The Light [EASTER]

Introduction

Greet and Endear/Introduce

Most people who are in church know the reason we celebrate Easter.

In case you don’t - it’s the time we celebrate Jesus dying for the sins of humanity (good Friday) and coming back to life today (Easter Sunday) - signifying his victory over death and sin, Jesus won freedom for humanity through His death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.

But the more that I’ve celebrated Easter as a Christian - the more I’ve encountered a pretty blunt question from people. And that question is simply: “Who cares?”

Like what did Easter do for me. So what, Jesus died for me- I didn’t ask Him to. It doesn’t have any bearing on my life. I don’t want to owe someone for something I don’t want. Who cares? What can Jesus do for me?

And it’s not just people outside of church. Even within the four walls of the church I realise that there are a growing number of Christians who have no idea why Easter is such a big deal. Like why do we celebrate it and make such a big deal out of it?

“Like I believe already - I get it, Easter’s old news.”

But can I just say something, let’s not ever mistake ignorance for unimportance. If we’re sitting here today, as a church, not realising the significance of Jesus dying for our sins and rising victoriously from the grave - ESPECIALLY AS A CHRISTIAN, - if that doesn’t move us, if that doesn’t stir something with us, oh man. That’s not Easter being unimportant, that’s us being ignorant - that’s us missing something.

Let’s pray

Resurrection not Resuscitation

John 1:4–5 “4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

One of the richest passages that we tend to just skim through when we read the gospels. Like, “Oh yeah we get it - God is life, God is light”.

But EVERY single phrase in this passage bears profound meaning

“IN HIM WAS LIFE” - ok what’s the significance of that?

This is NOT just talking about being alive. This is not just talking about the state of “life” that people have. When you’re alive you have life - this is not that, this is something completely different.

Christ bears a COMPLETELY different kind of life, a life that is not beaten down by darkness, a life that is different to the ones that we lead on our own. It’s a kind of life that without God we will never experience.

See the world has a form of life - and while it’s not a fake form of life, I mean there are clearly people around us who are alive and breathing and well. But while the world’s life is not fake, it is INCOMPLETE.

There is something missing - a depth, a longing for something that nothing in this world can ever fill. We were all born with it.

You know what - even some people who call themselves Christians today - you may still be living this life that is incomplete. It’s a void that can only be filled by the life that CHRIST offers.

That’s why we need to pay attention when Jesus says in John 10:10b “10 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

IN HIM WAS LIFE - Jesus brought into this world a different life - a new life, filled with renewed purpose and resurrection power. It is an abundant life that He offers to each one of us.

It’s a life that is birthed out of CHRIST’S RESURRECTION - His defeat of sin and the power of death.

Now listen to me - because this is important. And this is what happens when we undervalue Christ’s sacrifice, when we don’t fully understand the implications of His resurrection.

We can be tempted to treat our faith not like a RESURRECTION, but more like a RESUSCITATION.

What do I mean by that? What I mean is that Jesus did not come to RESUSCITATE your old life. He did not come to breathe life back into your old way of living. The life that is dominated by sin and defined by the world. The life where you go to church on a Sunday and that’s about the extent of your faith. The life that is in the flesh. Listen to me JESUS DID NOT COME TO RESCUSCITATE YOUR OLD LIFE. He came to RESURRECT YOU INTO A NEW LIFE.

Man this is a real thing for Christians nowadays - we think Jesus just came to ADD flavour to our current way of living. He really didn’t. Jesus didn’t come just to be a side dish in your dinner - he came as the MAIN COURSE.

He didn’t die just so that you can feel a bit guilty whenever you sin, He died so that you could be FREE from the burden and consequences of sin He didn’t die so that you can attend church on a Sunday, He died so that you could BE the church every day He didn’t even die just so that YOU could be transformed, He died so that YOU could be an agent of transformation wherever you went.

Are you catching this? So many Christians live the RESUSCITATED LIFE. But Easter is not about a resuscitation, it’s about the resurrection.

