Jesus Makes Headlines
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The Facts
The Facts
Once upon a time, good journalist reported the facts. Not opinions, just the facts. The facts as they saw them. Then they left the interpretation of those facts to the reader. More than 2000 years ago, an event occured that made some Headlines, and continues to be debated to this day. These headlines are important because the conviction that God not only sent His son into the world, but that He also vindicated His death on the cross is the linchpin of the Christian faith. If you take any one other thing out of the Bible, Christianity stands. But knock out the resurrection of Jesus and the whole thing comes tumbling down. But try as they might, skeptics have done their best to disprove the Resurrection. One of the most well-known skeptics even wrote a book about it called, Evidence that Demands a Verdict. The author goes into great detail to show that Jesus could not have been real, and that certainly the Resurrection is therefore, equally ridiculous. He runs into one tiny snag while writing his book. Because he took an intellectually honest approach to it, he came to the stubborn conclusion that Jesus Christ was not only real, but that the evidence for the Resurrection was overwhelming. That author is none other than Josh McDowell, one of the leading Christian apologists of our times. He’s not alone in his frustration. The more skeptics have attempted to disprove Jesus and the Resurrection, the more they end up proving it all.
What makes this so important is the fact that this certainty, knowing this truth, brings to life the realization that God reversed human judgement and established freedom from death, and inaugurated a whole new age. It should not have been a surprise to anyone, it was foretold by the prophet Isaiah.
Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; For what had not been told them they shall see, And what they had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
The bodily resurrection of Jesus proves His own claims that He is both Lord and Christ, it proves that His life and death were not those of a mere man, but that they were the atonement for sin made by the incarnate God Himself.
The Plan Revealed
The Plan Revealed
Jesus began to prepare His disciples for His death, for as we learned last week it was the vehicle by which He would achieve His ultimate purpose on the earth - to reconcile man to God and to cause them to become more like Him. He knew it would be a hard thing for them to bear so scripture says, He shared His plan with them.
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Can you imagine what it must have been like to hear these words? It was like the coach telling his team, yeah we’re pretty much going to get wiped out here, but no matter, we will still be crowned champions. This made no sense to them at all!
Many times God does not reveal His plan to us because we will not be able to bear knowing His process in advance. Personally, I think that we would do everything within our power to avoid the plans of God if we knew what they would cost in the short run. But in the long run, we’re getting something of such amazing value! This was not one of those situations. Jesus was very clear about what would happen, and as it turns out, they were not OK with it. And in spite of how much Jesus tried to prepare them, they simply were not ready for what was about to happen to them.
They were rocked by all that did occur. The trial, scourging, the crucifixion, the savagery of it all was almost to much to handle psychologically and emotionally. Then they got the news:
Jesus Makes Headlines
Jesus Makes Headlines
Just when they thought all of their hopes and dreams had vanished, there He was, just as He promised He would be!
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
The women ran to the tomb and went back and tell the news of what they’ve seen – only they get it half right (not unlike our modern media). Jesus isn’t there, but they’ve assigned a reason in their own mind as to why He’s not there.
Now Peter and John, filled with anxiety at the women’s report rush over to the tomb only to find it empty. Still not sure what to make of it – the men return to their homes, yet one woman stayed behind out of desperation.
Desperately seeking Jesus
Desperately seeking Jesus
But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
The first lesson we get from this story, is that Jesus makes Himself known to those who are desperate for Him. Mary Magdalene had been delivered from a life of hardship. She loved Jesus dearly, and as a final act of love and respect had come to embalm the body. Now she was not even going to be permitted to do even that! She became desperate and it was this desperation that moved Jesus to appear to her.
Even today, Jesus shows Himself to those who desperately seek Him. Do circumstances in your life have you feeling desperate? Well then today is your lucky day, because just as He showed Himself to Mary, He can certainly make Himself known to you through His Holy Spirit. Can you imagine her excitement? He was standing right there in front of her! At first she wouldn’t let Him go, but when she finally did, she couldn’t contain herself – she had to tell the whole world her good news. And really, that is the type of love and excitement that we should reflect as Christians isn’t it? After all, He found us when we were desperate and filled us with an unspeakable Joy! Shouldn’t we be just as excited about telling everyone the good news?
Sadly, too many people today won’t hear the news. What kind of news? Well, really both good and bad. Easter is about good news for sure, but it does contain bad as well.
Let’s take a look at a passage that I like to call the Christian's headline news.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Now you’ll notice that verse one begins with the word “and” that means that the thought is connected to something before it. In verses 19 and 20 we see what the news was all about:
and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
There is more to the news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than just the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. Because that news in and of itself is good news, but it's good news because of the bad news, the better news, and the best news.
The Bad News: Man Is Lost
The Bad News: Man Is Lost
I know by saying that "man is lost" I have committed a crime that will get the PC police on me for being uncouth, un-Christian, and well intolerant. But if that’s true, then the Apostle Paul was one of the most un-Christian, uncouth individuals in history. For he gives a devastating description of the spiritual condition that afflicts every person from the time they are born.
