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Introduction
When I was a kid one of my favorite things was getting a new coloring book. There was something thrilling about a book full of pictures waiting for the ¡§Master Artist¡¨ to do his work. You know, even as an adult it¡¦s hard for me to pass an empty piece of paper and not doodle or draw something. Maybe you¡¦re like that, and even if you¡¦re not ¡V I bet you love to see all the colors just like me.
Easter seems to be a lot about color.
The colors of that very first Easter were not so bright and cheery as our colors are today ¡V at least them didn¡¦t seem so cheerful ¡V far from it. That first Easter morning started off cold, callous and oppressive.
I wonder sometimes if the inhabitants of Jerusalem felt a lot like the citizens of Iraq. They were being tyrannized by a cruel dictator names Caesar and the religious leaders of their day didn¡¦t make their lives any easier.
There was a feeling of death that first Easter. It had been a bloody, cruel Friday outside the city walls of Jerusalem. It was anything but a ¡§Good Friday¡¨. Three men had hung on rough, Roman crosses. Two were known criminals, but the One in the middle had done nothing to deserve capital punishment. Even the Roman Governor has shouted ¡§I find no fault in Him¡¨. But under the pressure of the religious leaders and the people he had allowed the crucifixion to take place anyway.
While he hung on the cross a strange darkness fell over the earth. There was a cry from the Man on the middle cross ¡V Jesus Christ ¡V ¡§My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?¡¨ And a short time later His final words, ¡§It is finished¡¨ and then Jesus died.
A small group of followers took Jesus¡¦ body from the cross, quickly wrapped it in a burial cloth and then laid the body in a borrowed tomb close to the site of the crucifixion. They closed the tomb and walked away.
Later Roman guards were posted in from of the tomb to make sure nothing would happen to the body.
That¡¦s how the first Easter began ¡V as a dark, cruel, depressing Friday. But Easter changed everything ¡V even the colors!
Just before the sun rose that first Easter morning the earth shook, the stone covering the entrance to the tomb rolled away and Jesus walked out of the grave ALIVE!
He had risen from the dead ¡V resurrected. He came back to life proving that He was God; Proving that death had no power over Him.
And when He walked out of that tomb, it changed everything!
This morning as we celebrate our first Easter together as FamilyFellowship ¡V I want us to take a look at some of the colors of Easter and the amazing truth behind those colors.
You¡¦ve all heard of ¡§scratch and sniff¡¨ ¡V well this morning as we look at the Colors of Easter we¡¦re going to take a sort of ¡§taste and see¡¨ approach to the experience. Inside each of your discovery packets this morning is a small bag of Jelly Beans. They correspond to the colors we¡¦re going to discover this morning. So if you are feeling adventurous I invite you to eat along with me as we work our way through the colors of Easter!
All the colors of Easter fit together to tell a wonderful, compelling story of Jesus¡¦ power.
GOLD ¡V the first color of Easter!
Gold represents where He came from and who Jesus is.
If you are familiar with the Christmas story and the three Wisemen you will remember that the very first gift they brought to the Baby Jesus was¡KGOLD. Why, because gold was a sign of royalty ¡V of deity. It represented the very best.
The Bible tells us ¡§Never forget that Jesus Christ was a man born into King David¡¦s family and that he was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach. ¡¨ [2 Tim 2:8]
Jesus was God who became man.
The song we sang a moment ago shares it as straight forward as it gets: ¡§He came from heaven to earth to show the way¡K¡¨
People have argued for years over the deity of Jesus Christ. Yet it¡¦s hard to get around the facts: his miracles, his message and ultimately his resurrection all point to the truth that Jesus is God.
The very first verse in the Gospel of John tells us ¡§In the beginning was the Word (that¡¦s Jesus) ¡V the Word already existed. He was with God and he was God. ¡¨ [John 1:1]
Jesus came from heaven to Earth for one specific purpose. The Gospel of John again tells us: ¡§For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. ¡¨ [John 3:16-17]
Jesus¡¦ plan was to come to earth and give His life as a sacrifice for our sins so that when we put our faith in Him and what He did for us ¡V we can have forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
He came from heaven to earth to show the way
The Bible tells is, ¡§Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him (Jesus) and receive eternal life¡KHe is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. ¡¨ [1 Tim. 1:16-17]
That¡¦s why Jesus left heaven ¡V to come to earth as the only way that we can ultimately have a real relationship with God.
Listen to this song that speaks about the reason Jesus left heaven for us. (Song: The Lion & The Lamb)
RED ¡V The Color of the Cross
¡§The Lion & The Lamb¡¨, I¡¦m not sure if you caught all of the words that Rachaelle just sang, but Jesus is symbolized as two different kinds of creatures.
