WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.280 Happy Easter. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. All right. 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:11.599 Thanks. It's good to see everybody here this 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.800 morning, and it's exciting to have visitors with 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:16.960 us this morning. If you're new here, if you've 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.440 never visited with us before, if you have been 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:21.859 here before, something that you should know about 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:25.440 everyone here is that we are all just a bunch 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.940 of sinners who have been redeemed by the mercy 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:31.120 and grace of God. Amen. So I know that it may 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.439 look like we all have it together and we're all 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.520 wearing our Sunday best, our Easter finest. I 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.200 was going to wear short sleeves today, but Anna 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.200 told me no. So I'm in a suit because it is hot. 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:46.420 But that's our story. We are not perfect. There 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:49.240 are no perfect people here, even though we are 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.579 in church. We are just stories of God's grace. 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:56.460 And that's a common story that we all have. And 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:58.939 the thing that I've learned from being a Christian, 00:00:59.310 --> 00:01:02.570 is that it's always great when people know the 00:01:02.570 --> 00:01:06.129 new you in Christ. But the hard part about being 00:01:06.129 --> 00:01:10.030 a Christian in the town you grew up in is that 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:12.750 even if people don't necessarily know the new 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:15.469 you, they certainly have not forgotten the old 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:18.750 you. And they will always think about you in 00:01:18.750 --> 00:01:21.909 that way. And so I wanted to share a story that 00:01:21.909 --> 00:01:23.629 happened years ago. Actually, I thought it was 00:01:23.629 --> 00:01:25.750 a few years ago, but then I looked and turns 00:01:25.750 --> 00:01:28.819 out it was over 10 years ago. There's a guy that 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:31.859 Anna and I went to high school with and for whatever 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:34.959 reason, he thought it would be a fun idea to 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:40.000 get on Facebook and post about every single person. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.359 He took our yearbook and went person by person 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:46.879 in alphabetical order and said exactly what he 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:49.620 thought of that person that he went to high school 00:01:49.620 --> 00:01:55.000 with. Oh yeah, just wait till you see. So I decided 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.730 I would share with you. what he had to say about 00:01:57.730 --> 00:02:00.930 me. You'll see it on the screen. A lot of it's 00:02:00.930 --> 00:02:06.569 redacted for obvious reasons. This is what he 00:02:06.569 --> 00:02:10.990 said about me. What an idiot this guy was. There's 00:02:10.990 --> 00:02:13.729 a list people can make of the stupid redacted 00:02:13.729 --> 00:02:17.250 stuff he did. Just immature and never grew out 00:02:17.250 --> 00:02:20.349 of the ninth -grader mentality of being a redacted, 00:02:20.409 --> 00:02:24.110 unlikable person because we all are redacted. 00:02:24.270 --> 00:02:31.349 Horrible. at that age. So that's what he thought 00:02:31.349 --> 00:02:34.669 about me. And I tell people all the time that 00:02:34.669 --> 00:02:37.830 God has an amazing sense of humor. So do you 00:02:37.830 --> 00:02:39.330 want to know what God did in this situation? 00:02:39.870 --> 00:02:42.650 I read this post, a few days later I go to CVS, 00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:45.210 pick up some prescriptions because I was sick. 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:51.150 Guess who was working at CVS? Did you guess the 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:53.770 guy who wrote the post? Because you'd be right. 00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:56.409 So I see this guy working at CVS and I'm not 00:02:56.409 --> 00:02:59.689 the type of person who avoids hard, awkward conversations. 00:03:00.169 --> 00:03:01.590 So I just went right up to him and I was like, 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:04.930 hey man, what's going on? How are you doing? 00:03:05.250 --> 00:03:06.930 And he was like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, good to 00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:09.009 see you, good to see you. And he asked me, you 00:03:09.009 --> 00:03:10.169 know, he's like, what have you been up to since 00:03:10.169 --> 00:03:12.389 high school? And I was like, I'm glad you asked. 00:03:13.610 --> 00:03:16.569 Let me tell you what God has done in my life. 00:03:16.729 --> 00:03:19.789 And I was studying Christian studies at North 00:03:19.789 --> 00:03:21.509 Greenville at the time, so I got to tell him 00:03:21.509 --> 00:03:24.069 my entire testimony and share my testimony of 00:03:24.069 --> 00:03:26.889 what God had done in my life since high school. 00:03:27.169 --> 00:03:29.189 And I ended that conversation by telling him, 00:03:29.210 --> 00:03:32.229 man, I was like, hey, I saw your post on Facebook. 00:03:33.270 --> 00:03:35.370 And everything you said was actually exactly 00:03:35.370 --> 00:03:39.050 right. That is exactly who I was, but that's 00:03:39.050 --> 00:03:41.370 not who I am, thanks to what Jesus has done in 00:03:41.370 --> 00:03:45.900 my life. That Alex is dead. a new one has been 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:48.360 born in his place. And the great thing is that 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.219 story is not unique to me. I mean, maybe the 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:53.340 bit about the Facebook and the yearbook thing, 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:55.919 that's unique to me, okay? You might not have 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:57.680 had a high school friend do that. He wasn't a 00:03:57.680 --> 00:03:59.360 friend, but a guy you went to high school with. 