Resurrection Sunday 2024

[00:00:05] What a story. Amen. [00:00:09] I had actually planned to come up here and kind of play off of just how well Craig read that and just how the weightiness of the story. But I feel like we can't go another minute in this gathering without acknowledging the shirts in the room. [00:00:26] Anyone else with me on that? [00:00:30] If you're visiting today and you're wondering, did I walk into a cult? [00:00:36] The answer is yes. This is what we make our initiates do. [00:00:43] Well, I don't know if it's a sign of how much my wife loves me or not, that I didn't end up in this shirt, but what a joyful thing. [00:00:51] No, guys, we man to back us up. [00:00:56] What a story. [00:00:58] What a story. What a gospel. Amen. [00:01:02] I'm going to ask you guys to indulge me. We've poked at this a little bit this morning, but this is an old christian tradition, and we can't go through our Easter gathering without doing it. It's traditional on Easter Sunday for the preacher to say he is risen in the congregation to respond, he's risen indeed. So will you guys do this with me? Can we do it loudly? Okay, let's do it. He is risen indeed. Amen. What a God we worship. Jesus rose from the dead. He walked out of the empty tomb. He made a way for us to exodus from the bondage of sin into the freedom and life of his kingdom. Amen. Amen. Amen. [00:01:43] But I have a question for us that I feel like we just need to give the space to honestly ask, which is simply this. This is a beautiful story. Craig read it very well. It's a beautiful story. [00:01:58] But why does this story matter? [00:02:01] Because the story we just heard, this is the reason why Christianity exists, period. [00:02:08] That's why we're here this morning. [00:02:11] So what is it about this story that is so compelling? [00:02:15] I'll often hear it said that religion in general exists as a form of comfort. Have you guys heard that before? This idea that religious practice is a coping mechanism for dealing with our fear of death. And by the way, that makes sense on the surface, right? Like, in general, people don't like dying. So a promise that after death, you get all sorts of goodies and get to hang out with grandma. Right? Like, that is actually, like, that's comforting. It may be a little silly and unrealistic, but that is comforting. [00:02:49] Sound familiar? Sound exactly like what some of you are thinking right now who are here because a family member made you come to church on Easter. That's fine. By the way, I'm glad you're here. I'm sure my next thought's gonna sound a little obvious because I am, in fact, a pastor. But stick with me on this. I disagree with that idea. [00:03:09] I disagree with that idea. In fact, I would say, I believe that that thought, that religion exists as a way of comforting ourselves or coping with the fear of death, is fundamentally and entirely wrong. Yes, faith can and is a comfort in the face of the fear of death. But I would argue that that is a sweet side effect of the reality of faith. Guys, faith, the way the Bible describes it, is a morally right reaction to the injustice of death. [00:03:43] I'm going to repeat that phrase because we're going to unpack that today. Faith, the way the Bible describes it, is a morally ethically correct reaction to the injustice of death. I think on a deep and fundamental level, we all know that there is something wrong with death. And by the way, when I say that, I mean something morally wrong. [00:04:08] All of us live our whole lives surrounded by death, even in very little ways. Every time we eat a meal, some plant or animal died to make it happen. Every time we wash our hands, we destroy countless little bitty life forms. Right? Heck, last week if you were here at this church, the kids were all gathering outside around a dead squirrel, having lots of fun, talking about it and trying to find sticks to poke it right. Like this is a normal part of the way life works. [00:04:38] But when a person dies, whether they're close to us or not, something within us recoils, says, this is wrong. Yes, it's scary, but is that your core experience of death? [00:04:55] I would argue not. [00:04:58] I don't think it's fear, I think it's sorrow. [00:05:02] This is wrong. It shouldn't happen. [00:05:06] Most of us don't attend funerals with fear, but rather with sorrow. [00:05:14] This isn't fair, this shouldn't have happened. This person shouldn't have been taken from me. Sure, it happens to everyone, everywhere, but it shouldn't. [00:05:27] Right something in you that goes, it shouldn't be like that. [00:05:33] I would argue that all of us are universally moral creatures. It's something. And our very DNA tells us death should not be. [00:05:44] The apologist, CS Lewis, argued that this universal experience of morality is actually an argument for the existence of God. I think it's a really interesting thing to dig into, and it contrasts with this idea that we hear often that folk will say morality is really just social consensus. Right. Right and wrong is determined by the predominant course of whatever culture within