We’re going to continue our Easter worship celebration by answering a very important question:
“Why should it matter to me whether or not Christ is dead or alive?”
Christ’s followers make a big deal that on the first Easter Jesus was alive even though three days earlier He had suffered and died on a cross. Why do we care so much?
Let’s cut to the chase with a sentence from the Bible that not only answers this question directly but also answers it in an exciting way!
Here are the words of one of Christ’s closest followers, Simon Peter.
“Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now!” 1 Peter 1:3-4 (Mes)
That’s an exciting sentence! No wonder the truth about Jesus is called The Good News! No wonder Christ’s followers are so enthusiastic about Easter!
Let’s break down what this sentence of Good News from God’s Word is telling us.
BECAUSE JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD…
1. WE’VE BEEN GIVEN A BRAND NEW LIFE!
When I give my heart and life to Christ, when I trust Him as God’s Son and my Savior, the Bible says I get a brand new life!
There’s very little really new stuff in this world. Most of it is just repackaged, repositioned, relabeled or retitled.
There’s a new best-selling book out called “The Secret.” But a lot of reviewers are saying the positive thinking information in the book is really not a secret and that the information in the book is not new stuff. Some say it is the same thing Norman Vincent Peale said in "The Power of Positive Thinking" over 50 years ago.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution said the book “is really repackaging and hype that lures a gullible audience seeking a quick fix for its troubles.”
If you’ve read the book and like it I’m not trying to be critical – I just think its interesting that people believe something is “new” when it really isn’t. There’s very little that is actually new in the world. But God says He wants to give you a brand new life. He wants to give you a chance to start over. He wants to give you a chance to begin again.
Simon Peter, the man who wrote these words, knew from personal experience what he was talking about here in this sentence from the Bible. He was an eyewitness who saw and talked to Christ before and after His resurrection. And he knew a lot about the change that knowing Christ brings! What’s more, he knew it from personal experience! He knew about getting a brand new life!
When Simon and Jesus first met, Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter. (John 1:42) The name Simon basically means, “pebble” and the name Peter means “rock.” Names meant a lot more in those days and I’m sure everyone was impressed by Christ’s belief in Peter’s potential. He was basically saying, “You’re a little pebble but I’m going to mold you and transform you into a boulder! I’m going to give you a brand new life.”
Jesus was predicting how Simon was going to change because of his friendship with Christ, how he was going to grow. He had potential to be more than a pebble. He was going to be a solid rock in the early church and that’s precisely what he became. He preached the first official sermon in the church and thousands of people decided to become Christ followers when they heard what he had to say! (Acts 2)
Christ knows the potential inside of you too! And not only does He know it – He has the ability to help you reach your greatest potential! He has the power to help you make positive changes in your life! He is ready, willing and able to transform you from a pebble into a boulder! He offers you a brand new life.
He gives new life when you make Him your friend because He is all about life.
Another one of His first followers, John, said this about Jesus.
“Life began by Him. His Life was the Light for men.” John 1:4 (NLV)
One of the reasons that it matters so much that Jesus is alive is that you and I need someone to help us reach our greatest potential. We need someone to help us make positive changes. We need someone who can give us a brand new life!
We’re not talking here about self-help gurus. We’re talking about someone who can do for you what no human can do – what you can’t do for your self. We’re talking about someone who can give you spiritual life – someone who imparts supernatural power to you.
I’ve said this before, but a lot of us guys fantasized about being Superman when we were boys and some of you girls fantasized about being Super Girl or Wonder Woman because of their super powers. (Last time I mentioned this one lady sitting on the second row said, “I’ve fantasized I was Samantha on Bewitched so I could just wiggle my nose and all the housework get done!”)
Now I don’t want you to be bewitched or anything but I’ll tell you about super powers that aren’t available only in comic books and TV shows!
There are super powers available to you from God! And one great big one is the power to change. God’s power in you can help you to make the positive life changes that you can’t make on your own. The power to give you a brand new life.
When the Bible says you have A BRAND NEW LIFE it’s talking about how Christ brings spiritual life. We were all given the gift of physical life when we were born. We had no say about that. But we must choose whether or not we want spiritual life.
Jesus said,
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” John 5:24 (NLT)
That’s why Christ followers are so pumped up about Jesus being alive! The moment I say “yes” to Jesus I step over that line from death into life! I’m immediately transformed into new life. This new life gives me the resources to grow in positive ways.
If I need to change in the area of being more responsible, Christ can help me. If I battle envy or greed or lust or fear or anxiety – any number of things – if I need to change, if I’m frustrated at this rut I’m in, I have someone willing and able to help me change. He’s willing to give me His advice through his Word, the Bible. He’s willing to coach me. He wants to be my personal spiritual trainer.
Above all else He wants to be my friend.
Our American culture, as well as many other parts of the world, is becoming increasingly more friendless.
A recent study by American Sociological Review indicates that the average American has just two close friends, compared with three in 1985. In the last 20 years our circle of close friends is growing smaller and smaller.
In the same study those reporting “no confidants at all” jumped from 10 percent to 25 percent. 25 percent of the people around us have no one – not a soul – they feel they can turn to when they really need a friend. Even the share of American reporting a healthy circle of four or five friends had plunged from 33 percent to just over 15 percent.
No one needs to go without a friend when Jesus lives to be your friend!
It matters that He’s alive because He gives us a brand new life when we make a faith commitment to Him!
The second reason Christ’s resurrection means so much is that…the Bible says…
2. WE HAVE EVERYTHING TO LIVE FOR!
It matters that Christ is alive because it gives meaning to your life. If you go through your entire life without knowing your purpose, not knowing why God put you on this earth then you’ve missed something truly wonderful!