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:03.180 But the story that you share in common is that 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:06.159 the person you were has died, and you are a new 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:08.900 person thanks to Jesus, and that is only possible 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:11.870 because of his resurrection. If Jesus never came 00:04:11.870 --> 00:04:14.889 out of that tomb, if He never rose from the dead, 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:17.730 we would still be dead in our sins. We would 00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:20.550 still be enslaved to the flesh. But because He 00:04:20.550 --> 00:04:24.850 is alive, we have new life in Him. And that's 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.050 why the great thing about Easter is it's not 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:30.329 just a celebration, it's an invitation. The point 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:32.550 I want you to understand this morning is because 00:04:32.550 --> 00:04:35.930 Jesus has been raised, we are invited to live 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:39.790 in the fullness of the resurrection life. Because 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:42.850 Jesus has been raised, we are invited to live 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:47.449 in the fullness of the resurrection life. The 00:04:47.449 --> 00:04:50.670 resurrection of Jesus literally changes everything 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:53.449 for us. Because when we look at the resurrection 00:04:53.449 --> 00:04:57.029 of Jesus, we are seeing God write an entirely 00:04:57.029 --> 00:05:01.009 new story. A story unlike all of the ones that 00:05:01.009 --> 00:05:02.670 came before it. I don't know if you've ever thought 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:05.189 about this before, but if you look in the Bible 00:05:05.189 --> 00:05:10.100 and you see the story of Joseph, Joseph is presented 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:14.959 as a foreshadow of Jesus the Provider. And you 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.079 read about his story in Genesis. How does the 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.939 book of Genesis end? It ends with the death of 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:23.680 Joseph. And then you have the story of Moses. 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:27.560 And Moses is presented as a foreshadow of Jesus 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:31.019 the Deliverer. But you read the book of Deuteronomy, 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.620 and how does it end? It ends with the death of 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:37.279 Moses. Then you get to Joshua and Joshua is presented 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.600 as a foreshadow of Jesus the conqueror and then 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:42.860 you read the book of Joshua How does it end with 00:05:42.860 --> 00:05:45.560 the death of Joshua? But then you get to the 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:49.040 Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John and they do 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:51.879 not end with death do they church they end with 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.600 resurrection and that changes everything and 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.399 So the question I want us to consider this morning 00:05:57.399 --> 00:06:00.939 is how do we live in the fullness of the resurrection 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:06.300 life? How do we live in the fullness of the resurrection 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:10.660 life? And to start, I think it means understanding 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:13.319 the nature of God's grace. I want you to, if 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.680 you have your Bibles, look again at verse 1. 00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:19.420 Paul asked the question, what shall we say then? 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:23.420 Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:28.399 By no means. How can we who died to sin still 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.740 live in it? All right, so we need to get our 00:06:30.740 --> 00:06:33.250 bearings. Because we're just jumping right into 00:06:33.250 --> 00:06:35.889 the book of Romans and if you've missed the whole 00:06:35.889 --> 00:06:38.629 first part You kind of have some catching up 00:06:38.629 --> 00:06:41.829 to do so for the first five chapters of Romans 00:06:41.829 --> 00:06:44.490 Paul spent the majority of those chapters telling 00:06:44.490 --> 00:06:49.009 people The horrible news that everyone is dead 00:06:49.009 --> 00:06:52.889 in their sin He said of mankind that all people 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:55.610 have sinned and fallen short of the glory of 00:06:55.610 --> 00:06:59.180 God He has said that no one is good, no one does 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:01.620 good, no one seeks after God. You might say, 00:07:01.699 --> 00:07:03.779 well, Pastor, that's not fair. I feel like I'm 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:05.480 a pretty good person. I try to do good things. 00:07:05.579 --> 00:07:07.620 I'm nice to other people. How can you say I'm 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:09.860 not a good person? I didn't say that. The Bible 00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:11.480 did. So you'll have to take it up with the Bible. 00:07:11.819 --> 00:07:14.279 But this is God's assessment of humanity. He 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:16.740 says all people have sinned, all people are dead 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:19.120 in their sin, and there's not a thing they can 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:22.199 do about it. No one seeks after God. No one is 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:25.490 good. No one does good. It's all pretty bleak 00:07:25.490 --> 00:07:28.610 news. And it only gets worse because Paul goes 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:31.790 on to say that when Adam and Eve sinned against 00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:36.930 God, they became corrupted by sin. And they were 00:07:36.930 --> 00:07:39.110 corrupted in such a way that this corruption, 00:07:39.110 --> 00:07:41.430 they passed it down to all people because all 00:07:41.430 --> 00:07:44.610 people come from Adam and Eve. And what they 00:07:44.610 --> 00:07:46.350 passed down, this corruption, is something we 00:07:46.350 --> 00:07:49.100 refer to as a sin nature. You might say, well 00:07:49.100 --> 00:07:51.879 pastor, what's a sin nature? A sin nature basically 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.839 means that all people are born with a bent towards 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:00.040 sin. Like the natural default of all humans is 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.600 going to be sin. And you know, even if you didn't 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:05.639 grow up in church, even if you're not here every 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.720 week, and you're unaccustomed to all this theological 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:11.819 language, you know this is true just by experience. 