Resurrection Power Now

Time Capsule

A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people about that time. Time capsules are sometimes created and buried during celebrations such as a world's fair, a cornerstone laying for a building or at other events.

Illustration of time capsule.

Time capsules are placed with the intention that they will be opened or accessed at a future date.

Last Friday, a school in Oakland opened a 90 year old time capsule with the hope of learning more about the past. Seems to be a cool thing for students to discover some artifacts from their school from 90 years ago! Found inside the time capsule were a school guidebook and newspapers with headlines like “11 boys seized ad bandits!”. Things that will not really grab the attention of third and fourth graders. One of them, a boy named Joaquin Ramirez commented when asked what he thought about what was found inside the time capsule: “Overall.... meh. It was cool but not so cool”.

Obviously, the kids were looking for buried treasure or toys from that past era.

There are other time capsules and some people are excited about this because they want a better glimpse of the past or to have some experience of what it was like living during a certain time in history. There is a time capsule that dated back to the Civil War and there is this story of a man who inherited a farm land and found his grandfather buried a time capsule containing gold coins, a buried treasure.

In many ways Christians treat the truth of God’s word like a heavenly time capsule. I will learn more about Jesus when I finally see Him in heaven. I will experience the power of God when I get to glory.

To many Christians the resurrection of Jesus Christ is an artifact from the past that is buried under the cornerstone of their faith. It is something that they think cannot be experienced in the here and now.

Here is the big idea of my message this morning:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only a truth to be known, but a power to be experienced.

Secondly:

To experience the resurrection is to experience its power now.

We don’t want Easter Sunday Service to be just another service when we talk about the resurrection of Jesus. We want it to be a real celebration of lives that have been transformed by its power!

This is why we are starting a sermon series now on the power of the resurrection and not wait until resurrection Sunday.

The Title of my message is Resurrection Power Now!

Every Resurrection Sunday we talk of the resurrection story and there are many smaller stories surrounding the resurrection that we remember.

What story from the resurrection do you most remember?

(Examples: The women going to the tomb early in the morning, Peter and John racing to the tomb, Mary Magdalene mistaking Jesus as a gardener, the angelic appearances, the two clueless disciples walking to Emmaus. One of my favorites is the apostles having a closed door meeting.. anecdote, agenda was debrief of what happened an Jesus suddenly shows up. “Peace be with you!” In His glorified body that is not confined by closed doors and walls)

A lot of these are great but to a lot of Christians they remain mere stories, and there are elements in the resurrection that are misunderstood by many.

One key element of the resurrection story is the stone that was rolled away.

A heavy stone.. it weighed some 1000 to 2000 lbs or 1 to 2 tons.. It would take more than 20 men to move it. They placed inside a groove or track so it can be rolled to the opening of the cave where Jesus’ tomb was.

Question: Why was the stone rolled away?

Was the stone rolled away so that Jesus can walk out?

The stone was not rolled away so that Jesus can walk out.

I don’t think so.. I just told of the story that Jesus in His glorified body through walls.

The stone was not rolled on that track. It was carried into a different place.

First off, the stone was not rolled on that track. It was carried into a different place.

The stone was not rolled on that track. It was carried into a place ..

Everything about the resurrection is a demonstration of the power of God.

Was the stone rolled away so that Jesus can walk out?

The stone was removed not so Jesus can walk out, but rather so that the followers of Jesus

The stone was removed so that the followers of Jesus:

1) could see the power of God

The stone was removed so that the followers of Jesus can look and go inside and see for themselves that the tomb was empty.

2) and simply can look and go inside and see for themselves that the tomb and the burial clothes were empty.

Brothers and sisters, beloved of the Lord. The resurrection is for you! God wants you to see that it is true and He wants you to experience its power in your lives.

Philippians 3:10–13 ESV

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

ESV

To experience resurrection power we need to go through..

Three Paradigm Shifts.

From Promises to Power. (Philippians 3:10-11)

Philippians 3:10–11 ESV

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:10

2. Potential to Power.

Gist: We may go through challenges. Who among you here likes the challenges in life that you face? No one who is honest will say that you relish the challenges you face in your life.

Nobody wakes up, jumps out of his bed, rolls up his sleeves, world here I come. I’m ready to face the next challenge of the day.