you find yourself. Whatever a given community decides, the rules are. That's what morality is. And to some extent, there is truth here, right? Like, I've got little boys and girls in my home, and in general, my little boys love to wear blue, and my little girls love to wear pink. But that's not a thing that existed 150 years ago, right? That's something that our society has decided. [00:06:26] So there is some truth to that. But we all, I think, know that's not the whole truth. [00:06:33] I think we know that. That some things are wrong. Like some things are wrong wrong, like capital w wrong. And it doesn't matter if the dominant culture likes them or not. Like, strength is not the determination of right and wrong. [00:06:51] Right. [00:06:52] I mean, if the Nazis won world war two, that would not somehow make the Holocaust a morally good action. [00:07:01] It would still be wrong. Even if those in strength and in power said it was right, it would still be wrong. [00:07:10] Lewis taught that this morality is larger than humanity because it is this spark of the divine image within us. It points us back to our creator, points us back to his ultimate goodwill for his creation. Yes, sin has distorted and broken even our understanding of morality. And there's all sorts of ways it backfires. But each of us in our core knows there is such a thing in right and wrong, and we feel compelled to conform ourselves and our world to this outside standard. [00:07:44] So if this universal human experience of morality points to God, it's worth a second to stop and say, okay, well, what does God say about this reality? [00:07:55] What does he say about right and wrong? How does this God tell the story? Well, the way the God of the Bible tells the story, I think, is telling. [00:08:03] The scripture teaches us that he made us. He made all of us, and he made us for life. [00:08:10] He made us for life and connection. It is sin and rebellion that brings about separation from God and brings about the reality of death. And in the biblical narrative, sin and death, they are the old enemy, the ultimate enemy. Our hearts do on some level, fear this. We don't want to die. But I think there's something more than that, that we look upon the reality of the curse and sin and death, and we go, I was made for something more than that. [00:08:40] That's too little for what I feel within me. [00:08:44] Lewis echoes this thoughts in the same book where he makes the argument. He says, if I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I would made for another world. [00:08:56] It's a beautiful way to say it, but it's pointing to this idea. [00:09:00] Our whole reality, our whole life, our whole existence tells us death is the norm. That's the standard. That's for everyone. But something within us cries out and says, no, no, no, church. This is why we hate death. [00:09:15] Not from fear, but from a sense of justice. [00:09:19] It is not right. It is our enemy. And even though it is strong, I think we are like refugees behind the lines of a territory that's been conquered by an enemy. We are like french freedom fighters in World War Two. We know it to be wrong. And even though it's all around us, we rail against it. [00:09:40] Which brings us to our text for today. That took me a while. Sorry, but we'll go a little faster from this point out. That was a long introduction. We're going to be in one Corinthians 15. If you want to go ahead and turn there. If you don't have a bible with you today, we have house Bibles. You can look under the chairs in front of you. If you're here today and you don't own a physical copy of God's word, by the way, I would strongly encourage you just to snag a pew bible and take it home or even talk to one of our pastors, and we will give you, like, a nicer, leather bound one. We really believe in the importance of access to God's word here. We're going to be in first Corinthians chapter 15. That is near the end. All the Ian's books are near the end. [00:10:17] First Corinthians 15. I'm going to give you a quick note on this is a little bit of a longer text, so I'm going to read a chunk and talk about it. Read a chunk and talk about it. Will land out. So pray with me, and then I'm gonna give us a little bit of context here, and then we'll jump in and start reading. Jesus, we thank you so much for this morning. [00:10:33] Jesus, thank you for the gift of church family, that we get to step into this space today. We get to be together. We get to sing. We get to consider you. Father, I pray that you would remind us today of what our hearts long for, for each and every one of us in this room, regardless of where we are in our faith journey. Jesus, I pray that you would bring us to a day, a place today of clarity. Clarity on your love for us, clarity of your call to us, and that we would have soft and tender hearts, open and ready to respond. [00:11:05] Spirit, we need you to do this work in our hearts. We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen. [00:11:11] So, first Corinthians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to this church in a city called