Secular –

• Have you ever had real, passionate hope
• The stock markets swirling
• How about those Maple Leafs
• But what happened… dropping faster than
• Leafs squeaked into the playoffs…
• little hope… little future… the victory…not likely.

Biblical –

• Can you imagine… why it was it only last Sunday
• Our Lord Jesus made his triumphal
• the hope of all Israel bound up in one man.
• The Passion -the Son of Man came to suffer… he came to die … to redeem…

Personal –

• For 50 days
• seeking the Unseen Christ. alive and vital and here now!
• Today is the day we celebrate the resurrection – Today we celebrate life!
• Today we want to encounter the Unseen Christ,
• today I want on a journey…
• Cross to LIFE- it ends in an encounter with Christ.
• Do you know Heavenly Father that would sacrifice his own Son for you?
• Do you know what it means to be crucified in Christ?…
• it is only in the light of these truths that we can truly CELEBRATE OUR NEW LIFE! – It is by dying to the flesh that we can Celebrate Life – Celebrate Eternal Life!

Bridge –

Many have come to the cross, live changed

Sometimes those of us who love Jesus just can’t make the connection with the Unseen Christ, we struggle with our faith, we struggle with life.

According to Scripture True joy and Seeing, encountering the Unseen Christ requires us to understand three very important points – To be truly alive we have to embrace the our Saviour’s sacrifice, we must turn our back on the sins of the flesh and we must radiate and celebrate our new life.

James McGinlay quote…

Our Crucified Saviour

There is no hope of new life if there is no cross!!

-          Atonement - Penalty

-          Justification by Faith alone

Following Christ means joining in the effect of his death –

Romans 6:3 … Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

That we are partakers in the atonement – Jesus died for his children… he paid the price… He Paid it all.

Isaiah 53 Talks about lamb who would be an offering for the guilt of the people. Jesus’ death was the death that would redeem God’s people

1 Peter 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Our redemption was through the sacrifice of the perfect Son of God who took upon himself the form of a man in order to pay the price for you. It was the wrath of the Father poured out from heaven, the anger of a jealous God for every act of idolatry, the anger over our sinful ways – the penalty for every sin a child of God did then or does now raining onto the pierced body of our Saviour. Hanging in agony between heaven and earth – for everyone of your sins.

Application:    Believe in him and claim this freedom from sin…

Look to the cross now and know the price has been paid… paid in full through faith in Christ.

Our Crucified Self

In claiming, by grace through faith, Christ’s sacrifice -- we chart a path for change. No longer are we to give over to the flesh but we are to crucify our old self or fleshly nature.

Rom 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

When we become children of Christ we are to crucify our old nature. Far too often we impair our ability to reach out and touch God, to experience the Unseen Christ because we are unwilling to let go of those things of the flesh that still appeal to us. Crucifying the flesh will only be totally complete in eternity but we must strive to bring the struggle to an end – in his power.

** Have you ever heard of anyone being ‘sort of” pregnant? It is kind a black or white kind of thing – true or false question. It is that way with the idea of putting to death – or crucifying, either you have done it or you have not. Our sinful nature, our flesh, will continue to creep into our lives – even as we pursue the will of our Saviour we will be faced with the challenge. If we are truly looking to put to death that which is sinful we must be diligent – no reprieve, no compromise with sin, no stay of execution – we need to be faithful to the quest and realize that in the end we will win this battle through the power of Christ.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

NLT Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Application: Do want to see the Unseen Christ, separate yourself from sin, crucify your old self. Today think of those things that rob you of the intimacy you want with your God. What do you wrestle with, what is it that stings your soul and brings tears to the eyes of your Saviour – NAIL IT TO THE CROSS TODAY! It is on his cross that we can nail our failings. It is trusting in him and putting death the old self we can truly Celebrate life.

We must know our Crucified Saviour!

We must know our Crucified self!

Then we can truly Celebrate Life!

Celebrate Life

Those who believe in Christ will share in eternity with him.

Those who believe in Christ and have Crucified their sinful nature will share in eternity with him and CELEBRATE LIFE! The purchase of his blood was freedom from sin – the miracle of the resurrection is our promise of eternal life. Jesus Christ is Risen and in him our resurrection is assured.

NIV Romans 6:5, 9-11 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

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.

Rom 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.