The LION speaks of Jesus as the KING. The lion is called the ¡§king of the jungle¡¨ ¡V Jesus is King of Kings. On the other hand, Jesus is also pictured as a lamb. In ancient times lambs were used as sacrifices. An young, innocent lamb was brought before God and killed. It was not a pretty picture ¡V but it was realistic. That sacrifice pictured how bad all the wrong that we do really is.
Sin deserved death. As a matter of fact that is exactly how the Bible states it, ¡§The result of sin is death. ¡¨ [Romans 3:23]
Jesus is like a lion ¡V He¡¦s the King. But He¡¦s also like the lamb. He is the ultimate sacrifice for the debt our sin required.
That¡¦s why the second color of Easter is RED. It represents the blood that Jesus shed as he hung on that rough, rugged cross.
But we mustn¡¦t lose hope ¡V because Jesus¡¦ death had a real purpose.
¡§I¡¦ve watched with both sadness and appreciation the news of the Iraq war these past few weeks. Whatever your view of the war there is one thing for certain, - those brave young men and women our armed forces died for a purpose. They died so that we could have security here in America, but just as important, they died to free the citizens of Iraq from an evil dictator.
Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ hung on a cross, bled and died for a purpose: that purpose was to bring us forgiveness of sins and a wonderful, eternal life with Him.
There¡¦s another color that needs to go with RED and that¡¦s black. It represents sin.
[When we went to purchase the jelly beans for this illustration they were out of black jelly beans and all we could find was that little piece of black licorice. When Terrie tasted it she said it was a perfect taste for sin ¡V disgusting]
Usually we don¡¦t want to think much about sin, so we. But the Bible speaks a lot about sin and what it does to us. The Bible tells us several important facts about sin:
Sin hurts. ¡§The result of sin is death¡¨ You can¡¦t get any more hurtful than that. A good definition of sin is anything that God knows will ultimately hurt you or hurt someone else. We usually think of sin as lying, cheating, stealing, murder ¡V but sin is anything that God¡¦s against God¡¦s plan for our lives. And all sin hurts ¡V it hurts us or someone else.
Sin separates. Sin separates us from God. That word death in the Bible verse we just quoted means separation. God is perfect and we are not. He is holy (sinless) and we sin. That separates us from God. Sin not only separates us from God it often separates us from other people when we hurt them as a result of our sin.
Sin has a price. That price is death. That¡¦s why it was necessary for Jesus to die on the cross ¡V our sins deserved death. Someone had to pay the price ¡V someone had to take care of the bill. Jesus did.
Red is a prominent color at Easter because it reminds us of the cost of Easter ¡V it cost Jesus His life. And if we accept what Jesus did on the cross the hurt, the price and the separation of sin can all be forgiven.
Jesus said it this way, ¡§this is my blood¡Kit is poured out to forgive the sins of many. ¡¨ [Matthew 26:28].
The cross is more than a piece of Jewelry ¡V more than a fashion statement to wear around our necks. The cross was the tragic price for our sins.
But the result of the cross is ¡V our sins can be forgiven and we can go from viewing our sin as black to knowing that we can be pure¡Kclean.
SONG: White As Snow
The Brightest color of Easter is the white that represents what the cross does to your life and mine when we accept Jesus¡¦ gift of forgiveness and eternal life because of the cross.
But the message of Easter is not just about who Jesus is or what He did on the cross ¡V there¡¦s more to the message¡K
The Apostle Paul one of the early church leaders shared it this way in the Bible:
¡§I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me¡Xthat Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said. ¡¨ [1 Corinthians 15:3-4]
The most important message is all the universe is found in that short passage ¡V Jesus died for our sins ¡V just as the Bible said it would happen. Then he was buried ¡V and then He rose again.
BROWN ¡V The color of the Tomb
I know for some of you this is old news ¡V but stay with me for a few minutes ¡V this is very important.
Jesus not only died ¡V but he was buried.
For years I wondered why it was so important to talk about Jesus being buried. I understand the dying part ¡V and I believe the resurrection ¡V but why make such a fuss over the burial?
Let me tell you why; because it proves Jesus died! It was a real death and it was final.
When we think of something dying we thing of it being finished, over, done. ¡§it ain¡¦t coming back¡¨
Reminds me of the old story of the three guys talking about their own funeral and what people would say when they walked by the casket?. . . ¡§Look! He¡¦s still moving!¡¨ Well Jesus didn¡¦t move ¡V he was really dead.
Someone once wrote a letter to a famous radio preacher the following letter:
¡§Dear Dr McGee,
I know you say Jesus was dead and he rose from the dead, but my pastor says Jesus just fainted and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think?¡¨
I love Dr McGee¡¦s response. He wrote:
¡§Dear Sister,
Beat your preacher with a leather whip for thrity-nine stokes. Nail him to a cross. Hang him in the sun for six hours. Run a spear through his heart. Embalm him. Put him in an airless tomb for three days. Then see what happens. ¡¨
What¡¦s the point? The point is Jesus really died ¡V and he was buried in a tomb for three days.