Corinth. And I'm going to read this first chunk of the text, and then I'll tell us kind of what's going on here. First Corinthians 15, starting in the first verse, we read this. [00:11:26] Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preach to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I pass on to you as most important, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then the twelve. Then he appeared to over 500 brothers and sisters at one time. Most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James and then to all the apostles. And last of all, as one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. By the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was within me. Whether then it is I or they, so we proclaim, and so you have believed. So let me. Let me put this in some context for us. This is a letter the apostle Paul wrote to this church in a city called Corinth that he helped plant. You can read the story of this in acts 18. In Paul's second missionary journey, he was traveling, and he came across the city, Corinth. He preached the gospel and helped plant this church here. Now, Corinth ends up being a pretty unique church in the early history of the church because this church really struggled. It struggled so much that Paul had to spend a ton more time there than he spent at most of his stops, where he helped plant churches. If you read through acts, kind of Paul's normative deal is he shows up, he finds the people who are already, like, praying and seeking the Lord. He preaches the gospel to him. And when people believe, he's like, cool, here's a church. Here's how you do it. See you later. In, like, three months, he's just gone. But when he gets to Corinth, he faces all this opposition. There's all these unique pieces that make it really difficult for this church to plant. He ends up spending more than a year there. And while he's there, he's digging through kind of this twofold pieces of opposition. First and foremost, he's confronted with the jewish population in Corinth who are just, they're really in opposition to the gospel. Moving forward, there is this judgmental legalism that just isn't open to Gentiles, non Jews receiving the faith, and they fight Paul really hard, to the point where they banned him from the synagogue. He's not allowed to come into the synagogue anymore. But then even as the church grows, you have to understand, Corinth was this really hellenized city, right? And it was full of all of the normal trappings and excesses of roman culture. And so these people really struggled with the idea of actually submitting their lives, submitting their ethics to the lordship of Christ. And so Paul has to, I mean, he has to push them really hard on actually making changes to their lifestyle, how they live, to live in accordance with the scriptures. So much so that just a few short years after he plants the church, he's genuinely concerned for them. And so he writes this letter challenging them, where he says, look, I know you guys. I know you guys believe the gospel. I know you were seeking Christ. I was there. I saw the spirit in you. But you are living just like the world. [00:14:39] You don't look like christians. You guys are, you're stewing in all these bitter infighting and all this legalism and all this meanness and division, and you're wrestling with all. You're going to this intellectual place and wrestling with all these philosophical doubts, and you're engaging in all sorts of sexual immorality. And the way you live looks nothing like a christian life. You need to put your money where your mouth is. If you proclaim Christ, you need to live like him. And that's really what the book of First Corinthians is all about. Like, that's where it goes. This chunk we just read is him basically saying, let me get back to basics real quick. Let me remind you where this whole thing started. Let's go back to the very beginning. The first thing I told you, the thing upon which all of our faith is built, that you believed. Like, this is what I proclaimed to you. This is what you believed. And then he has this really important piece where he says, and this is what is saving you, this gospel truth. This is what is saving you from sin. So take this seriously. You guys are claiming Christ, but you don't live like him. I get the feeling that that sort of invitation is probably appropriate for many of us in a room like this, whether it's our intellectual doubts, whether it's our apathy, whether it's our just straight up love for the world and sinful things, many of us, many of us, myself included, drift from the faith we once loved and claimed, beloved of Jesus. If that is you today, I just want to affirm to you, today is a great day to consider Jesus and his invitation to your heart afresh. There is an open invitation for you to consider him afresh today, and I don't think you'll regret that. So what exactly does Paul give to these Corinthians when he invites them to consider the gospel afresh? Well, he brings them back to the basic gospel. He says, let me remind you of what I preach to you. This is what you believe. This