Philippians 3:1

As Christians facing these challenges, we confuse the promises from the Bible as all belonging to the future. Someday, I will be in a better place. True, heaven is a much better place, living in this world is like living in a garbage can compared to what is waiting for us up there. True there are promises for us in the future.

The greatest promise for us has already been fulfilled. Christ is risen! We are living in exciting times because we can now experience resurrection power.

Doesn't mean problems and challenges will simply go away but we can face them boldly. We can overcome our circumstances victoriously, hallelujah. More than that we can see miracles taking place before our eyes.. miracles of healing, deliverance and transformation of lives!

Excerpts from here..

JUST like the stone that covered the tomb, NO STONE IS TOO HEAVY TO REMOVE IN YOUR LIFE BY THE RESURRECTION POWER OF CHRIST!

2. Potential to Power. (Philippians 3:12)

Philippians 3:12 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Some say that the greatest tragedy of life is unrealized potential.

The brilliant mind that was underrated (Nikola Tesla), the celebrity that rose to fame quickly and just as quickly faded away, the rising sports star that failed to reach expectations.

Sad. And yet people are drawn to these sad stories. Do you know how I am sure people are drawn to it.

Just watch your social media feeds, you get a lot of:

Where are they now?

What ever happened to?

I love sports like NBA basketball, nothing is more tragic than the highest paid athletes in all of sports losing everything. So I am particularly drawn to..

The tragic story of (the name of the player) example Nick Anderson of the Orlando Magic. He had great potential, even defended Michael Jordan well at some point, but his whole career came down to four missed free throws in the NBA finals against the Houston Rockets. And he was never the same again.

The word potential comes from :

Po-ten-tial

late Middle English: from late Latin potentialis, from potentia ‘power,’ from potent- ‘being able’ (see potent1). The noun dates from the early 19th century.

3. Past to Power. (Philippians 3:13)

I think that the word potential as it is used now has become a misnomer, what was supposed to be a word that means being able or powerful has been reduced to a possibility.

Potential was turned from power to possibility.

You can turn potential to power.

That power is not of your own.

Here is what the apostle said in

The Message Chapter 3

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me.

Philippians 3:12 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Don’t wait till you get to your full potential, you are already on your way, Christ by His power has already reached out to you.

“ I will have to excel first in the business world before I can be used by God. I think I can better lead a Bible study, if I hone my speaking skills at work.”

Actually I find the opposite to be true, when I the serving in the kingdom of God first. I see that I actually become better and more favored at my job.

When the apostle Paul wrote this he was in prison or house arrest. He made the best of all circumstances, he shared the gospel to his captors.

It is a matter of perspective, you can experience Jesus’ resurrection power now. You can turn potential to power.

3. Past to Power. ()

Philippians 3:13 ESV

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

Does your past haunt you? Is it your past sins and mistakes?

Forgiveness of sins

- Resurrection of Jesus is powerful this way. It has the power to forgive all your sins, past, present and future.

The crucifixion of Jesus and His blood shed on the cross washed our sins and paid its price. When Jesus said It is finished! tetelestai! It is paid for!

The resurrection is the receipt from God that payment has been processed and accepted.

Healing of your past.

Your past wounds no longer has power over you.

Jesus by His resurrection gave (past tense) you the power to 1. forget what lies behind and 2) strain forward to what lies ahead.

Resurrection Power to:

a. Forget the past.

b. Forgive yourself.

c. Forge into the future.

In many ways our past experiences have shaped us. We are thankful to God for letting us go through some of the toughest trials in life because it has made us tougher and taught us a lot of valuable lessons that we carried over to the next phase of life.

Don’t stop there. Let the resurrection power of Christ reshape you.

Illustration: Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore is a beautiful landmark and a monumental work of art. But do you know that it is not only brought about by the fine work of artists. 90% of the mountain was carved with dynamite and more than 450,000 tons of rocks were removed. They have to blast these rocks away with dynamite in order to get to the beautiful granite surface underneath and sculpt the images of the 4 presidents.

Past experience

The word for power in the text we just read in the original language is:

Power:

To a life that is full of meaning.

δύναμις - dynamis

This is where we get the word dynamite.

Before God can work on your life, let the dynamites of His power blast away those heavy rocks of the past so that He can get to the real you and make a beautiful work of art.

Jesus’ resurrection power will turn your life to a life that is full of meaning.

One purpose of the empty tomb is to fill our empty lives with purpose.

Turn to the person next to you: