Sermon Tone Analysis

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 ..

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!

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

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?

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?

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,

II Cot 5:17