Happy Resurrection Day, or as most people know
it, Easter. And I know that word has some controversy
around it, but what we're celebrating is new
life. It's resurrection. It's arisen from the
dead testimony. And so this morning, we proclaim
that we serve, that we live for. that we have
been redeemed and saved by a risen Savior, a
resurrected Lord. We don't serve someone laying
in a tomb. We didn't gather here for someone
who is dead. We gathered here for someone who
is alive. Today is special for followers of Jesus.
Today is a special day because we're not just
remembering an ancient story. This isn't just
a fairy tale, but this is something that really
happened. It is the greatest moment in all of
human history. Today is the day that we recognize
that we celebrate with an extra emphasis a risen
king. And because we're talking about a great
comeback story, I want us to look at the life
of a man named Douglas Bader. In 1939, Douglas
Bader, a young British pilot, was training for
his job. He was in the military. He was a pilot,
and he was training for fighter missions. And
in his training, he had a crash. His plane crashed,
and because of his injuries, he had to have two
or parts of both of his legs amputated. One of
his legs was amputated just below the knee. One
of them was amputated just above the knee. And
so as you can imagine, that would make flying
pretty complicated for Mr. Bader, right? It made
life difficult for him, but he didn't give up.
Even though he was told he may not walk again,
he was told he definitely wouldn't fly again.
Well, Douglas Bader was given two prosthetic
legs. And if you can imagine prosthetic legs
in 1939, I can't imagine they were that great.
I mean, when I think of it, I think of like the
peg legs that pirates have. Either way, Douglas
Bader got these prosthetic legs. He learned how
to walk again. He learned how to run again. He
was able to train and eventually get back in
active duty. And Douglas Bader, after relearning
how to fly, he got back in the military and became
one of the most successful pilots in British
military history. He didn't just fly again. He
had renewed life. Because I want you to imagine
the thing that you have trained for so long to
do, the thing that you knew was your purpose,
that you felt was your calling, the thing that
you believed was your life is taken away from
you. And maybe you're laying in a hospital bed
and you're thinking, it's all over. My dream's
been cut away from me. Maybe for you, it's living
in this life where you feel like things just
don't go right, like nothing ever seems to work,
and you just feel like you're as good as dead.
Maybe it's you've been trying to achieve something.
You've been trying to become something, and you
just can't get there. You can't seem to make
any headway, and it feels like your legs have
been cut out from under you. I don't know what
your dead moment looks like. But I do know that
we all have that place where if we're not careful,
we can live in the tomb. And for Douglas Bader,
he's laying there and he's probably feeling sorry
for himself. But I've got to imagine that somebody
that accomplishes what he accomplished, he couldn't
have stayed in that sorrowful state too long.
I mean, I imagine he probably pretty quickly
thought, I'm going to fly again. I don't care
what that doctor says. I'm going to have my life
again. I don't care what the doctor says. And
I think about Jesus. laying in the tomb. I mean,
he's dead. But I have to imagine that in whatever
spiritual state he was in, he knew. He knew that
this was not it. This wasn't the end of his story.
And for you, whatever it is, if it's the failed
relationships, if it's the crushed dreams, if
it's the sin that keeps trapping you, if it's
those moments in life where you just keep hearing
that whisper in your ear of, this is just who
you are. Or this is just what you're going to
be. This is just your circumstances. This is
your life. I don't know what your dead moment
is. But the resurrection of Jesus shows us that
we should never, ever believe that what's dead
has to stay dead. And so first truth this morning
that I want us to know is that what is dead does
not have to stay dead. Because where? there is
death. Jesus shows us that there is a chance
for new life. And to illustrate that a little
bit more, I think we have to go back to the gospel.
