A Resurrection Life

Introduction

Two ago weeks ago sermon- Barabbas

A sham of a court hearing

An innocent man is lead to His death, a guilty man is set free

Jesus is crucified

John 19:16–18 “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.”

The Place of a Skull… The author of life it’s self was lead to a place of death, the Place of the Skull, to die so that others might live. Scripture say’s that Jesus created all things.

How did Jesus create all things?…You might be thinking to yourself how did Jesus create all things? I would point you to Genesis. Did you know that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are indirectly referred to in Genesis. I think the majority of Christian tend miss Jesus in the Old Testament. I know at first I did.

We all probably know...

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

What we know, what is missed… God created the World is a pretty foundational piece of scripture. Pay close attention to the next verses and what can easily be over looked.

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””

Genesis 3:22 “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—””

Paul’s evidence… And if that wasn’t enough evidence Paul writes about Christ creating every thing in His letter to the Colossians

Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

The trinity in creation… The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were all right there together in the act of creation.

The hand of man… Here on a cross the hands of men would drive nails through the hands of the God that created them.

Darkness over the land… Matthew, Mark and Luke record that during Christ crucifixion the sun went dark for three hours.

Luke 23:44–45 “It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”

6th hour, 9th hour… In the Roman and Jewish world 6th hour is Noon and the 9th hour is 3pm. That means at what should have been during the brightest point of the day the light of the sun could no longer be seen.

The symbolism… Do you see the deep symbolism? Of all that mankind had ever done, this had to be his darkest hour. This was no longer just rebellion against Gods will. This was the murder of God Himself. And darkness fell over the land.

Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””

Did God forsake Jesus?… What’s Jesus saying here? Did God forsake Him? No, but He did forsake mankind's sins.

Darkness fell, God turned his back on sin… Darkness fell over the land, because God had turned His back on mankind's sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The face of the Lord… Throughout the Old Testament Gods favor, attention and presence is described as if He has turned His face to look at you. Like a loving parent would look over a child.

NIV Nu 6:24–26.24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’

The absence of God… It makes sense that God would turn His back on the sin’s of mankind. That’s what was really on the cross that day. Mankind's sins. No wonder that land turned dark. The absence of God is the presence of darkness.

A lesson to be learned… There is a lesson to be learned from the darkness they all experienced. When mankind chooses to live without God, and embraces sin, darkness follows.

Lk 23:45–46. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Jesus trusted the Father… This is what living for God looks like church. Not just saying a prayer to go to heaven in case you don't wake up tomorrow. Its about today, and tomorrow and everyday in-between salvation and meeting Jesus face to face. Jesus lived His whole life committed to the Father.

Will you live for God… Jesus trusted the Father with more than just what happened to Him after He died. He trusted the Father with His life before He died. Will you trust your life to God, not just trust He saves you from death, but really live for Him? Will you give Him your life before you die?

John records something else Jesus said before dying...

John 19:28–30 “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Finished Greek -Tetelestai… Your new testament bible, everythings from the book of Matthew to the Book of Revelation, is a modern translation of the original New Testaments written in Greek after Christs death. The word written in Greek for “finished” by John, and spoken by Jesus is Tetelestai. The word Tetelestai was used as an accounting term. It meant paid in full. A Greek speaking and reading person of the time period would have understood Jesus’s statement as meaning an account that had been settled. That a price owed had been paid. There was no longer a debt.

That same word in Hebrew - That same word translated in Hebrew, the language most of your old testament, the book of Genesis to the Book of Malachi, mean’s “To make restitution. The make payment for a wrong done. To repay. To make complete. To make whole. To restore. To bring into peace two parties”.

The Peace of the cross… Christ’s willing sacrifice at the cross was the final act of atonement bringing two parties into peace. God and mankind.

ATONEMENT- IS JUST A FANCY WORD FOR TWO PARTIES BECOMEING ONE, BEING UNIFIED. At-one-ment. Two becoming one.

