaissance mission, scoping out the land that he now had dominion over. And of course, his glorious coronation at the Ascension. and then the empowerment of the global order by the sending of the spirit 50 days hence at Pentecost. Now the question is this, if this is just so glorious and the gospel is all of this power that can be brought out upon the nations, why don't we see the reorientation of the culture of God within our time and in our history? Why don't we see a glorious rest Why does the culture still seem to be enveloped in darkness and void of form? Why is there chaos? Why is there depravity? Why does it seem to be getting worse and worse and worse? Because if we say that we are the light of the world, if we say that we have the resurrection power, then can we, in right conscience, stand by and let the wicked run roughshod over the saints? I say absolutely not. We have to ask a number of questions. Does not the Word of God give us the answers to reorient the culture Godward? Does not the Word of God give us the power to reorient the world Godward and the commandment to do so? Well, of course it does. The problem is that Christendom, the global body of Christ that professes to be the body of Christ, And I'm not talking about the Pharisees that muck up and mess up things. I'm talking about the Pharisees within the church. I'm talking about the faithful of Christendom. The problem is that we are so fragmented and fractured into a myriad of denominations, a denominational heresy, many of which, of course, are slowly becoming apostate as we speak. And of the ones that remain faithful, There's no galvanizing. I see no galvanizing. No galvanizing together is one cohesive power base. Could you imagine if tomorrow every minister, faithful minister, would stand in their congregation and begin to deal with some of the cultural issues of our day and take back the power from the tyrant, bringing it back to the Christ of God? Things would change overnight. If tomorrow the preachers would stand up in their congregation and say the statist education system is anti-Christ and tell the congregation that they needed to leave Egypt once again, maybe things would change. Or if they went into their pulpits tomorrow and tell the congregation, especially some of those large congregations, which have children being aborted even within their own ranks, that it is a sin and it is murder and that we have to galvanize Accordingly, maybe things would change. But there's no galvanizing. There's no galvanizing as one cohesive power base to advance the crown rights of the resurrected King. There's also an eschatological problem. Because many of the churches of Jesus Christ today are preaching a heretical gospel that says Jesus will lose at the end because Satan is alive and well in planet Earth and he now has dominion. I have news for you, he does not have dominion. This is why Christ said, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. So give the power elsewhere, give the power to the state, give the power to Wall Street, give the power to man, give the power to Congress, and you become an idolater. Because Jesus said very clearly, all power is given unto me. And this is why over and over and over, God tells his people, I am the Lord your God, and there is none else. Look up the phrase in your concordance, none else, over and over. Why would he tell the exiled Hebrews that he is the only God? Because they had adopted other gods. He says, but there's none else. And yet they've adopted other gods, the gods of the Persians, the gods of the Babylonians, the gods of the state, the gods of Wall Street, the gods of this, the gods of that. But there is none else. All power is given unto me, Christ says. Christ is the victorious king and he will reign until he puts all enemies under his feet. So anyone that takes any kind of a different approach to Christ's resurrection power, his victory, his conquest, his dominion, that attitude is not the message of the resurrection. Once again, theologian John Frame says this, to believe in the resurrection, is to recognize by word and life that Christ is not only Savior, but Lord, and that he rules all things in heaven and in earth." End quote. How simple is that? When God sent the Spirit, when he indwelt his people, he intended to empower each of his people with the wisdom and courage to confront the lawlessness of man's rebellion as cultural gardeners. That's what we are. We are gardeners. so as to redeem the social order with the living water of God and by the power of his resurrection so that all things might reflect his righteousness, his justice, his equity, and his peace. And so today, as we contemplate his passion, as we look and meditate upon his crucifixion and focus upon the resurrection centrality reality, may Christ grant to us courage to engage the world with the truth of God's truth and engage each and every one of our hearts to follow after His righteousness by the resurrection power that He's given to us in our new birth. May we share with Him a passionate courage of commitment to change both what is in ourselves and in the world what is to what ought to be. And this we shall do, God helping us unto the praise of the glory of His grace. Amen.