is what is actually saving you. And what does he name as the gospel truth, which is saving them? I think this part is so interesting. He makes several historical statements. Did you catch this? Paul doesn't point them to an abstract emotional experience. He doesn't point them to some larger spiritual reality. He doesn't speak to their psychology. He points them to several concrete and physical historical claims. He says Jesus died according to what was predicted by the scriptures. He was buried three days later. In accordance with that same scriptural prediction, he rose from the dead. And then he lists out a series of eyewitnesses who hold to these claims, starting with the original twelve and working their way all the way up to himself, the apostle Paul. I think this is a stark reminder for us guys that Christianity has really always been this very earthy and tangible belief system. Most world religions, if you get into, if you enjoy geeking out on theology and comparative religion and stuff, most world religions have these private, secret revelations. [00:17:49] If you look at the history of things like Mormonism or Islam, where something amazing happened, but no one's there to saw it and no one's there to see it, and there's no evidence afterward or they're steeped in these ancient narratives that really blur the line between history and allegory and myth. And the practitioners don't actually care because they're speaking to deeper meaning anyway in faith systems like Hinduism or Buddhism. But Christianity has always been rooted in this very specific and very concrete historical claim. It's a really unique thing in our faith. I think it's important you know, a good way to say it is to say it like this. No one who actually, like, studies these things academically seriously questions that Jesus of Nazareth lived and died there are people like, you can every Easter. I'm sure you can find them right now, right? There are these kind of clickbait articles that are like, oh, what if the Vatican made up Jesus? And you can find those things, but if you actually dig into academia and the people who study these things, you just find no one really makes that claim. Bart Ehrman is a relatively well known New Testament scholar and historian who is an outspoken atheist. He's quoted as saying, the crucifixion of Jesus by the Romans is one of the most secure facts we have about his life, and even in history is very well attested. And beyond that, no one really seriously questions that his followers were so convinced that he was their God and savior. Like, there was an idea for a long time that spun around that talked about this idea that they were kind of. It was kind of this conspiracy, right? That they stole Jesus body. They made up the whole thing. But the reality is they remained so doggedly loyal and so unified, it's just too much. It's too much in the historical record to think those guys were lying or they were charlatans. It just seems really obvious, and it's not really contested that the apostles, including guys like Paul, genuinely believed what they were saying. We think this is real. We think Jesus rose from the dead, and that changes everything. [00:19:56] Those things are pretty normal in historical discussions. [00:20:00] The question is whether or not they were correct, right? [00:20:06] If there's not a really good argument that Jesus lived and died, and there's not really a good argument, they didn't really believe this. The question is, were they right? [00:20:14] Is Jesus God? He lived and died. Cool. But is he our savior? [00:20:21] Is he who he says he is? Can he actually claim victory over death and free us from our sins? Hold on to that question. [00:20:29] Hold on to that question. We're gonna wrap today around that a little bit. From day one, christians have claimed that Jesus literally, physically, bodily, rose from the dead, and that this was witnessed by tons of people. And that it is this act, this work that Jesus did that gives credence, that gives weight to their devotion, their claims, and the invitation for us to receive Jesus as our own savior and Lord. This has been the foundation of the faith from the beginning. Read on with me, starting in verse twelve. [00:21:02] Now, if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection from the dead? If there's no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God because we have testified wrongly about God, that he reasons, raised up Christ, whom he did not raise, if in fact, the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. [00:21:35] You are still in your sins. Those then who have fallen asleep in Christ, they have perished. And if we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone. [00:21:49] Paul brings this point home. [00:21:52] It all comes back to the resurrection of Jesus. It is the linchpin of our faith. It either really literally happened or it didn't. [00:22:05] You have to wrestle with that if you're going to engage Christianity on its own terms. [00:22:10] You have to understand, guys, this may seem shocking to you, but generally speaking, human beings