First of all, Paul declares man is spiritually dead.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Every person that comes into this world is born “D.O.A.” Dead on Arrival. We used to say that no one died in our Ambulance – we wouldn’t let them. We kept trying until we handed them off to the doctors. They ALWAYS died in the hospital. But that is only because we kept them alive artificially. You see, people that do not yet know the saving grace of God, are similarly alive. They are only alive artificially. What do I mean by that? Well, they are alive physically, but dead spiritually. Now it is not that people are not on God's Facebook when they are born and simply need to “friend” Him. The problem is deeper – They haven’t even gotten on the internet to sign up for Facebook!
There was a chicken farmer who was losing a lot of his flock, and he wrote a letter to the Department of Agriculture and said:
“Gentlemen: Something is wrong with my chickens. Every morning when I come out, I find two or three lying on the ground cold and stiff with their feet in the air. Can you tell me what is the matter?”
Three months later the reply came back from Washington:
"Dear Sir: Your chickens are dead."
Every person without Jesus Christ is spiritually dead. We do not become spiritually dead because we sin, we are born spiritually dead because we are sinners. People do not become sinners because they sin, they sin because they are born sinners.
There is one thing that is true of you right now. Either you are dead, or you were dead. Verse one speaks either of your past or your present. If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a "dead man walking." Every home without Jesus is a funeral home. Every person in that home without Jesus is a corpse, and every bed in that home that is slept in is a casket. We are spiritually dead apart from Christ.
Man is also spiritually depraved. Paul says a person who is dead is controlled by three things. First of all, he is controlled by the world.
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
From the time you are born, if you do not trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior, you'll not only live in this world, you will live for this world and you will think like this world. There are only two ways you can walk in this life: You can walk according to the Word, or you can walk according to the world.
The Word says abortion is the taking of a life; the world says abortion is the making of a choice. The Word says sex is a sacred act; the world says sex should be a safe act. The Word sees hell as a judgment; the world sees hell as a joke. The Word sees man as a creation in the image of God; the world sees God as a creation of man’s imagination.
So don't be surprised by the way the world thinks, acts or talks; it's just doing what comes naturally.
A dead man is also controlled by the devil. He also walks
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
The world will teach you to sin, but the devil will tempt you to sin. Whether it is pornography, prostitution, drug addiction, or family destruction, you can see the devil's handiwork in the lives of lost people everywhere.
The dead man is also controlled by the flesh.
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
If the world will teach you to sin, the devil will tempt you to sin, then the flesh will take you to sin. The dead man is not only corrupted from the outside in, he is also corrupted from the inside out. I can assure you that we can sin just fine without any help from the world or the devil.
There was a little boy who was disciplined by his mother for kicking his sister in the shins and then pulling her hair.
His mother said, "Sam, why did you let the devil make you kick your little sister and pull her hair?"
He said, "Well mother, the devil made me kick her, but pulling her hair was my idea."
A lot of times sin is our idea because we live according to the flesh.
But the dead man is also spiritually doomed.
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Now look carefully at what it says. We are not only sinners by choice, and sinners by practice, we are sinners by nature. We sin because it is our nature to sin. You don't have to teach children to lie, cheat, or steal. You have to teach them not to lie, cheat, and steal, because that is their nature.
I heard the story about a scorpion who wanted to cross a lake. But being unable to swim, he had to find another way across. He noticed a duck swimming across the water and said, "Mr. Duck, would you please help me get across this lake and fly me to the other side?"
The duck said: "Mr. Scorpion, there is no way I would do that because you would sting me and kill me."
The scorpion said: "Mr. Duck, I wouldn't do that, because if I stung you, we would both die by crashing into the water."
The duck said: "Well, now that you put it that way, I guess I will."
So the scorpion jumped onto the duck's back, and the duck took off. Halfway over the lake the scorpion stung the duck in the neck. As the duck was dying, plummeting into the lake, he looked back and said:
“Mr. Scorpion, why did you do that? We are both going to die, and you told me you wouldn't sting me.”
The scorpion looked at the duck and said: “I just can't help it, it's my nature.”
Well, because we are sinners by nature, we are born “children of wrath.” We are not born children of God, we are born children of wrath. We must be born again to become children of God. That is the bad news “man is lost”.
The Better News: God Is Love
The Better News: God Is Love
I know the news is about to get better because of the first two words of verse “But God,” Have you ever thought about what a difference that little three letter word "but" makes? Think about these statements:
- The phone rings your son is on the other end of the line, and he says: “Dad, I have been in a wreck.” Your heart leaps into your throat, but then you hear him say, “But, I'm okay.” Makes all the difference, doesn't it?
- The doctor says: “You have cancer.” Your breath is literally taken away until he says, “But, it is completely curable and we have caught it in time.”
