Sermon Tone Analysis

Readings – 1st and 2nd

As we come to the final message in our series asking the question, “What on earth are we here for?”

We have seen that we are here to be a people who give a full and complete testimony to the power of Christ Jesus.

We have seen that we are her to be stewards of everything we have so the Kingdom of God may be made known.

We are here to be disciple makers (Jason Killiany) – we are here to be a people who worship God by giving Him everything we face, and we are here to be a people who are in fellowship.

We have seen that we are to be a people of prayer, and we are here, on this earth, to be a people of war.

So turn with me now to Romans chapter 6, and we will begin at verse 5.

(Read )

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God, in Christ Jesus.[1]

And that brings us to today – where we celebrate what is commonly known as Easter – and we see that we are here on earth – to be a people who are ALL IN.

ALL IN!

There is no middle ground for the believer – there is no safe harbor to place an anchor in the bay of living in Christ in one moment; and being blown about in a sea of wild sinful living in the next.

There is no partial placement that is a testament to living in the present, without concern for what is to come in the future.

There is no place in where the follower of Christ can sit on the fence and be a friend of the world; and the Lord – and no place where a believer can be a child of Satan in his secular life, and a child of God in the things of religion, at one and the same time!

Consider this as we go forward this morning looking at the life of Jesus, and what He has modeled, and demanded of those who follow Him.

We live in a day when the average mindset, concerning matters of religion, is quite content to believe:

10 percent is Gods

Sunday is Gods

My children are Gods, as long as His plans for their future are generally the same as my plans for them.

Easter and Christmas are Gods

I only take the Lords name in vain if I use the words G and D together.

God hears my conversation if it is time of prayer – but all other times I can speak as I choose to.

And last but not least, The Bible is useful for showing people right and wrong in days gone by, but it is inconsequential for the current times in which we live.

That is the life of religion in the world today.

There are the little things that are required to be believed – and all others, everything else, is mine – thereby allowing me to live the secular life, as I deem appropriate.

*****TRANSITION*****

But is this a valid picture of what is required of those who would say I believe?

Is this sufficient in the life of one who professes to know the Savior of mankind?

Let me begin today, in our celebration of the Risen Christ, by surveying His life before us.

Let us see what it looked like – past, present, and future – as He has shown us what it looks like to be ALL IN.

First – we know that Jesus had an existence that was, and is, eternal.

He was, before anything else was, and we know from that HE is the creator and Maker of all things – apart from Him nothing has been made!

says, “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

Christ is the agent of God’s creation; the world was created “through” Him.

We also know that The Lord of all creation is One who’s being is of such a grand nature that not even Heaven can contain Him! (; ; ).

And yet we see how Jesus is ALL IN for mankind by the way in which He chose to make His coming –

He came to us from the confines of the womb of a woman.

Here is a picture of being ALL IN!

John Wesley marveled at the fact that the One who the heavens could not contain was restricted to the womb of a woman!

Jesus came – not in a display of lights, camera and action – but He chose to come via the birth canal of the virgin Mary, on a night when no one had room for Him in their homes; or in their hearts.

The God of heaven and earth became so small that He was subjected to the space of the walls with in the belly of a Hebrew girl!

The One who cannot be contained in His glory of Heaven – who knew no span of time and space – was ALL IN because He chose to take up His quarters in the space that was known by every sinner who was ever born.

The cramped space of a girl’s belly.

*****TRANSITION*****

Ø He, who made all the food in all the world, was forced to live on the nourishment of Mary’s breast!

Ø He, who owned all the precious metals and diamonds of the universe was raised in the home of the poor, and He owned not one ounce of wealth.

Ø He who gave the craftsmen the gifts and talents to build every building that stood – had no place to rest his head, no place to call home while He was here among us – and yet He chose to stay.

Ø He who created all mankind was subjected to the taxes and hardships of men who claimed to hold the position of king and ruler above Him!

Do you see that He who was ALL, and is ALL – chose to be ALL IN for you and for me?

Later in life we learn that Jesus was ALL IN as He lived here on this earth by what He said, and what He did with the days He had here.

At the age of twelve, the One who not only wrote Truth – but who WAS Truth – sat in the temple and listened to men who claimed to be the “experts” of the Law.

When He was older, He called out to mere mortal men and told them He would be their teacher and they could follow Him.