don't rise from the dead, right? [00:22:18] And by the way, that has always been true. [00:22:23] I think sometimes we think like, oh, well, they were just fooled because they were dumb, old timey idiots. But, guys, Romans weren't magically more likely to believe in resurrection than you because they didn't have science or Reddit. That's not a thing. [00:22:38] In fact, they didn't have thousands of years of christian tradition in their culture to carry the idea of resurrection along. I would argue that they were less destructive disposed to believe in this idea of an afterlife and a resurrection than most of us are. But here's the deal, guys. [00:22:54] Without the resurrection of Jesus, Christianity is pointless. [00:23:00] It's pointless. In fact, it's worse than pointless. It is actively harmful if there's no resurrection. I had a pastor who would regularly say, Christianity is a terrible hobby, right? And guys, that is so true. [00:23:16] If Jesus didn't literally, factually, physically rise from the dead, then all christian teaching falls apart. And then all of a sudden, all the disciplines that christians engage in, all the suffering, all the financial giving, all the time, borne in all the cost of following Christ, has been wasted. [00:23:36] And the only life you have is this life with these 70, 80, 90 years, and you spent it doing that stuff, serving others, giving away your money, giving up your time, giving up every single weekend to go, oh my gosh, what a horrible waste, what a destructive thing. [00:23:56] Like, it's really important to wave through this. Christianity is a terrible hobby. [00:24:03] If it's true, it's worth your consideration. It's very important. If it's not, you shouldn't bother with it. [00:24:11] It doesn't work well as a self help philosophy to just help you self actualize and live your best life. Oh, I just. I'm not really worried about whether or not it really happened. You know? I'm just kind of like, I want to see my own heart and person resurrect away from all this toxic stuff. I've been. No, no, that's fine for an instagram post, but I'm here to tell you guys that's a terrible thing to do with your life. [00:24:35] If Christ has not been raised, go live a better life than this. [00:24:40] Don't waste your time on this, okay? I'm really glad no one got up and walked out when I said that. I had a little. I had a moment. [00:24:51] Oh, guys. [00:24:55] The reality is, without the resurrection, this whole thing falls apart. This amazing and audacious claim that Jesus rose from the dead. It is the singular claim upon which all of Christianity rises or falls. Read on with me in verse 20. [00:25:10] But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man for justice. In Adam, all die, so also in Christ, all have been made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits afterward at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom of God to the Father, when he abolishes all rules and all authorities and all power. For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death itself. For God has put everything under his feet. Now, when it says everything is put under him, it's obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. But when everything is subject to Christ, then the son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all, beloved, Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. [00:26:01] That is the claim of Christianity. Now, you may notice I told you to hold on to that question, right? You may notice Paul doesn't actually give some great intellectual proof here. [00:26:12] He doesn't. He just says, ah, but it's true. Isn't that awesome? [00:26:18] He's already told us there are plenty of eyewitnesses, including himself. And the reality is, Paul's experience of Christ is so real, intangible, and present that he sees no need to give evidence beyond that. [00:26:34] He essentially says, I saw Jesus. He really did rise from the dead. He taught this whole thing to me. And, guys, Paul is so certain, so dead certain of this truth that he self destructs his entire life on that belief. [00:26:53] Guys, it's important to catch that peace. The twelve apostles who follow Jesus, I'm not saying this to be mean to them, but they were nobodies before Jesus. Their historical significance comes from the fact that they followed him and gave their lives to him. But Paul, Paul was a rock star before Christmas, before he converted to Christianity. He kind of had everything his world had to offer. I mean, he had the equivalent of multiple phds in education. He was young, but still renowned as a rabbi. He was given the honor of serving on the Sanhedrin, kind of the highest authority amongst the jewish people. This dude was an up and coming rising rock star. [00:27:32] He was so well respected that when the jewish temple in Jerusalem began persecuting the church, he was the one they deputized to go and beat up and kill christians in other cities. And this is the guy who actively benefited from Christianity not being true, from it being a hoax. His career, his life, his fame, his security was built on it. When he