Sermon 14 - John 20 - What Does Easter Mean

INTRODUCTION:

1.      ((illus)) On a morning news program this past week I heard someone refer to the Guinness Book of World Records for the first time in a long time.

a.    That got me thinking.

b.    I wondered if they had a record of the longest sermon ever preached – and they do!

c.    A Chris Sterry of Whalley, England, preached for 28 hours and 45 minutes to set a new record for the longest sermon ever preached in modern history.

d.   I thought about our gathering this morning and about some dear soul that might wander in wondering about how long the preacher was going to preach.

2.      Along with the fact that Christ is risen, I have some more good news for that person this morning.

a.    This sermon will not approach 28 hours and 45 minutes!

b.    In fact I will get right to the point.

3.      WHAT DOES THE RESURRECTION MEAN?

a.    At Grace Church we have been doing a survey of John’s Gospel.

b.    We come to this last section – about Easter – the resurrection of Jesus.

c.    What does Easter prove?

d.   So what?

WHAT DOES EASTER MEAN?

John 20

1.      GOD IS IN CONTROL

a.    He gets the last word in time and eternity

i)        He has a time table that is moving towards a great and final day and He is on schedule.

ii)      He is in control.

b.    Recent world and national events remind us that life is not in our control.

i)        We cannot control the past,

ii)      The future

iii)    Other people

iv)    Our health

v)      And at times, our own thoughts.

c.    We are not in control, but God is.

i)        Eph 1:11 – God works all things after the council of His own will.

¨      NLT - all things happen just as he decided long ago

ii)      John 10:18 - No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

d.   Jesus rose from the dead because He is in control.

e.    AND BECAUSE GOD IS IN CONTROL

i)        We can accept what God gives us as a gift or we can fight against it.

ii)      We are not meant to be control freaks.

¨      It is not healthy to put ourselves under the stress that we do by trying to control everything that happens in life.

iii)    We were designed to live our lives in a posture of radical trust – faith.

f.     The early disciples – Peter, John, Mary, others learned this because of His resurrection.

GOD IS IN CONTROL

2.      THERE IS FORGIVENESS

a.    Later in this chapter, Jesus tells Peter that because God has forgiven an individual of all their sins, he (Peter) has the right and authority to affirm that.

b.    Because of the resurrection, something new and wonderful has happened in the relationship between God and people.

i)        Forgiveness.

ii)      We can say to each other, if you trust the crucified, risen Christ as your Savior, we will be forgiven of all sins.

iii)    Acts 16:31 – “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…”

c.    Forgiveness involves the forgiver absorbing the effects of the wrong themselves.

i)        ((illus)) If you owe me money and I decide to forgive it, then I absorb the loss myself.

ii)      That’s what God has done in Christ.

iii)    2 Cor. 5:21 - For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

d.   Jesus did not die to set a good example for us,

i)        He died to pay the penalty for out sin and

ii)      He rose again to prove that payment was complete and final and accepted.

e.    The RESURRECTION MEANS THAT THERE IS FORGIVENESS

i)        ((illus)) This week an individual asked me about the game of golf and specifically mulligans. When you tee off and the ball doesn’t go the way you want it to and you hit another ball off the tee – that’s called a mulligan. They are do-overs and they are not allowed in regulation play.

ii)      When it comes to our lives and our sin, because Jesus died and rose again for our sins, when we trust Him, we get a DIVINE DO-OVER.

iii)    We start life fresh with Him.

iv)    There is forgiveness.

GOD IS IN CONTROL

THERE IS FORGIVENESS

3.      THERE IS MORE

a.    We find out that death, in this life, is not the end.

b.    Because of His resurrection, WE TOO SHALL LIVE

i)        ((illus)) That’s what is meant when Jesus said to the thief on the cross – “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

ii)      ((illus)) One day I was confronted by a doctor about a condition I had to address.  I shared this with a family member out of town and they were afraid I was going to die. I assured them that it was not that kind of a situation but then I said this:  “We’re all terminal, and one of these days you’re going to read in the newspaper that David is dead.  But don’t you believe a word of it because at that moment David will be more alive than ever before.

iii)    Jesus said, John 11:25,26 (NKJV) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

c.    If Jesus was resurrected then that means that we can finally and completely put to rest one of our great enemies.

i)        Death has no power over us.

ii)      We do not fear it; we do not dread it if Christ was truly resurrected from the dead.

d.   If you have never trusted the resurrected Christ do so today:

i)        He is in control – He brought you here today

ii)      There is forgiveness

iii)    There is more