Hebrews 9:22 “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

The crucifixion of the cross… The punishment of the cross was earned, but not by Christ. It was earned by another. The forgiveness of the cross was earned by Jesus.

Psalm 14:2–3 “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

Our punishment… The punishment of the cross was my punishment. The punishment of the cross is our punishment. The punishment of the cross is everyone's punishment.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Wages are a result of work… Jesus Christ was fulfilling a debt on the cross. He was not only taking our punishment He was receiving the wages we owed. If you think about wages, they are the result of work. You or I hire ourselves out to someone. They agree to pay us wages based upon the work we complete. Our wages are something owed until they are paid.

The work we preformed… The unfortunate truth is mankind’s work was sin. It wasn’t the work of the Father and His Kingdom. It was the work of self made kings and their kingdoms.

Jesus had no sin… The bible reveals Jesus Christ in the only man ever born who was sinless.

1 Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.”

Even His words… Not only did He not Sin in His actions, He never sinned with His mouth. No matter how good you may think you have done I’m not sure I could find even one person who genuinely believes He or she has lived a life where everything that came out of their mouth was edifying and uplifting. Never slandering another. Never cursing. Never deceptive.

We receive His wages… Jesus paid our debt, and bore our punishment so that we could receive His wages and His righteousness

Romans 5:6–9 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

Jesus died… And so Jesus died on the cross. They even pierced His side with a spear to confirm it.

John 19:31–34 “Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.”

Water and blood… In case you have wondered about that strange detail concerning blood and water coming out of Jesus’s side there is a medical condition (hypovolemic shock) that explains it. After loosing a large amount of blood the heart works harder and harder to pump blood through the body due to low blood volume. Jesus would have lost a large amount of blood after being wiped 39 times with a whip that was known to both cut open men's skin and sometimes even remove bone. Not everyone survived being whipped. His sustained rapid heartbeat before death would have caused fluid to collect around His heart and lungs. When the soldier pierced His side through the lungs and heart it would have ruptured the fluid sacks that had collected. A roman soldier familiar with the death of war and past crucifixions would have known exactly what it meant. Jesus was already dead.

Jesus was buried… And so after Jesus was dead to brought Him down and placed Him in a new tomb.

Matthew 27:57–60 “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.”

Isn’t this an Easter service...? By now you might be thinking to yourself, I thought today was about Easter. Today is supposed to about the resurrection. It’s supposed to be about victory and hope. It’s about how good God has been.

You need to understand how bad things are… Church let me tell you its impossible to realize how good things are until you realize had bad things were. You need to see that you started in one place but you have been brought to another. We see how good Jesus Christ is when we understand just how bad our sin is. We have to understand what it cost. It cost the blood of an innocent man.

The power of your testimony… You want to know why your testimony is so powerful. It’s because it displays just how bad you were and just how good God is. Don’t forget where you came from and don't forget what He’s done.

Church the best part is yet to come...

Resurrection…

Luke 24:1–7 “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.””

That stone was rolled away that tomb was empty.… Our Lord no longer inhabited it because our God had defeated hell, sin and the grave.

The angle asked them “Why do you seek the living among the dead?… You have come here seeking the living God amongst the dead. Don’t you know that death has no power over the God of life. Your going to have to go somewhere else to find the living God because surely He is not here.

We serve a God who is powerful and mighty.

What else did the Angel say... “He is not here, but has risen.” Church our God lives. Our God walked out of that tomb. Our God went head to head with the very things were destroying us and prevailed. Sin and death no longer have power over us because it could not hold Him.

The two miracles… There were two miracles that happened right after Jesus’s death, and before his resurrection that have always amazed me.

Mt 27:51–53.51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Temple curtain torn in two, the High priest… I cannot stress enough the importance of the temple curtain being torn in two. Before Christ only one man, the High Priest, once a year was able to go into the presence of the Lord inside the temple. He had to go through lengthy rituals of purification to cleanse himself of sin before entering because God is Holy. And if He failed to do so He risked his sin leading to death in the presence of our Holy God.

