Easter Sunday
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He is Risen
He is risen indeed
He is Risen
He is risen in deed
Now wait a minute
Do you understand the impact of that statement?
Don’t throw it away as a neat community ritual.
At the Whitecaps games; every once an a while when we feel we ned to rile each other up, once side of the Stadium yells white———caps, white——— caps.
Don’t confuse this for that.
When we yell whitecaps we are reminding ourselves of why we are there because the game is getting boring.
When we say He is Risen, He is risen indeed we are proclaiming the foundation of our faith.
And that our faith is not an out there somewhere, hopefully, feeling that makes us tingle, but that it is based on an event on time and space, you can point to it on a map..
That Jesus, who claimed to be God, who told his followers that he would have be handed over to the authorities, to suffer, to be humiliated and shamed and ultimately an die, as our representative, and as the conquerer of sin and death, did so and than rose from the dead.
That is our proclamation!!!
Because if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, you would have never heard of him!!!
thousands upon thousands of people were crucified by the romans, and you don’t know any of their names.
Many of them were prophets, rebellious leaders, causing an uproar, and history has forgotten them.
You know who Jesus is because something of great significance happened.
PAUSE
And this is what it comes down to….in ..
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Simple words with an amazing call to commitment and belief.
And this is not just am exchange for your belief!!
Understand? It is not just like this is a test question and in echange for e getting it correct we get the prise of salvation!!
No no no
it is because when we put out belief in the resurrection of Jesus we are taking our belief off of ourselves for our salvation.
There is a wonderful concept we find in scripture.
And I think it is one of those ideas we read over and think we got it.
It is like those “terms of use” check boxes that no one reads.......yes I get it!! move on.
And that is the phrase “in Christ”
The phrase “in Christ” is fundamental to our understanding to what the resurrection means for us.
The Apostle Paul uses the phrase “In Christ” 164 times.
It is the main way of describing a Christian.
What was common when I was growing up was to say that Jesus lives in my heart!! Ask him into your heart!
That isn’t a biblical concept. A far more biblical idea is that we are IN CHRIST!!
And this is why this is important .....because...
When we associate, when we connect our lives to Christ, when we are “in Christ” something wonderful happens because of the resurrection.
Because of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, if you confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead......
Where Jesus went, you will go.
What Jesus purchased, you own.
And where Jesus reigns, you will stand
(X2)
This is what the resurrection is, this is what it means....Jesus went where we should have but couldn’t, at least couldn’t and come out the other side. He faced the beast of sin and death, he faced the shame and torment, the evil one himself, and came out the other side.
PAUSE
Guardians of the Galaxy has a warm spot in my heart mostly because it introduced my son to some great music. One of the best movie soundtracks in a while; I was actually able to get soundtracks for both guardians movies on cassettes which my son listens to on a walk-man!!
If you’ve seen the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 you know that at the beginning of the movie the Guardians are battling the multi-dementional monster the Abilisk.
And it has impenetrable skin. They are getting nowhere.
They cannot defeat it. They are wasting all their efforts.
Until Drax comes to the conclusion that the only way to defeat the abilisk is from the inside.
And so in a fantastic scene he runs and jumps into the mouth of the creature, he allows himself to be swallowed by the monster and begins to take it on from inside its belly.
Now what the cross tells us is that Jesus as the representative of humanity allowed himself to be swallowed up by death.
To “take death on” from the inside.
To go and do for us what we could not do for ourselves, and the resurrection tells us that rather than death swallowing him up, and believing itself to have won, death was in fact defeated.
Death’s eyes were to big for its stomach!
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Do you know what that means, it mean that when it comes to death, those who follow Christ will follow him right through into immortality.
that the way out that Jesus created, the exit route out of the monster, belongs to us, if we place our trust in Him.
And so what scripture is telling us is that the way out that Jesus found, the exit route out of the monster, belongs to us, if we place our trust in Him.
Where He went, you go!!
When we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, .....
