"ON THE THIRD DAY"

sermon by Pastor John Hollis,

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Texts: Hosea 6:1-3; Luke 9:18-22

Hosea speaks to us today through his prophetic words in our text from the Old Testament. In returning to the Lord, his people would be healed; the wounded would be bandaged and on the third day they would be raised and live before God. "So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord."

In Luke chapter nine, Jesus speaks to us through the reality of his resurrection. He was speaking to his disciples about the fact that he would go to Jerusalem and there be tried and crucified and on the third day he would be raised from the dead. Through his resurrection we would live before God.

His words about his crucifixion and resurrection caused some confusion and denial among the disciples. They did not grasp the meaning of his words. They had come to believe he was the promised Messiah and now he is telling them he would be killed. They may have understood this part of what he said, while they missed the part of the resurrection. Whatever the reason, his words confused them and they began to deny that what he was saying was true.

You have heard the saying: "The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed." I don't know with whom this originated, but I think it has some meaning to it that we often overlook. It is true that we cannot understand the New Testament without knowing something of the background found in the Old Testament.

To grasp some of the meaning of being raised on the third day we need to go back to the first chapter of Genesis. In The Genesis record of creation, the first reference is to light appearing at the command of God: "Let there be light." God separates light and darkness and one is called day and the other night. This was the first day. The second day there was an expanse in the midst of the waters and it separated the waters from the waters - the waters above the expanse were separated from the waters below the expanse. This was the second day. What happened on the third day? Plants bearing seed and trees bearing fruit: there was life. It was the third day. Then the next third day human beings were created: again there was life in the image of God.

We move on to Abraham. God called Abraham and made a covenant with him. The covenant of salvation for all nations was to be fulfilled through the seed of Abraham. But Abraham and Sarah were old and had no children, and they tried to help God out of a dilemma and have Abraham take Sarah's maid and have a child with her, and he did. But this was not the seed God had promised. Sarah in her old age bore that seed when she gave birth to Isaac. However, God told Abraham to take Isaac and offer him as a burnt offering to God. Abraham obediently followed God's orders and prepared to go to the place where God had told him to sacrifice Isaac. As he and Isaac traveled toward the place, "On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance." (Genesis 22:4). But we know that God intervened and Isaac was not offered as a sacrifice. On that third day Abraham obeyed God and "considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him [Isaac] back as a type." (Hebrews 11:17-19). If Isaac had been offered as a sacrifice, there would never have been a Calvary for us.

When Moses was leading the children of Israel from Egypt to the promised land, they came to Mt. Sinai. God called to Moses and said, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and to morrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." (Exodus 19:1-11). It was then that God delivered to Moses the law that was to guide them through the centuries. It was not a law that would give life, but it would lead them to the one who could give life - to Christ the King.

But there was another third day before the Israelites would enter into Canaan. Moses had died and Joshua had been chosen by God to lead the people across Jordan and into the land of promise. When they came to the Jordan River they were faced with the problem of crossing it. They were to prepare provisions for themselves, for in three days they would cross the Jordan. They were told to watch the Levitical priests carrying the ark of the covenant, and when their feet were in the waters of the Jordan the waters of the Jordan would be cut off. It was on the third day they crossed over to the promised land.

There were five principles that guided the Israelites in their third day as they crossed the Jordan. 1. God was leading. 2. They were to be "strong and courageous." (Joshua 1:7). 3. They were to "meditate on the law both day and night." (Josh 1:8). 4. They were to "remember what God has done for you." 5. And here is something that should cause us to pause and ponder in our own third day, they were to be "be united." (1:18). They could not do much if they were divided. We cannot do much if we are not united in the life God has called us to live.

We come to the New Testament and learn that the first miracle that Jesus performed was on a third day. It was at a wedding. The wine had all been used, and the bride was in trouble; however Jesus came to the rescue. Here was a miracle of transformation on the third day. It was not a miracle of reformation but a miracle of transformation, and there is a great deal of difference.

We go back to the Old Testament and the book of Exodus. In chapter 25 we have the description of the ark of the covenant and how it was to be built and situated in the most holy place of the tabernacle. On top of the ark would be the mercy seat made of pure gold with gold cherubim, one at one end and the other at the other end facing each other with their wings spread upward covering the mercy seat. "And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give to you. And there I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel." (Exodus 25:17-22).