And so we go to the gospel of Luke in chapter
23, and we see the reality of what Jesus endured
first, the death that he had to suffer. So I
want you to read this with me. If it's underlined,
I'd like you to read it out loud. I know there's
a lot of text on the screen, but if you can see
that, if not, in your Bibles, Luke 23, verses
32 through 43 in total. Two others who were criminals
were led away to be put to death with him. And
when they came to the place that is called the
skull, there they crucified him. And the criminals,
one on his right and one on his left, and Jesus
said, Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. and they cast lots to divide his
garments. And the people stood by watching, but
the ruler scoffed at him, saying, He saved others,
let him save himself, if he is Christ of God,
his chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him,
coming up and offering him sour wine and saying,
If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
There was also an inscription over him, This
is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals
who were hanged railed at him saying, are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the
other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God
since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
And we indeed justly for we are receiving the
due reward of our deeds. But this man has done
nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. And he said
to him, truly I say to you, today you will be
with me. and paradise. Jesus, completely innocent,
having done no wrong in his life, having never
sinned, having never committed any crimes, Jesus,
perfectly innocent, willingly steps into suffering.
willingly steps into a situation where he takes
on punishment, where he takes on a beating, where
he's mocked, where he has to suffer, where he's
rejected and enduring this brutality, hanging
between two criminals as if he were a criminal
himself. Jesus in his perfect innocence does
this. And for who? The people who would mock
him? The people that would laugh at him and ridicule
him, the people that would pretend they don't
know him, the people that would betray him, the
people that would beat him? Yes. Yes. Jesus would
do that. And I believe he would do it a thousand
times over for those people. And guess who else
he did it for? Us. Because there are days where
if I'm not careful, I act like I don't know Jesus.
And maybe it's not like I actively pretend I
don't know him, but I live in a way that the
world sees me and they're like, there's no way
that person knows Jesus. One of the worst insults
I could ever get is when someone says, you're
a preacher? Yeah, I know. And maybe for you,
you haven't heard someone directly say, you're
a Christian? You're a follower of Jesus? the
one who was full of grace, who was sinless, who
was merciful to death, he died for us, even when
we don't live for him. And just like the man
on the cross, Jesus forgives. And he looks at
the crowd. He looks at the people scoffing at
him, for the soldiers mocking him, for the man
next to him, ridiculing him, and he says, Father,
forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.
And I don't want you to mistake that for weakness.
Jesus forgiving, Jesus showing mercy, Jesus showing
grace, there is not weakness. That is strength
to a degree that I can't even imagine because
we live in a world that says, if they hurt you,
hurt them back. We live in a world that says,
if they're going to kill you, kill them first.
But Jesus says, put me on the cross. I'll take
it. And Lord, God, give them life through my
death. It's a grace that is so bold that we can't
even imagine it. And right there next to him,
you see the gospel in real time. This man who
admits his guilt, who realizes that he deserves
where he's at. You see a man who looks to Jesus
and he admits his guilt and he says, Lord, would
you remember me when you get to your kingdom?
Essentially he's saying, would you give me access?
Would you just remember me enough? And when I
hear that, I think about Lazarus. And when Lazarus
and the rich man, the rich man goes down to Hades
and Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom and the rich
man is looking up to heaven and he's saying,
would you just give me a drip of water? Well,
I can't give a drip of water to somebody I don't
know exists. And so I think this criminal is
saying, Lord, would you just grant mercy for
even a sinner like me? And Jesus says, absolutely.
Today you'll be with me in paradise. That's the
gospel. That's the Jesus way. It's a man who
doesn't have time to clean himself up. A man
who doesn't have time to earn anything or get
everything right and check all the boxes and
dot all the I's and cross his T's. This is a
man who just has to place his faith in who Jesus
is. And so I want to make this clear as possible.
Jesus died in our place for our sin. He rose
again so that we could be forgiven. So that we
could have more than just new life. So that we
could have full, abundant life. Eternal life.
That's the good news. And the good news is that
what looks like defeat on the cross, what looks
like the end of the story, what looks like the
moment that it all ends and we close the curtains
and it's over, what looks like defeat is actually
the setup for the greatest victory in history.
Because there's more to the story. It's not over.
And this is how the story continues in Luke chapter
24, verses 1 through 12. But on the first day
of the week, at early dawn, they went to the
tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And
they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
But when they went in, they did not find the
body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed
about this, behold, two men stood by them in
dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened
and bowed their faces to the ground, the men
said to them, why do you seek the living among
the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember
how he told you while he was still in Galilee
that the son of man must be delivered into the
hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the
third day rise. The tomb is empty. They just
witnessed this death. They've probably spent
the last three days sobbing. And you've mourned
the loss of a loved one before. I mean, you know
what that feels like, to grieve, to feel like
you can't do anything but cry, to feel like there's
no hope for tomorrow, to feel like there's no
reason to keep going. Maybe for you, it was like
you just couldn't even get up off the couch.
