Easter Sunday 2026

Because He Lives, you will live also! -John 14:19

A Promise that Gives Hope!

Reading: John 14:15-21 (ref: Ephesians 2).

INTRODUCTION - Jesus gives us a Promise of Hope and there can be nothing greater in terms of our eternal security than this: “Because I live, you will live also”!

We have the HOPE of ETERNAL LIFE, Life everlasting which means as Jesus put it: John 11:25-26 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

If you have such a HOPE then it can sustain you through the fear and finality of death! I have shared this story before but it was around 10 years ago so, I trust it will be new for many of you and you will find it hopeful and inspirational. George H.W Bush in a speech given to students in America told of his experience at Leonid Brezhnev’s funeral: “(At the funeral of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev,) things were run in military precession; a coldness and hollowness pervaded the ceremony – marching soldiers, steel helmets, Marxist rhetoric, but no prayers, no comforting hymns, no mention of God. The Soviet leaders took their places on the Kremlin Wall as the Brezhnev family silently escorted the casket around to its final resting place. I happened to be in just the right spot to see Mrs. Brezhnev. She walked up, and took one last look at her husband and there – in the cold, grey centre of that totalitarian state – she traced the sign of the cross over her husband’s chest. I was stunned. In that simple act, God had broken through the core of the communist system. And it became clear to me – decades, even centuries, of harsh, secular rule can never destroy the intuitive faith that is in us all. And in that I find faith for the future.” http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-903380

Robert H Schuller said: “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.” And Jurgen Moltman in his Theology of Hope said: “Totally without hope one cannot live. To live without hope is to cease to live. Hell is hopelessness. It is no accident that above the entrance to Dante's hell is the inscription: "Leave behind all hope, you who enter here.”

This verse serves to encourage Christians facing the fear of death or loss by reminding them of the hope and assurance of eternal life through Christ. It can also inspire us to live with purpose and confidence, knowing that their lives hold eternal significance because Jesus' resurrection is not just a historical event but a central promise that impacts our everyday lives and beliefs about life, death, and hope in Christ.

The Christian faith gives us the “hope of eternal life” – 1 John 5:11,12 “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” –

I. Without Him there is No Hope!

In 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 “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, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.”

of first importance - Why because without the Resurrection there is no hope for eternity!

Paul is absolutely clear about this in 1 Corinthians 15:17–19 “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

However many people have no hope for life after death - A poll carried out by ComRes for the BBC local radio surveyed 2,010 British adults by telephone, between 2 and 12 February 2017. The research was released on Palm Sunday and it revealed that:

46% of people said they believe in some form of life after death and 46% do not

Of those 46% who did believe, 20% were non-religious people and two thirds of those surveyed (65%) said they thought their souls would go to "another life" such as heaven or hell while a third thought they would be reincarnated (32%).

Exactly half of all people surveyed did not believe in the resurrection at all and amongst regular churchgoers 5% said they did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Astonishingly, 23% of people in the UK who regard themselves as Christians do not believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

31% of Christians believe word-for-word the Bible version about Jesus’ resurrection, rising to 57% among "active" Christians (those who go to a religious service at least once a month). hilst surprisingly 9% of non-religious people believe in the Resurrection, 1% of who say they believe it literally. (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39153121

These issues are vitally important to every one of us, because, one day, we will all die.

The Bible says that people apart from Jesus Christ are alienated from the life of God - “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”(Eph 2:1-3)

John Eadie, the 19th century Scottish preacher said, “Men without Christ are death walking. The beauties of holiness do not attract man in his moral insensibility nor do the miseries of hell deter him.” You can talk about heaven to him; he’s not interested. You can talk about hell to him; he’s not afraid. This kind of man doesn’t need renewal, repair, restoration or resuscitation. He needs resurrection. He needs life because he’s dead!

That’s the problem with the world. It’s full of the living-dead who are literally shut off altogether from the life of God. They can’t know Him; therefore, they can’t hear His voice. They can’t understand His truth. It is foolishness to them. It is incomprehensible to them. They do not respond to it, and therefore, they cannot enjoy His blessing.

This is caused by “transgressions and sins” and it’s important we understand this!

The word “transgressions” means “to slip or fall or get off the path.” It means to lose your way and get lost.

