14, April 2006
Easter Sunday Service
The Meaning of Life
We are here this morning to celebrate the greatest event in human history.
This is the day that we remember the empty tomb and the final victory over death.
John 5:24
"I tell you the truth; whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
2 Corinthians 4:10-11
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
This Christian message is the complete opposite of everything our world exalts.
When we are the same as the world around us, it shows we do not understand the meaning of life.
The world system and the way of Christ are opposites, you cannot do both!
1. Life is not about accumulation.
The world’s way is about making it to the top.
Whoever dies with the most toys; wins.
Luke 6:30-35
Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Mark 8:36
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Illustration:
Jake and Paul and I went to see the new Denzel Washington film, “Inside Man” on Friday evening. One of the key figures was a man who had built his fortune working for the Nazis against the holocaust victims. He said, “Yes, I sold my soul to take the easy path to wealth, and I’ve spent my whole life trying to buy it back.”
Luke 12:16-21
"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ’What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
"Then he said, ’This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ’
"But God said to him, ’You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Matthew 6:19-21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:31-33
So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Have you fallen into the trap of thinking that life is all about accumulating more and more?
Have you let your relationship with God slide?
Have you been doing anything of eternal significance?
Have you been sacrificing things that really matter in order to get more?
- Marriage
- Children
- Ministry involvement
I am not saying that there is anything wrong with having things, only that they cannot be allowed to become the focus of life.
It is easy to lose focus and slip away.
2. Life is not about reputation.
Luke 22:24-29
Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me
John 13:13-15
"You call me ’Teacher’ and ’Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Illustration:
Picture a young married couple who have just been to an evening function for employees of his company. They are walking home and she is visibly upset. She is shaking and obviously very angry as she chastises him for leaving her alone and vulnerable while he went off to play pool with some co-workers in another room. There are tears at the corners of her eyes as she tells him how lonely she felt and how insensitive he was for not thinking of her feelings.
He reaches a point where he has had enough so he leans in close to her face and screams, “What is wrong with you? Are you six years old? Are you to stupid to carry on an adult conversation without my lead? He throws in some profanity and tells her that he regrets the day he married her.
She cowers under the abusive tirade and he wins the argument by intimidating her with his size and volume into quietly crying to herself and not mentioning it again. A little piece of her love for him dies and she loses a little more of the respect she once had for him.
This is the world’s way. He handled it in the manner of this world. He used his strength to bully her into submission, but is he really winning? He is the big strong tough guy who knows how to keep his wife in line, but deep down she thinks he is a coward. Why?
The Jesus way, the way that we are here celebrating today, is the true way of strength. He should have taken her in his arms, he should have made himself of no reputation, and he should have pleaded with her, “Oh baby, I am so sorry; I forget sometimes that I am not single anymore, I can be such an insensitive clod. Please forgive me, you mean so much more to me than my buddies from work. I promise I will never do that to again.
In the first scenario he protects his reputation as a man.
In the second scenario he humbles himself and becomes weak in submission.
Who wins?
3. Life is not about self-preservation.
Mark 16:32-33
"But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 12:23-26
Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.
The Jesus way is not like the worlds way, others die so we can win. The Jesus way is to lay down our lives for others.
John 19:28-30
Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
The word finished here is “Teleo” and it means paid in full. They would write it on debts that were paid off. At this moment of pain and suffering and death, Jesus says, “I got it done”, “I win”.
He hands out a free pass to heaven to the thief on the other cross.
4. Life is about transformation.
2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Power Point Available on request – dcormie@mts.net
