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Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

The Resurrection Gives Hope

Bryan Schneider · March 20, 2023

John 14

sharonrpc.org/sermons/the-resurrection-gives-hope

Summary

  • At a funeral, Jesus' words in John 14 offer real comfort without denying the reality and pain of death.
  • Jesus alone is the way to the Father's house because he purchases redemption and peace through his own precious blood.
  • The cross brings forgiveness, but the gospel story does not stop there: Jesus rose from the dead and death could not hold him.
  • Because Christ lives, those who belong to him will live also; death is not the end of their story.
  • Christian hope rests on the living, reigning Savior and his promise, so grieving believers are called to set their eyes on him and receive and rest upon him.
  • The believer who dies immediately enters glory and awaits the resurrection, where life with Christ continues beyond this earthly introduction.

Reflection and discussion

  • Why can Christian comfort acknowledge that grief and death are genuinely painful?
  • What does Jesus mean when he says that he alone is the way to the Father?
  • Why is the resurrection necessary to the hope offered in this funeral message?
  • Is my hope in life and death resting on the living Christ or on something else?
  • How does the promise 'because I live, you will live also' change the way a Christian grieves?
  • What does it mean personally to receive and rest upon Jesus as he is offered in the gospel?

Key terms

Resurrection
Jesus Christ's rising from the dead, which grounds the believer's hope that death will not have the final word.
Atonement
Christ's saving work by which his sacrifice deals with his people's sin and reconciles them to God.
Redemption
The rescue Christ purchases not with gold but with his own precious blood.
Exclusive way
Jesus' claim that no one comes to the Father except through him.
Christian hope
Confidence in Christ's living presence and promises even while grief and death remain painful realities.
Glory
The blessed presence of God into which a believer's soul passes at death while awaiting bodily resurrection.

Notes and prayer