Christ Our Lord is Risen... He is Risen Indeed...that is our Easter declaration!
All over the world people will be celebrating, have been celebrating, the Resurrection of our Savior. Easter is what makes Christianity unique among all the world's religions. Our Savior did not live, then die as a martyr, only to stay dead and be memorialized as a great teacher, a great man. He died on the cross, and they laid him in a tomb, but on that first Easter Sunday morning, he was raised from the dead through the power of God.
Luke 24:1-6 (ESV)
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
The Resurrection is both fact, and our faith.
As we go to church this morning to celebrate what Christ our Lord has done, we ought to ask the question - what does it all mean to me?
This morning in our own services I want to touch on that briefly...that there is "great news" in the resurrection of our Lord.
The Resurrection
is the basis of our hope in God’s salvation:
Romans 4:25 (ESV)
25 [He] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
25 [He] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Justification is the theological word that describes how God
views us…
Not as Sinful, damaged creators…
But as Restored, Created and Redeemed people…bought with the
blood of Christ and he looks at us “Just-As-If-We-Had-Never-Sinned”
The Resurrection
is our hope for our own life after death: 1 Corinthians 15:20 (ESV)
20 …Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
20 …Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
All of us will eventually die. The mortality rate among human beings is 100%. It's not a matter of "if", but only a matter of "when". Yet here is our faith - death is not the final end, it's only a doorway into eternal life, and that is all because of Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
1 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
The Resurrection
means that God’s life is available to us Now!
Luke 24:5 (ESV)
5 … “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
5 … “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
The real hope of the resurrection is that Christ's LIFE is available to us NOW. We are not saints "waiting" to die to get His life...we are God's children and raised to newness of life in Christ now!
Jesus said it...
John 5:39-40 (ESV)
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
John 10:10 (ESV)
10 …I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
10 …I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
And Paul reminds us that it is a reality for us NOW.
Romans 8:10-11 (ESV)
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The Resurrection is our Hope when all of Life seems confusing and difficult.
Philippians 3:7-14 (ESV)
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
My prayer today is that as we enter into worship and once again proclaim by faith the resurrection of our Savior, that it will move us in our Spirit to realize the really "GOOD NEWS" we have in our faith in Jesus Christ.
Peace, and to you: "The Lord is Risen"..."He is Risen Indeed".
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