The Empty Tomb

The Empty Tomb

Selected verses

Good morning everyone- Happy Resurrection Sunday -Easter- The empty tomb!

Prayer-

I would encourage you if you weren’t here last week to listen to the message “Awful yet wondrous cross on our church webpage or on my YouTube channel- it is because of what Jesus did on that awful yet wondrous cross and His glorious and miraculous resurrection that makes salvation and the forgiveness of our sins possible.

The two are of great value and both are needed for our redemption.

Apostle Paul says:

“For what I have received, I pass unto you as of first importance: that Christ died for sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… 1 Cor. 15 The heart of the Easter message

That is the gospel message! Life, death, resurrection of sinless Jesus

That is where our salvation comes from… in the works of Jesus

No death, no resurrection… no forgiveness for our sins and no redemption and we are left in our sins with no hope.

Christianity is not a religion, It is a relationship with almighty God- not how good we think we are by comparing ourselves to other sinners. We are all sinners in the hands of a God that cannot tolerate sin. We are only in a right relationship with Him when we are saved from our sins by the blood of His Son Jesus and we follow Him.

Scripture say “God demonstrates his love for us in this; while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“God reckoned Him to be sin who knew no sin.” 2 Cor. 5:21

Remember - you cannot kill God!

He is not going to give any of His creations the power and ability to bring Him down. He does by choice and love come in sinless Jesus from his immaculate birth we call Christmas to his death on the cross on Good Friday.

He is 100% man and 100% God. I know why but I don’t know how that is possible. There are some things only received by faith.

All hell and sinful man was allowed to do those horrific things to Him- He foreknew it/ anticipated it/ He choose to let them because He loved us that much!

Let’s try to pick up where we left off last week-

What did Jesus mean when on the cross He said it is finished?

By saying and proclaiming “it is finished” Jesus was signaling to the Jewish world that there was no more need for sacrifices because his work brought ultimate fulfillment to what their sacrificial system foreshadowed.

This sacrifice was the only way your sins could be paid for without your own eternal death. Christ's death paid the price of your sin.

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” he meant there was nothing else to do, nothing left to pay.

He paid it all—totally, completely, permanently.

Luke 23:45-46: “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.”

Although the redemption of mankind is the most important finished task, many other things were finished at the cross.

The sufferings Jesus endured while on the earth

The power of sin and Satan was finished. No longer would mankind have to suffer the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16). By raising the “shield of faith” in the One who completed the work of redemption and salvation, we can, by faith, live as new creations in Christ.

Jesus’ finished work on the cross was the beginning of new life for all who were once “dead in trespasses and sins” but who are now made “alive with Christ” (Ephesians 2:1, 5).

Importance of torn veil

During the lifetime of Jesus, the holy temple in Jerusalem was the center of Jewish religious life. The temple was the place where animal sacrifices were carried out and the Law of Moses was followed faithfully.

Book of Hebrews tells us that in the temple a veil separated the Holy of Holies—the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence—from the rest of the temple where men dwelt. This signified that man was separated from God by sin. Isaiah 59.

Only the high priest was permitted to pass beyond this veil once each year to enter into God’s presence for all of Israel and make atonement for their sins.

At the death of Jesus, the veil was torn and man now had excess into the Holy of Holies.

The high priest (Jesus) who does not need to sacrifice for his sins but for our sins once for all-

The perfect unblemished sacrifice

All of these things happened as predicted and recorded in God’s Word.