April 9, 2023 - Jesus Christ - The Life
Notes
Transcript
Happy Easter Sunday
If you haven't been with us for the past several weeks, we started this Easter Series looking at 1st Century Jewish Expectations...
• And in doing so - we got a better understanding of what Messianic Expectations were as Christ came on the scene in the 1st Century...
slide:
• As a recap:
Jewish Expectations:
No Trinity
No Suffering Messiah
National Salvation, Not Individual Salvation
The Law as Redeemer
• And in light OF these Messianic expectations, we then started looking at the claims of Christ...Himself.
• What did Jesus say about Himself??
• Who did Jesus claim to be??
• And so from there we began walking through John 14:6....which says this
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• And so the first claim of Christ that we walked through was this...
• Jesus as...'I AM'
and we saw how Christ claimed for Himself...the title that God the Father had given Himself back in Exodus 3:14
• And so because Jewish Theology has NO PLACE for the Trinity, this claim of Christ was considered blasphemy by the Jews...
• ...and so they immediately - upon hearing this try to kill Jesus...
• We then came to this next claim of Christ, and we saw...
• Jesus as...'the Way'
And in Jesus BEING the way...
We can see WHY He is THE WAY...
..when we understand 2 things...
• Holiness in light of Christ (the PERFECTION of Jesus)
• Our Sin in light of Christ
• Which points to JESUS as being - THE WAY.... HOW?
THRU - faith
• BUT - because Jewish Theology has NO PLACE for "Faith Alone in Christ Alone"...this claim of Christ was REJECTED by the Jews...
• And then ALSO last week, we came to the next claim of Christ from John 14:6... and we saw...
• Jesus as....'the Truth'
• And in seeing Christ as THE Truth...we saw the exclusivity of Christ.
• His claim is one of Exclusivity...
• He is THE ONLY Truth...
• ALL Truth is found IN Him...
• which means (as we saw last week)...Truth Seeking Requires that we seek - THE Truth...
• If we're going to seek Truth in this life...then we must SEEK Jesus Christ...
• If I'm an UNbeliever...and I make my way thru this life living by MY OWN truth...
• Maybe I find success in this life...by the world's standards...
• BUT...
• In the end...
• ...when it's all said and done...and I stand before God...
• I WILL realize, when it's too late...
• that Jesus Christ IS THE truth.
• AND that I had missed it...that I didn't LISTEN!
• ..which will awaken me to the reality that Truth Seeking Requires Listening!
• The Bible calls out to mankind..."He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
But HOW do we hear God - today?
• We HEAR God IN HIS WORD. He speaks to us THRU His word!
• But as we saw last week, what KEEPS us from Listening...?
• PRIDE
• Which means - Truth Seeking Requires Humility
• And this can have many difficult implications in our lives...
• It may mean - that you walk away from your childhood religion...walk away from the faith of your parents...
• that takes Humility...humility before God
• it may mean that you change your profession...
• or go to a DIFFERENT school than you had planned...
• or date someone DIFFERENT than you had planned...
• All of it taking Humility before God - submitting to Him and Him alone...
• Letting Him lead us....
• WHY?
• Because Jesus Christ is ... THE TRUTH!
• BUT because Jewish Theology has NO PLACE for Jesus as THE TRUTH...He was rejected.
• BUT NOT ONLY rejected....He was crucified!
• CRUCIFIED BECAUSE of the claims that He made about Himself...
- AND YET - In the BIG PICTURE - the reason we are GATHERED here TODAY - Easter Sunday 2023...
• IS BECAUSE - this crucifixion was NOT a result of mere chance.
• Jesus Christ did not come to earth, thinking MAYBE He would be crucified.
• He didn't come to earth merely HOPING that He would be killed so that He could redeem mankind.
• This crucifixion was THE PLAN of GOD...
• Jesus came as part of God's plan to redeem mankind...He LAID down His life - AND He was killed...
- HE DIED!
END of STORY??
We wouldn’t BE HERE - if THAT was true!
NO - it was NOT the end of the story...
Yes - HE DIED...
BUT THEN?
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
LISTEN -
• The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ...the plan of God...
• And ALL of it....planned....for you.
NOW - - THAT WAS ALL - recap...
Which leads us to today...and the final claim of Jesus Christ found in John 14:6 (slide)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• AND SO today - we’ll see...
SLIDE: Jesus Christ as .... THE LIFE
JESUS CHRIST AS THE LIFE
JESUS CHRIST AS THE LIFE
• When we look at this verse (John 14:6), and we see Jesus as The LIFE....
• just like Jesus as The Way and The Truth...
• ...there are many implications here to be looked at...
• When Christ says here - I am 'THE LIFE'....what is He saying?
There are some MAJOR implications here - that ARISE from this claim!
SLIDE: Jesus as The Life: Exposes the Deadness of Man
Jesus as The Life
Jesus as The Life
• And so on this resurrection Sunday, TODAY, as we celebrate the rising power of Christ to defeat death...
• we must ask ourselves the "why" question...
• Why is this to be celebrated...not JUST today, but every day?
Why is this RISING to be celebrated?
• Do we really understand WHY this is cause for celebration...??
