Easter-02
EASTER
3/30/2002 AND 3/31/2002
THE CROSS, THE DOORWAY TO
A NEW BEGINNING
-This is the season of new things. Spring, new grass, new plants, new clothes.
-Even though you see a little left over snow everyone can feel Spring.
-In the Bible this is the Passover season for the Jews (deliverance from slavery) and of course in the New Testament it is the time of Jesus’ resurrection.
-The example of Jesus and principle of Easter is that old things and even dead things can live again.
-You may have a dream that died or a relationship that you’ve given up on.
-That can live again by the power of God, just as Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over His enemies.
Illustration
In the year 1815 there was the Battle of Waterloo and all England was waiting for the result. It was arranged that as soon as the news reached the country it should be rushed to Winchester and then signalled to other towns by semaphore from the cathedral spire. The great moment arrived and the words were spelt out letter by letter "Wellington defeated..." Then suddenly the spire was shrouded by fog, and the country was filled with gloom, thinking that was the end of the message. After a while the fog lifted and the message was completed "Wellington defeated the enemy". Those last words made all the difference in the world. At Calvary the devil tried to make out that the message was "Christ defeated" - he died. That would have been the case if Good Friday was the end of the story, but the resurrection that followed on Easter Day proves that the message of the cross of Redemption is that Christ defeated the enemy.
| -That story is a great illustration that it isn’t over, even when it looks over. -The story of the cross is new beginnings. -You can start over. -You may be in a place of total despair over your situation, whether it is a marriage or financial situation or whatever. -Don’t quit!! Illustration In the latter half of the 1800’s there was a small man with a huge voice who was a master of the stage. His name was Edwin Thomas. At age 15 he debuted in Richard III, and from then on he became well known as a premier Shakespearean actor. He performed Hamlet in New York for 100 consecutive nights. The British critics in London sang his praises. Edwin Thomas was a master of tragedy on stage. Unfortunately, his life was all too similar to his stage persona. Tragedy was his trademark. Edwin had two brothers who were also actors, John and Junius. In 1863 the three brothers performed Julius Caesar. The fact that brother John portrayed the role of Brutus, Caesar’s assassin, was an ironic twist that foreshadowed what would happen just 2 years later. You see, in 1865, John became a real life assassin. On a crisp April night, he stole into a rear box in Ford’s Theater and fired a bullet at the head of Abraham Lincoln. Edwin Thomas and John Wilkes both shared the same last name, Booth. After that night Edwin was never the same. Shame from his brother’s crime drove him to an early retirement. He likely would never have returned to the stage if it weren’t for a twist of fate in a New Jersey train station. Edwin was awaiting his coach when a well-dressed young man, pushed by the swell of the crowd, lost his footing and fell between the platform and a moving train. With little regard for his own personal well-being, Edwin locked a leg around a rail, grabbed the man and pulled him to safety. Amid the sighs of relief, the young man recognized the famous Edwin Booth. But Edwin didn’t recognize the famous young man he’d rescued. It was only weeks later, in a letter from the chief secretary to Ulysses S. Grant that he learned that He had saved the life of Robert Todd Lincoln, the child of an American hero, Abraham Lincoln. Booth carried that letter in his vest pocket to his grave. Isn’t it ironic! Edwin Thomas and John Wilkes Booth. One killed the president, the other saved the president’s son. |
-We have been talking about your identity.
-God sets our heart free to be His creation of us when we submit to Him.
Lu 17:33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
(KJV)
-The only way to victory is to follow Jesus to the cross and the resurrection into newness of life.
-You must trade your way for His way.
-I want to look at the three crosses that were there in Jerusalem that day.
-We need to examine our lives in light of them.
Luke 23
32 ¶ Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.
34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
1. LET’S CALL THE FIRST ONE THE CROSS OF REBELLION
-This guy questioned Jesus’ identity and power.
-Even in death he had no hope.
-He was a criminal and was still bitter and bad to the bone.
-I’ve been there.
-We all have at different times in our lives.
-Before we became Christians we went our own way.
-We were the captain of our destinies and “how dare our creator and sustainer of life actually want some input into our lives”!
Titus 3
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
-Now as a Christian it may not be so blatant.
-Now we want to have eternal life, we just don’t want to bring Jesus into our decision making.
-We want to serve God with the big things but we want to pick our own friends and run our own lives.
-That is the cross of rebellion….GET OFF OF THAT ONE QUICK!
2. LET’S CALL THE NEXT ONE THE CROSS OF REPENTANCE
-Repentance means to change your mind.
-This next guy acknowledged Jesus and that He had a Kingdom coming up.
-He believed!!
-We all need to believe and look forward to heaven.
-We need to believe Jesus and trust our future to Him.
-In His mercy, Jesus said:
"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
-That is a wonderful story but, his timing was real bad.
-I believe in deathbed salvations.
-There have been people who asked Jesus to save them and submitted to Him at the last moment of their lives.
-The problem is that they wasted so much of their lives on the first cross, the cross of rebellion before they finally gave in.
-The key is this: YOU HAVE TO GO FROM I’M SORRY TO I SURRENDER.
-We have to go from here’s my future to here’s my life.
-Live for Jesus. Don’t just die for Him.
-We are told to offer our bodies as LIVING SACRIFICES.
-The problem there is that until the sacrifice is dead it wants to get off the altar.
3. LET’S CALL THE LAST CROSS THE CROSS OF REDEMPTION
-This is the one Jesus hung on.
-Jesus is uniquely qualified as God and man to die for all man and bring redemption.
-His death burial and resurrection brings life to all who will receive it.
-That is true but there is also an example for us to follow.
-Jesus gave up His life/identity so He could take it up in glory.
Philippians 2
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
-We are to follow Jesus’ example and lay down our own plans and be transformed by God into the person He wants us to be.
-Let’s read some scripture about the cross.
Mt 10:38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Mt 16:24 ¶ Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Lu 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Lu 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
1Co 1:17 ¶ For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
1Co 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Ga 5:11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offence of the cross has been abolished.
Ga 6:12 Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
Ga 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which {Or whom} the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
-The cross is more than a symbol.
-It is an example of being obedient to the purpose of God and yielding your whole life to Him.
-Where are you in relation to the cross this Easter?
Max Lucado – “No Wonder They Call Him The Savior”
“The cross. It rests on the time line of history like a compelling diamond. Its tragedy summons all sufferers. Its absurdity attracts all cynics. It’s hope lures all searchers… History has idolized it and despised it, gold-plated it and burned it, worn and trashed it. History has done everything to it but ignore it. That’s the one option that the cross does not offer. No one can ignore it! You can’t ignore a piece of lumber that suspends the greatest claim in history. It’s bottom line is sobering: …if the account is true, it is history’s hinge. Period. … If not, it is history’s hoax. That’s why the cross is what matters.”