And then He dealt with their acts of foolishness and selfishness, and He labored daily with them and their desire to sit in ruling places as they argued over who was the greatest among them!

He dealt with those who said they would follow, and then turned back to focus on the earthly things.

He spent time speaking the Word of heaven and offering up the Bread of Life to a people who cared more for the outcomes of miracles than they cared about the coming days of eternal life.

He touched the sick, and the bleeding, and the leprous.

And at any time – had not one of them been able to go before the priests who were mere mortal men – and been pronounced as clean according to the Law – He himself would have been deemed unclean and unfit to enter the very Temple that He Himself instructed Samuel to build!

He was ALL IN in His life, as He lived among fallen men.

And I don’t think we can imagine what it really means that this giver of life, this Holy Creator, lived for 33 years and was tempted in every way – with every sin - just as you and I have been – but yet He was found to be perfect and spotless (Hb 4:15).

He was ALL IN in living a beautiful life – adorned with glory – in the midst of the filth that had overwhelmed creation.

It is this Maker of heaven and earth who was ALL IN when He bent down to wash the filthy feet of men who He lived to serve.

Jesus laid it all on the line and He dealt with the ignorance and hard heartedness of man with great compassion as He subjected Himself to their mockeries of a trial, to their insults, and their slaps across the face – as they used the strength that He alone supplied them, so they could commit horrendous acts against His body.

Instead of killing them all with a single word, and calling upon a legion of angels to annihilate them – He was All IN as He chose to take the beating – endure the words of ridicule – and carry the cross to the place of Calvary – the place where He chose to make a way for man – a path of redemption – a pathway of peace for man to man, and for man to God.

He was ALL IN in Life.

And now see this:

At Calvary, He was ALL IN in death!

At Calvary He chose to be hung between two criminals.

Vile sinners who were deserving of death.

At Calvary He chose the nails – the swing of the hammers – the piercing of His flesh.

In His death He was ALL IN as He cried out in a time of great physical pain – “Forgive them Father for they do not know what they are doing” ()!

And He was ALL IN – When from the cross, Jesus – The one who sends rain upon the just and the unjust – was at the mercy of a man to supply the drink to quench His thirst – and after receiving the sponge on a stick - cries out “It is finished” ()!

And as the darkness laid over the land, and as the Temple Veil was torn into – He was ALL IN as He chose to have his corpse pierced in its side, so as to have the blood – the precious blood of the only Son of God – the Only Sacrifice that could ever be made to cleanse a man’s conscience for sin – gushed out and fell to the ground that yearns for the day that He will return.

Jesus was ALL IN.

No middle of the road position.

And in His death, He laid three days in the tomb.

His body set in the darkness while the religious walked about believing they had won a victory, because the stone had been sealed with the mark of a Roman ruler, and guards had been placed at the entry, as if they had the power to keep Him there.

And He Chose to allow it.

Jesus was ALL IN– while He laid in the quite of the tomb and listened to a world that celebrated what they saw as His defeat.

And see this:

Jesus was ALL IN on the third day when He busted forth from the grave!

He was ALL IN when He came out of the grave and was raised to new life – He was ALL IN when He called to Mary in the Garden and when He told her to go and tell the others that He would meet them where He said He would be!

And He was ALL IN when He called out to Thomas and told him to place his fingers in the wounds – to touch where the nails had been and feel where the spear had run deep!

He was ALL IN in by showing the power of the resurrection life!

And He was ALL IN as He lived again – to serve the weak, and the hurt, and the suffering, and the depressed, and the fearful.

Jesus was ALL IN when the disciples were found – out on the boats fishing – even though they had lost hope and returned to the old ways of life, the ways that they were familiar with – Jesus was still – ALL IN.

And He came and He served them.

He told them how to have their nets filled ().

And He made them a fire and prepared not only a breakfast, but He made them a warm place to gather together.

WE need to see that even after the failures on their part – Jesus shows up – ALL IN.

And He encouraged them, and He gave them words of comfort and direction, while setting forth the Gospel message of a life that is to be had here and now.

AND WE NEED TO SEE:

HE was ALL IN when He ascended to the heavens.

He went to live the life eternal with the Father.

And He is ALL IN for all eternity, as He now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven and intercedes day and night on OUR behalf!

Understand - He sits now.

He sits because the sacrifice He chose to make was one He made perfectly – because He knew we could not.