Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

While the sun was still overhead in Jerusalem, there was darkness. A day unlike any other. The sun shining but darken. And on Golgotha, the place of the skull, there hung the son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus, who is painfully crucified. With a crown of thorns in his brow, with spikes in his hands and feet. It was as though God the Father himself took his hands and blotted out the son. As though to separate himself from all of the sin that was concentrated on that cross. As Jesus Christ took upon himself the sin of the world. The scriptures tell us at the crucifixion of Christ, though it were daytime, darkness covered the earth. And not only was there physical darkness, but I am certain that in the hearts of his disciples there was spiritual darkness.

That little band who pledged their lives to follow Christ now see him suspended on a cross, all of their hopes dashed. We find the disciples hiding in the shadows of Jerusalem. Lest they be discovered. It must have seemed very dark on a morning three days later when Mary Magdalene, another Mary, came before sunrise to a tomb where only days before the body of their lord was placed. Certainly they were expecting a shadow over that tomb. But instead of darkness, as they approach the tomb, light bursts forth from the tomb. As two angels stand in front of an opened tomb. The stone has been rolled away, and they stand with their countenance like lightning. Their clothes were as white as the snow. And they greet the women. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He’s risen, as he said.

And the light from that empty tomb as it was reflected in the glory of these two angels, is a light that the world has never been able to extinguish. It is a light that has brought tremendous brightness into the world. Jesus Christ, who was dead, arose, and he broke the chains of death on that first Easter morning. And ever since that day, Christians have gathered on what we call the Sabbath, the Sunday, the third day, when Jesus was raised from the dead. And every Sunday is to be a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We gather with Christians from all around the world, who on this day in particular, focus their attention on the historical truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the resurrection which is the centerpiece of the Christian faith.

As the apostle Paul says, if there is no resurrection, then we of all people are to be pitied. But because there was a resurrection, we above all people have been blessed by God. I believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the center, the nucleus of the Christian faith. To take away the resurrection is to destroy the entire house of the Christian church. Why is the resurrection so important? What light has come to us because of an empty tomb? Well, first I believe that the light of the empty tomb of Christ has communicated to man immediately that there is power over death. Ever since the fall, when Adam and Eve sinned and were cast from the garden, Satan has been at work enslaving mankind. And how has he done it? With a fear of death.

Satan’s work can be pictured as a grim, horrible castle that he has been building ever since the fall. It’s massive. It is terrible. It’s overgrown with the vines of this world. It has been cemented stone by stone with the blood of men and women. It is surrounded by. By a deep moat filled with the slime of sin. And in this awful castle that Satan has been building, there is a stench that fills the air. It is the stench of death. And the doorway leading to this castle has chains, massive chains across its entrance. Chains that over the years have become rusted. Chains that hold all captive who live and reside inside of this castle. And in the fullness of time. The scriptures teach us that Jesus Christ came into the world for the primary purpose of destroying the work of the devil.

And on the resurrection morning, when Christ arose from the grave, the huge fortress which Satan had been building stone by stone, began to tremble. And Christ took the chains of death in his hands, and he went to that entrance and he snapped those chains, and he brought out of captivity those who were captive. And there was one huge stone that Christ bore upon himself. And as it were, he lifted that stone, and the entire edifice that Satan had been building began to crumble and to crack as Jesus Christ, the firstborn, the first resurrected, took that massive stone of death, and he bore it upon his shoulder, and the entire edifice that Satan had created began to crumble and to be destroyed. And as those women came on that morning, they saw another stone that was rolled away from the entrance of that tomb.

And in the rolling away of that stone, we see the picture of Christ who rolls away the death stone. And from that moment on, mankind has a glimpse into eternity. We have a glimpse into eternal life, knowing that Christ, as he has said, is the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And that has become the message of the Christian church through these centuries. There is eternal life after this, there is an eternity to be feared. Without Christ, there is an eternity to be loved and embraced. For all of those who love Christ. John said, these things have been written that you may know that you have eternal life. Paul said, o death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory? In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, death has been conquered.

But secondly, the light that shines and streams forth from the empty tomb of Jesus Christ promises the hope of eternity for all who will follow him. It is Jesus who says, in my father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, would I tell you that I go to prepare a place for you. It is Jesus who says, you will receive eternal life, perhaps the most quoted of all verses. John 316 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. It was the resurrection that transformed the lives of these women who were so full of fear as they came to that tomb and they left full of joy. The resurrection is incredibly good news to those who know Jesus Christ.

But at the same time, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is incredibly bad news to those who do not know Christ. Just yesterday I spoke with a man who came to me at a booth as were giving out Bibles. 65 years old. He said, I’m an atheist. I drink heavy, I gamble heavy, I smoke heavy. I have a life that has never taken into regard God. And he looked me in the eye and he said, where do you think I’ll go when I die? I said, I think, no, I know you’ll go to hell if you do not trust in Jesus Christ. Surprisingly, he said, I agree with you. You see, there’s something in the heart of every person who knows where they will spend eternity. By nature, we know that apart from trust in Christ, what we deserve.

And I know for myself that if Christ had not come into my life and forgiven me of my sin, that I deserve to go to hell. And that’s where I would go if it were not for faith in Christ, faith that Jesus died on the cross, that he was raised from the dead, that his blood was shed for my sin. You see, the cross of Christ and that empty tomb is good news to Christians. It is tragic news to those who are outside of Christ.

