The Resurrection:a Second Chance At Living

The Resurrection: A Second Chance At Living

Scripture reference: 2 Corinthians 5: 14 - 17

Introduction

Illustrations

In the Secret Service

A gentleman was in front of a preacher coming out of the church one day. The preacher grabbed him by the hand, pulled him aside and said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!" The man replied, "I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor." The Pastor questioned, "How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?" He whispered back, "I’m in the secret service. "

What is Easter?

A Sunday School teacher was attempting to teach her young students the true meaning of Easter. "Why do we celebrate Easter?" she asked. When the children replied ’because of the Easter bunny,’ Easter eggs, candy, spring, etc., she said, "No, those are Easter traditions and symbols, but what is the REASON why we celebrate Easter? What happened at the very first Easter?" A little girl raised her hand and said, "Easter celebrates Jesus coming out of the tomb." "Yes!" said the teacher, excited and relieved that finally the correct answer had surfaced. Encouraged, she prompted, "Jesus arose from the tomb, and what does He do for us?" The youngster replied, "He looks to see if he can see his shadow, and if He can, he goes back in for another six weeks."

Transition

But whether this is your first time back in a long while or your sixteenth Sunday of the year, it is just good to be alive! In fact that is why Spring and Easter go so well together because they are both symbols of a new beginning, a new life, a new transition. Bees are out, bears are out, bunnies are out, buckets to wash the cars, and boats to ride the waves are out. And the angels told the Mary’s Jesus was out.

The trees are blossoming, the flowers blooming, and the grass is sprouting. Days have gotten longer and temperatures are getting higher. Yes, time to set a date to weed, feed, and seed. Time to clean out the attic, the garage, and the shed to make room for new stuff. We are talking Spring/Easter – the new beginning. We are talking the resurrection --- the risen Savior.

Listen, anybody who has the chance to channel surf will not have to surf long before you run into those infamous infomercials. You will see them in the morning, you will see them in the afternoon, and you will see them in the evening. And if you can not sleep at night you will find them saturating the air time there too.

They are advertising everything from kitchen gadgets to money magic. You have your car waxes, bed regulators, grass aerators, thigh master, buns of steel, ab-flex, bow flex, the glide, and the slide. Take the hair away, put the hair on, color the hair, and twist the hair.

George Forman’s grill, Tony Little’s glider, Vanessa William’s acne cremes, Ronco’s set it and forget it rotisserie, Billy Bank’s TaeBo, and Sheryl Lee Ralph’s skin salon good collection. You name it they sell it.

But there is one thing you will agree with me on and that is they all have something in common and that is a “before and after” storyline. That is a before – what your life was like before the product or service and an after --- what your life is like after you use the product or service.

Do you see the testimonials? Happy people everywhere; no one dissatisfied by the products or the service. Everyone achieving the results they were looking for.

1. Before I used to weigh a lot, but now I have lost 20 pounds and 6 inches off my waist. --- Thanks Jenny!

2. Before I used to just sit around feeling miserable, but thanks to the patch, I feel better about myself. I can go on with my life.

3. Before I was just living paycheck to paycheck, but thanks to Fred’s system for buying property I earned a whopping $50.00 last year.

4. Before I couldn’t even buy a date, but thanks to sheer white whitener and breath refresher, my phone as not stopping ringing for weeks. (smile)

While Easter or Resurrection Sunday is not an infomercial, it does have a “before and after” storyline.

Before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ you were an enemy of God. Your wrongs and your imperfect goodness made you estranged from God. You didn’t seek after God. We were by nature selfish, consumed with our rights, our feelings, our plans, our future, our life; giving no thought to the Creator who made us.

But after Jesus came into your life or He will come into your life, now you have been changed. And that’s what the Bible text we have selected today makes clear.