Pastor
Mike and I also pray for Sunday’s like this. There is no better evidence of a
changed life than a life that has been baptized, and having 6 kids and teens
baptized this morning is awesome.
I
truly believe that baptisms should be a normal part of our Sunday morning gatherings.
We should be celebrating changed lives when we gather together as the Body of
Christ.
You
need to know that we are going to continue pursing life change, because, “The local
church, when it’s working right, is the hope of the world” (Brad Powell)
This
morning we are going to continue on in our current sermon series called: “The Walking
Dead”
The
main idea behind this series is that Jesus makes dead people come alive! And we are
looking at people in the Bible who died, but because of a touch from Jesus came
back to life.
Before
we look at our scripture lesson for today, I want to look at the key verse of
this series. It’s found in Colossians 3.
Paul is speaking
to followers of Jesus, and he says: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in
God.” (Col. 3:3, NIV)
In
other words all who claim
to be followers of Jesus are the walking dead.
Paul
said the same sort of thing again in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (NIV)
If
you are a follower of Jesus, you are a dead man walking. If you are a follower
of Jesus, you are a dead woman walking. We who follow Jesus are the walking
dead.
The Bible tells
us in 1 Corinthains 6:19: "You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NIV)
Followers of
Jesus belong to Jesus.
If
you flush the walking dead statement out a little further, if you are not a
follower of Jesus, you are the walking dead as well. You are dead to Christ and
dead in sin.
Romans
8:7 says: “…the
sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it
never will.” (NLT2)
Every
person on planet earth is a member of the walking dead.
Some people are dead to Christ
and alive in sin, and other people are alive in Christ and dead to sin.
So
which member of the walking dead club do you belong to?
To
figure that out, listen to this verse: “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17, NIV)
The
Bible is clear: Followers
of Jesus are dead to sin and alive in Christ!
As
true as that statement is, it’s only possible because of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Very
quickly, I would like to walk you through a couple more passages of Scripture,
the first one coming from Luke 23.
Just
to give you a little context, Jesus had been put on trial for claiming to be
the King of the Jews, and after a mock trail, He was sentenced to die.
Jesus
was then forced to carry the cross to the place of the Skull- also known as
Calvary, where He was nailed to the cross.
Two
criminals were also nailed to the cross and were put in opposite sides of
Jesus, “one on
his right and one on his left.” (Luke 23:34, NLT2)
This
brings us to Luke 23 verse 44: “By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the
whole land until three o’clock.
45 The light from
the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was
torn down the middle.” (44-45, NLT2)
Let’s pause here
for just a second. The meaning of verse 45 is that because of Christ’s death,
we have direct access to Almighty God.
We don’t have to
go through the Holy Place, or even the Most Holy Place—not that an ordinary
person could anyway—but now, because of Christ’s death, we have unbroken access
to God the Father.
Someone say
“That’s Good News”!
Back to our
text: “Then
Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those
words he breathed his last.” (Luke
23:46, NLT2)
What that verse
means is that Jesus died. His life was over. He no longer went around
preaching, healing, and teaching. He was dead.
All the people
in the crowd that day knew that Jesus was dead. They knew what happened when a
person hung on the cross: They died.
Further proof of
this fact is revealed by what happened next. Let’s pick up our reading in verse
50:
“50 Now there was a
good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high
council, 51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other
religious leaders. (That is to say, he was not in agreement with the
killing of Jesus.)
He was from the
town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.
52 He went to
Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took the body down from the cross
and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that
had been carved out of rock.” (Luke 23:50-53, NLT2)
ILLUSTRATION- I have been a pastor for a
little over 11 years.
In that time I have conducted my fair share of funerals, and they have
all ended the same way: with me putting the deceased person in the ground.
This same thing
happened to Jesus. Joseph—and
Nicedemous—knew that a dead person is buried when they die.
So, they wrapped
His body in burial cloth, and placed it in the tomb, and a stone was placed in
front of the tomb signifying that Jesus’ earthly life was over.
