What’s The Big Deal About Easter Anyway?
1 Peter 1: 3-6a (NLT)
Intro: There are some popular commercials out today trying to get you to buy insurance. I’m sure you have seen then. They are the ones that tell you that you can save 15% in 15 minutes. They started that ad campaign many years ago and here in the last couple of years they have added a twist to. They spent years teaching everyone that phrase and it became synonymous with their company Geico Insurance. The phrase is known by almost everyone so they have put a new twist on it. The commercial starts with one person saying “did you know you could save 15% in 15 minutes with Geico”, another person says, “ everybody knows that, then the other person says “yeah but did you know” then they say something like, “Pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker”. Then they show Pinocchio speaking and basically lying to people telling them they have great potential. His nose starts growing because supposedly he is lying or misleading his listeners.
. My favorite one is where two construction workers are eating lunch and a cab rolls by and the Geico sign is on the top and he reads the slogan and the other guy says everybody knows that and he says did you know that the ancient pyramids were a mistake? Then it shows an Egyptian looking at the drawing of what they were supposed to look like and they were supposed to be square.
. The original person is saying what’s the big deal about 15% in 15 minutes. We have heard it before.
. That’s the way much of the world looks at Easter. They say what is the big deal.
. All it is, is another way for people to make money. Easter baskets and candy eggs. It’s on Sunday which means that it is not even a holiday.
. Our scripture this morning tells us what the big deal is about Easter.
. Peter is encouraging and reminding Christians just what our faith is all about.
. You see, the big deal about Easter is that without Easter, there would be no Christianity.
.Peter is writing to the Roman provinces that we today know as Turkey.
.He is telling them what Easter is all about. He is reaffirming to them that indeed Easter happened and that there is a Hope of eternal life.
. Look with me at 1 Peter 1: 3-6a
3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
4and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
5And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead …
. The first thing we see here is that there is a:
. Proclamation of Easter
. Look at verse 3 again:
3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
. Peter proclaims that we are born again because of Easter.
. Easter gives us a new life and it gives us an eternal life because Easter proves that a man can be raised from the dead.
. God raised a man from the dead.
. There are some TV programs today that are very popular about people being raised from the dead.
. We have the “Walking Dead” which is about Zombies who walk the Earth.
. You have all of these Vampire shows about beings who are immortal .
. Folks, God created the first and only walking dead and He did it on that first Easter morning when He brought the dead back to life.
. That is what the big deal is about Easter.
. God proving who He was through the resurrection of the person of Easter.
. Easter is not about new clothes or candy or baskets or eggs, it is about God proving that He and only He can provide eternal life to people.
. Peter not Only Proclaims Easter in this verse he also identifies the:
. Person of Easter
3All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
. The person of Easter is not a bunny rabbit.
. The person of Easter is Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.
. God had Jesus rise from the grave on that first Easter morning.
. Peter writes that we are born again by and through the raising from the dead of Jesus Christ. The person of Easter.
. You see, nobody else could have done this for us.
. Play Video “Nobody But Jesus” skit guys, info@sermonspice.com
. The person of Easter could have been nobody but Jesus.
. Peter is reminding his readers and us of this fact.
. We are saved, born again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
. Folks, that’s the big deal about Easter.
. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is what we need to tell the world about Easter.
. Next, Peter reminds us of the:
. Purpose Of Easter
. Look at verse 4 again:
4and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
. Because of Easter, we have an inheritance. We have eternal life in Heaven with God, the Creator of the universe.
. Peter writes that this inheritance, this eternal life is waiting for us in Heaven.
. He then points out that this inheritance cannot be taken away from us.
. Our inheritance will not change.
. I was talking with someone in our congregation this week and they were telling me that they were working on a will. Someone will have an inheritance from that will.
. Guess what, that will can change. That inheritance can change by adjusting the will. That inheritance will certainly change depending on how the person who is developing that will manages their life and their finances.
. Inheritances change all the time by how our government chooses to tax the inheritances of people.
. The same thing was true in Peter’s day. Inheritances were an ever evolving thing.
. Peter tells his readers and us that even though we are used to our inheritance changing, Because of Easter, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our inheritance is set. It can never change.
. Once we accept who Jesus was, what He did for us on the cross, His bodily resurrection from the grave, then our inheritance is set.
. It can never change folks. No one can take it from us. They can’t tax it from us and no matter what we do, God will not take it from Us.
. The big deal about Easter is that we are assured eternity in Heaven with God through what Jesus did for us.
. Peter reiterates this point when he writes about the:
. Protection of Easter
.Look at verse 5:
. 5And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
. Let me reiterate this. Our salvation is protected by what Jesus did on the cross and what God did three days later.
. We are saved when we believe that but Peter is also talking about our future salvation. That final judgment that the Bible tells us about.
. Hebrews 9:27 tells us this:
27And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,
. Revelation 20: 11-15 tells us of this judgment.
11And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.
12I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
13The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.
14Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
15And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
.We celebrate Easter if our name is written in the Book Of Life.
. Peter writes that on that last day, you are protected because of what happened on that first Eater morning so long ago.
. Easter is also about protection.
. That’s the big deal about Easter.
.Finally, Peter writes about the:
.Pleasure of Easter
. Look At the first part of verse 6 here.
6So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead …
. The first word there is “so”
. Which means because of the Proclamation of Easter, the Person of Easter, The Purpose of Easter, and The Protection of Easter;
. “be truly glad”
.Be happy, take pleasure in your Christian life.
. Easter is about rejoicing, about celebrating the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior.
. Peter writes that there is wonderful joy ahead of you because of what happened on Easter.
. Remember that we have an inheritance that no one can take away from us because we are protected by God through our salvation through our belief in what happened during the week of Easter.
. That is what the big deal is about Easter.
. Christian, without Eater, there would be no Christianity.
. The big deal about Easter is that it is the source of our existence.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources The Holy Bible, NLT
