The Five Fundamentals of the Faith (Part 3)

Introduction:

Attention:

Rethink this attention grabber: Can I think of anything better?

­Have you ever examined what someone did because of who that person was?

We do this a lot with celebrities.

We might follow our star on Instagram because we want to know what they are up to.

When we care about who someone is, we also care about what they do.

The same is true in our relationship with Jesus.

If we care about who He is (which we talked about last week), we also care about what He has done (which is what we are talking about this week).

Tonight, we are continuing our way through the Five Fundamentals by looking at the work of Christ.

Need:

This is something that we all need to hear

As one of the foundations of our faith, what Christ has done really should be one of the most important things in our lives.

But sometimes, we allow other “stuff” to get into the way

Business

Problems at home

Problems at school

Dating issues

It is easy to lose sight of what matters most.

But how do we get back to where we need to be?

How do we get back to the fundamentals of the faith?

That is what we will be focusing our time and attention on today.

So, then, let’s get to it!

Explanation:

What are the Three Fundamental Actions of Christ?

His death

With each of the answers to this main overarching question that we are looking at, we will ask why that thing specifically is fundamental to the Christian faith.

Why is Christ’s death fundamental to the Christian faith?

Answer: It is the basis for Christian salvation.

1 Peter 3:18 (ESV)

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Here we see that Christ suffered

Q. How did Christ suffer?

On the cross

The cross is the main symbol of Christianity

For Christmas, my cousin (who isn’t a Christian) bought me a necklace with a cross on it.

Why did he do this?

Because I am a Christian, and the cross is the Christian… thing

We see crosses when we are driving down the road all of the time

You can’t get away from the cross

And there’s a good reason this has become the main symbol of our faith:

It reminds us that Jesus died for our sins, and...

It encourages us to be sacrificial to others

The death of Jesus on the cross is both for our sins and a model to be followed.

Q. How many times did Christ suffer in this way?’

Once

This was a big deal!

Back in the day, they had to sacrifice animals over and over again, with no end in sight.

But Jesus only needed to be offered up once.

Q. And what did he suffer for?

Sins

Missing the mark

Failing to meet God’s standards

Q. Whose sins?

The unrighteous

Imperfect people

This is everybody (except Jesus)!

Q. Why did he do it?

So to bring us close to God

This is the ultimate purpose of the cross

Q. Why do we need to be brought close to God?

Because our sin has separated us from Him

Again, we are the “unrighteous,” and he is “righteous”

There is a divide between us and God

We are not on the same team as Him

Because of our sin, we are in debt.

Pull out my credit card.

Q. What is this?

A credit card

Q. How does a credit card work?

I spend money that isn’t mine and have to pay it back

This is what we call being in “debt”

There are a lot of different reasons people go into debt:

College

I recently had to start back paying my loans recently (nobody had to pay back for several years on account of COVID)

Home

Car

And let me tell you; it does not feel good to be in debt!

And this is even more true when it comes to our sin; we have a debt that we can’t pay back

The only one who has enough cash to pay it down is God Himself

Jesus pays for our debt by dying on the cross for our sins.

Salvation is important to Christianity.

Our main message is that people can be saved, after all

Without the cross, there is no salvation.

Thus, the cross is fundamental to the faith.

Application:

­ Are you in debt?

Have you truthfully accepted Christ into your life?

Have you ever had a “moment” where that truly happened?

If you are in debt, the message of the Gospel is that you can have your debt paid off tonight if only you’ll give Him your life.

Will you?

I am always willing to talk with anyone about this, and I know that our other leaders feel the same

But maybe you are confident in your salvation.

What then?

Sometimes, even though our debt has been paid, we think back to that debt and experience guilt and shame

Maybe you think back to a mistake that you made before you accepted Jesus

Or maybe even one that happened after

And you just can’t shake the feelings of guilt.

You need to find rest in Jesus

Whatever that thing is that you feel guilty about, Jesus paid for it in full.

And no, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1).

Replace those feelings of guilt and shame with feelings of rest and relief.

Jesus paid the price for you, because He loves you so much.

Hold onto that in your mind and in your heart.

What are the Three Fundamental Actions of Christ?

His death

His resurrection

Why is Christ’s resurrection fundamental to the Christian faith?

Answer: It shows us the victory of Christ

1 Corinthians 15:16–17 ESV

16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Paul is upset here because some people at the church of Corinth don’t believe that the bodies of believers will be resurrected.

Paul points to Christ’s resurrection as proof that we will be raised, as we will share in His resurrection in this way.

Q. According to this verse, what’s the “big deal” about the resurrection?

If Jesus wasn’t raised, then people are still dead in their sins.

But doesn’t this contradict what we already said about death of Jesus?

Isn’t the cross the reason that Christians aren’t dead in their sins?

Well, yes, the cross is the reason we aren’t dead, but the resurrection is the reason that we are made alive.