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:15.680 Because as parents, you're going to have to teach 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:19.439 your children a lot of stuff. The one thing you 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:21.439 will never have to teach your children how to 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.199 do is sin. Those little boogers come out of the 00:08:24.199 --> 00:08:27.879 womb knowing how to sin, okay? That is just thanks 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:30.259 to Adam and Eve. That's the sin nature that we've 00:08:30.259 --> 00:08:34.139 inherited. We have this bent towards sin. And 00:08:34.139 --> 00:08:36.259 so since all people have a sin nature, guess 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:39.860 what they kept doing? Sinning. And the Bible 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:42.860 says that sin brought death into the world. And 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:46.460 so Paul says this whole world became a place 00:08:46.669 --> 00:08:51.669 where sin and death ruled and reigned. And that's 00:08:51.669 --> 00:08:55.049 the bad news. But then as Paul starts Romans 00:08:55.049 --> 00:08:57.470 6, he gets to the good news and he says, where 00:08:57.470 --> 00:09:01.990 sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. Now 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:05.190 that sounds great, does it not? Hey, this bad 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:08.009 news, it's really bad. And this is a lot of sin. 00:09:08.070 --> 00:09:10.190 And Paul is saying, there's a lot of sin here, 00:09:10.210 --> 00:09:13.289 but God's grace is greater. Sin abounded, grace 00:09:13.289 --> 00:09:15.509 abounded all the more. This sounds great, does 00:09:15.509 --> 00:09:19.909 it not? Here's the problem. People heard Paul 00:09:19.909 --> 00:09:22.730 say this, and they no doubt heard Paul teach 00:09:22.730 --> 00:09:24.409 this, and they started thinking to themselves, 00:09:25.450 --> 00:09:31.789 hey Paul, if you're saying where we sin, God's 00:09:31.789 --> 00:09:34.149 grace is going to abound, shouldn't we just keep 00:09:34.149 --> 00:09:37.269 on sinning so that grace will keep on abounding? 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:40.679 That's exactly the question that's raised here 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.539 shall we continue in sin that grace may abound 00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:46.799 and notice how Paul answers He says by no means 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:49.980 and in Greek is even stronger. It's a phrase 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:54.019 that means it's unthinkable It means such a thing 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:58.019 should never even be Suggested and yet there 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:01.179 are those who suggest it I've told you many times 00:10:01.179 --> 00:10:04.279 now of a growing movement. That's very concerning 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:07.289 to me as a pastor It's called the hyper grace 00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:09.549 movement. And it's basically a movement that 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:12.190 teaches people that you don't need to repent 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:15.289 of your sins. You don't need to ask for God's 00:10:15.289 --> 00:10:18.950 forgiveness. You don't need to trust in Christ 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:21.549 and have this repentant heart and follow Him. 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:23.590 They even teach that you don't even need to be 00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:26.169 obedient to the commands of God. All you have 00:10:26.169 --> 00:10:29.009 to do is just live your life however you want 00:10:29.009 --> 00:10:31.250 because they say God's grace is just going to 00:10:31.250 --> 00:10:33.460 cover everything anyways. And God's just going 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:35.259 to forgive everything anyways. And so they say 00:10:35.259 --> 00:10:37.919 it doesn't matter what you do or how you live 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.700 because of God's grace. And the problem is, if 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:45.120 you have this mentality, it actually demonstrates 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.940 that you've never actually experienced the grace 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:51.220 of God in Christ in the first place. Because 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:53.820 if you had truly experienced God's grace, you 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:56.980 would never want to abuse God's grace. You would 00:10:56.980 --> 00:11:00.240 never want to continue doing something that God 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.820 hates and is displeasing to him just because 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:06.519 you think that his grace is going to cover it. 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:10.059 I mean, a good way to think about this is my 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:14.700 wife Anna and I, we have our marriage vows printed 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:18.539 and framed and hanging above our bedside tables 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:21.600 in our room. And they serve as a reminder of 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:24.120 our commitment to each other and our covenant 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.950 before the Lord. And in our marriage vows, both 00:11:27.950 --> 00:11:32.629 of us say the phrase, I will never divorce you. 00:11:34.809 --> 00:11:37.950 Now, let me ask you a question. What would it 00:11:37.950 --> 00:11:42.789 say about me if I said, well, look what she said. 