And if you do not know Christ, I would invite you, I would plead with you to trust in him right now, that you would say to Christ, by faith, I believe that you were raised from the dead for my sin, that when you died on the cross it was for my sin, and that by faith you would know for certain that you will spend eternity with Christ, not because of anything you have done, but only because of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross. You see, the scriptures make it very clear that we all have one thing in common. We all will die. Some of us are hoping beyond hope that there is nothing beyond this life, that all we do is crawl into a hole and pull a little earth over us.

But the resurrection of Jesus Christ says that is not to be. That when we die, there shall come the sound of a trump, and the dead shall rise in Christ, both the just and the unjust. And we will all stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. That some of us will look for a mountain to hide, a cave in which we can crawl so that we will not see the eyes of Christ. But upon that day, there will be no mountain, there will be no cave to hide. Others will look for a place to jump in the depths of the sea. That we would not see the eye of Christ as he would come to judge us. But the scriptures tell us, on that day the seas will evaporate and there will be no place to hide.

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. On that day, will you stand with Christ? Will you say, by faith, I’ve trusted you? If that is true, he will say to you, come to the place that I’ve prepared for. But if upon that day you stand before Christ, and you look at him as a stranger, he will say to you, depart from me. The resurrection of Jesus Christ, an empty tomb brings to fact that we will all rise from the dead and give an account. But also the resurrection of Jesus Christ tells us that there is a hope in this life and the next, and that no matter what happens to in this life, Christ by his plan is working all things to our good.

It may not seem to us at every turn that everything is working out for our good, but the promise of scripture is all is to our good, to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. True story about a little boy named Jeremy. He was born with a twisted body and a very slow mind. At the age of twelve, he was still in the second grade. His teacher, Doris Miller, knew that he belonged in a special education class, but she also knew that young Jeremy was the only son of this dear family. And she could never quite bring herself to saying that you’ve got to transfer your son to another class. Jeremy sat squirming in his seat, drooling, making grunting noises, half the time seeming unaware of what was happening. The other half participating as though he were normal.

One day he came into class dragging a limp leg behind him, and with a loud voice, he just cried out, I love you, Miss Miller. And she didn’t know what to say. It was in spring, as in this Christian school, the story of Jesus Christ was shared. And the teacher gave to each student in the class a plastic egg. And she said, I want you to take this egg home, and I want you to bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Does everybody understand? And seemingly all 19 heads nodded, and they took their empty plastic eggs home. That evening, she thought to herself, perhaps I better call Jeremy. He probably didn’t understand, but she never made that call. The next day, the children returned with their eggs. And in the first, she opened, and there she found a flower.

And she held the flower up and she said, certainly a flower is a sign of new life. And a little girl said, that’s my egg, Miss Miller. That’s my flower. And then she picked up a second egg. It contained a pretty plastic butterfly. And she said, we all know that a caterpillar spends time in its cocoon and then grows into a beautiful butterfly. Certainly this is a picture of new life. And little Julie smiled very proudly. And she said, yes, that’s a. That’s my egg and that’s my plastic butterfly. Then the next egg was open, a rock with moss, and it showed life. She reminded the class. A little boy said, my daddy helped me with that. She opened the fourth egg, but there was nothing inside. She quickly thought to herself, this is Jeremy’s egg. He didn’t understand.

I don’t want to embarrass him. So she put that egg aside and she picked up another. But suddenly Jeremy spoke up and he said, miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg? That’s my egg. She said, but, Jeremy, the egg is empty. Did you understand the assignment? And he looked at her with soft eyes and he said, yes, but Jesus tomb was empty, wasn’t it? And she says, it was as though time stopped in that moment. And when she could finally speak, she asked him, do you know why the tomb was empty? Oh, yes. Jesus was killed and he was put in there. And then his father raised him up, said Jeremy. With that, the recess bell rang. All the children ran out, and the teacher said, I sat there and I simply cried.

Three months later, Jeremy, with a terminal illness, died. And those who paid respects at the funeral home were surprised, as they saw on the closed casket, 19 plastic eggs, all empty. You see, there’s something in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, light from an empty tomb that fills our lives with hope. And we say to ourselves, if Jesus was raised from the dead, is it possible by faith that I’ll be raised from the dead too, and that there will be a day when I shall be united with the Lord? The light from the empty tomb tells us that is not merely wishful thinking. That is the certainty of the Christian faith, that is the light that is cast from an empty tomb. On each life who trusts in Jesus Christ, let us pray.

Our God and our Father we pray that the light from that empty tomb would shine brightly on our hearts and our minds, that our lives might be transformed because of what Christ has done. And Father, we give you thanks for the resurrection, for the truth that he is not here. He has risen, as he said. And even now, Christ Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, watching over his creation and waiting for the word from the Father for closing time, that Jesus is waiting to return. And at a moment when we least expect, the Trump shall sound, the dead shall rise, the seas will give up their dead, the ground will give up their dead, and we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Help us by faith to look in the eyes of Christ as a friend, as our savior, as our Lord, for we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to Affirm Foundation presented by Princeton ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office box 21 71, Princeton, NJ 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries, Post Office Box 21 71, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.