41 Preaching Teaching Mark 8:28-39:

Living in Light of the Resurrection!

He is RISEN!

The New International Version (1984) The Resurrection of the Dead

14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

Growing up if you would have asked me if he is risen I would have said yes. I would go to church a couple of times a year, for sure easter and Christmas. But in this verse it says if Christ has not been risen from the dead there is no point of Christianity. That means that meeting here or anywhere else is useless.

Do you believe he is risen?

I don’t mean do you think it could happen, do you really believe it. Recently I was talking to a friend and he said he had a hard time believing some of the miracles in the Bible. I then asked him if he thought Jesus was risen from the dead. I told him if God could defeat death then could he not do anything.

Today again I want to ask you, do you believe he is risen?

Now we all know what this is an iPhone or a smart phone. Now let’s be honest don’t we live differently because of this little device.

Does anyone want to confess their screen time right now. The reality because of this phone we live differently.

If this God who loves us so much actually defeated death, it should affect us way more than the iphone.

Today I want to give us three reasons why we should live in light of the resurrection.

1. The first reason we must live in light of the resurrection is because:

Of who Jesus is (27-33).

Mark 8:27–28 NASB95

Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”

While he was walking with them everyone knew he was real and they had to deal with him.

WHO IS JESUS TO YOU? (27-30)

Why? Because the evidence is so significant that you can deny that a historical figure of Jesus ever lived.

Muslims say he was a prophet.

Buddhists say he was an enlightened person

Some people say he was a liar

Some say he is a good luck charm

Many religions acknowledge him as a historical person

I believed intellectually about Jesus, but I did not know who he was

Growing up, it was not that I did not think about Jesus; it was just that if you were to ask me who Jesus was to you, he was an irrelevant figure written about thousands of years ago. I may have believed intellectually that he was God, but he was not one of significance in my life. Who was Jesus to me?

Mark 8:29–30 NASB95

And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.” And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

Notice Jesus did not say your confession is wrong, he accepted it because he is the messiah.

We have to make it personal

Peter made it personal:

You are the Christ, this is who you are to me.

It want’s until I was a Freshman in college when Jesus went from someone who I knew about intellectually to someone I began a relationship and like Peter I said you are no longer what other people think you are you are my God, and I accepted his free gift.

JESUS PREDICTED HE WOULD DEFEAT DEATH

Mark 8:31 (NASB95)

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Now some people make some big predictions but he actually predicted he would die and rise from the grave.

Think about this for a second.

Mark 8:32–33 NASB95

And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

This was so outrageous that not even the disciples believed or understood it. Remember, the disciples were under Roman authority. They were looking for a deliverer to free them from the Roman government. Like a military deliverer, ie. Moses would set them free from their oppression. Jesus was doing miracles, raising people from the dead. Surely they would get their power back, and then he said. This is the first time in this gospel I am going to SUFFER, DIE, AND RISE FROM THE DEAD.

This was so confusing that Peter said no, Jesus, let me tell you what you are supposed to do.

Jesus's prediction he would die was so outrageous that his disciples did not believe him. Picture telling the president or your boss, rebuking them, and telling them they are wrong.

Jesus rebukes him and says get behind me, Peter.

Notice that Jesus' suffering was not part of the plan for Jesus' coming. It was the rescue plan for him coming. Jesus wanted to rescue us from eternity, and because he defeated death, we can still be rescued today. Because of Jesus, we can still live in light of the resurrection today.

Jesus did not just want to save us from earth, he wanted to save us from eternity

Today we still have to answer this question?

Who is Jesus to you?

A PICTURE of TRUSTING THE GIFT

Tight rope story-Charles Blondin

GOSPEL

Last week, I got to see Jesus Rescue, a student

Cody's story was about Jesus, and he began a relationship with him.

When Jesus died was able to pay the price for our sins and give us grace.

Who is Jesus to you?

Lead a prayer right here??

2. The next reason we must live in light of the resurrection is because:

The Path is laid out (34).

Christianity is not just about a message, it is about a way of life.

Since we are saved by the grace of God, there is nothing we can do to earn it, so many of us do not take our walk serious.

DC TALK-Christians Life is disconnected from their belief

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”― Brennan Manning

Do you acknowledge Jesus with your lips and deny him by your lifestyle.

But Jesus' message is so powerful and profound that he does not want it to be disconnected from our very lives.

Mark 8:34 NASB95

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

We choose His Path when we deny ourselves

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 8:34

Rather it is the denial of “self,” turning away from the idolatry of self-centeredness and every attempt to orient one’s life by the dictates of self-interest (cf. TDNT, s.v. “arneomai,” 1:469–71). Self-denial, however, is only the negative side of the picture and is not done for its own sake alone.

