Title: TREASURE FROM THE TOMB

Focus: Treasure Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and cherish its benefits today.

Function: To move the people to draw strength, comfort, and encouragement from the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Text: I Peter 1:1-5

Catechism: Lord’s Day 17

Conquests and treasures—these go together. For example, when King Nebuchadnezzar’s army invaded the city of Jerusalem about 605 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar looted the temple of God and brought some of its treasures to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar placed these golden articles as treasure in the temple of his god.

Hundreds of years later, the Romans did a similar thing. In the year 70 AD, they sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and took its treasures to Rome. To commemorate that conquest, the emperor of Rome ordered that a relief would be carved in stone, signifying a Menorah—a 7-candle lamp stand. The relief carved in stone can still be seen in the city of Rome today.

When Hitler invaded such countries as Poland and France, he looted artworks from their museums and from private collections; these treasures enriched the leaders of the Third Reich. Conquests and treasures—they go together. It was that way in ancient times; it’s still that way today.

When the Lord Jesus conquered the powers of sin, Satan and death, the Lord Jesus brought with him loot. When Jesus rose from the dead and walked out of that tomb, he took with him treasure. Tonight, the Scriptures help us to focus on that treasure from the tomb.

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead meant a deathblow to the powers of death. We must see Jesus’ journey to the cross as a siege, a battle against “principalities and powers and authorities,” which are all connected to the prince of darkness, to Satan himself.

Last week we noticed that Satan raised his ugly head in the Garden of Gethsemane, trying to tempt Jesus to pursue his own will rather than the will of his heavenly Father. Nailed on the cross on Good Friday, it seemed that Jesus had lost his battle against the powers. It turned out, however, that when Jesus died and entered the clutches of death, death found its match. The power of death could not hold Jesus in its grip.

On the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. Christ became victor over the powers. And when Christ the victor walked out of that tomb on Easter Sunday, he brought with him the loot of his resurrection. And the world has never been the same since then. For the treasures or benefits from Jesus’ tomb are life-changing. Therefore, I say, treasure Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and cherish its benefits today.

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When Peter wrote his letter of encouragement to persecuted Christians throughout Asia Minor, Peter holds before us the treasure from Jesus’ tomb. Listen: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Here we learn a number of things:

(1) the treasure comes to us from the hand of our heavenly Father. “In his great mercy, (the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ) has given us new birth.” In other words, the treasure is God’s gift. That’s reason for humility—and joy. For God’s gifts are precious, especially this treasure that comes from the tomb.

(2) Note that the gift from the hand of our heavenly Father centers on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus results in treasure. Peter makes this point when he says in the text: “...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

(3) The treasure from the tomb (which comes to us as a gift from our heavenly Father through the resurrection of Jesus) is the gift of new birth. “In his great mercy (God) has given us new birth….”

This picture of new birth gives us an image that may be helpful in receiving Jesus’ treasure from the tomb. You see, Jesus’ victory in the tomb changes that burial chamber of death into a birth chamber of new life. Jesus has turned the tomb into a womb. And it’s the loot of Jesus’ resurrection that results into new birth.

Let’s think about this for a moment. When you and I were born, we entered into this world. More specifically, we were born into a family unit, into a social structure, and into a specific region or country. For example, your last name specifies the family you were born into. I was born into a “blue-collar” family. We did not know poverty nor riches—we got by with things. Your experience may have been quite different. Most of you were born in this country; I was born and raised in Europe. All of these factors—family, socio-economic background, and place and country of birth—influenced us and shaped us (partially at least) into the persons we are today. These factors make up the heritage into which we were born.

Have you noticed? Over time, our heritage (our world) perishes, spoils, or fades away. For example, my parents are in their 80’s; my mother buried her last surviving sister a few weeks ago. My mother is the only living survivor of her family unit. My father came from a very large family. He has only one brother left.

My birth home in the Netherlands no longer exists. My father’s farm has faded away. What used to be his property is no longer a farm. If my grandfather were able to take a walk in his own neighborhood today, he would get lost. The rustic scenery of my grandfather has turned into the hustle and bustle of industry and highways and multiple housing units. Our heritage, the world into which we are born fades away, looses its luster and eventually it perishes.

Now it’s in such a world as ours that God gives us new birth through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Listen: (God has given us) “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for you….”

Folks, the treasure from Jesus’ tomb has a present-day and a future flavor. For the present, we are born into a living hope. For the future, we may receive already today an inheritance that cannot perish, spoil or fade. That inheritance is kept in heaven for us. But we may cherish it already today as a treasure that comes to us through the resurrection of Jesus.

What is this “living hope?” Believers in Christ Jesus may experience a dynamic power, an energy fueled by God’s Spirit. When we are born into a living hope (and that happens through faith and the workings of the Holy Spirit), then we tap into spiritual energy. Then our journey in life is driven—not by despair—but by a way of looking at life that is colored by Jesus’ resurrection. Living hope is the fuel that makes us get up out bed and face a new day with trust and confidence that God will go with us and guide us and use us for his purposes.

Being born into a living hope enables me to go to hospitals and sick beds, to funeral homes and gravesides. Being born into a living hope enables me to love and persevere in the midst of tragedy and terror. Living hope dries my tears of sadness. God’s gift of new birth into a living hope drives me to claim any and every inch of life for Jesus Christ. Living hope is the fuel of Jesus’ resurrection. And it makes all the difference in how we live our lives today.

In fact, says the apostle Peter, God has given us new birth into “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” That inheritance has divine, heavenly characteristics: the inheritance is ever lasting (can’t perish); it is ever fresh (can’t spoil); it is ever brilliant and glorious (for it can’t fade away). Such is the treasure from Jesus’ tomb!

What is that inheritance?

The Bible holds before us different pictures, all describing our inheritance. For example, Peter speaks of it in these terms (II Peter 3:13) “But in keeping with (God’s) promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” Our inheritance is the restored, renewed creation, It’s our new home when Christ comes again. It’s the place where we shall live with our resurrected, glorified bodies.

Elsewhere in Scripture, our inheritance is pictured in terms of a kingdom—the kingdom of God. Using that picture, then, to receive our inheritance means that we shall live and reign with God on this renewed earth. Our inheritance will be one of doing the bidding of our heavenly Father. Just as the angels do today in heaven, so already today, but especially when we receive our inheritance, shall we abide by and do the will of God our Father.

The future reign of God, the renewed heavens and earth—these all make up our inheritance. It is the treasure from Christ’s tomb. The Heidelberg Catechism speaks in terms of benefits. How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us” First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. Second, by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life. And third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection.

Here’s what God calls us to do in response to Christ’s treasure from the tomb:

Since the new birth into a living hope and glorious inheritance is entirely God’s gift to us, we cannot and should not try to earn it. Here’s what we do:

Ø Claim it by faith.

Ø Draw strength from that new birth every day.

Ø Let it shape your life, your world-view.

Ø Cherish it. Now and always!

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.