Sermon Central
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It Is Finished
Contributed by Anthony Zibolski on Apr 23, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: He is Risen! He has finished what the Father desired for our lives. Easter is more than a story, it is the greatest act of love and compassion ever shown to mankind by a loving God.
It is finished
Introduction- He is Risen! He has risen indeed! Amen. Happy resurrection day!
Let’s Pray-
Here we are on Easter Sunday- He has risen- He has risen indeed.
That was the greeting of the early church so that they would not forget the resurrected and promised return of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ!
His resurrection was New beginnings for all those who choose to follow and believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and that Christ did what He said he would do.
Over 500 eye witnesses record and verify that the dead Jesus on the cross Good Friday had been resurrected Easter Sunday and was seen on the road to Emmaus.
Easter is not about being the greatest story ever told, though it is good reading and will literally keep your attention as you read.
Easter is much more than that! It is the greatest act of love and the greatest act of suffering for others that this world has ever seen or will ever see- bar none.
It is recorded in all the gospels in various ways- Not because one has it right and the others don’t, it is eye witnesses sharing the event as they saw it and the truth of the resurrection documented by believers and unbelievers, true historians having written down and proven that Jesus Christ not only walked this earth but was resurrected from this earth and He is coming again to get His church
We can take that truth to the bank!
I can think of many people who have had their views changed by the evidence of the empty tomb.
The great Christian theologian C.S. Lewis, who before conversion was a professor at Cambridge University in the 1800’s, set out to prove that the resurrection was a hoax, and the evidence he himself found changed his life because he found the resurrection to be true.
Lee Strobel, a journalist in the 1980’s, a known atheist set out to prove that the resurrection never happened and that there never was a dead Jesus walking but that the disciples moved the body of Jesus- the proof that he found changed his life because he found it to be just like the scriptures and history said it was- so today if you are trying to disprove the resurrection, as long as you keep the facts straight and look at the evidence, Jesus can change your life too!
“Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”
I love the words of Jesus but I also love the implied words of Jesus- (Paraphrased) Before long, the world won’t see me anymore- because they will think I am dead… but you will see me. Because I was once dead and now resurrected, you who are dead now can be resurrected from sin and live forever with me who conquered the grave.
Let’s read of the resurrection from Luke 24:1-8
That never gets old!
Matthews account speaks of an earthquake and the stone being rolled away- Luke’s account, the women arrive at the tomb and find the stone already rolled away and they went inside to prepare the body of Jesus for burial, they found the tomb empty and the body of Jesus was gone.
They encountered two angels who asked them why they were looking for a living Jesus among the dead.
He is not here! He has risen!
Remember how He told you these things while he was with you?
Scripture says-“The son of man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”
“It is finished” these were the words of Jesus a few days before.
“Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.”
“Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
The question that needs to be answered is What is finished?
What is it that Jesus did that changed the world?
Jesus…Father, they do not know what you are doing, but I do! Forgive them that they don’t know but accomplish in me what your plan was all along and that was that I would be the sacrifice for their sins!
The thieves hanging on the cross beside Jesus; one was mocking and cursing God, the other seeing you for who you are and asking Jesus to “Remember him when you enter into your kingdom.” Jesus promising that “Today you will be in paradise with me.”
What was it that Jesus finished?
“For the Son of Man (Jesus) came to this earth to seek and save those who are lost.”
So in his last words, Jesus was communicating that the work he came for was accomplished.
The task of salvation for the world was completed in his work on the cross.
