Session #5- Jesus Died And Rose Again

Well it has been a great week ! We have learned a lot and have done a lot…

I want you guys to whisper to someone next or behind what your favorite part of this week was?

Today we are going to talk about this word called..

Redemption.

That word might sound big or churchy… but I promise, it’s personal. And it’s real.

This is what Redemption means. - The recapture of precious goods..

If you guys dont know, about Jesus,; he lived a perfect life without sin, he did miracles, he taught and lead his disciples.

But the pinnacle of what Jesus did for us is that Jesus took all of our sin, and shame to the cross. He lived a perfect life and then he died the death that we all deserve.

When Jesus died on the cross he said these famous words.

John 19:30 NLT

When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

The crazy intersing thing about when jesus said “it is finished” is that that is the same word that was used or stamped on documenst in Rome when a person had finished paying a debt to them.

why is this intersting.. well the fact is that we all had a debt to pay .. Remember we are all sinners

But when Jesus dies, it is not like he is just using a cultural slogan

But he was saying“The debt is paid. The work is complete. Salvation is accomplished.”

He paid the ransom, and redeemed all of us.. restoring us into a right relationship with God.

But friend i want you to know… Jesus didn’t just die. He rose again. And that is what changes everything. Jesus died and then rose again..

1. Jesus Rose – The Rescue Is Complete

If you guys have your bibles we will be doing a bit of flipping through today, but we will start in 1 cor 15:3-7

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 NIV

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

I think it it important to to really hone in here and restate that Jesus really died.

He dies and was put into a tomb…And there wre guards guarding the tomb so that nobody would steal his body.

Jesus did not remain in the grave. He rose again. In the resurrection, Jesus defeated death once and for all, revealing that He is fully God and fully man. Only a man could truly die in our place, and only God could rise from the dead by His own power. The empty tomb declares that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be. Fully God. And Fully Man.

This isn’t just a nice story. It’s a moment in history. Eyewitnesses saw it. There are 4 gospels in the bible (Matt,Mark,Luke, John) that all confirm that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and on the third day rose from the dead.

After Jesus rose, people Touched Him. Ate with Him. And then they watched him ascend back into heaven where he is seated right now at the right hand of God.

Jesus defeated death.. And he still lives today..

But what does Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the dead even mean? How does it make our relatinship with God right.

Well you can turn to the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:1–5

Ephesians 2:1–3 NLT

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

Inciting Incident: You and I were spiritually dead because of sin. We all were slaves to sin, and we all had passiontate sinful desires that we follow, each and everyone of us shoouldve been recieving God’s wrath or the punishment for our sins…

Ephesians 2:4–5 CSB

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

But God… Who is Rich in Mercy… Becasue of his great Love….Saved us by his Grace…

Friends This isn’t just a story. This is real, Jesus died the death that we all deserved. We all deserved the punishment for sin…

…..So what does that mean? What do i do now with all of this information?..

Not even the information from today, but all that we have learned this week.

2. What It Takes to Follow Jesus

So far this week, we’ve learned a lot.

We’ve learned that God created us to know Him. We’ve learned that sin broke that relationship. We’ve learned that Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again.

So the question becomes simple:

What do we do with this?

The Bible shows us that every person has a choice to make. It’s the same kind of choice Adam and Eve had in the garden, and it’s the same choice we face today.

There are only two paths.

Choosing Our Own Way

We can choose to keep living life our way. We can choose sin. We can choose to ignore God and live in disobedience to Him.

This is choosing independence instead of relationship. It’s choosing control instead of trust.

Choosing to Follow Jesus

Or, we can choose to follow Jesus.

Following Jesus means trusting Him. It means believing that what He did on the cross was for us. It means turning from sin and stepping into a restored relationship with God.

Following Jesus doesn’t mean being perfect. It means being forgiven. It means being rescued.

3. What Happens If We Don’t? What Happens If We Do?

Now we need to talk honestly about the outcome of each choice.

What If We Don’t Follow Jesus?

I want to be real with you.

Not everyone chooses to follow Jesus.