Be careful. Having a meaningful life is not the same as having a busy life. It’s not the same as having a life of achieving success or acquiring things. Nothing wrong with achieving success or acquiring things – but the joy received from them doesn’t last. You need something that gives you constant meaning – eternal meaning.
Where do you get that? There’s only one place - from the God who created you! The Bible says this.
“Christ gives meaning to your life.” Colossians 3:4a (CEV)
You didn’t make yourself. You were made by God. And He made you for a purpose. And until you understand that you were made by God, and for God, life isn’t going to make complete sense.
Let me summarize the whole Bible for you in four important truths.
1 – You were made by God to have a relationship with Him. God knows you and loves you and He wants to know Him and love Him. I’m not talking about religion. God couldn’t care less about religion. He is interested in a relationship with you. You were made by God to have a relationship with God.
2 – There’s one big problem. God is perfect and you’re not. And neither am I. None of us is perfect. So there’s a big gap between you and God. You know God is there but you can’t connect with Him.
3 – God solved that problem by coming to earth in the form of a human named Jesus. He died for all the sins of all of us sinners. He paid for every wrong thing you’ve ever done so that you wouldn’t have to pay for it.
4 – You must accept the payment Jesus made. It’s free but you have to personally choose to receive it.
What happens after I receive it? You stop living for your self and start living for God. You weren’t made to live for your self. You were made to live for God. A lot of people are unnecessarily fearful of this idea.
When you start living for God you discover real happiness, real meaning, real significance, real purpose in your life. Because you’re not living for little old you anymore. You’re living for God.
The Bible says this about how Christ’s death and resurrection gives meaning to our lives.
“He died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us and was raised to life for our sake.” 2 Corinthians 5:15 (CEV)
God says, “You weren’t made to live for you. You were made to live for me.” And when you plug into that purpose then your life will start to have real meaning.
That’s why the Bible says that since Jesus is alive “we have everything to live for!”
And the third reason Christ’s resurrection matters so much is this.
3. WE HAVE A FUTURE IN HEAVEN – AND THE FUTURE STARTS NOW!
I don’t know how many of you watch the TV series LOST but Deb and I make sure we get home by 9 o’clock Wednesday nights so that we can watch it. This past week there was one scene where the survivors of the plane crash were having something of a party on the beach and it just looked like Paradise. But then in the next scene they are swept back into the reality of the “others” and what they have done to the survivors.
If you haven’t watched the show, the “others” I’m talking about are the people who were already in the area when the plane crashed and they kidnap the survivors’ children and do all kinds of mean things to them.
So we’re watching the latest episode and it looked like – when you were watching the beach party – that everything was hunky dorry on the island – that it was Paradise - but then in the next scene you’re back to the conflicts with the “others” and you immediately remember their life on the island is no Paradise.
Now I know it’s just a TV show but I was sitting there thinking how much that is like our lives. Sometimes we get a taste of Paradise in this life – but it doesn’t take long before we’re reminded that this life ain’t Paradise!
So how can we reconcile what the Bible says here about having a future in the heaven – “and the future starts now?” Before we answer that question I want you to know that the Apostle Peter wasn’t alone in this teaching.
Our text sentence by the Apostle Peter was not an isolated teaching of the early church. You can see that the Apostle Paul agrees with Peter by what he says to the Christ followers in the city of Ephesus.
"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-6 (NLT)
Paul is also speaking in the present tense. He says those who have accepted God’s grace are raised from the dead along with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms.
Hmmm…how can this be happening right now?
Paul is looking at the prospect of heaven from God’s perspective. There is no future with God – only the present. He is not bound by the space-time continuum that impedes us.
So, in the mind of God, He already knows who is going to choose to accept His free offer of salvation and He already knows who’s going to be in heaven. So the future starts now!
If my faith, my trust, is in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, then I have complete confidence that heaven is my home. I get tastes of it every now and then here on earth – but they are only tastes. But if my faith is in Christ – one day I will experience Paradise forever and ever and ever. I will enjoy the real thing!
So I can start being joyful about that right now! I can start celebrating right now!
Why does it matter so much whether or not Jesus is alive?
BECAUSE JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD…
1. WE’VE BEEN GIVEN A BRAND NEW LIFE!
2. WE HAVE EVERYTHING TO LIVE FOR! And…
3. WE HAVE A FUTURE IN HEAVEN – AND THE FUTURE STARTS NOW!
Let’s pray.
Have you experienced the brand new life that Jesus offers? If you want to experience today I want to ask you to pray something simple like this from your heart.
“Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that you died for my sins on the cross and I really say ‘thank you’ from the bottom of my heart. I believe that you rose again after being in the tomb for three days and I believe you’re alive right now! I ask you to forgive all of my sins and give me a brand new life. I believe that I was made by you to live for you. Help me live for you from this day forward. Thank you that because I am trusting in you I have the promise of a future in heaven!”
Amen.
I want to ask everyone to take a look at your worship folders for a few minutes. There is a perforated flap that has two sides. On one side is a guest registration. If you are a guest today we would love to have a record of your visit with us. We are so glad that you are here and if you will take a moment or two and fill that out I would ask that you would drop it in the offering plate here on the communion table on your way out. If you’re a guest we’re not asking you to make a donation to our church – you’ll see our regular attenders making contributions as they leave but we would just like to ask you to leave that guest registration slip.
Then, on the back of that slip is a slip that says, “My Decision Today.” If you prayed to make a faith commitment to Christ a few minutes ago we would really love to know about it. Or perhaps you have renewed your commitment to Christ this Easter. If that’s the case please check that box. If any of the other boxes apply to you, if you desire baptism, or want to enroll in Class 101 to learn more about Pathway Church, or if you need more information on one of the items listed on the bottom please fill that out – MAKE SURE YOUR NAME AND INFORMATION ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE – and drop that in the offering plate on your way out.