You couldn't get out of the bed. You couldn't
turn the lights on because you were just so sorrowful.
And to that, we look at it. And that's why we
say for the Christian, we don't grieve like the
world grieves because we know there's more to
this. And for these disciples, for these followers
of Jesus, they're grieving. But what the angel
wants them to know and what Jesus is trying to
show is we don't grieve like the world grieves
because there's life on the other side of this
tomb. Why are you looking for the living among
the dead? Why are you grieving? Didn't he tell
you? Didn't he tell you that he was going to
live again? Didn't he tell you that death would
be defeated? And this wasn't random. It wasn't
unexpected. At least it shouldn't have been because
Jesus had promised it. God promised it way before
any of these people were ever on earth. This
was something they should have known was going
to happen because as I like to say, God promised
it and we serve the ultimate promise keeper.
Our God has never once not fulfilled his promises.
And so when Jesus tells them and when God tells
them, when the prophets had told them that the
son of man would come, he'd live, he would die,
he would be buried and he would rise again. When
that was the promise made, the promise was going
to be kept and you could bank on it. And what
we see is resurrected life. And I love the question
the angel asks, why do you seek the living among
the dead? He's not here, but he's risen. He's
alive. You know, they came expecting a dead man.
They came like we go to the tombstone of our
loved one. Maybe we put flowers on the tombstone
and we make sure it looks good. That's what they
were doing. They were coming to make sure Jesus
was good, but he wasn't there. He wasn't there
for them to mourn. He wasn't there for them to
grieve. He wasn't there for them to lay by his
tombstone to sob. He was risen. God interrupts
that sorrowful expectation of death with life.
And I hope you hear this today. Our God still
interrupts sorrowful death with life. Spiritual
death and physical death. Again, the Christian
doesn't grieve like the world grieves. Because
we know that there's something beyond this. And
in the spiritual sense, Yeah, we may feel dead.
We may feel like we're separated from God. We
may feel like we just, we can't get our life
right and nothing seems to be going right. We
may feel like we've tried and we've tried and
we've tried, but we just don't seem like we have
that abundant life. We don't have that new life
that Jesus promised. But what I want you to know
is if you will give your life to God, he absolutely
will resurrect it. It just requires you actually
dying to yourself. Because something can't be
risen from a grave if it had never died in the
first place. And so we walk around and we say,
I just don't feel like I've got that new life
that Christians talk about. I don't feel like
I've got that resurrected life that Christians
talk about. And the question I would ask is,
have you died? How can you be resurrected? How
can you rise again a new life if you never murdered
your flesh? And so we look at this, and our God
is still a promise keeper. And if he promised
redemption, if he promised resurrection, I'm
telling you it will be true. We find ourselves
looking for life among, or we find ourselves
looking among dead people. Maybe we're living
in a dead space. But we were called to be made
alive. Jesus rising from the dead, coming out
of the grave, leaving the tomb empty. That is
the assurance of life for us because it's the
ultimate promise kept. And I don't know about
you, but when people keep their promises and
over time they keep keeping their promises, they
build equity with me. Maybe you've heard somebody
say, hey, haven't I earned the benefit of the
doubt? And if you're like me, some people would
look at me and be like, no, you haven't, because
you flake. But for Jesus, for God, he has never
flaked. He's earned the benefit of the doubt.
And he offers not just life, but a better life.
He offers full, abundant, eternal life, a life
that is different from the world. It is the Jesus
way, the way that looks brand new, the way that
is distinctly recognizable. That's the life that
he offers. As one writer put it, the resurrection
is not the reversal of a defeat, but the unveiling
of a victory. When victory happens, you get the
gold medal. You get the nice jacket. My brain
goes to NFL Hall of Famers and they get the gold
jacket. And I got to tell you, if I was an NFL
Hall of Famer and I had a gold jacket, I'd wear
that thing everywhere. Because I would want people
to know exactly who I am. I'd go to Walmart and
before I get out of the car, throw the jacket
on. Just so people know. That's the life Jesus
offers. He offers a life that when people see
it, they recognize exactly who you are. It's
a life that if you go out in the community, they
know the type of person you are. They know the
person that you say you serve. And you don't
just say you serve it. You live like you serve
him. They know your savior. They know your king.