It is as if you and I have been retroactively, placed in the person of Jesus as he explodes out of the monster of death.
belive that It is as if you have bee retroactively, placed in the persopn of Jesus
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
In other words, the resurrection of Jesus is not a one off it is the beginning, a glimpse of the resurrection of all those who place their trust in him.
and ..that is good news for everyone, because the current polls suggest that the likely-hood of death for all of us is standing at 100%
Where he went you will go! Not eaten by death but bursting through it.
PAUSE
But secondly, the resurrection shows us that what Jesus purchased on the cross, you and I own if we place out trust in Him!
What do I mean by that?
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
This is market talk. You and I were Redeemed; purchased.
the amount around our neck was high, we were of such great worth, that God was willing to pay the high price for our sin and the power of sin over us.
How did he purchase us, redeem us? By his blood, and out of the deep pockets of his grace. That was the currency.
But how do we know he paid it?
Where else do we hear market talk, purchasing talk in the Gospel narrative?
In , and for those of you who were with us on Friday morning at our Mariner Campus you will know this, the final words of Jesus on the cross were what?
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
It is finished is a term of full payment! It is a statement that whatever you think you are witnessing when you look at the cross there is something cosmic going on.
And as Paul says in Ephesians as we just read…it was a redeeming, a purchasing of you and I for himself.
But how do we know? How do we know that any of the things Jesus promised us about his mission, his identity, his purpose, His lordship, authority, and what he has promised us…is true?
The resurrection!!!! That is Jesus vindication and your proof of purchase!!
He is risen indeed!!
PAUSE
Have you ever purchased something at the mall and they ask you if you want a bag, and your like …”no I’m environmentally sensitive, I don’t need a bag.”
Now whenever I do that, I think look at me, I’m a good guy, but then I start thinking.....I’m walking through the mall with a pair of nike shoes, or a shirt just slung over my shoulder, how in the world do I not look like I’m stealing something right now.
The only reason you can feel safe, is that you know that if anyone approaches you, Paul Blart, Mall Cop rolls up on his Segway, all you have to do is pull our your receipt.
It is your pass, your assurance that what is in your hands is your and belongs to you.
The resurrection is the cosmic receipt of your salvation!
A reminder that Jesus was who he said he was and He accomplished what he claimed to accomplish; your salvation and deaths destruction.
Where he has gone you will go, and what he has purchased you own. New life in him, forgiveness, hope,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
II Cot 5:17
How do we know? Check the receipt; paid in full is stamped across the universe.
Am I truly loved, am I truly forgiven, check the receipt; paid in full.
The resurrection solidifies that what he has purchased at the cross, you own
PAUSE
Lastly, the resurrection tells us that where He reigns you stand.
After Christ’s resurrection and ascension to heaven, we are told in ....
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
As a result of the cross, and the fact that our sacrificed King is a living king, there is a way in which when we place our trust in Christ’s work on the cross,
when we confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead
because we are “in Christ” we are spiritually alive together with him and seated with him.
We have been raised up. lifted up by his sacrifice.
PAUSE
There were a number of men who went up on a mountain and they were all tied together, as mountaineers are wont to do. Dozens of them, and they’re all stringed together. Unfortunately, the one at the bottom … There are two key guys in every one of these. In other words, here are a bunch of men (maybe men or women) up there, and there are two key persons in that entourage going up a mountain. It’s the top person and the bottom person. In this story, the bottom person fell. As the bottom person fell, that person pulled the next guy off, and then the next person fell off, and that pulled the next person off, and off they fell, the next one, and the next one, and the next one, until finally everybody was falling off into space except the last one. That last person, the last man on the mountain, seeing what was happening, took his ax and with a mighty stroke dug into the mountain as far as he possibly could. When he did that, of course, he suddenly felt the pull of all of the other persons who were out there suspended in space, and for him to hold on meant that all of the weight of those others was on him. Of course, the rope was an absolute torture to him, because in order to hold on and dig in, all of the rest of the weight of all of those other people was on him and the rope was just biting into him. It was virtually bisecting him. Yet he held on and he endured the pain and he endured the pain of all of their weight, and he pulled them up one by one by one till they were all saved.
