The stone that covered the tomb entrance was not the only stone God removed that faithful Sunday morning. He removed the stone of death, the stone of doubt. But God never removed the stone of unbelief.
The resurrection of Jesus is not the only cornerstone of the true believer’s faith it is the capstone. It’s the all-important center stone in the archway of faith that makes the foundation stand. If you remove the center stone from the archway our faith crumbles in a pile of useless rumble.
1 Corinthians 15:17 says, “If Messiah has not been raised, your faith is in vain; you are still in your sin.” So if the resurrection is not a fact then our faith is no more than a fairy tale. Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 15:21, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
The lives and deaths of the apostles and disciples of Jesus cry out loudly and clearly that Jesus has risen. In Genesis 1:1 the Bible doesn’t argue the fact that there is a God it merely proclaims it.
If you read the gospels (John, Matthew, Luke, Mark) you will see that God sent an angel to roll the stone away from the tomb. The stone was rolled not rolled away for Jesus’s benefit. Instead, it was rolled away so that the disciples and the scribes, Pharisees, and the Sadducees could see the place where Jesus was laid. On the day Jesus rose there was more than one stone rolled away on resurrection morning.
- God rolled away the stone of death
Matthew 28:6 says, “He is not here, for He has risen, Just like He said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.”
Death is the tyrant and terror of many today, You’ve probably heard it said before that the statistics on death are clean 1 in 1 due. Some try to prolong life and prevent death. But all of us must cross through death’s door. The Bible says it that way, “inasmuch as it is appointed unto men to die once, and after this judgment. (Hebrews 9:27).
Everyone must one-day face mortality. Because of one man, Adam, sin entered the world. Adam chose to disobey God and rejected God’s best and His blessing for sin, pain, suffering, sorrow, and death. We are heirs of that sinful nature. David even said the he was a sinner from his mother’s womb. You don’t have to teach a person it lie, cheat, and steal you have to teach them not to. You don’t have to teach a child to bully you have to teach them not to.
Sin is the source of death. Ezekiel 18:20 clearly says the person who sins will die. Physical and spiritual death. Physically our life ends and our spirit returns to God. If we remain as sinners when we die, never accepting Jesus’s atoning death and restoring resurrection we die spiritually. We are separated from God forever.
The good news on that resurrection morning was that God rolled away the stone of death. With Jesus alive the promises of God are alive and available for us today. With the resurrection comes the meaning for this life and the next. If Jesus was just another man then al, we would have to look forward to in this life is death.
The only fear that should dominate this life for a true believer is fear of the Lord. That fear should make us respect Him and obey Him.
God rolled away the stone of death and if you honestly look in the empty tomb He will also roll away the stone of doubt.
In Genesis Satan’s master plan was to call into question what God said about His creation. Has God really said? Maybe you misunderstood what God was telling you. Those stories are just cooked up to keep you from having fun. There isn’t really a God, you will not did when to choose to go your own way. That’s what Satan was saying in a nutshell. Satan’s accusations were for no other purpose than to nullify the truth of God,
Why did the high priest and the Sanhedrin pay off soldiers and spread the false story of Jesus’s body stolen after He had risen? To cast doubt on the truth of God’s Word. The Bible records that 500 people saw Jesus after His resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5.
If doubt can be cast on the resurrection then doubt is cast on who Jesus said He was. It is the resurrection that clearly proves Jesus was who He said He was.
- God rolled away the stone of doubt
According to John 20, Thomas said that he was not going to believe until he saw Jesus. He doubted the words of his fellow disciples . Jesus however showed up and allowed Thomas to examine Him. God rolled away the stone so we could look at His hands and feet, and His wounded side,
God rolled the stone away so that we could examine Jesus and doubt no more. All we need to do is open the Bible and begin reading and have faith the size of a mustard seed.
But, there is one stone that God will not roll away. Disbelief. It is one thing to doubt but it’s another to be faced with Jesus and still not believe.
God will not roll away the stone of disbelief.
Hebrews 3:19 says. “We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.
Revelation 21:8 says, “But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
If you take the time to study the gospels you will see that God rolls away the stones of death and doubt. But there is one stone that God will not roll away. It is a stone large enough to crowd out God, yet small enough to fit in your heart.
God will not force Himself on anyone. The stone of unbelief must be followed away by you.
Good doesn’t not want anyone to understand He just wants us go believe.
The power of life is greater than the power of death.
From Pity to Praise 