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:46.230 I will never divorce you. Not only did I hear 00:11:46.230 --> 00:11:48.250 her say it, it's printed and it's framed and 00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:50.370 it's hanging in our room. She said she'll never 00:11:50.370 --> 00:11:52.509 divorce me. So that means I can just do whatever 00:11:52.509 --> 00:11:56.519 I want. I can treat her like dirt. I can be domineering. 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.159 I can be unfaithful. I don't need to pursue her. 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:00.740 I don't need to love her. I don't need to lead 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:03.580 her. I can do whatever I want because she said 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:07.279 she's not gonna divorce me. Would anyone in here 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:09.799 this morning say that I actually love my wife 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.740 and was committed to her if I thought like that? 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.840 No, right? Or as Paul says, by no means. Absolutely 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:21.580 not. So how on earth does it make any sense? 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.240 For someone to claim to be a Christian who lives 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.159 in sin and continues in sin just because they 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:30.799 say God's grace is going to cover it anyways 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.179 God's just going to forgive everything anyways 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:36.860 It doesn't make sense that the Christian is one 00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:39.860 who having received the grace of God has died 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:43.080 to sin It would never even cross his mind to 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:47.500 abuse God's sin or God's grace and continue Abusing 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:50.039 God's grace by continuing in sin. It does not 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.019 cross his mind You see, the point Paul is making 00:12:53.019 --> 00:12:56.620 here is that grace is not freedom to sin. Grace 00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:02.220 is freedom from sin. Grace is not freedom to 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:07.460 sin. Grace is freedom from sin. In other words, 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:11.840 God's grace does not give us permission to sin. 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:16.139 It gives us the power to stop sinning. The Bible 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:19.139 says before we became Christians, we were enslaved 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:21.850 to sin. That we had this sin nature, and we had 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:24.129 this bent towards sin, and there was nothing 00:13:24.129 --> 00:13:27.950 we could do to get ourselves out of the power 00:13:27.950 --> 00:13:32.009 of sin. We were in bondage to it. And the Bible 00:13:32.009 --> 00:13:35.350 says here, we've now received God's grace. And 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:38.370 His grace has broken the bonds that sin held 00:13:38.370 --> 00:13:42.289 over us, and now we have the power to stop sinning. 00:13:43.049 --> 00:13:44.850 You see, this is where so many people get the 00:13:44.850 --> 00:13:47.230 faith wrong. So many people that I've talked 00:13:47.230 --> 00:13:50.860 to. They think becoming a Christian means I've 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:53.740 got to stop doing all the things I really like 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:56.700 doing and I've got to start doing things that 00:13:56.700 --> 00:14:00.039 I really have no interest in doing and That's 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:02.740 not what it means to be a Christian at all But 00:14:02.740 --> 00:14:05.279 to become a Christian it means that God gives 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:09.080 you a new heart So that you hate the things you 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:11.360 used to love and you love the things you used 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:14.860 to hate That's why the Bible says in first John 00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:18.659 5 3 for this is the love of God. In other words, 00:14:18.759 --> 00:14:21.299 this is how you can see the love of God in your 00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:24.600 life, that we keep His commandments, and His 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.100 commandments are not what, church? Burdensome. 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:31.279 Of course the commandments of God are burdensome 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:34.120 to those who are dead in their sins. The Bible 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:36.580 says the natural man does not accept the things 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:39.480 of God. The Bible says the natural man does not 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:41.919 submit to the things of God. He does not obey 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.559 the law of God. In fact, the Bible says in 1 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:48.019 Corinthians 2, 14, that they are folly to Him, 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.639 meaning stupid. They think it's ridiculous. And 00:14:51.639 --> 00:14:55.259 so naturally, humanity does not love God. They 00:14:55.259 --> 00:14:59.440 do not obey God, and they don't want to. But 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.179 then the Bible says once you become a Christian, 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:04.379 and you repent of your sins and you trust in 00:15:04.379 --> 00:15:08.379 Christ, God gives you a new heart where you actually 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:13.940 delight in obeying God. You actually long to 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:16.759 do the things that are pleasing to God. You love 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:21.460 what God loves and you hate what God hates. And 00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:24.120 when you receive this new heart from God, it 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:26.679 means that you no longer desire to keep on living 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:29.940 in sin. It means that you no longer desire to 00:15:29.940 --> 00:15:32.860 abuse God's grace, because if that's your mentality, 00:15:33.100 --> 00:15:34.960 folks, I hate to be the one to tell you this, 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:36.919 but it means that you're not actually a Christian. 