Mission | Accomplished

Today is Easter and we are are here to celebrate the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. May you experience the Father’s favor and steadfast love as we worship Him together this morning for His glory and our joy!

If you are visiting with us this morning, we want you to know that Ephesus is an active faith community on a mission with Jesus.

Here at Ephesus, we are one people giving our all to love God, love others, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.

We have a connect card in the pew in front of you. I invite you to take one and fill it out! If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.

I promise, our prayer team will lift you up soon. You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.

Scripture Memory

Luke 9:51 ESV

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

John 3:17 ESV

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Opening Scripture

Ephesians 1:15–23 ESV

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Mission | Accomplished

Today is Easter Sunday, also known as Resurrection Sunday! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fundamental tenet of Christianity. The fact of the resurrection is our greatest hope!

Adrian Rogers has once said,

No Virgin Birth; No Deity, No Deity; No Atonement, No Atonement; No Resurrection, No Resurrection; NO HOPE!

Without the resurrection, Christianity would be a great story, but nothing more! Thanks be to our Heavenly Father that this isn’t just a great story, it is a historical fact that accomplished the greatest rescue mission in all of creation.

We have been working our way through a sermon series titled: Mission 3:16 | Possible. So far in our series, we have discovered that...

From before the foundations of the world were laid, our Heavenly Father had designed a rescue mission to save every sinner who would believe in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Concerning this rescue mission, God the Father was All In, Jesus fully accepted His mission, and he too, was All In on the mission.

Jesus greatly amplified the mission on Palm Sunday as he revealed himself as the prince, the rightful King who was bringing redemption and restoration to humanity.

Today, we are going to marvel in the way that his mission was accomplished. We are going to briefly survey the final moments of our Lord’s life as sin is beaten, then we will fast forward to the third day when death is defeated by means of an empty tomb and a risen King!

1. His Hour Has Come! Our Sin is Atoned!

John 19:28–30 ESV

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

At this point, Jesus’ death was imminent. His hour had come. This is the moment he had been made for.

At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus responded to Mary’s urging to work the first miracle by saying,

John 2:4 ESV

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Later, following his triumphal entry into Jerusalem which greatly amplified his ministry. Jesus told his disciples

John 12:23–27 ESV

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

His hour is here and it is fleeting away quickly. His throat is beginning to dry out, so He yell’s out “I Thirst.”

Psalm 69:21 says, “and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”

This sour wine was not a poison, he had earlier refused wine mixed with myrrh. No, this wine would prolong death as it caused the throat muscles to contract and keep one from crying out in pain.

John recognized this as a fulfillment of Scripture.

Jesus who had earlier said....

John 10:18 ESV

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

....now shouts out “tetelastai” or “It Is Finished.” To me, this is perhaps the greatest thing Jesus ever said. Some unbelievers and liberals have tried to point to this and say it is a sign of a man who had failed in life, but that is simply mistaken.

This was not a shout of desperation, but a shout of victory, because the rescue mission God sent him to complete is triumphantly completed in his death.

The significance of Christ’s death on the cross centers in substitutionary atonement—his death on our behalf.

Atonement: Could be read as “At - One - Ment.” It means man’s reconciliation with God through the sacrificial death of Christ.

Through his sacrificial death, Jesus has provided a way for us to be at one with God, to be reconciled with God.

“It is Finished,” was not the cry of a man in defeat, but a cry of our sovereign in victory!

Jesus then bowed his head and delivered up his spirit.

Now, I am no expert, but you normally die and then bow your head, but John tells us that Jesus has just taken sour wine which should have prolonged death, now he bows his head and gives up his spirit.

Jesus is portrayed as totally in control of the time of his dying, just as he had been pictured as in control of his arrest, his appearance before Annas, his trial before the spineless Pilate, and the carrying of his own cross.

John is illustrating in bold letters that even what seems to be tragedy was still not out of God’s control.

The point of the story is not just that Jesus was killed but that he died in accordance with God’s appointed hour. The hour of our atonement and redemption. The hour the rescue mission began to be accomplished.

Sin took root in a Garden called Eden. In a Garden called Calvary Jesus rooted out sin once for all!

On that day, Matthew says,

Matthew 27:51 ESV

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Matthew 27:54 ESV

54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

But the mission doesn’t end there, It can’t!

2. The Greatest Miracle of All: Resurrection.

Matthew 28:1–10 ESV

1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

John tells us that,

John 20:18 ESV

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Acts 1:3 ESV

3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Today is not a day to offer up a defense of the resurrection, no today we revel in the biblical testimony to the historical fact of the resurrection.

Charles Colson once said

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

Jesus rose on the third day just as he said he would. You can take that to the bank!

The question is really how do we live in light of this truth.

3. Living In light of the Resurrection.

Jesus’ resurrection points us to a new way of looking at the world, a new way of being that changes who we are and how we live in the world.

Listen to the words of Paula Gooder, I believe she has caught the essence of what it means to live in light of the resurrection.

Belief in the resurrection is an act of rebellion against the evil, corruption and oppression that can so easily swamp us. Believing in the resurrection can be a refusal to accept that the world is as it is, that it can never change and that we must accept it simply as it is.

Believing in the resurrection allows us to see the world with a long view, a perspective that looks backwards to the resurrection and forwards to the end times, recognizing traces of resurrection and end times in what is happening now.

Believing in the resurrection can and should transform not only how we view the world, but how we live in it. We should become people in whom others can see new life, and people who introduce that new life wherever the world is stultifying and life-denying.

Resurrection makes a difference not only to Jesus and the earliest disciples but also to us, as we live out our lives day by day.

We are called to imitate Jesus but we are called even more to be transformed by him, to find our old self transformed into a new Christ-like self.

Jesus’ resurrection opens up possibility. Whenever and wherever moments of generosity, selflessness and humility occur, where there could have been only greed, selfishness and pride, we are called to notice such moments and celebrate them, and when they do not occur to strive to bring them about.

What difference does it make to our lives today? The answer, it seems to me, is it makes all the difference in the world. A life lived in the acknowledgement of resurrection is one that cannot remain unchanged.

We are called to see the world with new eyes, to live our lives transformed in Christ and inspired by the Spirit.

Conclusion:

The death of Jesus Christ on our behalf, along with his resurrection for our redemption, is the centerpiece of the gospel.

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is not merely a concept with which we can agree or disagree but, something that deeply affects who we are.

Now, my friends, because in Jesus it is truly finished, God asks no more of you than for you to place your faith in the work that Jesus finished on the cross.

If you can accept the truth that He died on the cross, that He rose from the dead the third day and that His shed blood will wash away your sins, then you can be saved,

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Because “it is finished”, because the heavenly rescue mission has been accomplished, you and I can enjoy salvation through the blood of Jesus without having to fear that our works aren’t good enough.

We can enjoy fellowship with the Lord knowing that He will accept us because we have accepted His Son.

All that remains to be asked today is, “Do you know Jesus?” If you were to die right now, are you 100% certain that your sins have been washed away in the blood of the Lamb?

As far as God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are concerned, it is finished! What about in your heart and life? Is it finished for you?

If you need the Lord, please come to Him and let Him have His way in your heart and life. Will you do that today?

Instead of our hymn of invitation this morning, I want you to watch a short video, if at any point in the video you realize that He is not your king, but you want him to be. I want to ask you to get up and walk down this aisle and come talk to me. Let me show you how he can be your king today!

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