Easter Sunday
April 4, 2021
I’m going to make a confession that I think many of you know about me. I am a sore loser! Are you that way!? When my team is playing, I have a habit of turning the game off before it’s over. I don’t want to watch the other team celebrate their win. Now, I will admit, I have missed a few amazing comebacks, but that’s why God gave us ESPN and other programs.
If I’m coaching, I will always congratulate the other team. I will be gracious in defeat, always show good sportsmanship, even if it’s burning me up on the inside.
With that in mind, I wonder what it was like for the disciples and the women on Friday night and Saturday after Jesus was crucified. If they were like me, and I kind of think some were, they left without watching the agony of defeat.
The week before they celebrated the thrill of victory as Jesus rode into town as the grand marshal of the parade. On this Friday evening, Jesus, the One they believed was Lord and Savior, the One who they stated was the Son of the Most High God was now dead and placed in a tomb.
Can you imagine living in the Saturday’s of life? If that’s what we had to look forward to, life would be unbearable . . . we would want to escape somewhere, anywhere to get away from the pain and despair.
That’s what makes Easter so great! Think about the week the disciples and followers just endured. It was a crazy week!! They celebrated Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem. The people were shouting and celebrating. It seemed like Jesus’ earthly kingdom was about to begin. It was time to take over and return Israel to the preeminent spiritual, political and military center of the world.
Obviously, they didn’t understand the full scope of who Jesus was and is. You see, part of the power and majesty of Jesus is the fact that Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever!
On this Easter morning, that’s what I want to focus on. It’s an amazing gift that Jesus gives to us. The gift and hope of eternal life through His death and resurrection. It’s an amazing joy to know that we can have LIFE with Jesus. This is not a hope-so or wishful thinking. You can know that you have eternal life - - - and what’s really, really cool is this - - - God wants you to know!
So, this morning, our focus is the empty tomb, but in a little different way. In 1 John 5, we read --
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Part of the hope of that passage is the fact that life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. I think we forget about it pretty easily, because we experience pain and suffering.
This morning I am remembering what last year felt like on Easter Sunday. You all weren’t here. Last year, we were like the disciples, secluded in our homes, hiding away. We were trying and still are, trying to stay hidden and not catch the virus.
We may feel like we’re locked up in a dark tomb, as though the darkness of "Good Friday" and Saturday might go on forever with little hope in sight. And yet all around us, we see signs of spring, signs of awakening, signs of hope, signs of resurrection. Spring blooms all around us: Birds sing, some hot days, stormy days, there’s signs of hope, signs of new life.
So we end up more focused on heaven than on what Jesus is offering us today. It’s a good thing to focus on heaven, but we miss out on today’s offer.
We need to trust that eternal life begins as soon as you say YES to Jesus. That means you begin to live this life which has a future and present hope. The hope today is that you have the power of Jesus dwelling within you through the Holy Spirit. That’s a promise from God. It’s the assurance of His hope!
Listen to what Jesus said about this ---
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. – John 6:47
He also said ----
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life.
He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. – John 5:24
Do you see what Jesus is telling us? Jesus says that when someone puts their trust and faith in Him, he or she has eternal life, not will have – not future oriented.
Notice Jesus said – that you don’t come into judgement, but you’ve passed from death to life. That’s a huge statement! It’s a promise from Jesus. Again, what tense does Jesus use? He didn’t say you will, meaning someday in the future. He used the word HAS - - - meaning it’s already been accomplished. It means if you say YES to Jesus, then you’ve passed from death to life. You’ve passed from death to life because you have eternal life. That’s an amazing truth and promise!
The next thing we learn from what Jesus said is pretty basic, but again, I think we forget about it a bit . . . it’s the fact that ---
Eternal life is eternal. I know that may sound strange to repeat, because it’s kind of obvious, but we need to be reminded of the fact that Eternal life starts when you say yes to Jesus and - - - eternal life is everlasting . . . never ending.
Well, of course it is, Michael. Listen to these great words from Jesus from John 10
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and NO ONE WILL SNATCH them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and NO ONE IS ABLE TO SNATCH them out of the Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one.” -- John 10:28-30
Do you see what Jesus is telling us? Firstly, He gives you eternal life! Once He gives you eternal life, you will never perish! Never, never, never! You can’t perish because no one will be able to SNATCH you away from His hand.
Then Jesus carries that thought further by telling us that not only can you not get snatched from the hand of Jesus, but you can’t get snatched from the hand of the Father as well.
In the Bible, to get snatched means to be taken or seized; to be carried away by force. It means you don’t go under your own free will. Nobody can do that. satan cannot do that to you. You are safe. You have eternal life.
Imagine you were on a walk with your young child who is holding your hand and someone approaches you and they look suspicious. Would you not hold onto your child’s hand a little firmer? You would do everything in your power to protect your child. God does the same for us as well.
I would battle you to the end if you tried to snatch my child. You would have to be more than stronger than me. Now, think about God!! Nobody is stronger than God, especially satan, so no one can snatch you out of God’s hand.