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:40.100 It means that you've never actually experienced 00:15:40.100 --> 00:15:44.679 God's grace in Christ. It means you are still 00:15:44.679 --> 00:15:48.259 identifying with Adam and the reign of sin and 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:52.360 death. But Christians are identified by our union 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:54.519 with Jesus. Notice what the Bible says here in 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:58.379 verse 3. It says, Do you not know that all of 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:01.879 us who had been baptized into Christ Jesus were 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.379 baptized into his death. We were buried, therefore, 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:09.360 with him by baptism into his death, in order 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.519 that just as Christ was raised from the dead 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.860 by the glory of the Father, we too might walk 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:17.080 in newness of life. For if we have been united 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.519 with him in a death like his, we shall certainly 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:22.740 be united with him in a resurrection like his. 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:25.460 And we know that our old self was crucified with 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:28.139 him in order that the body of sin might be brought 00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:31.860 to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:36.379 to sin. Now, Paul's got a long explanation here. 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:38.559 Let me break this down for you. To start off, 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:41.139 it's important to understand that Paul is not 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:44.139 talking about water baptism here. When he's mentioning 00:16:44.139 --> 00:16:46.299 baptism, I know he says baptism a couple times, 00:16:46.620 --> 00:16:48.779 he's not mentioning water baptism, okay? That's 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:50.820 not what he's referring to. He's not saying, 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:53.200 hey, this is how you know that you're really 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:56.120 a Christian. This is how you know that you've 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:59.440 truly been united with Christ. You've been baptized. 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:01.840 That's not what he's saying here. All right. 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:04.359 Plenty of people have gotten wet who have never 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:07.059 gotten saved. OK, so baptism cannot save you. 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.460 He's talking about the baptism of the spirit. 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:13.220 It's the same thing he mentions in First Corinthians 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:17.450 12 13. He says, for in one spirit we were all 00:17:17.450 --> 00:17:21.029 baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves 00:17:21.029 --> 00:17:24.390 or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. 00:17:25.210 --> 00:17:27.569 He's saying that when the Holy Spirit convicted 00:17:27.569 --> 00:17:30.910 us of our sins, and He caused us to be born again, 00:17:31.269 --> 00:17:37.059 He put our old selves to death with Christ. We 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:40.539 died with Christ we died to our sins and then 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:44.200 we are made alive with Jesus Just as Jesus has 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:47.160 been raised the Bible says we are raised with 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:51.160 him through faith in Christ and When we are raised 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.279 with Jesus, we're no longer affiliated with the 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.660 kingdom of darkness or with the reign of sin 00:17:57.660 --> 00:18:01.380 and death But we're now affiliated with Jesus 00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:05.660 in his kingdom It's a new identity that we receive 00:18:06.509 --> 00:18:09.009 I was listening to the testimony recently of 00:18:09.009 --> 00:18:13.910 a man named Coco. And Coco used to be a high 00:18:13.910 --> 00:18:17.329 ranking member of the gang M18. It's a Mexican 00:18:17.329 --> 00:18:20.910 street gang and he was covered in M18 tattoos 00:18:20.910 --> 00:18:23.250 and it's really important in that culture because 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:26.670 your tattoos are seen as a public declaration 00:18:26.670 --> 00:18:29.670 of your loyalty to the gang and they identify 00:18:29.670 --> 00:18:32.609 you with the gang. And Coco ended up getting 00:18:32.609 --> 00:18:35.569 arrested, going to prison. And while he was in 00:18:35.569 --> 00:18:38.430 prison, He went to a couple chapel services, 00:18:38.470 --> 00:18:41.690 and he began to hear the gospel preach for the 00:18:41.690 --> 00:18:45.390 very first time. And after a few times of going 00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:48.730 to these chapel services, the Holy Spirit convicted 00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:53.569 Coco of his sins, showed him the grace of Jesus 00:18:53.569 --> 00:18:56.910 Christ, and Coco repented of his sins, and gave 00:18:56.910 --> 00:19:00.470 his life to Jesus. He became a Christian behind 00:19:00.470 --> 00:19:04.109 bars, and has this wonderful testimony. But as 00:19:04.109 --> 00:19:06.660 he was talking, He was saying that he made the 00:19:06.660 --> 00:19:09.299 very difficult decision to leave the game right 00:19:09.299 --> 00:19:12.140 after becoming a Christian. And it was dangerous 00:19:12.140 --> 00:19:15.980 because one of the main slogans of M18 is the 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:19.839 only way out is in a box. And so he knew by leaving 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:23.579 the game he could be put to death. But he trusted 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:25.799 that this is what Jesus was calling him to and 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:29.140 that it was worth it. And he said that after 00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:32.180 he became a Christian, he also made the very 00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:36.380 difficult decision to cover up all of his gang 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:40.920 tattoos with Christian tattoos. And I love what 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.500 he said, this is what he said, he said, my old 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:47.720 tattoos affiliated me with the gang and they 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:52.279 identified me as belonging to the gang. My new 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.819 ones affiliate me with Jesus and tell the world 00:19:55.819 --> 00:20:01.059 that I belong to him. Now, the reason I tell 00:20:01.059 --> 00:20:03.700 you that story, is to say that you need to go 00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:06.359 get some Christian tattoos sometimes this week. 00:20:07.819 --> 00:20:09.960 Right? No, obviously that's not the point, okay? 