gave his life to Christ, he lost all of that. [00:27:59] He lost his financial security, he lost his fame, he lost his church. History tells us he lost his family. [00:28:07] He lived the rest of his life wandering from place to place, being persecuted, beaten, and tortured, and his life ended early when he was arrested and beheaded for his faith. [00:28:19] This dude self destructed his entire life based on this belief because I met him. Can't do nothing about it. Sorry, I don't know what to tell you. You're talking about a guy who would have every reason to deny the resurrection. They go, no, the whole thing was a sham. No, they faked the whole thing. No, the whole thing was a scheme to destroy. No, no, he had every reason to believe that. But he met Jesus and he goes, oh, shoot, I'm wrong. [00:28:44] I'm so wrong, I have to literally change everything about my life. I am so wrong. This is the only truth that can matter to me until I die. [00:28:54] So, no, Paul's not super interested in giving us this thought out, philosophical, intellectual, apologetic reason. He says, I mean, I met Jesus. [00:29:06] I know he rose from the dead. [00:29:10] That was it. And by the way, you have to remember, too, Paul didn't even meet Jesus bodily. [00:29:16] He met him spiritually after Jesus had physically ascended into heaven. But the reality is, the reality is church. Once you meet the risen Jesus, the rest of it is a foregone conclusion. [00:29:31] Once you meet him, everything else follows after. The whole belief system. It all comes with it, because Jesus work, his power, his authority, that rose him from the dead, that conquered death and said death doesn't get to have this one. I'm going to breathe again. My heart's going to beat again. I'm going to walk out of this tomb, and I'm alive because I conquered death. That authority just says, you kind of have to deal with all the rest of it. [00:29:55] All the rest of it is just true. You just have to learn to deal with it. Which is essentially Paul's situation. [00:30:01] He meets the risen Lord and goes, oh, well, dang, that trumps literally everything I had. So, yeah, this is my thing now, guys. Jesus resurrection gives weight and credence to the entirety of the gospel story. Jesus himself, when he was questioned about whether or not he was truly the messiah, he said, look at my actions, look at my miracles, look at the ministry. I do, like, look at all of it, because the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate act of supernatural authority that speaks to the truth of all of his teaching. The God of the universe lived as one of us, but he lived without sin. He chose to die the death that sin rightfully earned, the just wrath of God. For sin was poured out on Jesus, and the spirit of God rose Jesus from the dead. And this act of pure power and will and authority placed even death itself under the feet of Jesus. [00:31:01] And the text tells us that there's actually more. As if that weren't good enough, there's more. Because Jesus didn't just die to pay the price for our sins. He doesn't just take the consequence for our sin. He also makes a way for us to benefit from his perfect righteousness. I liken it to this. I am a. I'm gonna use this word as air quotes. I like to garden, and I mean that, like, with air quotes. What I mean by that is every springtime I go, man, I want to plant some plants. And so I go and I plant a big garden, and then about a week into that, I go, oh, this takes ongoing work and maintenance, and I don't touch it again. And then I just go, man, why did I spend all the money on those tomato plants? So I liken it to this. Imagine you. You are me, and you get super hyped to build your garden, and your next door neighbor is also going to build this big, huge garden. So you put all the work in, you plant your garden, you do all that stuff, you get everything out there, but you, like me, are lazy. And so you stop caring for the garden immediately. And all summer long, you're just watching it out there, like, grow into, like, this just huge thicket of brambles and thorns. And, like, maybe there's a shriveled up, sad little tomato in there somewhere, but you're not going to go get it, right? And the whole while, your neighbor's garden is just perfect. And then harvest day comes along, and you're sitting looking at that thing out there going, I don't think I can get my mower in there. I think that will eat my mower. And your neighbor walks over and says, hey, most, your garden's a little rough. [00:32:29] And you're going, well, bet, you know, I've been busy the last couple weeks. And your neighbor goes, hey, listen, this isn't like a thing. I just. I love you, man. I want to go harvest your garden for you. [00:32:40] And he's got his tools and his gloves, and you go, no, don't do that. He goes, no, no, no, I want to. It's cool. I got the time. I want to do it. And so he goes out there and he's harvesting your garden. And you see him pulling out the thorns and the brambles and getting his hands scraped up and cut. And the whole time you're kind of like, do you want, like, some gloves? He's