There was an old minister who once put it this way: There are really two key people in the human race: Adam and Jesus, the first and the second Adam. Adam fell off the mountain, pulled down the next one, pulled down the next one, pulled us all down until there was only one Man left on the mountain, only one Person who hadn’t fallen, only one Person who was still on the mountain. It was Jesus. With a great big mighty stroke he put his ax in, but in order to save us, all of the weight of all of the rest of us pulled on him and virtually bisected him, and actually did. But what happened was he pulled us up. He has raised us.
It cost him.
It cost him pain and suffering.
But to him the cost was worth it.
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
So it cost him, but for Jesus enduring the shame and the suffering of the cross was worth it.
Remember the archaic days before Amazon Prime, when you had to wait for something. And then you bring it home, or it arrives at your home and you immediately regret your purchase. What’s called buyers remorse.
Jesus never feels that way about giving his life for you.....never!!
It was a good purchase worth the price tag!!!!
Worth the weight his body bore, worth the suffering, so that he could take us with him.
So that where he is we are. Now in a theological reality, and one day in a physical reality.
How do we know, because the resurrection declares it.
The resurrection declares that :
Where Jesus went, we will go.
What Jesus purchased, we will own.
And where Jesus reigns, we stand
PAUSE/Slowly
That is why he is risen is more that fans chanting a familiar phrase, to bring us comfort and sentiment, we are doing more than that
we are declaring the basis of our salvation and our guarantee that Jesus has and will accomplish all he said he would!!!
Amen!!!??
Let’s pray
God of Grace, may the power of this declaration be understood, accepted and lived in!!
____________________________________________________
Because of the resurrection..
In Christ.
Great phrase
May those of us who say that we have placed our trust in Jesus, understand what it means to be found “in Christ” and understand the work of the cross and the validity of it made clear in the resurrection.
We do not know... But we shall be like him.
Where he went you'll go -out the beast -
What he bought you own -receipt Paul Blart Mall Cop
And where he stands you stand!!- safely our of the path of the reign of try he power of death
To be
And Jesus for those who have not yet come to the point of calling you saviour, of calling you rescuer, defeater of sin, victorious God and saviour and forgiver, allow the weight of the truth of the resurrection to fall fully on their hearts and minds this morning. So that where you have gone they may go, what you have purchased they may own and where you are they may be!
Let’s take this moment- with heads bowed to make our decision this morning for the first time or for the 10th, to live in the reality of the resurrection.
To live in the promises of the cross, validated by the resurrection, that all who believe will be saved.
And Jesus for those who have not yet come to the point of calling you saviour, of calling you rescuer, defeater of sin, victorious God and saviour and forgiver, allow the weight of the truth of the resurrection fall fully onto their hearts and minds this morning.
That death no longer has the last word.
That the price that needed to be paid for our sin was paid in full and it is finished.
That the spiritual reality of being elevated to the position of honoured guest before God is for all those who would confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead.
If that is you today..simply say yes to Jesus. trade in your life, you effort, and your sin, for new life, an accomplished work on your behalf, and forgiveness.
Say yes to him this morning.
PAUSE
For all that this day celebrates Jesus we thank you and praise you, who accepted us, saved us, forgave us, and in whom we now find our life.
Amen
Now what is so fitting in light of the idea of exchanging our lives for Christ, of dying to ourselves an living for him and in him, is that we get to witness the playing out of this drama physically, with a couple of baptisms.
And we do.
Say yes to him this morning.
We are excited to baptize two from our church family this morning.
So we are going to respond in worship and I will make my way in the tank, and from their explain what baptism is all about and why we do it.
TANK
Alright guys- so just before we have our first candidate, just a few words of the meaning and significance of baptism-
I have interviewed both of these guys; they love Jesus, they want to be obedient to him and want to serve him.
So first I’m going to ask Trevor Lotter to come out.
I have only one question for you today Trevor, but it is a loaded one:
By being baptized are you saying to the seen and unseen world that your identity and mission is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ and that you commit to dying to yourself and living solely for God.
It is our honour as a church to baptize you in the Name of the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
You have been buried with Christ and raised to new life.