Introduction
If there is anything that has changed the course of history, it is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
His resurrection followed by the empowering Holy Spirit turned Europe and Asia Minor on its ear in the first century AD.
Yet as we think about the resurrection, there are a lot of implications for us as it is a vital part of our faith.
As Easter approaches, we celebrate this miraculous feat and the foundation of our faith.
The resurrection of Jesus sets Christianity apart from all other world religions.
The resurrection of Jesus opens the door that grace is the basis of salvation rather than works.
Describing the Biblical Text
Why do we focus on this text today?
This is the text that Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost when he preached the first Christian sermon and 3000 people came to faith in Jesus.
This being Peter’s Biblical support for the resurrection therefore makes it a compelling text to examine.
Narrate the Contextual application
So, this morning we will examine this text and some of the implications of it as it was cited by Peter.
As we look at it, it will be in the context of what this week represents, that being the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 16 is really a psalm of victory and promise.
It is a psalm that holds the follower of Christ to the promises made by God.
Life Application (thesis)
This morning as we consider this text, I would like us to explore the idea that the very promise of Jesus resurrection becomes the victorious promise of all who will follow Jesus Christ.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
In looking at this idea we will see 3 victories that the follower of Jesus has because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We have received a righteousness that is provided by God and therefore sufficient for God.
Take a look at verse 2 if you will
I say to the Lord, you are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.
Now, when you think about who was writing this, you have got to think about the grace of God.
Our writer is King David who was the 8th son of Jesse the son of Obed from Bethlehem.
He was the kid who was watching the sheep when Samuel the prophet and the priest came to see Jesse to anoint one of His sons king of Israel to replace King Saul.
David was the most unlikely choice as he was the youngest and the least experienced in life and in living.
Yet God chose David to do great things and look at David’s response to that choosing
I have no good apart from you.
David is stating in this psalm something that many people who follow Christ fro years never get.
Our best efforts to please God are but filthy rags apart from God’s grace in our lives.
In the New Testament, we will find a word used that is very important.
It is the word propitiation.
It literally means to satisfy God’s wrath by paying the necessary price.
Now, why does God’s wrath have to be satisfied?
In Ephesians 2 we find that human being are by their very nature children of wrath.
This means that we are condemned before God and deserving His righteous judgment.
In other words, we are guilty and there ain’t nuttin you girls can do about it.
Why are we guilty?
We are guilty because we are sinners and we have broken God’s law and therefore since he demands perfection, we have failed and stand utterly condemned.
This is why only God’s righteousness can satisfy the perfect standard of God.
So the question then becomes how do we receive that righteousness?
I would invite you to turn to what I feel is one of the most important verses in the entire New Testament.
Romans 4:25 – He was delivered for our offenses and He was raised for our justification.
This verse truly connects the death of Jesus and the sacrifice on the cross to the application of God’s righteousness to us in what particular act?
It is the resurrection of Jesus.
His being raised is what justifies or makes the sinner righteous.
His death paid the price that satisfied the wrath of God and his resurrection applied that which the psalmist called good to our lives.
Our first victory is that we have received the perfect righteousness of Jesus in His resurrection.
Our second victory is that we share an inheritance with the risen Jesus.
Verse 5 pants the picture of the feast.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup.
The Lord is the best.
Back in 1985 when I was the youth pastor at Enterprise Baptist Church in Littleton, NC the Pastor and I went into Raleigh to the sign of the Fish Christian Book Store.
That place was like a funhouse for pastors.
They had music that you could listen to before you bought it, they books galore, and they had t-shirts.
That is what caught my eye. It was a lime fluorescent green t-shirt with the words printed in painted on lettering, “God is Awesome.”
That was a boss t-shirt.
That shirt found its way out of the house soon after Valerie found her way in.
But that is sentiment found in verse 5.
God is awesome.
He is the best portion and the finest cup.
He is my feast.
Then David mixes his metaphor just a bit.
You hold my lot
All that I have is from you and you draw my life’s boundaries where you want them to be.
You make me what I am.
Indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.
1 Peter 1 tells us this.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
First of all, what do we see?
We are born again by God through the resurrection.
This simply means what we said before.
God has applied His righteousness to our lives.
But in doing so, we now have an inheritance that is imperishable.
It cannot be tarnished and is never subject to any thing that might lead to its decay or its demise.
It is undefiled.
There is nothing in the inheritance that we receive from God that can lead us anywhere but to Him.
It is perfect without spot or blemish.
It will not fade away.
I had shingles blow off my roof last weekend but the inheritance of God is not subject to the wears of age.
You know that my least favorite verse of the Hymn Amazing Grace is the last verse.
But when we’ve been there ten thousand years, our inheritance will be just as fresh as it was the day we went to be with the Lord.
Let’s look at our third victory this morning.
We have security in the risen savior.
Look at verse 7 [read 7-11]
I like to ride the roller coasters. And I feel pretty secure when that bar comes down.
That security is nothing compared t our security in the Lord.
Notice the end of verse 8
I shall not be shaken.
Then there is the very passage that Peter quotes referring to Jesus, Verse 10.
We are secure in Christ because it is the very grace that applied his righteousness to our lives which also keeps us secure in Him.
God has promised never to leave nor forsake anyone who has trusted Christ as their savior.
We are promised that we would have life abundant and eternal.
We have been promised that our lives would be new creations of God.
Don’t we all want that kind of security?
Don’t we all want to have the kind of joy that is described in this text?
That Joy is a gift of the Spirit of God and He brings to those who call on Jesus.
Won’t you call on Him today?
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