The Resurrection Declares There Is More Beyond (message only)

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Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

March 31, 2024

The Resurrection Declares There Is More Beyond

28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he^[a] lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” ⁸ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Matt. 28:1-10

In Valladolid, Spain where Christopher Columbus died, there’s a statue erected in his honor depicting him standing in a boat with a woman representing Faith guiding him from behind. At the base of the statue are engraved three Latin words, “Non plus ultra”, Latin for “No more beyond.”For centuries, non plus ultra was the motto of Spain because they believed there was nothing west of the Strait of Gibraltar. Some ancient maps had the words nonplus ultra written on their edges. They believed there was no more beyond.

Until Christopher Columbus discovered the new world and proved there was more beyond.On the statue A great lion is pawing away the word non, leaving the words plus ultra, more beyond.

When Jesus died on the cross and was buried in the grave, the disciples were left in despair. Even though Jesus had on many occasions told them that he would rise on the third day, their maps all said no more beyond. Pretty reasonable considering dead people tend to stay dead! But on the third day on this Easter morning Jesus the great lion of Judah tore away the word non And left the words more beyond by rising from the dead.

1. The resurrection declares there's more beyond what we see and feel and touch in this world

Many people have written on the edges of their lives the words no more beyond. There is no God Or supernatural, just the world we live in and can see and feel and touch with our senses. They don't really believe in the existence of a supernatural, all powerful God who is always there, always watching, and to whom we must give account.

Part of the reason for this I believe, is that there is a perception that science contradicts faith, even disproves the existence of God. If rational science makes faith in God look like a silly superstition, well, who wants to look silly and superstitious?

Actually many of the early great scientists believed in intelligent design but in the late 19th century is scientific concept called methodological naturalism took root in the scientific community and it insisted that if you're going to be a scientist you have to limit scientific explanations, including the origin of life and the origin of the universe, to natural causes or undirected material processes. They write on the edge of the map of science no more beyond. They write on the edge of the origin of life no more beyond. They write on the edge of the universe no more beyond.

Thankfully there is a growing number of scientists including biologists and physicists who are strongly advocating for intelligent design. They see all the information stored in the DNAmolecule, they see the complexity of life and the fine tuning of the universe and the physical laws and they observe that digital information and machinery and finely tuned precision always arise from intelligence. If you're walking on the beach and you see words written in the sand John loves Mary, you know that information is not the product of wind and waves it's the product of intelligence.

The resurrection of Jesus declares to us that everything he said about who God is and what God is doing and who we are in the sight of God is very true and very real. The resurrection of Jesus scratches out the word non and says very authoritatively there is more beyond!

There is a God who knows us and loves us! There is a God who offers grace and compassion and forgiveness and help in time of need! There is God that we can call our heavenly father when we come to him through faith in Jesus Christ.

I wanna share just a small personal moment that maybe you can relate to. The day after I had my surgery a week ago Friday, Janice came into the room and said Allen we have no heat. Now this was when it was snowy outside and the evenings were dropping down to the low 20s. And sure enough our boiler was not kicking on it's Friday afternoon we're gonna have to live with no heat over the weekend until we can get our heating guy in on Monday. And can I be honest with you I had a moment where I felt a little bit like, really God? Like, do we really need this added to our lives right now? Even had the thought, is this your way of punishing me God? I wouldn't say that out loud but I felt it.

First of all, we have a gas fireplace that works and space heaters and hot water so we've actually been very comfortable plus it hasn't been that cold. But I think I got a glimpse into the heart of God when the heating guy came and pointed out to us that our system which is close to 30 years old that so many components are rusted corroded, that any one of them could at any moment burst and flood our basement. And I've had enough experience with plumbing and corroded pipes to know that's a very real thing that eventually happens so this was God's kind way of moving us to get a new boiler without all the damage and headache and work of using our old one until finally something burst that could not be stopped and flooded our basement.

I tell that pretty insignificant little story because it's just another example of God is faithful and working in the lives of his children and Jesus promised us that . Jesus said our father cares about even the hairs on our head that we are of great value to him and then he loved us so much he gave us his son to die on the cross for our sins to take our punishment upon himself so that we could be reconciled to God as our father and our friend. The resurrection declares right here right now right in your life and my life in this world in this universe there is more beyond!

2. The resurrection declares there is more beyond death and the grave

For a lot of people death is where they write no more beyond. The grave seems pretty permanent. I still remember the morning when I was in Sunday school, maybe I was four maybe five years old, and and somehow I had come to believe that when you die you stayed dead for a couple of days or weeks maybe even months but then you got back up and lived again. That was my four year old concept of the resurrection and in Sunday school the teacher told me no you stayed dead for a long long time. And I remember looking for my mom and dad with tears in my eyes to find out if that was true and they told me yes that is true. In that moment death seems so permanent and scary and the idea of losing my mom and dad to death scared me.

Death is the elephant in the room nobody ever really wants to talk about. And yet it's one of the few universal things that we all have in common! We are all hurdling toward death. We could say some of us are closer to it than others but we don't really know who's close and who's not. None of us have tomorrow guaranteed to us, just ask those poor souls who were driving over the Baltimore bridge early Tuesday morning.

So it's the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about but the day comes when we will all have to face it. When someone close to us passes away, or tells us they have a very serious illness. And one day it will be us. I know this seems discouraging or depressing but it's a reality we can ignore it but it's a reality one day maybe unexpectedly as we're just living life or maybe we get a prognosis that gives us only so much time to live, or maybe we just know we're getting old enough to be at the point where there's only so many years left. And we can ignore it but we're gonna have to face death.

And that is what is so beautiful and powerful and hopeful about Easter morning. Jesus rose from the dead never to die again. He overcame death! He vanquished death! And then he says to us give me your life put your faith in me and I will take the map of your life and where it says grave no more beyond I will cross out none and I will write more beyond! An eternity of more beyond!

In millions upon millions of Christians throughout the centuries and even around the world this very morning live with that hope and celebrate that hope promise to us through Jesus Christ. And if he were still dead and in the grave we'd have reason to look at our map the map of our life and where it says grave no more beyond, we'd have reason to say I believe that. But because Jesus rose from the dead and promises that all those who believe in him will also one day rise from the dead we can cross out we can live in the goodness and the hope of knowing there is more beyond. There is more beyond. Not even death can stop our lives not even death can end who we are because there is a God he loves us he gave his son to die for us and on the third day he raised his son in power and life that we might also one day experience resurrection life and live with him forever.

So believer let's rejoice in our Easter hope this morning resurrection hope! And if you're not a believer and your map has no more beyond written all over it no more beyond your life and what you can see and feel and touch. No more beyond the edges of the universe, as Richard Hawkins says, just a blind pitiless, indifferent universe in which there is no purpose, I encourage you to come to Jesus let him rip out the word no so that you can know that there is more beyond.

The Bible says he died on the cross to pay for your sins so that you could be forgiven cleansed and no God not just as God but as your heavenly father. Will you pray with me?