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:12.180 The point is not you need to go get Christian 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:14.799 tattoos. The point is there's a clean break, 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.640 right? You see that. Coco said, I was identified 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.599 with this old world and this old kingdom and 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:24.200 this reign of sin and death and when I came to 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:26.220 faith there was a clean break with that world 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:29.269 and in embracing this new world. I was accepting 00:20:29.269 --> 00:20:32.609 a new identity. I was accepting new affiliations. 00:20:32.869 --> 00:20:35.609 The world was no longer going to say, I belong 00:20:35.609 --> 00:20:38.289 to the gang. They're going to say, I belong to 00:20:38.289 --> 00:20:41.309 Jesus. You see, that's the same point that Paul 00:20:41.309 --> 00:20:43.750 is making here. He's saying that none of our 00:20:43.750 --> 00:20:47.190 past affiliations have any bearing on our new 00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:51.869 identities. None of our past affiliations have 00:20:51.869 --> 00:20:58.710 any bearing on our new identities. And this is 00:20:58.710 --> 00:21:01.829 really important for everyone to hear and understand 00:21:01.829 --> 00:21:04.190 this morning. If there's one thing you hear me 00:21:04.190 --> 00:21:06.410 say this morning, I want you to understand and 00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:11.450 hear me say this. You have not sinned too much 00:21:11.450 --> 00:21:17.509 for God to love you and forgive you. That's something 00:21:17.509 --> 00:21:19.410 that so many people struggle with because they 00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:21.670 look at their lives and they say, I haven't been 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:25.039 in church since last Easter, Pastor. And if you 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:27.640 look at what I've done since then, my life is 00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:30.160 filled with sin. I'm not living in obedience 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:33.079 to Jesus. I'm not pursuing Jesus. I've got a 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.259 past that is so messed up. I shouldn't even be 00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:38.519 here this morning. And they become convinced 00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:41.000 that they are too far gone for God. And I want 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:43.339 you to know this morning, there is no such thing. 00:21:44.099 --> 00:21:47.200 You are not too far gone for God. You are not 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:51.019 beyond the reach of God's saving grace in Christ. 00:21:52.100 --> 00:21:53.559 You might say, well, Pastor, you don't know what 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:55.240 I've done. How can you say that? I don't need 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:56.799 to know what you've done to know that it's true. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:01.119 You cannot out sin the cross of Christ. You cannot 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:04.920 out sin God's grace. Your sins may be great, 00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:08.960 but God's grace is greater. I mean, do I need 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:11.099 to go back and read you what my former classmates 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:14.650 said about me? And that's, listen, that's not 00:22:14.650 --> 00:22:16.549 even the worst thing that anyone has said about 00:22:16.549 --> 00:22:18.730 me, and it's certainly not the worst thing someone 00:22:18.730 --> 00:22:22.369 could say about me, okay? But the point is that 00:22:22.369 --> 00:22:25.690 that's not who I am anymore. I have a new identity. 00:22:26.089 --> 00:22:28.670 And the reason I am here today as a Christian 00:22:28.670 --> 00:22:32.930 is not because I earned my salvation. It is not 00:22:32.930 --> 00:22:35.990 because I was a good person. It's not because 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:39.630 I've worked really, really hard to turn my life 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:43.069 around and get in God's good graces. It's not 00:22:43.069 --> 00:22:45.869 because my rap sheet just wasn't too long for 00:22:45.869 --> 00:22:51.549 God. I was the chief of sinners. And yet God 00:22:51.549 --> 00:22:55.029 saved me and redeemed me to display His saving 00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:58.990 power in Christ Jesus. That's why we are all 00:22:58.990 --> 00:23:01.809 here today, is it not? It's not because we are 00:23:01.809 --> 00:23:04.910 great, it's because Jesus is great and He is 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:08.569 making His power known by saving people like 00:23:08.569 --> 00:23:14.160 us. Jesus did not rise from the grave so that 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:18.039 people who just aren't too bad might have the 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:21.519 opportunity to avoid hell. Jesus rose from the 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:27.119 grave to invite the worst people to join him 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:31.099 in newness of life and join his kingdom. And 00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:33.279 I tell you this this morning because one of the 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:37.250 most common lies The enemy tries to get people 00:23:37.250 --> 00:23:40.569 to believe is that you are unlovable and unusable 00:23:40.569 --> 00:23:43.809 because of all the stuff that you've done. Because 00:23:43.809 --> 00:23:47.250 of all the ways that you have fallen short. He 00:23:47.250 --> 00:23:49.329 comes to you and he says, how could God ever 00:23:49.329 --> 00:23:52.980 love you? What makes you think that God would 00:23:52.980 --> 00:23:55.799 want someone like you? Why do you believe that 00:23:55.799 --> 00:23:59.079 