What’s the biggest difference between RESCUSCITATION and RESURRECTION? Simple - death.

RESUSCITATION means the old you didn’t really die.

RESURRECTION means that the old you has gone and is buried - and the new you, the new life is a completely new person.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

The resurrection ISN’T about bringing Jesus in OUR life. It’s about US stepping in to His life.

ILLUSTRATION: NZ Jet Boat

Sharon and I went to New Zealand a couple of years ago, anyone from NZ? Cool. When you go to the south Island - one of the highlights that you can do is jetboating, basically you get on this super fast speedboat which holds approximately 15 people and they speed you through raging river perilously close to looming cliff walls. Sharon’s a psycopath in case you guys don’t know, she’s the one that’s like jumping out of planes, and finding tiny underground caves for us to die in while I really just like want to read a book.

Anyway we’re speeding along on this jetboat when suddenly the engine blows. *boom* and smoke starts to pour out and the boat eventually comes to a stop. Now I should mention at this point that our boat was filled with chinese tourists. They barely spoke any english, and the tour people also clearly did not speak chinese. So this communication hell breaks loose “SHEN ME?” ZEN ME LE?” all this kind of stuff.

Anyway eventually another jet boat comes to get us. They pull up right next to us and the pilot stops the boat and motions for them to come over to the new boat. But because these people don’t speak english - there was this huge miscommunication where I think she thought he was here to FIX our boat. Which makes 0 sense, I was like bruh but I couldn’t say anything because she was an old chinese aunty and I didn’t want to get slippered if you know what I mean. They’re like waving for the pilot to come over to OUR boat - the one with smoke billowing out of the engine. And the pilot is like - no, you come over here. And it’s ironic because we were the only two people who understood what was happening on both sides but the show was way too good so we just sat and watched.

Anyway, what’s my point? My point is that Jesus didn’t arrive in a brand new boat, just to jump over to your busted one. Jesus didn’t come to fix your old life up. Jesus didn’t come to become a part of your old life - no Jesus came so that you could jump into HIS boat. Jesus came so that you could have NEW life, HIS life.

God’s Life is our Light

And that life that we’ve been talking about - that resurrection light; John goes on to say that life was the LIGHT of men. John 1:4 “4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

God’s life is our LIGHT.

His life IN us is our purpose, it is our uniqueness, it is everything that we need to shine, everything that we need to stand for Him.

If we are trying to make a mark in this world then the light that you shine IS the life of God. In other words - we can’t shine without His life in us. We can’t make a dent in the darkness without HIS LIFE In us.

John says in John 1:5 “5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Only God’s LIFE can light up what sin has darkened in us.

The life of God within us is the LIGHT that gives us power that to break out of sin, out of addiction, out of brokenness.

The thing is that without HIS life - we lose our light. We lose our ability to break through the darkness, we lose our ability to stand out, we lose our purpose, we lose our divine uniqueness, the darkness begins to swallow up who we are, the darkness begins to take over.

The Word is so clear - it is the LIFE of God that is our LIGHT.

The missing piece to our humanity, the missing purpose in our journey, the missing power to make change, the missing light in our darkness - it is God’s LIFE. Christ BOUGHT that for you on the cross.

If you’re struggling to break through today - then just know, it is God’s life, NOT YOURS that bears that power.

We don’t Create the light, we Carry it

Can I just say that the mistake that so many Christians make, especially once we’ve been a Christian for a while.

We forget that we didn’t create the light - we only carry it. We’re not the source, we’re the mirror.

The more we forget that the light is actually God’s LIFE residing within us, the more we begin to rely on our own strength and our own power to break through the darkness, to break through our sin and addiction, to be the difference. We begin to trust in our own purpose, our own direction.

My friends - that is when the light in our lives begins to flicker and go out. The moment we forget that we’re NOT the main character, He is! We aren’t the source, we’re the mirror! The moment we forget that we carry no light of our own, we only carry the LIFE of the resurrected Christ within us!