Thanks to Jesus, we have a personal, permanent relationship with God.
Let me give you one more benefit of believing in Jesus and in the hope we have in His resurrection - - -
Eternal life is not just about quantity. It’s about quality. Jesus said - - -
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. – John 17:3
You see, at the very root of our faith is a real and personal relationship we can have with Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That’s what Jesus is telling us. Eternal life is more than a set of theological propositions. When someone trusts in Jesus Christ, it is only the beginning. It’s the beginning of a relationship with God that’s real and personal.
Think about it - - we’ve been rescued from eternal separation from God because of our sinfulness. We’ve been promised this glorious home in heaven!
In heaven, we will be able to celebrate in the presence of God forever, without any interruption. There will be no sin, no suffering, no sadness!! There will be no diseases, no viruses, no shootings, no cancer, no more death! Praise God!
But eternal life is even more than an eternal destination change, it is an ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP with God himself!
And it starts NOW. The moment you trust Christ as your Savior, the relationship begins. And there is so much growth, adventure, and joy involved in this relationship with the God of the universe. He wants us go deeper in the power available to us, the hope that never ends, the strength to endure all things. God wants to work through our lives to advance His Kingdom on earth, and to spread the good news of the gospel to as many as we can.
John 17:3 is about knowing God in a personal way. Let me ask you - - “how do you sense God leading you to make more space in your life for getting to know Him deeply?”
How is God speaking to you about growing in this relationship with Him?
There are lots of tangible ways we can draw closer to God. Because sometimes when we go through the hardship of life, we struggle with who and what and where is God in the midst of my struggles.
Yet, God is there. He has promised to never abandon us, never to fail us, never to run from us, because He has the most powerful love for us. Think about it . . . why would God leave us if He was willing to send His Son to die for us - - to redeem us from our sinfulness. We find forgiveness from God, no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve done it, to whomever you did it to . . . God can and will forgive you if you simply offer yourself to Him.
So, the first step for us this Easter morning is to recognize who God is. He’s the Savior of the world. He’s the One who shattered the effects of death. Because Jesus lives, we certainly can face tomorrow with confidence.
It’s really easy to fall away for a time. The impact of the virus made it easy to fall away for a time. But there’s no better time than now . . . whether you are here in this room or at home. There’s no better time than now to say YES to Jesus.
If you’ve already said yes, but have struggled with relating to God, then as Jesus would tell you . . . come to me. Come all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Open the doors to your heart and let Jesus in.
Maybe you’ve been wounded and you need the power and strength to forgive and let go of the pain. God will walk you through that.
We literally get to use this eternal life that God has given us, so we could join Him in His mission in this world to share the message of life with others.
If you’ve never trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior - - - please don’t put off making the greatest life changing decision you could ever make. You can call on the name of Jesus and receive him as your Savior right now.
You can receive eternal life right now. Because Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever.
Remember, Jesus came so that nobody would perish apart from Him.
16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, - John 3:16-18
That’s what Jesus said . . . God isn’t about condemning, He’s about saving, redeeming and transforming our lives.
Jesus came into this world leaving the perfect place, heaven, and that by the way is our final destination when we have trust and faith in Jesus, but until we get there, Jesus wants us to live the great abundant life, and the only way we can do it, is to revel in the power of His love.
Who else would endure ridicule, ostracism, rejection, slander, malice and gossip, the humiliating beatings which ultimately end in the pain of the cross . . . for you?
Who else would love you that much, that they would die for you? Only Jesus.
Only God can love us as much as we really need. We were created just so He can love us. He knows everything about you and He’s madly in love with you and wants only the best for you, but you must trust His plan and not yours.
Without the resurrection, what hope do we have for the future, but with the resurrection, we trust and believe that the ravages of death have been destroyed.
I like to end my message with a reminder of what it’s like to not believe in the miraculous and to have no hope. At the end of the Jefferson Bible - - -
Yes, Jefferson wrote his own version of the Bible, it’s called The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Jefferson didn’t believe in the miraculous. So, he took that out of his version. He concluded his bible like this -
Then they took the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein man never yet laid.
There laid they Jesus; and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.
That’s it!! No hope!! That’s sad. Total darkness! But friends, that’s not our lot. Because the stone has been rolled away and will never close on us.
What’s Easter all about? It’s God’s way of telling you and I the door is always open. That God has made a way for you to experience the never ending hope of life in Christ. Life will have it’s issues and troubles, but God promises you, you do not have to walk it alone. He will journey with you.
He will be your leader and forgiver, your Savior and Lord. He died for you, but death couldn’t hold Him. He rose from the dead, and He lives on, and my dear friends, that gives me hope. . . hope in today and hope for a great tomorrow.
In the end, understand this - - The Stone was rolled away from the door, not to let Christ out, but to let us in – so we could come and meet and know Him. Because He lives we can face all of the tomorrows there are!