God would ever use someone like you? On and on 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:02.480 the enemy goes. But listen, God delights in saying, 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:06.140 you show me the most notorious sinner. You show 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:08.579 me the person with the most messed up past, and 00:24:08.579 --> 00:24:11.980 I will show you how I can redeem them and use 00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:15.119 them to accomplish great things for my kingdom's 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:20.920 sake. Listen to me church if God can raise Jesus 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:25.880 from the dead He can save you and he can use 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:29.019 you and he can redeem you and he can forgive 00:24:29.019 --> 00:24:33.240 you You are not too far gone and when you accept 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:36.740 this invitation into life in Christ none of your 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:40.319 past sins None of your former affiliations have 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:43.700 any hold on you anymore How good is that to hear 00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:46.119 this morning? I mean, if it's not good for you 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.259 to hear, maybe you've just grown up in church, 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:51.059 been in church too long, maybe your past isn't 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:54.099 as messed up as mine, but for someone like me, 00:24:54.579 --> 00:24:56.900 the best news I can hear is that God no longer 00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:58.819 looks at me as that messed up sinner anymore. 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:03.119 He doesn't look at you as that liar anymore, 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.500 that cheat, that gossip. God has given you a 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:11.349 new identity in Jesus. And he says that you are 00:25:11.349 --> 00:25:14.450 a saint through faith in Jesus, that you are 00:25:14.450 --> 00:25:18.470 a child of the living God, a son or a daughter 00:25:18.470 --> 00:25:21.910 of the king. And so none of those old affiliations, 00:25:22.430 --> 00:25:24.809 none of those old identities have any bearing 00:25:24.809 --> 00:25:29.849 on you anymore. Thanks to Jesus. And if we really 00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:33.690 are children of God, then we need to live as 00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:36.910 children of God and as citizens of his kingdom. 00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:41.079 Notice what he says in verse seven. He says, 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:45.420 for one who has died has been set free from sin. 00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:48.359 Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:51.700 that we will also live with him. We know that 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:53.599 Christ, being raised from the dead, will never 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:56.660 die again. Death no longer has dominion over 00:25:56.660 --> 00:26:00.589 him. For the death he died he died to sin once 00:26:00.589 --> 00:26:04.009 for all but the life he lives he lives to God 00:26:04.009 --> 00:26:07.890 So you also must consider yourselves dead to 00:26:07.890 --> 00:26:12.910 sin and alive to God in Jesus Now what's the 00:26:12.910 --> 00:26:15.549 Bible saying here? The Bible is saying that when 00:26:15.549 --> 00:26:21.430 Jesus died he put sin to death for good Jesus 00:26:21.430 --> 00:26:24.529 took the power of sin and death with him into 00:26:24.529 --> 00:26:28.160 the grave and they stayed there But Jesus did 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:33.059 not. When He rose again, He proved that the reign 00:26:33.059 --> 00:26:36.420 of sin and death was done, and it has no dominion 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:39.619 over Him anymore, and now the grace of Christ 00:26:39.619 --> 00:26:43.359 reigns in its place. And you see, this is something 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:45.660 that sometimes people mess up about the Easter 00:26:45.660 --> 00:26:48.519 story. If you pay attention to Christians, you'll 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:52.559 start to notice this. For whatever reason, Christians 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:57.099 sometimes act as though Friday, is a day of defeat. 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:01.059 It's called Good Friday, right? Not Black Friday, 00:27:01.160 --> 00:27:04.579 it's Good Friday. But they look at Friday as 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:06.240 a day of defeat, and they say, well, that's the 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:09.299 day that the world killed Jesus. That's the day 00:27:09.299 --> 00:27:11.460 that they nailed Him to a cross, and He was suffering 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:13.539 in agony, and He breathed His last, and He was 00:27:13.539 --> 00:27:16.519 crying out to His Father. And they say, that 00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:18.880 was a day of defeat. You're not going to find 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:22.339 that in the Bible. The Bible says Friday was 00:27:22.339 --> 00:27:26.400 victory. That was the day that Jesus defeated 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:30.420 sin, death, and Satan and put them in the grave 00:27:30.420 --> 00:27:35.019 for good. Friday was victory. Sunday is vindication. 00:27:36.140 --> 00:27:38.700 Friday showed the world that the Father demands 00:27:38.700 --> 00:27:41.980 a sacrifice and a payment for sin. Sunday showed 00:27:41.980 --> 00:27:44.460 the world that he had accepted Jesus' offering. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:50.019 And the Bible is saying here, if you have been 00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:53.230 buried with Christ, and you have been raised 00:27:53.230 --> 00:27:58.109 with Christ, then you too have died to sin. Sin 00:27:58.109 --> 00:28:01.849 has no power over you anymore. Sin has no dominion 00:28:01.849 --> 00:28:05.490 over you anymore. You are now living the resurrection 00:28:05.490 --> 00:28:09.410 life and you were under the reign of grace. And 00:28:09.410 --> 00:28:12.029 so the point that he's making here is living 00:28:12.029 --> 00:28:15.690 the resurrection life means leaving the grave 00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:21.619 behind. Living the resurrection life means leaving 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:27.740 the grave behind. When you think about the story 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:31.319 of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, it's 00:28:31.319 --> 00:28:33.259 an amazing story, is it not? It's a miracle. 