Sermon Central
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Hope, Resurrection Hope
Contributed by Lorraine Greeff on Jul 22, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus gave you hope when he died on the cross for us all
Hope, Resurrection Hope
1 Corinthians 15:1-6, 12-22
Why should you take the Resurrection of Jesus anymore seriously than you take the arrival of a UFO or an Alien Abduction.
I would like you all to close your eyes, clear your mind and picture the words I am about to say....
Just suppose.... that on any morning just after breakfast, all of us in this world are knocked to our knees by a percussive and ear-shattering thunderclap. Snow swirls, leaves drop from trees, the earth heaves and buckles, buildings topple and all is dark. The sky comes ablaze with a bright slivery light. Just then as all the people of the earth look up, the heavens open - the clouds pull apart - revealing an unbelievable, immense and radiant Zeus like figure, towering above us like a hundred mountains. He is frowning darkly as the lightening plays across His face. He then points down to you and me exclaims out loud for everyone to hear....
'I HAVE HAD QUITE ENOUGH OF YOUR HUMAN MINDS, BE REST ASSURED THAT I DO MOST CERTAINLY EXIST.'
(open your eyes)
WOW, Well I for one would be convinced that God does exist but why should we need to be reminded when Jesus died and rose again. Why is this so hard for us to understand, to grasp that over 2000 years ago, Jesus rose and conquered the grave, took the keys of death and is alive today as He was then. Why do we always want signs, to see to if it can happen.
You need to know that right now you are in the best place you could possibly be on Easter Sunday. You are here on the most important day of the Christian year, the cornerstone of the Gospel, the good news of the resurrection of Jesus.
think of it this way.....
If there was no resurrection there is no life giving power, if there is no resurrection there is no power in the gospel to change a person's life. If Christ was not raised from the dead there is no divinity in His nature, if Christ did not come back to life there is no salvation from sin, THERE IS NO ETERNAL LIFE.
You cannot be a Christian and not believe in the bodily resurrection of the Lord. There are two groups of Christians - Those who stand firm in the word of their salvation and then there is everyone else. for some of you sitting here you are thinking 'hat is it about these people, do they have something that I don't, do they have something that I am looking for, longing for?
So ok you are a Christian, you believe, you go to church, you do what is asked? Well people the devil also believes in God and guaranteed he knows the bible better than you do!
Do you live the word preached to you?
You see it was not His teaching, it was not His miracles and it was not that He died. His death on a cross was not unique, thousands of people were crucified in that time period.
IT WAS HIS RESURRECTION !!!
When we die, that is it, we go to heaven or hell. The resurrection was God's stamp of approval that He still loved His son and the work was done. It is not just that our sins were dealt with but that we were made pure and righteous before God by His Blood. Because of what Jesus did for us, God sees us as perfect. Remember God has accepted us just as we are because Jesus became our righteousness.
He is the same today as yesterday and will be tomorrow and forever. You need to know this inwardly and celebrate it on a daily basis. The resurrection is the one thing that's brings us hope. Is it true of you this day, if not it can be. You can meet Jesus, you can chose life or death, you can be born again because of the resurrection.
Sin does not win - Jesus does
Death does not win - Jesus does
John 11:25-26 says - 'I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.'
Solidify your faith today, dwell on the resurrection of Jesus, let it give you a firm foundation.
Our sins are gone, we are born again, we have a hope for the future and a relationship with the one true living God. He is the temple, and He is the place - the only place - where human beings can meet God. He is the sacrifice you need, the Priest you need and the God you long for.
He can cure all and heal all, He protects and guides you in all.
Come to Him.