Some people hear the message. They understand what Jesus did. They see that the prison door has been opened.

But they choose to stay where they are.

If we reject Jesus and stay in our sin, the relationship with God remains broken.

That means:

We remain responsible for our own sin

We remain separated from God

Guilt and shame stay with us

The relationship is never restored

This separation doesn’t just affect this life. The Bible teaches it lasts forever.

That’s why Scripture talks about judgment and eternal separation from God.

Without Jesus, the picture still looks like this:

GOD |———✖———| US

Jesus said it clearly:

John 3:36 NLT

And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

That’s a heavy verse — but it’s honest.

It shows us that this choice actually matters. It’s not neutral. It’s not meaningless.

Without Jesus, the separation remains. The X stays in place.

And so

What If We Do Follow Jesus?

Now hear this clearly.

Jesus already made a way…The prison door has already been opened.

But following Jesus means stepping out of the cell and trusting Him.

So what happens when we say yes to Jesus? What happens when we believe and choose to follow Him?

The Bible gives us a clear answer.

Jesus took our punishment for sin.

That means:

We are forgiven

We are accepted

We are rescued

Paul writes this in Romans:

Romans 8:1–2 (NLT)

Romans 8:1–2 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

What Changes When We Follow Jesus

Picture the courtroom again.

We are guilty. The evidence is real. The verdict should be punishment.

But Jesus steps in and says:

“The ransom has been paid. You’re free to go.”

That’s redemption.

It means Jesus takes what we deserved and gives us what we could never earn.

So now the picture changes.

Before Jesus, it looked like this:

GOD |———✖———| US

Sin stood in the way. The relationship was broken.

But because of Jesus, it now looks like this:

GOD |———JESUS———| US

Jesus restores the relationship. Jesus removes the X. Jesus brings us back to God.

Before Jesus, sin ruled over us. It controlled our choices and led us toward death.

But now?

With Jesus, we are free. We are no longer separated from God. We are given new life — eternal life — through Him.

Why I’m Telling You This

Some of you might be thinking, well Michael …“Why are you telling me all of this?” “What’s the point?” “Does God really care about me that much?” Or maybe, “I’m still young. I’ve got time to figure this out later.”

I’m telling you this because this isn’t just information — it’s about life.

You were created to know God. That’s not an accident. That’s not random. That’s why your heart searches for meaning, belonging, and purpose.

Thats why our hearst look for a sense of worth and satisfaction and approval….

And here’s the honest truth: Nothing else will ever fully satisfy that search…

The only thing the only one that can truly satisfy your life is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

That is why i am telling you this…

Jesus came because the relationship was broken - and you couldn’t fix it… we ccouldnt fix it..

God is holy. Sin is real. And a Holy God i just in wanting a punishment for sin. But God is also loving — and love doesn’t walk away from what it cares about.

That’s why Jesus made a way.

Not because you were good enough. Not because you deserved it. Not because you had it all together.

But because God wanted you back.

Following Jesus matters because it’s the only way the relationship is restored. It’s the only place forgiveness is real. It’s the only place freedom from guilt and shame actually happens. It’s the only place life makes sense the way it was meant to.

It is the only place where you will find satisfaction

And so believing in Jesus doesn’t start with perfection. It starts with trust.

It starts with believing that Jesus really did this for you. It starts with choosing to stop running your own way and letting Him lead. It starts with saying, “God, I don’t have this figured out - but I want You.”

That’s why Jesus came. That’s why this matters. And that’s why following Him is worth everything.

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God loved. So God acted.

And tonight, that truth is here for you.

So tonight i want to do something different .. I want to leave this space open.. If you have any questions about anythng we talked about tonight, or this just stay back and there will be some staff that would love to talk to you about whatevr questions you may have…

But before that.. I want to play a song.. Personally for myself I love music,and i feel that sometimes i can emotinally and spirtually connect to music more so to somoene that is talking..

So , I want you to listen to the words of the song, and then after i will pray and then if you have anything that you would like to talk about please, stay and we would love to talk…

Play Who Am I- Casting Crowns

Let’s pray.