Today, Christian, it’s time to remind yourself that you are not the center of the universe, you aren’t the main character - He is. That this life is not about shining your light, it’s about carrying His. This life isn’t about finding your own way, it’s about following His.

You know the Pharisees and Saducees in the bible stared straight at the Light of the World for three years but not a single ray reached their inner beings. Resurrection life may be a free gift - but it won’t force its way into a closed heart.

ILLUSTRATION: Something about the cross.

A couple of years ago, a friend called me in the middle of the night at around 2AM. It sounded urgent, he asked to come over - but since Sharon was sleeping I didn’t want to disturb her so I asked him to meet me at the church that we both attended. We both sat in the foyer and it took him one hour to tell me what happened, and I can’t disclose it because I haven’t asked his permission - but safe to say, imagine the worst and it’d be around there.

I didn’t know what to say, I was stunned, lost for words. He couldn’t even cry, he was so overcome with emotion that his emotional centres had literally just shut down. We literally sat in that foyer in silence for what was 15 minutes or so, I can’t remember. When he opened his mouth finally all I remember is him saying, “Jon - I want to end my life. I can’t do this anymore.” The heaviness of those words sat in the air around us for minutes, I had no idea what to say, I had absolutely nothing to say to him. He began to weep in front of me, I couldn’t do anything to comfort him.

It was probably around 4AM now, when he got up to leave - I just remember watching him go but then suddenly I just had this prompting in my heart. I was like wait bro - I think you should pray. Promise you, I believe in prayer more than anyone else but at the time it sounded like the dumbest thing I’ve ever said. He said “prayer? really?” I said yep. Prayer. Why don’t you just spend…5 minutes with God, go into the sanctuary and yeah have your 5 minutes with God. Honestly thought he’d laugh it off but he actually did it.

I remember watching him - he knelt down in the sanctuary in front of a cross that was on the back wall and prayed. And wept, and prayed, for what was nearly 30 minutes. That image of him kneeling in front of the cross in an empty, quiet sanctuary is burned into my mind. After what felt like an eternity, he got up and walked towards me, I asked him, “Are you ok?” He just looked up at me, nodded and we left together.

You know that over the next week I watched this guy overcome what would have been a life CRIPPLING hurdle with a grace and strength that I have never witnessed in all my years as a pastor. He’s now serving in church, on fire for God, with a beautiful family - you name it. Now I know what you may want to ask - WHAT DID GOD SAY TO HIM? WHAT HAPPENED IN FRONT OF THAT CROSS?

You know I’ve never asked him what happened in that church that incited such a huge change, like what did God say to him, what did God speak to Him? And you know what? I’ve got absolutely no desire to - because it’s not a mystery to me. I saw one man kneel at the foot of the cross, and a completely different one get up - and to me; that’s exactly how it’s meant to be.

When our light burns out God’s light breaks through - the light shines in the darkness and the darkness HAS NOT/WILL NOT/CAN NOT OVERCOME IT. That is exactly what is meant to happen.

The cross is the symbol of that promise for us. Easter is the date of that promise came to pass.

Jesus doesn’t just come to enter your darkness - He comes to end it.

Not just Cosmic, but Personal

I want to end tonight by reading to you 2 Corinthians 4:6 “6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Here’s the thing you may be sitting here today, tempted to think that the resurrection has no effect on you, it was some cosmic event that bears no relevance to your very personal situation.

But this passage shows me that the same God who flung the stars into space and created light from nothing, is exactly the same God who is here tonight - wanting to give you HIS LIFE, wanting to shine His light into your heart, wanting to love you, free you from sin, give you a hope and a purpose.

The resurrection is not just a cosmic event - it is an immensely personal one too.

His life - is a gift that we receive, it’s not a goal that we need to achieve. You don’t need to perform to receive His life and light, you don’t need to be anything special (I’m certainly not), you don’t need to be tall, good looking, talented, experienced - nah you just need to want it. His life is free to anyone who wants it, to anyone willing to call on the name of the Lord.

Altar Call

Roman Road:

Romans 3:23

Romans 5:8

Romans 6:23

Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:13 “13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

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