• When Jesus says - I am...THE Life...
• He is saying - I am the ONLY Life...
• He's saying - Life is ONLY found IN ME!
Now we may have heard that before - but listen - AND CONTEMPLATE the TRUTH of these next verses...
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
• So the Testimony of God - is that Eternal LIFE is found IN Jesus Christ...
So what does HAVING LIFE hinge on?
• Now, what if you DO NOT believe that?
• What if you are sitting here now, and you DO NOT believe that?
What if you DON’T BELIEVE these verses??
• Well, the verse prior to these tells us...
10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
• So - if you do NOT believe that eternal life is found IN Jesus Christ...
• then you are accusing GOD of being a liar...
• BECAUSE God has said - Eternal life is IN Jesus Christ...
• So think right now of every UNBELIEVER out in the world right now...
• At this very moment, their existence looks at God and says - You are a LIAR!
That’s REALITY!
• NOW - I get it - Our kids get called names all the time and we say what?
• "sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me"
• We say that to our kids…and what we’re saying is - GET OVER IT...
Don’t let that NAME BOTHER you...
NOW a mistake we might make is - trying to apply that same logic to God...
We might say - OK God - yes, the world thinks you’re a LIAR..
Get over it - Sticks and stones...
• Well - here's the problem with that thinking...
• When OTHER KIDS look at our kids and call them names...
• We're seeing our kids PEERS - their EQUALS - call them names....and so we respond with Sticks and Stones...
• "Don't worry about it"
• But THAT's NOT the same thing as - "What's CREATED" looking to its CREATOR...
• And not just ANY Creator...but a PERFECTLY HOLY Creator...
• and saying - you're a liar...!
• And that's . . . DAMNING!
And so what do we have here - SO FAR?
We have this picture of mankind on the one hand…looking at God as saying - YOU’RE A LIAR...
And on the OTHER HAND - we have God Himself - who we know is NOT a liar...
And so it’s like we have this COSMIC Argument going on...
You’re a LIAR God...
No I’m not...
Yes You are...
No I’m not...
• But is that all we have here?
Does Jesus BEING - THE LIFE - merely lead to this cosmic argument - and THAT’S IT?
• Does this complete the picture of those who DON'T believe - that they're just in an ARGUMENT with God?
No - no it doesn't complete the picture!
There is SO MUCH more going on here!!
• We see Jesus as - THE LIFE...and in seeing Him as THE LIFE....
• It ELEVATES our deadness....our TRUE state before God - apart from Christ.
• And it's this TRUTH that highlights the resurrection of Christ as something to be:
Glorified
Made much of
CELEBRATED!!
• SO YES - Jesus is THE LIFE - we see that LIFE is found IN HIM...
• But that DOES SAY SOMETHING ABOUT you and and about ME...
• Something EXTREMELY relevant for you and your family, and your co-workers, and your friends, your neighbors...
• your kids teacher
• the mailman
• the school bus driver
• your boss
• your students
• your loved ones
• your spouse
• the cashier at the store
• your yoga instructor
• your teammates
• all people
• When Jesus Christ said - I am THE LIFE...the ONLY Life
• He was pointing to, BY IMPLICATION, the deadness of mankind!
• If the ONLY life is found IN Jesus...then that means that anyone outside of Jesus Christ - IS DEAD.
• And so on this Easter Sunday...celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ...
• Do we truly understand what His resurrection means for those who BELIEVE?
• Do we truly understand the severity of our deadness apart from Christ?
• In the beginning, SIN came into the world thru one man - ADAM...
• and death spread to all men because ALL sinned...
• And SIN - had and has an affect on us...
• It SEPARATES us from God...
2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
• So we're separated from God...but not only that....
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
• Only....evil....continually...
• NOTHING BUT evil...is the state of mankind....apart from Christ.
• But NOT only are we evil...
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Who is Paul speaking to here?
Let’s look at the whole passage together on one screen...
SLIDE: Eph 2:1-3
• Paul here speaking to - the church....
• You - CHRISTIANS....were DEAD in the trespasses and sins in which YOU ONCE WALKED....
• DEAD like the rest of mankind!
• Do you see the connection in verses 1-2?
slide:
• VERSE 1- DEAD - - VERSE 2- WALKING
• We were DEAD...as we WALKED!
slide:
• VERSE 1- DEAD - - VERSE 3- LIVING
• We were DEAD while we LIVED...
• There is a kind of LIVING - where DEATH reigns!
• There is a kind of living - that is DEATH
• that AS we walk...
• as we breathe...
• as we play with our kids...
• as we go to the sporting event
• as we walk through the mall
• as we're amazed at the stars...
• as we contemplate the memories of childhood
• WE ARE BUT A CORPSE....and nothing more.
• DEAD...DEAD
• That's WHY Romans 8:7-8 says what it says...
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
• Those who are Spiritually DEAD...cannot please God
• NOW the world HEARS this and says - THAT'S ABSURD!
• I"M NOT DEAD...!
• See, I'm walking...i'm breathing...i'm talking....i'm thinking....
• I'M NOT dead!
• And their thoughts are no different than Jewish Theology - strictly physical!
