The Christ Event

Easter Sunday Sermon – The Christ Event - March 23, 2008

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Three buddies were discussing death and one asked the group: What would you like people to say about you at your funeral? They answered each in turn.

"He was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community", said the first. "He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow," said the second. "Look, he’s moving!!" , said the third. Pause.

Well, today we celebrate that Jesus Christ is risen. Hallelujah. Christ is risen! Hallelujah. The Saviour is risen. Hallelujah.

In every corner of the earth today, in every nation, whether it is legal or illegal, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated today. No muzzle can contain this astounding good news. No government can squelch this celebration.

No power of darkness can cast its shadow over the astonishing event we celebrate today. Jesus Christ triumphed 2000 years ago over Satan, over death and over the power of sin. His triumph, victory…is your victory, your hope, your life, your future.

You and I and the person beside you are intimately and intricately connected to the Christ event. The Christ event. Planned before the world began. An original and critical part of God’s plan. Before Genesis chapter one. Before what we know as the beginning.

How can this be? How could God in the beginning, knowing that all of his creative energy, all of his love, all of his beauty and goodness and kindness…

How could God plan this, knowing that everything good and right and extravagant and perfect that he would do for humanity would result in the terrible journey to the cross?

How could He walk in the garden with the first man and the first woman, enjoying sweet fellowship, when He knew, He knew that He would end up in another garden…a garden called Gethsemane, where he would be betrayed?

Abandoned. Forsaken. Beaten. Bruised. Murdered… In cold blood, treated like a common criminal. My god… How terrible, how horrible was Good Friday.

But more importantly… The simple question… why? Why in the world would He have done such a thing? Why did He do this? Why did He CHOOSE to suffer?

Well, there was a reason. There were at least three reasons. Reasons that can be hard to swallow.

Reasons that have brought great minds like C.S. Lewis to the breaking point.

Reasons that have baffled philosophers. Reasons that, at one level are so simple…and yet at another level quite overwhelming.

The first reason He suffered is this: Because He wants you. Because He wants you. That can be hard to swallow. “God wants me? What does God want with me?

I hear someone saying: “You know what, preacher, what I know of God… stuff that you just said… that he’s perfect… that he’s beautiful… and other stuff like… he’s holy. What could someone like that want with someone like me?” I think we’ve all wondered about that, no matter how long we’ve followed Jesus.

You see, everyone of good conscience struggles, sometimes REALLY struggles with who they are on the inside. There’s what others see on the outside, and then there’s what’s really on on the inside.

And you know what? Most of us don’t feel too beautiful on the inside. In fact we can often feel just ugliness on the inside. And that leaves us feeling unworthy. And so we struggle with feeling unworthy.

And then we read books that try to convince us that we should not feel unworthy. And so we bolster our self-esteem so we feel less unworthy. Less powerless, less sinful, less wrong and more right. But you know what? Jesus didn’t come for the powerful.

He didn’t come for the good guys, for the righteous ones. He didn’t come because the world or you ro I finally got it all together and was good enough for Him?

No. What does the Scripture say? Romans 5: 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 1 Peter 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

Jesus died to bring you to God. Why? Because God wants you. Not some idea of who you are. Not you at your Sunday best and most refined. He wants all of you. He wants you in all of your rawness and vulnerability, all of your doubt and insecurity, all of your most real self…that is what God loves.