Makes a big difference , doesn't it?
- Think about this statement: “My husband has lost his mind” but it wasn't a big loss. Oh wait, that doesn’t work too well.
The bad news is man is lost, but the better news is:
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
There are three great words in these verses that make the difference between heaven and hell. They are love, mercy, and grace. Now in love we see the motive of salvation. Just as by nature man is lost, so by nature God is love. Before we could ever respond to God, God first responded to us with His love.
We can have a relationship with God "because of His great love with which He loved us." That is the motive of salvation. That is why God sent Jesus, because He loved us.
Jesus Himself said:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
That is Jesus chose to die on the cross; because He loved us.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
They say “love is blind.” But God’s love is not! He saw me with all of my flaws, my weaknesses, my stubbornness, failures, and faults, and He still sent Jesus to die for me. I don't know what God saw in me, but thank God He saw something nobody else could see!
I'm sure the devil said to God: "I don't know what you see in that guy, I don’t see anything in him worth sending Jesus to die for.” I can just hear God say, “Do you know why you don't see anything in him? Because you don't love him like I love him.”
We are told that God is "rich in mercy." You know God is rich in so many ways. He has paved His streets with gold. He has molded His gates with pearl. He has built His walls with jasper. He owns everything in this universe, but thank God, His wealth is not measured by mansions or materials, but by mercy.
It is a mercy that has no end. It never runs dry, never falls short and has a light that never goes out.
There was a mother one time who went to Napoleon and she was seeking the pardon of her son who had been condemned to death. Napoleon told this mother it was the man's second offense, and justice demanded his death. The mother said: “But sir, I'm not asking for justice, I am pleading for mercy.”
Napoleon said: “But lady, he does not deserve mercy.”
The mother said: “Sir, you are exactly right, and it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is what I'm asking for.”
Napoleon said: “Well then, I will show mercy.”
And her son was saved. Thank God, that because of His mercy, He does not give us what we deserve.
Take a look at something else with me it says
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Now the method of his salvation is grace. Here we see three great words that make God God, and allow us to know Him. Because of His mercy, He does not give us the hell we do deserve. Because of His grace, He is willing to give us the heaven we do not deserve, and because of His love He gives us mercy and grace. There is no reason for grace but grace, and the only reason there is even one Christian on planet earth is because of the grace of God.
The Best News: Jesus Is Lord
The Best News: Jesus Is Lord
Now because Jesus was born, we can be born again. Because Jesus died for our sin, we can die to our sin, and because Jesus was physically raised from the dead, we can be spiritually raised from the dead. In the remaining verses of this passage we see what God has done for us because of the risen Lord Jesus.
Through Jesus we have spiritual regeneration. Notice it says we have been "made alive together with Christ." Because Jesus lives physically, I can now live spiritually in Him. Because Jesus lives physically, I can live personally for Him. Because Jesus lives physically, I can live eternally with Him. Jesus did for us the one thing any dead person needs done for him – He made us alive.
You know, the only thing a dead person needs is life. He doesn't need money because he can't spend it. He doesn't need food because he can't eat it. He doesn't need water because he can't drink it. He doesn't need air because he can't breathe it. He doesn't need light because he can't see it. He doesn't sound because he can't hear it. He needs life.
And though we were dead in trespasses and sins, we can be alive because He is alive. Because He lives, so can I and so can you. Christianity is not a sick man getting well; it is a dead man coming alive!
Through Jesus we have spiritual resurrection. When the Lord Jesus comes into a dead soul, He breathes into that soul the breath of eternal life. He makes you alive, and when He does, He doesn't leave you in the graveyard. He brings you out of that casket and He raises you up.
Now you think about this: What we are dead in – “our sins” is exactly what Jesus died for. Just as God rolled away the stone, He can cast away our sin and we can now live by His resurrection power.
But the best news gets even better because through Jesus we experience a spiritual reign.
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Now where is Jesus right now? Well, He's in the heavenly places. Well, where is He sitting? Well, He's sitting on a throne. Well, where are we right now? We're in the heavenly places, and where are we sitting? We're sitting right next to Him. Do you see why the news of Easter is so wonderful?
Mt. Whitney in California is the highest spot in the continental United States at 14,495 feet. If you hike to the top of that mountain, you will be surrounded by crystal clear air, cool breezes, and beautiful lakes. But if you look eighty miles to the southeast, you will see Death Valley, the lowest spot in the continental United States at 280 feet below sea level, and the hottest place in the country with a record 134 degrees in the shade!
Because Jesus is risen, you can go from the valley of spiritual death to the mountaintop of eternal life, and God wants to do all of this that we might one day be His eternal trophies of grace.
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
So, have you heard the news? Did you know that you don’t have to be a dead man walking anymore? You don’t have to live as a slave to the old way of doing things! There is hope for you! There is healing for a broken heart!
Benediction
Benediction
Numbers 6:24–26 (NKJV)
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’