Jesus died. We understand this
truth. Dead people, once they die, are dead. They don’t come back to
life…Unless God intervenes.
Look now at Luke
chapter 24: “very
early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
3 So they went in,
but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 As they stood
there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.
5 The women were
terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why
are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?
6 He isn’t here! He
is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the
Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and
that he would rise again on the third day.”
8 Then they
remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the tomb to tell
his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened.
10 It was Mary
Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told
the apostles what had happened. 11 But the story sounded like nonsense to the
men, so they didn’t believe it.
12 However, Peter
jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty
linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.”
(Luke 24:1-12, NLT2)
What had
happened? I’ll tell you what happened: Jesus had risen from the dead!
Death couldn’t
hold Jesus; the grave couldn’t hold Jesus; sin couldn’t hold Jesus; so, what’s
holding you?
What is keeping
you from experiencing the resurrection of Jesus Christ? What is holding you
back from fully surrendering everything over to God?
Ø Is
it a sickness? Jesus took care of that!
Ø Is
it a sin? Jesus took care of that!
Ø Is
it a mindset? Jesus took care of that!
Ø Is
it finances? Jesus takes care of that!
Ø Is
it death? Jesus took care of that!
The Bible
reminds us that: “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so
that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are
healed.” (1 Peter 2:24, NLT2)
It is only by the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are—and can be—made whole.
So what is
keeping you from following Jesus? Is it a particular sin? Is it a past hurt?
Whatever it
might be, I want you to know that this day represents a fresh start for you.
Whatever it is that is holding you back, this day tells you that it doesn’t
have to be like that.
The resurrection
of Jesus Christ means that you can be made new, you can move from death to
life.
Do you need to
come alive today? Do you
need the resurrection of Jesus to transform you from someone who is dead to
Christ and alive in sin into someone who is dead to sin and alive in Christ?
That’s the hope
of Easter Sunday! That’s the promise of Jesus’ death and life; He can—and will-make
you into a new person.
I wonder how
many dead people in this place need to be made new?
And again, this
is only possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s only
though His shed blood that we can be cleansed and it’s only by receiving the
work of Jesus that you can be dead to sin.
So, who will
find Jesus today; who needs to turn from their sin and find the grace and
forgiveness of Jesus?
This idea of the
walking dead is clearly seen in the Bible, and Paul talks about it again in
Ephesians chapter 2: “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your
many sins.
2 You used to live
in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the
powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who
refuse to obey God.
3 All of us used to
live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful
nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone
else.
4 But God is so
rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because
of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only
by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
8 God saved you by
his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift
from God.
9 Salvation is not
a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10 For we are God’s
masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good
things he planned for us long ago.” (Eph. 2:1-6, 8-10, NLT2)
God has a plan
for each person in this room. God’s plan involves saving us by the grace of
Jesus!
So who needs to move from being a
zombie for Satan and become a zombie for Jesus?
I want you to know
today Church that the Resurrection of Jesus changes everything. It changes
everything because Jesus makes dead people come alive.
Jesus didn’t
come to end your life; He has come to give you abundant life!
So as the band
comes back, I want to call us to action and I’m praying that two things will
happen this morning.
The first: If
there is someone who has never invited Jesus into their life to forgive and
cleanse them of sin—or if you walked away from Jesus, I want you to have the opportunity
to meet the resurrected Jesus face to face.
If you would
like to move from death to life, I’m going to ask you to stand where you are.
Standing will signify your decision to follow Jesus.
The second thing
I’m praying will happen is for those of us who have been following Jesus for a while,
and are still struggling with a particular sin: I’m going to ask you to stand
where you are as well. This will signify your desire to move from death to
life.
As we sing the
truth that our Redeemer lives, if you want to invite Jesus to live inside of
you, or if you want victory over a particular sin in your life, I’m going to
ask you to stand as we sing…
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