Introduction:
Typical Easter sermon- Jesus died on Friday and arose from the dead on Sunday.
What happened during those three days?
And now, the rest of the story!
The Wages
The wages of sin is…? (Eternal death).
What happens the moment a person dies? (Soul leaves body).
Jesus died as the greatest sinner ever because He died bearing the sins of the world. Therefore, He went to hell.
The Grave
Before Christ died, all people went to Hades when they died.
Hades or Sheol in Hebrew simply means the “abode of the dead” or the grave. Two sides of Hades (Luke 16:26).
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Luke 16:26
When Jesus died, His soul went to the unrighteous side of Hades and while He was there He preached to those evil spirits.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. 1 Peter 3:18-22
As our text tells us, Jesus took all of those in Paradise with Him into Heaven. Hades today is ½ empty.
The Outcome
On the 3rd day, Jesus arose from the grave.
Jesus was seen several times for 40 days.
Jesus ascended into Heaven where He is at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.
The End
The Rapture
The Bema Seat Judgment of Christians.
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
14Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15
The Great White Throne Judgment of “lost” people.
Conclusions
When you die will your name be found written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?
Christians, what will be left after your life has been through the Refiner’s Fire?
Easter is not just about Jesus’ dieing and being raised from the dead. Easter is about Jesus defeating sin, eternal death, and Satan so that we could live with Him in Heaven for all eternity.