Sins is the word hamartia. It literally means “to shoot something and miss it.” When it comes to God we all fail to hit the target - God’s target? Jesus said, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” God’s standard is perfection, and nobody hits it. That’s why Romans 3:23 says, “All have come short of the glory of God.” Even a moral man who hits the target of human goodness misses God’s perfect standard of absolute holiness.

We all fall short and as a result we are cut off from the life of God

So mankind has a severe problem. He transgresses God’s law and is completely incapable of hitting God’s target, therefore He is lost, as far as God is concerned he is “dead in transgressions and sins”. He is utterly insensitive to God, unable to respond to God and falling far short of what God requires - as lost as lost can be.

Listen how Paul puts in: “Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” (Eph 2:11-13).

It has been well said: “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator; If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist; If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist; If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer; But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Saviour. “

II. Because He Lives! – There is Hope!

Paul says that those who do not know Jesus as Saviour and Lord are “Without hope and without God in the world” BUT for those who know Jesus there is HOPE!

Those who had been “separate from Christ” and “without hope and without God in the world.” (Eph 2:11-13) have had a radical change – “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Eph 2:13-22).

This HOPE came to us, through the operation of the Holy Spirit who revealed to us the GRACE and MERCY of God:

Listen to Paul again – “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”(Eph 2:4-7). Those spiritually dead, eternally dead can come to life.  - “He made us alive...raised us up.” 

And the reason He did this? – Mercy - “But God, being rich in mercy.”(v4)  - mercy is not giving us sinners what we deserve.  Psalm 103:10 says, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, not rewarded us according to our iniquities.”  We deserve to be punished.  We deserve to be condemned and sent to hell, but God being rich in mercy – limitless, boundless - holds back His judgment. 

Instead he shows us grace. - “By grace you have been saved”(v5). “Mercy pities and holds back. Grace pardons and releases. Mercy withholds God’s judgment. Grace releases God’s forgiveness. Mercy doesn’t give us what we deserve. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve.” (John MacArthur)

Why does He do that? - “Because of His great love with which He loved us.”(v4). Paul calls it a “great love” It’s inexplicable. It’s beyond comprehension. God loved us while we were enemies. “God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

“Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.” (Watchman Nee)

And Jesus, speaking to His disciples before he leaves them reassures them saying: vs 15-21 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

“Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” – To what is Jesus referring? Some say to the events immediately following his death and after his resurrection up until the 40 days that ended in his ascension. However I believe more that this is intended - The disciples were encouraged to move from a trust in the physical presence of Christ to a trust in His spiritual presence. (Comp. John 20:17.)

To the world the grave seemed to be the end of Jesus - the world will not see me anymore. They thought of Him as dead. To the believers however who had the power to see Him He appeared as living, and was more truly with them and in them than He had been before.

Because He Lives, we Live!

Jesus resurrection is the pattern, pledge and guarantee of our resurrection

Because we are in Christ the Holy Spirit lives in us, as a dynamic and living reality and He makes Christ real to us in our every day lives.

And because we are in Christ, our life is secure and cannot be lost! His presence brings comfort to our troubled hearts!

Jesus is with us by His Spirit. He lives in us and is with us! – “While the resurrection promises us a new and perfect life in the future, God loves us too much to leave us alone to contend with the pain, guilt and loneliness of our present life.” (Josh McDowell).

Our belief in the resurrection of Christ is important as a historical reality but it is more than that; more important than a mystical truth about the idea of Jesus triumphing over evil or as an illustration of how people can overcome their tragedies and have hope.

The important thing about the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that it provides the means and the only means by which people may enter eternal heaven and escape eternal hell.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is, therefore, the most determinative event of all time because by it the destiny of every person is ultimately determined. How you respond to the Christ of the resurrection will determine whether we spend forever in heaven or hell.

Jesus says to us today - “Because I live, you also will live.”

“The resurrection of Jesus changes the face of death for all His people. Death is no longer a prison, but a passage into God’s presence.” (Clarence W. Hall)

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus He came to love, heal and forgive He lived and died to buy my pardon An empty grave is there to prove my savior lives

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living, just because He lives

And then one day, I'll cross the river I'll fight life's final war with pain And then, as death gives way to victory I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He reigns

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living, just because He lives.

“No matter how devastating our struggles, disappointments, and troubles are, they are only temporary. No matter what happens to you, no matter the depth of tragedy or pain you face, no matter how death stalks you and your loved ones, the Resurrection promises you a future of immeasurable good.” Josh McDowell