Sermon Tone Analysis

ALIVE

JESUS IS ALIVE!

REv

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

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

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!

matt 27.51-

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.

Because Jesus lives --- WE LIVE!!!

Because He conquered death — we too who believe OVERCOME...

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!

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

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!

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?