like, no, I'm good. I'm good. And then at some point through this process, he turns around, he goes, hey, hey, I left that empty basket there. Why don't you take that and go harvest my garden, man? [00:33:10] I can't do that. He goes, no, no, no. Seriously, seriously. We got plenty. You go take it. And so you get to walk over and pick all the fresh, delicious, beautiful veg and fruit from this garden. It's perfectly tended, while your neighbor, who actually did the work is over, pulling out all your brambles and thorns. I know it's a silly image, guys, but it's one that strikes me, because this is what Jesus does for us. [00:33:33] He doesn't just take our sin. I mean, my goodness, that would be enough. [00:33:40] But he doesn't just do that. His generosity, his love, is so radical, so powerful, so huge that he goes beyond that and he gives us his righteousness. [00:33:51] So Christ's resurrection then, becomes a first fruit. It becomes a precursor to our own resurrection. [00:34:00] Beloved, this is the gospel invitation. Jesus victory over death becomes our victory. [00:34:08] He gives it to us. [00:34:10] This, beloved, is the love of God in action. [00:34:14] Because Jesus work accomplished in the cross and in that empty tomb, guys, sin because of that sin is not given the final word on you and on me, Christ, it's the final word. He gets to define your relationship with death and eternity. Come on. [00:34:30] The love of God put into sacrificial action for you and me, guys, that's what the gospel is. Paul said it like this to the roman church. I think it's perfect for us today. It says this while we were still helpless at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now you have to understand, rarely will someone die for a just person, although for like a good person, perhaps someone might dare to die. But God, God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, still sinners, still in our rebellion, still in our apathy, still in love with the world, still seeking out all the things that we know poison us and poison the world, while we were still sinners, rebelling from Christ, pushing him away and everything that word entails. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [00:35:28] How much more, since we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath? For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. Then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? [00:35:45] And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. [00:35:54] Jesus, work for you, his death, his resurrection. They prove his love. [00:36:00] Jesus puts his life where his mouth is when it comes to his love for you, his death, his resurrection, beloved, that is his love for you in action that is poured out for you and for me. Even in our sin, even in our doubts, even in our failures, even in our pride and arrogance, even in our apathy, Jesus responds to you right now, regardless of what state your heart is as you come to him, regardless of how open you are to him, regardless of how much you are rebelling against him. Christ's heart for you, his response to you is love. He steps toward you in your rebellion, in your sin and your doubt and your apathy. He gives himself to you. He loves you. [00:36:44] He loves you, church. He really, really loves you. [00:36:50] Jesus described his own work like this near the end of his life, before he was arrested, he said, the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many beloved. Jesus knew exactly what he signed up for. [00:37:06] He knew exactly what was coming. [00:37:08] But he loves you. [00:37:11] He puts his life where his mouth is. He serves you. He gives himself for you. And you need to hear this, church. You can respond to that today. [00:37:20] You can engage that today. The love of God is glorious and strong and it saves us. [00:37:28] And you can respond to him. [00:37:30] Love of God is strong. It's stronger than the power of death. It's able to make right the age old injustice of sin in death. He doesn't destroy the sting of death to ease our fears. No, no, no. He's writing the injustice of death and he's restoring all things to his original design. He is drawing his creation to life, to harmony, to peace, to holiness. And you are invited into that glorious reality even now, church, I'm going to end with just three quick thoughts. If the band wants to come back up, if you're here today and you know in your hearts that you don't know Christ, I would strongly encourage you to consider him today. [00:38:15] Consider him today. [00:38:17] I told you to hold on to that question. Right? Well, how do I know? How do I know? [00:38:23] I'm going to tell you. [00:38:25] You're not going to find a way to dot every I and cross every t and satisfy that to your intellect's desire, because that's not the way it works, by the way. This isn't me telling you like, oh, faith just means you just. You just take a leap of faith. I'm not telling you to turn your brain off. I'm not telling you to turn your brain off. [00:38:45] What I'm telling you is this. [00:38:47] You won't be able to satisfy it because it's