00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:38.019 Lazarus has been dead for four days. It means 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:40.740 he's super dead. No chance of coming back. That's 00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:42.359 the technical term for it. I don't want to get 00:28:42.359 --> 00:28:47.180 into it, but it means he's super dead. He's dead 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:50.630 dead, okay? No chance of coming back. Jesus goes 00:28:50.630 --> 00:28:55.009 to the tomb and says, Lazarus, come out. People 00:28:55.009 --> 00:28:57.589 think it's ridiculous. Everyone looking is like, 00:28:57.609 --> 00:29:00.230 Jesus, you know the technical term. He's dead, 00:29:00.250 --> 00:29:03.970 dead. He's not coming out of there. And yet Lazarus 00:29:03.970 --> 00:29:06.789 starts to walk out of the tomb. The most ridiculous 00:29:06.789 --> 00:29:09.309 thing Lazarus could have done in that moment 00:29:09.309 --> 00:29:11.869 was step out of the tomb and immediately turn 00:29:11.869 --> 00:29:15.990 around and go back into the tomb. The tomb is 00:29:15.990 --> 00:29:20.690 for dead people. And He's been made alive. And 00:29:20.690 --> 00:29:23.869 the same thing is true for you. If you are a 00:29:23.869 --> 00:29:27.529 Christian, you've been made alive in Christ. 00:29:28.589 --> 00:29:31.130 You are no longer part of the kingdom of darkness. 00:29:31.230 --> 00:29:34.109 You are no longer part of the kingdom of Satan. 00:29:34.369 --> 00:29:36.890 You have left that kingdom. You have left that 00:29:36.890 --> 00:29:40.509 grave behind. So you need to live in the light 00:29:40.509 --> 00:29:43.269 of Jesus' kingdom and not go back to that grave 00:29:43.269 --> 00:29:46.210 again. I was trying to think of a way to explain 00:29:46.210 --> 00:29:48.990 this to y 'all in a way that would be understandable. 00:29:50.529 --> 00:29:52.329 So I was reading a bunch of theology books and 00:29:52.329 --> 00:29:55.529 I was like, okay, I know what I gotta do. Have 00:29:55.529 --> 00:29:59.109 you seen the movie The Jungle Book? Possibly 00:29:59.109 --> 00:30:03.650 read the book The Jungle Book? The story of Mowgli. 00:30:04.349 --> 00:30:07.609 He's a little boy, born in the jungle, raised 00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:11.029 by wolves, spends his childhood acting like an 00:30:11.029 --> 00:30:15.089 animal. Growling at people. climbing trees, swinging 00:30:15.089 --> 00:30:18.829 around. And in that story eventually Mowgli has 00:30:18.829 --> 00:30:21.269 to make the decision to leave the jungle behind 00:30:21.269 --> 00:30:25.369 and actually go and join the man village. And 00:30:25.369 --> 00:30:27.230 it's a crucial part of the story because he's 00:30:27.230 --> 00:30:31.009 breaking from this former way of life and he's 00:30:31.009 --> 00:30:35.230 embracing this new way of life. It would make 00:30:35.230 --> 00:30:37.930 no sense for the story to continue. And then 00:30:37.930 --> 00:30:40.509 Mowgli woke up the next day in the man village 00:30:40.509 --> 00:30:42.609 and went back to the jungle and started crawling 00:30:42.609 --> 00:30:45.849 around on all fours again. Started growling at 00:30:45.849 --> 00:30:50.049 people again. He's left that kingdom behind. 00:30:50.730 --> 00:30:52.869 He was never meant to live in that kingdom. He's 00:30:52.869 --> 00:30:55.769 a man, not an animal. And so he has to leave 00:30:55.769 --> 00:30:59.930 that behind and join this new kingdom. And that's 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:02.799 exactly what Paul is saying about us here. He's 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:05.559 saying if we've been raised with Christ, why 00:31:05.559 --> 00:31:08.839 would we go back to that old kingdom? Why would 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:11.819 we go back to living like we're spiritually dead? 00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:14.200 Why would we go back to a kingdom that Jesus 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:18.660 died to deliver us from? You see, resurrection 00:31:18.660 --> 00:31:21.700 life means that something's been left behind 00:31:21.700 --> 00:31:25.740 and it's our old self and that grave is empty 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:29.339 for a reason. Jesus did not come out of the tomb 00:31:29.339 --> 00:31:32.299 so that we could stay in the tomb. And Jesus, 00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:35.920 when he came out of that tomb, he was inviting 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:39.359 us to follow him out of it. He was inviting us 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:42.819 to leave death behind. And we have not been raised 00:31:42.819 --> 00:31:45.140 from the dead so that we can run back to what 00:31:45.140 --> 00:31:49.579 we've been saved from. If you've been raised 00:31:49.579 --> 00:31:52.319 with Christ, then you have to leave the grave 00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:55.440 behind. You have to stop clinging to the habits, 00:31:55.619 --> 00:31:58.500 the desires, and the identities of the old you. 00:31:58.700 --> 00:32:01.359 They were nailed to the cross, and so we don't 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.980 need to try to resurrect something that Jesus 00:32:03.980 --> 00:32:08.440 buried. Leave it buried. Leave the grave behind. 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:13.240 This is why I say that Easter is not just a celebration. 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:17.430 It's an invitation. Yes, we're celebrating Jesus 00:32:17.430 --> 00:32:20.970 rising from the grave, triumphing over sin, death, 00:32:21.130 --> 00:32:24.690 and Satan, but it's also an invitation. We are 00:32:24.690 --> 00:32:28.990 invited to join Jesus in His death, to put our 00:32:28.990 --> 00:32:32.490 old selves and our old sins to death. We're invited 00:32:32.490 --> 00:32:35.490 to join Him in the resurrection life, which is 00:32:35.490 --> 00:32:37.769 a life where His grace gives us freedom from 00:32:37.769 --> 00:32:41.680 sin. where we receive new identities, where we 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:45.059 leave the grave behind for good. Jesus did not 00:32:45.059 --> 00:32:48.680 just rise from the dead to show you that He is 00:32:48.680 --> 00:32:52.480 alive. Jesus rose from the dead to make you alive. 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:56.599 And so we need to accept His invitation this 00:32:56.599 --> 00:33:00.000 morning and step into this newness of life. Start 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:02.680 living the resurrection life and leave the grave 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:06.759 behind for good. Amen? Let's pray.