The grave proves Jesus died. The grave proves it was finished. He had truly died for the sin and wrong of the entire world. Remember, those were his last words on the cross ¡§It is finished¡¨.
Brown reminds us that Jesus really did die ¡V He had to. It was His death that paved the way for what would happen on Easter morning.
GOLD ¡V He came from heaven to earth to show the way
Red ¡V from the earth to the cross my debt to pay
Brown ¡V from the cross to the grave
Yes, he may have died and been placed is a tomb ¡V but he didn¡¦t stay there!
BLUE ¡V the color of Resurrection
He came from heaven to earth¡Kfrom the earth to the sky¡K
The greatest truth of Easter is that Jesus rose from the dead. Nothing else proves the power of God more than the fact that even though he died, even though he was bound and buried ¡V for three days ¡V Jesus came back to life.
We use blue because it reminds us of the color of the sky. Jesus came back to life and eventually returned into heaven to prepare a home for us for eternity!
Listen once again to the story of that first resurrection¡K
John 20:1 through John 20:18 (NLT)
1Early Sunday morning,„T while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ¡§They have taken the Lord¡¦s body out of the tomb, and I don¡¦t know where they have put him!¡¨ 3Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. 4The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. 5He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn¡¦t go in. 6Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7while the cloth that had covered Jesus¡¦ head was folded up and lying to the side. 8Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed¡X9for until then they hadn¡¦t realized that the Scriptures said he would rise from the dead. 10Then they went home. 11Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12She saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13¡§Why are you crying?¡¨ the angels asked her. ¡§Because they have taken away my Lord,¡¨ she replied, ¡§and I don¡¦t know where they have put him. ¡¨ 14She glanced over her shoulder and saw someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn¡¦t recognize him. 15¡§Why are you crying?¡¨ Jesus asked her. ¡§Who are you looking for?¡¨ She thought he was the gardener. ¡§Sir,¡¨ she said, ¡§if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him. ¡¨ 16¡§Mary!¡¨ Jesus said.
She turned toward him and exclaimed, ¡§Teacher!¡¨ 17¡§Don¡¦t cling to me,¡¨ Jesus said, ¡§for I haven¡¦t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God. ¡¨ 18Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, ¡§I have seen the Lord!¡¨ Then she gave them his message.
Jesus came back to life! Did you know that there is more historical proof that Jesus rose from the dead that there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three¡¨?
The Bible tells us that not only did His disciples see him, but at one time over 500 people say him at the same time. That¡¦s pretty good evidence!
Inside your Discovery Packet this morning you will find a brochure entitled ¡§Jesus¡¦ Resurrection, Where is the evidence?¡¨ It lays out the convincing facts of the resurrection of Jesus.
It ends this way:
¡§Of course the truth or falsity of the resurrection is a matter of historical fact and is not dependent on anyone¡¦s beliefs (whether you believe that Jesus rose again doesn¡¦t change the fact that it happened ¡V any more than not believing in that wall over there will keep it from hurting if you run into it). If the facts support the claim, one can conclude that he arose. In any case, mere intellectual assent to the facts does little for one¡¦s life. ¡¨ [Rusty Wright in Jesus¡¦ Resurrection, Where¡¦s the Evidence, American Tract Society]
What¡¦s the point?
Jesus died for our sins. He was buried. He rose from the dead to prove that neither sin or death could hold Him down. You might choose not to believe, but that won¡¦t make it any less true!
He came from heaven to earth to show the way¡Kfrom the grave to the sky¡K
GREEN ¡V The Color of Decision
There¡¦s one final piece to the puzzle ¡V one color still missing.
You can believe all the facts of Easter ¡V you can believe that Jesus lived, died, was buried and rose again. But until you make it personal ¡V until you accept it - do something with it ¡V it will do you little good.
When we think of green we thing of new life; until you accept the truth of Easter and the resurrection and then do something with that truth Easter will be nothing more than a candy-filled, egg-hunting Sunday.
And it should be more ¡V it is more!
Resurrection means you can have your wrongs and sins forgiven.
Resurrection means you can life a new life ¡V and look forward to life forever with Christ.
For some of you Easter may mean beginning a brand new life with Jesus Christ.
For some of you Easter may mean recommitting to a relationship you began some time ago.
For all of us Easter should end the same way the song ends¡K
Lord, I lift your name on high!
It¡¦s a simple message ¡V yet is the most important truth in all the world ¡V
Jesus died on the cross, he was buried, and he rose again ¡V all you have to do is accept that truth. Make it personal.
April 20, 2003