Our sin separated us… Our sin has always separated us from God, just like the sin’s of that priest. And our sin leads us to death instead of the presence of God if we are not cleansed.

The meaning behind the curtain tearing… That curtain in the temple was the last barrier between sinful man outside and Holy God inside. When that curtain ripped from top to bottom it was a sign from God. Jesus Christ had made the way back, mankind's sins were cleansed.

The cleansing blood… You and I get to enjoy the presence of God again because of the cleansing blood of our Lord.

1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The tombs of the dead opening and the saints rising… The other miracle that happened that has always amazed me in the dead saints rising from their tombs. Jesus hasnt been dead 5 minutes and the saints are rising. Can you imagine getting to be one of the firs witnesses to the resurrection power of Jesus? This was just another taste of the wonder to come for those in Christ church

The first day of the week… Did you notice that the tomb was empty on the first day of the week. The first day of the week is significant. It represented things were starting new, fresh, different. The tomb was empty. Their wasn’t a dead man in their, No life had happened.

Our old weekend celebration… To the Jewish believer that day was Sunday. You see the celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday and after Christ’s resurrection Christians began celebrating sabbath on Sunday. When our ancestors settled America they could not agree on which day to celebrate the sabbath and so in America the two day weekend was born.

Our current weekend celebration… In our Modern American culture weekends have become all about the R&R. I can't wait to get to Saturday so I can sleep in our play some golf or just get away. Our forefathers saw them as days of reverence to God. A gift from Him to reflect on His nature and goodness. Time to reconnect with Him and disconnect with world that demanded so much time, energy and focus.

A challenge… I would challenge you to begin looking at your weekends in a different light. To view it as the blessing of time God has given you to reset and connect with Him again. Is He in your weekend? Do you find rest in Him during it? Why are we gathered here today? To celebrate that life and sacrifice of Jesus who set us free. Why would we wait for Easter to roll around once a year to do that. Why shouldn't it be each weekend. Why shouldn’t it be each week. Why shouldn’t it be everyday.

Closing

End with empty tombs… It’s fitting that we end off with the empty tomb of our Lord and the empty tombs of the saints.

Set free to live life… Church I’m telling you Jesus Christ died to set us free not just from ours sins but the fear of death and give us life beyond that fear. The miracle of the dead rising after Christs death should be one of the most encouraging.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Living for Christ can be harder than dying for Him… It may be required one day to die for your faith but what I’m asking you to do is much harder than dying for your faith. Dying for your faith is final and once it’s over it’s done, there is no more struggle, you in the presence of Jesus. What I am asking you to do, what I believe Jesus clearly asked us to do, is die to yourself so that you can live out your faith. Jesus died to bring you life and life abundantly.

Matthew 16:24–26 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

The disciples went on to serve God until their deaths, and serving God faithfully was often what resulted in their death. Do not wait until after you die to begin serving Him. Will you live a life of service to God now?

The talents, resources and relationships that God has placed in your life were uniquely given to you by God. Given so that you could bring the glory and power of God into the situations, place and peoples only you are in position to. That's what a resurrection life is, bring the resurrection power of God to bear in the world around you.

If there are anyone here today who has not accepted the life giving offer of Jesus Christ I want you to know its still available...

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

Every head bowed every eye closed please.

If you wish to accept the offer of forgiveness for sins and life in Jesus repeat after me....

Communion

We will now practice open co-munnion

You are welcome to join us. If you do not feel comfortable joining today please do not feel pressured into doing so.

Please hold the bread and juice until we partake of it together.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

23For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

During the Lord's Supper, we're reminded to look in three different directions.

Examine ourselves…

2. We do this in remembrance…

3. Proclaim the Lord’s death, until He comes…

The empty cup, The empty tomb.