I love that this verse says anybody. How do you come after Jesus?

If you are a follower of Jesus, you have a decision to make every day: are you going to follow Jesus, or will you follow something else? Or you going to be king of your life or is Jesus going to sit on the throne of yourself.

We are all following someone. Because of the resurrection, we can follow his Path.

This sounds so negative. But is this not true about life? If you want to do something great, you usually have to say no to something else.

What do you want to be great at? If you have ever tried to be great at anything, here is one thing you know. You have to say no to certain things.

Jesus is the most outstanding example of denying oneself. Before he died on Calvary, he was in the garden of Gethsemane and prayed this prayer: Lord, if you can take this cup away, do it; in other words, if I don't have to die, let that happen. But not my will, but your will be done.

When we deny ourselves, are we really saying we want Jesus on the throne of our life; in other words, Jesus takes the wheel.

Is your life God Centered, or is it self-centered?

We choose His path, when we willingly take up our cross

We can't die again for Jesus; when Jesus died, he said it was finished. We can add nothing to the perfect work Jesus did when he died. So what does this mean?

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 8:34

Positively, one must take up his cross, decisively (“take up” is also an aorist imper.) saying yes to God’s will and way. Cross-bearing was not an established Jewish metaphor. But the figure was appropriate in Roman-occupied Palestine. It brought to mind the sight of a condemned man who was forced to demonstrate his submission to Rome by carrying part of his cross through the city to his place of execution. Thus “to take up one’s cross” was to demonstrate publicly one’s submission/obedience to the authority against which he had previously rebelled.

We choose His Path when we follow him.

‌We will follow someone-

Don’t we want to follow the best of the best, this is certainly true if you want to succeed in sports.

Does anyone know who this is?

Illustration-I talk a lot about basketball. And my boys have played for a lot of excellent coaches. But what are some things I look for in a coach? Someone who can push them further than they think they can go. I can name countless coaches who have invested in my kids. Right now, they are working with this coach. (Have a pic) Does anyone know who this is? It's Michael Young. Why are my kids working with Michael Young? he has gone further than them- played on one of the best teams, played in the NBA, and had a 20+year professional career. He has gone further in the journey than they have. Last week, they started working out with Coach Young, and they could not move; they were dying. They follow Coach Young.

‌If following someone for a sport is essential, how much more is following someone for our spiritual journey? Jesus does not just tell us to follow him; he invites us to follow him. Are you following Jesus right now?

Application:

If you are here today and you are thinking to yourself I want to grow and pursue God’s path but I just do not know how we would love to help you grow. So today when we have our invitation we would love for you to come and talk to one of prayer partners in the back.

Conclusion

The disciples of Jesus who were in a position to know whether Jesus had risen from the dead or not, died excruciating deaths when they could have saved themselves by simply saying, "Look, it never happened." -Frank Turek

3 Invitations

Receive Christ

Baptism

We are going to have an invitation

3. The last reason we must live in light of the resurrection is because:

it is eternally satisfying.

Mark 8:35 (NASB95)

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Jesus is making an argument so that we will save our lives.

Isn’t everyone trying to do this, to save their life. Jesus says if you want to save your life you must lose it.

Christianity is not a boring religion it is a life giving relationship with a risen saviour.

We settle for temporary satisfaction!

Mark 8:36–37 NASB95

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Jesus is telling us it is possible to gain the entire world and lose our soul.

Heaven and Hell is on the line.

Our souls our the most important things in the world and can you picture being successful in many different areas of your life and missing this area.

Jesus says it is possible to be successful in this world and to miss heaven and eternal life.

We are so satisfied with too little while Jesus was to satisfy for eternity.

Wilt Chamberlin-was like a King Solomon-relations with 10,000 women, here is what he said after that, I

Shortly before he died, and the odd 20,000 odd women after, Wilt Chamberlain stated the following during a 1999 interview: “Having a thousand different ladies is pretty cool, I've learned in my life. I've [also] found out that having one woman a thousand different times is more satisfying.”

3 Invitations

Receive Christ-

Earlier we gave you a chance to receive Christ. If you asked him for his gift today we have some prayer partners in the back, during this invitation go see them in the back.

Baptism-

Today we are going to baptize 3 students. Baptism does not save you it is a way to show the world that you have a relationship with Jesus. If you are a believer and have never been baptized, take that step today.

What is keeping you from walking the path

Maybe your a believer today but something is keeping you from walking closely with the Lord. Bring that to the cross today and nail it up here. As you bring it remember he has defeated it!