Mary comes to the tomb on the third day and finds it empty, but as she looks into the tomb she sees "two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying." (John 20:11-12). The mercy seat will no longer be found in the temple in Jerusalem but in heaven where Jesus entered as our high priest to make atonement for us. What does this mean to us today in this third millennium of Christianity? Perhaps we need to recover the third day of Christ. Although it was necessary that Christ go to the cross and die for our sins, the real question is not why did he die but why did he live? Redemptive history was changed as Christ brought us into the living presence of God through his resurrection. Just think what this means to us today. Have we truly come into the third day of Christ?

Through his resurrection all things became equal. All nations - Jew and Gentile - became equals before God. Just before Jesus ascended to the Father, he commissioned the apostles to go into all the world and preach the good news of salvation. They were to be his "witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8). They began their teaching on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. They followed the example of Jesus in their teaching. Jesus had gone through Samaria and had shared the good news of living water with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. (John 4). Jesus healed the servant of a centurion and commended him for his faith. This centurion would represent the Romans or those from the remotest part of the earth. (Matthew 8:5-12). Where would we be today if the resurrection of Jesus had not made all nations equal in the sight of God?

Listen to these words from Paul in Romans 15:7-12: "Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and that the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, 'Therefore I will give praise to Thee among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Thy name.' And again he says, 'Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.' And again, 'Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him.' And again Isaiah says, 'There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles Hope.'"

Have you ever paused to think of what we share with the Jews of long ago? We share in the new covenant God made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It would not be like covenant he had made with them when he led them out of Egypt. They had broken that covenant. '"this is the covenant which I will make with the house Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' declares the Lord, 'for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.'" (Jeremiah 31:31-34). We share in that covenant.

We share in the hope of Israel. The prophet Joel spoke of the time when God would pour out his spirit on all mankind, "and it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered." (Joel 2:28-32). For centuries Israel had hoped for this "day of the Lord." It did not become a reality to them until Jesus was raised up on the third day. We share in that hope.

We share in Israel's new kingdom. Isaiah had prophesied "There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore." (Isaiah 9:6-7). John began his ministry proclaiming the kingdom was at hand. (Matthew 3:2). Jesus proclaimed the same message. (Mark 1:15). He reminded his disciples that there were those standing in his presence that would not die until they would see the kingdom of God after it had come with power. Paul said those of his day had been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear son. (Colossians 1:13). We share in that kingdom.

We share in Israel's new covenant, Israel's hope, and Israel's new kingdom. We also share in Israel's inheritance. To the elders of the church in Ephesus Paul said, "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32). And to the church at Ephesus he wrote that "having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14). We share in this inheritance.

We also share in Israel's new tabernacle. In the Jerusalem conference where the question of whether the Gentiles should be circumcised to be Children of God, Simeon quoted from Amos, "After these things I will return, And will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, In order that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord…" (Acts 15:15-18). Going once again to the Old Testament, when Ruth and Boaz were introduced and Boaz realized that he could marry Ruth, she asked him to spread his covering over her to indicate his right to marry her. (Ruth 4). When God called Israel to be his own possession, He saw that she was at the age for love and he spread his skirt over her and she became his. (Ezekiel 16:1-8). In Revelation 21:3 we read that the tabernacle - the tent - of God is among men. He has spread his tent - his skirt - over us, and we are his people. We share the blessings of living in that new tabernacle.

We also share Israel's new temple and Jerusalem. The wealth of all nations would come into the new city and temple, when God would shake the nations, and the glory of the Lord would fill the temple, and that glory would be greater than the former glory. (Haggai 2:6-9). We share in that glory.

We share in Israel's new heaven and earth. Isaiah prophesied that God would create new "heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. (Isaiah 65:17). Again: "'For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me, 'declares the Lord, 'So your offspring and your name will endure.'" (Isaiah 66:22). We share in these new things.

We share in Israel's resurrection. The promise was that the Lord would "prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples" and he would "swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces." And "Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." (Isaiah 25:6-9). We share in this resurrection.

We are in the third day of the resurrection. We are alive in Christ. Paul says, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-6). We are people of the resurrection.

Let us seek to recover the third day of Jesus resurrection in our lives. Being people of the resurrection we should share the greatest story every told with the world around us. The work of sharing the good news is not over. Just as the resurrection was not a one time event, so the telling of the good news was not a one time event. He is risen; he is alive and we live in him. Let us continue to tell the greatest love story every known.

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