They know the life that you have. Because you
don't look like dead people. Dead people look
like skeletons. They maybe have like rags on
them. There used to be a movie on Disney Channel
called Unwrapped. Anybody ever watch that one?
Under wraps, under wraps. It was like the mummy
came to life and everything was really scary.
But he just like walked around and you could
tell, like you're like, that's a dead person.
That is a mummy. That's not a living person.
And for us, we understand, like if you're in
Christ, you know that those outside of Christ
are currently dead. that they don't have the
connection to the giver of life being God. And
so you look differently than the dead person.
You don't have the bandages and the wraps on
you. You look like somebody who's alive. You've
got the gold jacket on. You should be recognizable.
And so what does all of this mean for us? Because
we've got to have a point, right? The first thing
I want you to hear is we don't just admire the
resurrection. I got to say this, and it shouldn't
be like a stepping on toes thing. I'm glad people
are going to church. But this morning, right
now, there are a lot of people sitting in pews,
sitting in seats. There may be someone in this
room right now sitting in the seat to admire
the resurrection. They're admiring this thing,
this story, this concept. But this isn't just
a concept that we look at. It is the way we should
live. It's the life that we're supposed to be
living in. It's not just something that, you
know, you've got the inspirational quotes that
you put on your wall, maybe in the classroom.
We've got the things, the golden rules and all
that stuff. It's not those things that we look
at and we're like, that's a cool quote. It's
not like a, that's a cool teaching and yeah,
that's really respectable that you follow that
teaching. That's not what we're talking about.
We're talking about a new way of living. The
Jesus way is not something that we just believe.
It's something we live. Jesus is alive. And if
Jesus is alive, then we should be living like
we're alive too. But unfortunately, so many of
us are living under wraps. So many of us are
living in the tomb. And what I want you to hear
is the same thing that Jesus said to Lazarus,
get up and come out of that grave. Get up. For
the Christian, for the one in Christ who has
been redeemed, who's had their life changed,
at least hopefully you have had your life changed.
We should be out of the grave. I think too many
of us, and this is why I love baptism, too many
of us, we go under the water and it seems like
we went under the water and the old flesh started
to separate, but we carried them back up with
us. And that is not how we were supposed to live.
When we go under the water, we leave the dead
body there. And we come back as something new.
So we don't just admire this raised living. We
live it. Yeah, we still face hardship. We still
face death. We still face danger. We still face
uncertainty, insecurity, but we cannot let that
keep us in the grave. This past week, I was speaking
at a Christian school in Montgomery, and my topic
was confidence in Christ. And I told the story
about Michael Phelps in the 2008 Olympics. Michael
Phelps was doing his 200 -meter butterfly. And
as he's swimming, he gets about halfway through,
his goggles started to fill up with water. And
if you've ever swam with water in your goggles,
you know that that's a very uncomfortable thing
to do. And for most people, at least I would,
I would just throw my hands up and quit. Like,
I can't keep going. I can't see anything. How
am I going to swim if I can't see? Well, Michael
Phelps doesn't stop swimming. He doesn't skip
a beat. He keeps on swimming and he gets to the
end and guess what happens? He wins the gold.
Yeah, life's going to be uncertain. It's going
to be uncomfortable. It may even be dark sometimes
and we don't know what's in front of us, but
we have to keep going because we know that on
the other side of this dark period is gold. It's
life. And so, yeah, it may be hard. But because
of the confidence we have in the Savior who defeated
death, we keep living. And the next thing I want
us to know is resurrection power isn't just a
concept. The power of a resurrected Savior, the
power of a God who has come to this earth, lived,
died, and then got out of the grave, defeated
death. That power that Jesus has given to us
is not a concept. It is a real life changing
truth. It should reshape everything about us,
the way we think, the way we speak, the way we
live, the way we respond to the world around
us. That power is real. And maybe for you, that
means forgiving someone you've been holding on
to bitterness toward. Maybe for you, it's forgiving
yourself. for the way that you've lived or the
things that you've done or the things you haven't
done. Maybe it's stepping into obedience in an
area that you have been very resistant to God
in. Maybe it's trusting and taking a step in
faith because you have been holding back and
you just haven't been able to step forward, but
you hear this idea of the risen Savior and it's
challenging you. And if it's challenging you,
let me tell you, take the challenge. Let it go.