Without the resurrection, we’d be left in a neutral state; not dead, but not alive either.

But because Jesus rose again, believers are given new and abundant life

When Jesus rose from the dead, He conquered over death itself.

He has achieved the greatest victory of all time

Now, as Christians, we don’t have to fear death anymore.

Think of all of the times after someone has died that you have heard somebody say “he’s in a better place now.”

The resurrection is the reason that, for Christians, this is true!

Christ has given us eternal life with Him forever

One of man’s greatest fears is “what happens after I die?”

The thought of ceasing to exist is a hard thing for people to wrestle with

For the Christian, the resurrection is the answer to this issue

When we die, we don’t cease to exist or go to Hell; we’ll be with Him in Heaven for eternity.

And it’s the resurrection that makes this possible

Illustration:

*Pull out receipt*

Check out this receipt of mine.

What does a receipt do?

It proves that you bought something

Sometimes, when you buy something from Walmart and you’re walking out the door, an employee will stop you and check your receipt

They do this at Costco EVERY time you go there

The resurrection is the receipt that proves that Jesus’ death worked

Now, that’s not ALL that the resurrection is; it is a truth with MANY layers and applications!

But this is one reason that we consider it a fundamental of the faith

When Jesus rose from the grave, he conquered over the power of sin and death, proving that it has no authority over Him or those who follow Him.

The resurrection proves the reality of the victory that Christ has achieved.

Application:

­ How afraid are you of dying?

I wish I could say that, after I gave my life to Christ, I stopped worrying about death.

But that isn’t true.

Even as Christians, we still have to work through this.

How can the resurrection help you work through this problem?

It reminds us that, this thing that we are afraid of is something that has already been conquered and solved.

We may fear death from time to time, but at the end of the day, we can remember that there’s really no need to.

So you don’t have to spend your time worrying about this stuff; you can live in the moment and trust that God’s got you.

Experience the peace and purpose that God has provided for us through the resurrection.

Explanation:

What are the Three Fundamental Actions of Christ?

His death

His resurrection

His ascension

Why is Christ’s ascension fundamental to the Christian faith?

Answer: It means that the Holy Spirit is sent.

Acts 1:6–9 ESV

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

This is after the resurrection, and after Jesus has spent 40 days with His disciples

The disciples were wondering if the end times were at hand

Just like many of us are wondering that right now!­

Little did they know that Jesus was about to leave them.

But he encourages them by telling Him that he would send the Holy Spirit to live inside of them

We’ve spent a great deal of time talking about both Acts and the Holy Spirit in Sunday school recently, so this might be fresh on the brain for you.

Q. What was going to happen after the Holy Spirit was sent?

They would be empowered to be His witnesses.

Without the ascension, the Holy Spirit would not live inside the heart of the believer.

We would be unable to live the life that God is calling us to live.

We would be “unequipped” for ministry.

But Jesus didn’t rise from the grave just to die again; he ascended into Heaven where he now sits at the right hand of God, and He sent the Holy Spirit to help us live our lives the way that He wants us to.

As Christians, we are not alone!

Illustration

­Have you guys ever seen a stamp like this?

This is a “paid in full” stamp.

It is kind of like a receipt, except it specifies that the total amount was paid, and that there is nothing left to be paid.

Like, if I had one, I could give this to your parents after they finished paying for camp!

That’s what the ascension is like.

When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He confirmed that He didn’t need to die again; his death was eternally sufficient for all of sin.

And he even further proved this by sending us the Holy Spirit to mark us as His.

The Holy Spirit reminds us that our salvation is a “done deal.”

Application:

­Are you lonely?

Many people go throughout their whole lives and feel alone because of it.

But one of the unique truths of Christianity that we see for followers of Christ is that we are never alone;

Even when it feels like we’re alone; guess what? We’re not alone.

Christ ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to be with us.

Allow the Holy Spirit to minister to your heart and to be your friend.

Also, what are you finding your identity in?

We often find our identity in the stuff that we do.

But as Christians, we get to find our identity in the stuff that Christ did (namely his death, resurrection, and ascension)

The Holy Spirit has marked you as His child

We get the privilege of finding our identity in that

So, begin to make choices that help you find your identity in these things instead.

Conclusion:

­ Jesus has done some pretty incredible things, and we can get excited about it.

Get excited!

Thank Jesus for what he has done.

Honor him with your time and lifestyle

Let’s continue these conversations as we go into small groups.

PRAY

The Five Foundations of the Christian Faith

Week 4 – The Work of Jesus

Small Group Guide

Small Group Questions:

Question #1: Which of these three aspects of the work of Jesus stood out to you the most this morning (death, resurrection, ascension)? Why?

Question #2: Why specifically do you think its important for a Christian teenager to see that these things are foundational to the Christian faith?

Question #3: How do these actions of Jesus apply to your day to day life?

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

Question #4: How can you “pass on” this truth as most important to someone else?