• Spiritually dead people (unbelievers) cannot comprehend Spiritual things
• This is what Christ heard in the 1st Century!
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
• Here is the parable that Jesus told about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector...
and what we see here - is that...
• The Pharisees believed that they were righteous IN AND OF themselves...
• And Jesus called them out...
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
• These people were DEAD - even as they LIVED
• Unbelievers are DEAD...even as they live
• Spiritually DEAD...
NOW - in the PHYSICAL - we experience...LIFE that leads to death... (we're born - we live- and then die)
• That's in THE PHYSICAL
• BUT in the SPIRITUAL....on the Spiritual side...
• It's TURNED on it's HEAD...
• We start out DEAD - needing to be brought to LIFE...
• We're born - yet we're DEAD
• We breathe - yet we're DEAD
• We walk...
• ...we go to school
• ...we graduate
• ...we get a job...
• ...we go to work - day in and day out
• ...we go on vacations
• ...we celebrate holidays
• ...we might even go to church
• ...we might even read the bible...
• AND YET...we're DEAD
• And so when you look around....at all the people in your circle...
• your family
• your spouse
• your kids
• your closest friends
• your co-workers
• your neighbors
• ALL OF THEM...
• ...walking dead...NEEDING - THE LIFE...
• And so HOW does Easter Sunday relate to this PROBLEM?
• How Does EASTER Sunday relate to the living-breathing-DEAD around us?
Let's go back to Ephesians 2 - but let’s KEEP READING
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
• So being DEAD - God makes us ALIVE - how - TOGETHER WITH Christ...
• AND...
• RAISED US UP WITH HIM...
• By FAITH in Christ we are united to CHRIST's resurrection...
• NOW Free from that DEADNESS...now - ALIVE...in Christ!
• And so THRU FAITH in Christ...His resurrection becomes our NEW LIFE!
Romans 6:5–8 (ESV) (DOWN BELOW)
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his (that we would DIE to ourselves..to to OUR WAY...die to OUR TRUTH), we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
• His resurrection - becomes our new life
• The chains of sin are broken!
• Through FAITH in Christ, we're no longer the WALKING-DEAD but instead we WALK in new LIFE...
• why?
• Because Jesus is 'THE LIFE'...
• Eternal Life is IN Him!
• Yes - we'll still struggle with sin...
• But that sin is no longer covering us!
• Thru Faith in Christ we're now covered by His blood! (OT - the first Pass Over - blood of the sacrificial lamb was put over the door post - angel of death came thru Egypt...)
And so if we think back to our 1st point for today...
SLIDE:
The Deadness of Man
We Realize now...that this isn't the whole story!
• That yes - Jesus being 'THE LIFE' - exposes man's deadness....
• ...but Jesus being 'THE LIFE' ALSO ....
SLIDE: Jesus as The Life: Reveals Our Only Hope!
JESUS AS THE LIFE
JESUS AS THE LIFE
• It reveals for us the ONLY Hope of our family...to be eternally happy
• the only hope for our kids..
• spouses
• friends
• co-workers
• neighbors...to be eternally happy
• Our ONLY hope...
• THEIR ONLY Hope - is found in Jesus Christ..
• Because ONLY in CHRIST do we find THE way, THE truth, and THE Life...
• The ONLY way to the Father...
slide:
Eternal Life is only found in the perfect connection between THE WAY of Jesus and THE TRUTH of Jesus!
• If we DON'T KNOW the Truth of Jesus, we don't have the WAY of Jesus....and we don't have Eternal Life
slide:
Jesus Christ is...
The Way
The Truth
The Life
NO ONE comes to the Father but through Him...
• It is through FAITH alone in Christ alone that we are saved!
• And we will only HAVE Faith alone in Christ alone when WE SEE Ourselves as DEAD-SINNERS before God, needing Him as our LIFE and Savior...
• And so as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus today...
• Yes- we know that He is ALIVE...
But may we also be reminded that He is THE ONLY WAY....The ONLY Truth, and The ONLY LIFE...
• that NO ONE gets to the Father but through Faith in Him...
• May we rejoice in Him for WHO HE IS...and for WHAT He's done!
• AND may we press on to take His Name to the people around us...
• May we press on to take...
• the WAY
• the TRUTH
• and the LIFE (JESUS CHRIST)
• to the people around us...and may God grant faith to them
• That they too might delight in ALL that God is for us in Christ Jesus...
• For HIS glory....and our joy! - AMEN
Pray
The Lord's Table
This brings us to the Lord’s Table…a time for each of us to reflect on our lives, to examine ourselves spiritually, and to remember the cost of our faith. We were bought with a price, and these elements remind us of this.
Have you experienced the Saving Power of Christ at the cross?
Do you believe in the testimony of God that eternal life is found in His Son Jesus Christ?
Have you trusted Christ as your ONLY way...you ONLY truth, and your ONLY life? If so, examine yourself before the Lord...
IF you haven't trusted in Christ as your Savior...your substitute, your ONLY way, truth, or life...you should not partake.
The Bible says not to take this lightly. Scripture says – “ whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
Take time now and examine yourself before the Lord.
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
“do this…in remembrance of me.”