Jesus Resurrection & "U"
Matt 26:53-54 NIV
Luke 24:1-10 KJV
1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
8 And they remembered his words,
9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
Understand what happened for U
God has not given us vast learning to solve all the problems, or unfailing wisdom to direct all the wanderings of our brothers’ lives; but He has given to every one of us the power to be spiritual, and by our spirituality to lift and enlarge and enlighten the lives we touch.
--Phillips Brooks
Understand that Man needs God
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was restoration, so God sent us a Savior.
1. Jesus died and arose to restore man’s fallen relationship with God
2. Jesus died and arose to defeat Satan, and destroy sin, and free those in bondage.
Murder, Rape, Incest, Homosexuality, Adultery, Uncontrolled unmoral restraint, pride, unmerciful, inventors of evil things, Hands that shed innocent blood, Wickedness in sizes and colors, Emptiness, Loneness, Death.
Understand this was no accident, Christ died and arose intentionally
Matt 26:53-54 NIV
53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"
Because He Lives
A. Satan may have you on the run, you can become victorious
B. Satan may have raised you, you can have a new identity.
1. Jesus purposefully came to sacrifice his life for man.
On the 10th of June, 1770, the town of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was utterly devastated by an earthquake. From one of the destroyed servant’s housing buildings the slaves had fled, except a black woman, the nurse of her master’s infant child. She would not desert her charge, though the walls were even then giving way. Rushing to the child’s bedside, she stretched forth her arms to protect the babe. The building rocked to its foundation; the roof fell in. Did it crush the hapless pair? The heavy fragments fell indeed upon the woman, but the infant escaped unharmed, for its noble protectoress extended her bended form across the body, and at the sacrifice of her own life, preserved her charge from destruction.
2. Jesus purposefully gave his life to save mankind.
a) For the hope of salvation
b) With mercy, and grace.
c) For promises for faith
d) With Jesus death and resurrection we would have protection from Satan
e) We have victory
3. Jesus purposefully gave his life to heal mankind.
1 Peter 2:24 KJV
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."
Pardon of sin, and restoration to the favor of God, we have peace: but takes us into friendship and fellowship with himself.
a) The lost find reconciliation with God
b) For Christ’s Healing Love.
c) For us to call to
d) We have a new spirit, and mind
e) The removal of guilt and shame
f) For hope, joy, and peace.
4. Jesus purposefully gave his life to empower mankind.
When the Standard Oil Company began to refine petroleum there was a black substance that no one knew what to do with. Black, sticky, stinking, it could not be buried, nor burned, nor run into a stream. If it were buried or burned, everyone complained of the all but endurable stench; if it were run into a stream, it killed all the fish. So the company offered a reward to any one able to solve the problem. A great many chemists, attracted by the promised reward, occupied themselves with the problem. Finally one walked into the office of Mr. Rockefeller with a white shining substance, free from every offensive quality, and extremely useful. It was what we know today as paraffine, used for candles and hundreds of other good, useful purposes.
Sin makes it impossible for us to have a relationship with God the Father. And sin is not necessarily considered offensive or degrading in the sight of men. Sin is just our natural condition, in which we do not care for the Kingdom of Heaven. When that condition has deepened into what even men call wrong, such as wicked practices, there is special reason for haste. Only Christ can help. And He helps in such a glorious way that He not only delivers us from the galling yoke of sin, and from its curse; but makes us sweet and clean, so that we may become both acceptable and useful to the Master.
We need empowerment
Col. 3:1 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above".
One may be very much alive in every other department of his being, and yet share no spiritual life with Jesus Christ. "It is possible to be intellectually great, ethically enthusiastic, and spiritually dead."
John 1:12 KJV
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
Form without power
Some years ago the captain of a Greenland whaling vessel found himself at night surrounded by icebergs. He expected any moment to be ground to pieces. As the morning dawned he sighted a ship at no great distance. Getting into a boat with some of his men he carefully picked his way through the lanes of open ice towards the mysterious-looking craft. Coming alongside he hailed the vessel with a loud, "Ship ahoy!" but there was no response. He looked through the porthole and saw a man, evidently the captain, sitting at a table as if writing in a log-book. He again hailed the vessel, but the figure moved not. It was dead and frozen. On examination the sailors were found, some frozen among the hammocks, others in the cabin. From the last entry in the log-book it appeared this vessel had been drifting about the Arctic seas for thirteen years--a floating sepulcher, manned by a frozen crew. And there are souls today who have refused the Divine offer of life, forsaken the centers where they were warmed with hallowed influences, and drifted into the chilling regions of Arctic darkness and frost. Many of these have certain appearance of Christian life, and a name to live.
Magnets
There are two kinds of magnets, steel magnets and soft iron magnets. The steel magnet receives its magnetism from the load stone, and has it permanently; it can get along very well alone in a small way; it can pick up needles and do many other little things to amuse children. There is another kind of magnet, which is made of soft iron, with a coil of copper wire round it. When the battery is all ready, and the cups are filled with the mercury, and the connection is made with the wires, this magnet is twenty times as strong as the steel magnet. Break the circuit, and its power is all gone instantly. We are soft iron magnets; our whole power must come from the Lord Jesus Christ; but faith makes the connection, and while it holds we are safe.
a) We have power, authority, and strength
b) Spiritual Restoration
c) Love, joy, peace
d) Victory
5. Our worship continues the resurrection victory
During the days preceding Easter, Napoleon Bonaparte was about to overtake the Austrian village of Feldkirch. The villagers gathered to pray for deliverance on the Eve of Easter. On Easter morning the church bells rang to signal the day of worship. Napoleon heard the bells but didn’t realize it was Easter. He thought those bells meant the Austrian armies had come to reinforce the village, so he sounded retreat. When the bells of Easter ring out, the enemies of God are forced to retreat.
6. Jesus purposefully gave his life to empower U
Before U were thought of or time had begun,
God even stuck U in the name of His son.
And each time you pray, you’ll see it’s true,
You can’t spell JesUs and not include U.
You’re a pretty big part of His wonderful name,
For U, He was born; that’s why He came.
And His great love for U is the reason He died
It even takes U to spell crUcified.
Isn’t it thrilling and splendidly grand
He rose from the dead, with yoU in His plan?
The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew
and this word resUrrection is spelled with a U.
When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension,
He felt there was one thing He just had to mention.
"Go into the world and tell them it’s true,
That I love them all - Just like I love U."
So many great people are spelled with a U,
Don’t they have a right to know JesUs too?
It all depends now on what U will do.
He’d like them to know, but it all starts with U!
Author Unknown
What will you do with the life, that Christ purposely Gave U