an ancient historical claim and it's cosmic in scale. [00:38:56] The stakes on the reality of Jesus resurrection are so insanely high, I promise you, you will not be able to satisfy yourself factually to the point where you go, yeah, that's good enough to represent mistakes. That's just not how your brain works. [00:39:13] It's not how your brain works. [00:39:15] Did he do it? Did he raise it? It's a big question. I would say, guys, it's a big enough question that it's worth you giving it the time and attention it deserves. [00:39:26] And that's what I want to challenge you to consider today. [00:39:30] If God is who the Bible says he is, it seems to me that it's in line with his character that he would kill the curse of death on our behalf. That seems like that's in line with how the Bible describes him. [00:39:45] Jesus said, seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be open. I encourage you today, if you're not in Christ, if you wrestle with this question. But how can I know? But how can I know? [00:39:56] Step toward Christ with an open mind and open heart. [00:39:59] Consider him. [00:40:01] Study his word. [00:40:03] Talk to a pastor, talk to a friend in the faith. Seek him with an open mind and open heart. And just see what he does. Because I'll tell you, guys, it's not going to be that you read the perfect apologetic book that answers all your questions and goes, okay, cool. Now I'm going to do this. [00:40:19] You're going to meet him. [00:40:22] You're gonna meet him. [00:40:24] And I mean that. Like, literally, spiritually, but literally, you're gonna meet him and experience him. [00:40:34] Guys, you can be saved by him. You can be saved by him today. And right now, if you're here today and you have wandered far from Jesus, and I'm here to tell you, it does not matter the reason. We all do this like sheep, we all go astray. We wonder, beloved, no, he loves you. It does not matter what drew you away from him. [00:40:55] If you've fallen into a sin pattern that you can't get out of, if you've wrestled with doubts and found the doubts are winning, if you have experienced hurt and trauma, if you have felt pushed out and pushed away by those who claim the name of Christ, it does not matter what has drawn you far from Christ. I'm here to tell you that he loves you and he is calling you. [00:41:16] He longs for you to return to him. [00:41:19] There is no shame and judgment in the voice of Christ. For you today, he has joy, his invitation. He is calling you today, beloved. [00:41:29] And for those of us today who are just convinced, you know, like, I love Jesus, I just came here to celebrate today. [00:41:37] I want you to know he's calling you as well. [00:41:41] Step up. Let's join him in his work. Let's go with him to call, to call the lost, to seek, to save, to invite the lost sheep to find their shepherd. [00:41:53] In acts 18, this is where I'm going to close. When Paul was ministering to Corinth, it was taking so long. He was facing all this opposition, and he began to be discouraged. [00:42:02] So the Holy Spirit spoke to him in a dream one night to encourage him. He said this. I love this line. He says, I am with you. [00:42:11] No one will lay a hand on you. No one will hurt you. Because I have many people in this city. [00:42:17] Jesus was telling Paul, you can't give up. I'm planting a church here in Corinth. And I know you can't see it right now, and I know it doesn't look like what it's looked like for you up to this point, but I've got people here, and I want you to stick with it. [00:42:32] I imagine that came back to his mind as he's writing this letter going, I know you guys are in Christ. You just need to get your act together. [00:42:40] Beloved, Jesus has many in this city. [00:42:46] He has many in this room. He has many in your family. Jesus sees you. He knows you. He loves you. And beloved, today he is calling you. [00:42:58] Let's answer. [00:43:04] I want to give us a minute to respond, and here's what I'd like you to consider doing. [00:43:11] I'd like you to consider answering Christ. [00:43:14] If you can do that by sitting in your chair and praying for a few moments, that's a beautiful way to do that. If you want to grab one of our pastors and you've seen us up, we've all been up here chatting. We would love to grab you right now and pray with you and chat if you want to. If you have something you want our pastors or our prayer team to be praying over, there's a box in the back of the room. You can write down a prayer request and we will gladly lift that up on your behalf. If there's something you feel like God was challenging you with or telling you this morning, I would encourage you and write that down. Or even better, like tell it to the person you're with at church today. I feel like God's telling me this. I need to engage this. [00:43:53] Let's take a few minutes to meet with Christ, to hear him calling, to respond as makes sense to where your heart's at. And then in just a few minutes, we'll sing a song and we'll take communion and we'll end out our time. Love you guys. Do the work with Christ. You need to do.