ALIVE
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1 Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.
2 Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb.
3 On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
4 But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked,
6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.
7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”
ALIVE
JESUS IS ALIVE!
REv
18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
Friday we remembered the sacrificial DEATH of Christ - He DIED! He PAID the price for our sin through HIS DEATH!
SUNDAY - we celebrate HE IS ALIVE! Forever and Ever having CONQUERED DEATH AND THE GRAVE!
Think with me to the plot and climatic moment of so many movies, tv shows, news articles, or books when one thought dead is pronounced ALIVE!
I remember one of the spiderman movies where Spidey’s girlfriend dies at the end - my daughter was so mad (here’s your buck) we kept hoping that breath would come back and she would be alive...
Imagine the disciples after Jesus death...
The difference with Jesus is HE WAS DEAD AND FOR THREE DAYS - BUT HE RESURRECTED AND NOW LIVES!
This morning I want to take a few moments and discuss what ALIVE means!
We sang about us being alive, Jesus being alive in our time of Praise and Worship.
1. Meaning of Being Alive
1. Meaning of Being Alive
What is the significance of being ALIVE??
To be alive is to EXIST!
One of Webster’s definitions of ALIVE is:
In a state of action; in force or operation; unextinguished; unexpired; existent
Regardless of your faith, religious or non religious thoughts --- we all have one thing in common.
We exist!
To be ALIVE - is to exist - whether that existence is fulfilled, thriving, or struggling is a different story, but the very state of being alive means that there is still hope.
Where there is life - there is hope!
As long as existence is active - things can change.
Death is VERY FINAL --- It is the end of existence in this spiritual and physical realm as we know it… once it occurs there are no more opportunities available to us...
I probably never felt the reality of death and life and existence more than when my pet of 12 years died.
Unlike the HOPE I have of when someone who knows Christ passes away - I know their spirit lives on and I will see them again, but when I lost a pet and said goodbye as her eyes closed - the reality of the finality of death, the end of existence was grievous and discouraging.
For mankind - LIFE is the most precious gift we can hold onto because it means we exist whether that is upon this earth or in heaven or the state of eternal death in hell!
2. Significance of Christ Being Alive
2. Significance of Christ Being Alive
Why do we Christians get so excited about Christ being ALIVE!?
It is not just because that mean HE CONQUERED DEATH, but it is because of the extension to those who believe to also overcome DEATH and LIVE!!!
We are alive, because HE IS ALIVE — and just as He will live FOREVER --- our hope is the same!!!
These bodies may die on this earth, but our SPIRIT does not!
Before Christ, every spirit that departed the physical body descended in death into the grave and hell!
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.
51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,
52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.
53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.
matt 27.51-
4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
8 That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”
9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.
Jesus descended to that grave and released the captives (those who died in faith before His time).
Now, when our bodies die, our spirits are physically present with God the Father in Heaven.
1 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.
2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.
3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.
4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.
5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.
7 For we live by believing and not by seeing.
8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.
Because Jesus lives --- WE LIVE!!!
Because He conquered death — we too who believe OVERCOME...
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is only made possible because JESUS LIVES!
Our existence is never sent to destruction in hell - but eternal life with the Father in Heaven.
THERE IS A PERVASIVE LIE IN THE WORLD TODAY...
that all who die go to heaven!
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
This is not true --- ETERNAL LIFE is meant for those who believe, and believing is not just words of the mouth, but actions of the heart...
Those who LIVE OUT THEIR FAITH!
3. Fulfilled in Being Alive
3. Fulfilled in Being Alive
Here is a reality check...
All who are physically alive today are not fully alive because they are not spiritually ALIVE!
Have you ever heard someone say, “ I am not really living”
They may be EXISTING, but they are not purposefully living their life!!!!
We were created for ONE PURPOSE ---- to CONNECT WITH GOD the FATHER!
Our existence is to HONOR HIM, WORSHIP HIM, and COMMUNE with HIM!!!!
To live LIFE without this purpose fulfilled is to not exist for our intended purpose, but to actually exist in a state of destruction that will end in an eternity of destruction.
Yes, HELL is ETERNAL DESTRUCTION - and Jesus talked more about HELL than He did HEAVEN ---
When we live bound up in our sin, and the wrong behavior of this world, existing only for ourselves and our own desires --- we are existing in a state of destruction.
EXAMPLE
It has been said that the purpose of life is not happiness, but usefulness. This is true when that usefulness is in the Kingdom of God!!! Being used for the wrong purpose is destructive!
How many lives have been wasted because they lacked usefulness or their usefulness was given to destructive and sinful behavor???
FIRE IS VERY USEFUL when used for its intended purpose.
With fire man has been able to harness energy for warmth
With fire man has enjoyed light
With fire man has cooked food and brought pleasure and flavor to those things they feed on
With fire man has purified metals to make them stronger and build great buildings or create beautiful jewelery
When fire is its most useful it is harnessed and controlled....
We saw the reality of that this week as the world watched Notre Dame - a historical architectural wonder - burn for hours nearly utterly destroying it and having destroyed a spire that rose over Paris for centuries (850 years).
AHHHH, so interesting - because man wants to reject being harnessed by God, following God’s boundaries, and yet it is in those boundaries and being harnessed that we become most useful and ALIVE!!!
FIRE is most destructive when unharnessed. It destroys nature, property, human life, animal life, possessions. It BURNS and hurts!!
Why, because unharnessed it is not fulfilling its purpose and use and it becomes DESTRUCTION!!! Thus our lives unharnessed by God and His boundaries become out of control and destructive and thus our lives are not fulfilling their intended purpose - and our existence is not really ALIVE, but in the pre state of eternal death!
THE HOPE HOWEVER is that when we come to FAITH in CHRIST, our existence begins to fulfill our purpose, and we harness that purpose it brings not only our physical man to life, but the ETERNAL SPIRIT MAN - our eternal soul into fulfillment and TRUE LIVING!
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
So this Easter Sunday morning 2019 where we remember the great sacrifice Christ made, and the powerful resurrection that ensued...
Ask yourself the question -
- Have I partaken of the life He died to give me???
- AM I ALIVE ? --- not just physically, but spiritually
- Is my life fulfilling the PURPOSE it was designed for?