Go with it. Maybe it's encouraging somebody who's
barely holding on. I don't know what the next
step for you is, but I know there's a next step
because there always is. And I also know that
if Jesus walked out of the grave, if Jesus was
able to come back to life, then whatever he calls
you into, you can trust him. Because if he's
got that kind of power over death, he has power
over your life. And it may cost you. It may even
hurt. It may be difficult. It may make you have
to change a lot of things about yourself. It
may make you go to places that you didn't want
to go. It may make you leave places that you
don't want to leave. But I promise you, it is
worth it. And I also promise you that it won't
defeat you. Because in this world, though pain
may be real, it may feel like it is everything.
Pain is only temporary. Death is only temporary.
Again, we serve a God who got up from the great.
And if he can do it, we can too because of him.
And so we live like the resurrection is real.
We live like the resurrection has power in our
lives. And so this morning, I want to speak really
quickly directly to anyone here who has never
placed their trust in Jesus. Maybe... This is
all new to you. Maybe you've heard these stories,
and you grew up hearing about Easter, and you
grew up hearing about Jesus, and maybe you even
grew up in a Christian home, but you never placed
your life in Jesus' hands. Maybe you've never
given your life up so that he can redeem it.
I want to tell you straight up this morning that
this isn't just any old story. This isn't just
some fairy tale that we gather over and you talk
about like the good old days of high school football,
like you make yourself sound like you were better
than you were. No, this is real. This is true
story. It is actually very historically proven.
It's scientifically verifiable. And so what I
want you to hear and I want to challenge you
is to understand and to believe, to have faith
in that this is a promise fulfilled. And it's
an invitation to step into life because Jesus
didn't rise just to prove something. He didn't
get out of the grave just to make something cool
happen. Like this isn't Houdini breaking out
of the water. Like this is Jesus, the son of
God, came to earth, rising from the grave to
secure something for us. He came and rose to
secure new life. He rose to secure forgiveness,
to secure a promised relationship, a restored
relationship with God. And in order to receive
what he has secured for us, we have to give up
something of ourselves. We have to give up the
life that we're holding on to. We have to give
up to the life that this world has sold us. See,
when I say give your life to Jesus, what I mean
is trusting in him. following him and surrendering
your life, the control of your life to living
in the way of Jesus. And that begins with faith.
Just like the man on the cross next to Jesus.
And that faith leads to the promise. And that's
why baptism is so powerful. Because in baptism,
we go under the water. And in that water, we
die to our old life. We leave that body, that
life in the grave. We don't bring it back with
us. We come out of the water and we are resurrected
just like our Jesus. We are raised to a new life
in Christ. A life that looks different. A life
that should feel different. A life that lives
different. And a life that spreads light to others.
And I believe that with everything in me. Because
I've experienced it. I've seen it in others.
And I would go as far as to say I'm sure there's
about a... 55, 70, maybe even more people in
this room who would say the same thing, that
it is the life that Christ has provided that
has changed them. You can be raised from the
dead. Every one of us can be raised from the
dead. And if you are in Christ, you will be raised
from a physical death one day. And that is good
news. The good news that we can go from guilty
to forgiven. The good news of knowing that we
can go from feeling hopeless to knowing that
we can accomplish, that we can fulfill the calling
that was set for our lives. And so if something
is stirring in you right now, if there's a feeling
in you, like maybe you're considering something
or you don't know what the feeling is, well,
I'm going to ask you to not ignore that feeling.
If there is a stirring, do not ignore that. Because
that could just be God drawing you in. That could
be Jesus calling you to get that new life that
he's promised, that he came to secure. And for
those of us that would say, well, I already believe,
I've already been baptized, I already follow
Jesus. If we sit in that boat, I want to ask
you a question. Are you actually living the resurrected
life? Or are you still holding on? Are you still
holding on to the old self, to the old life,
to the old passions, to the old desires? Are
you still holding on to the same selfishness?
Are you still holding on to the same greed, to
the same lust, to the same addictions? Are you
still holding on to the old life or are you living
a new life? As it says on the screen, are you
living the resurrected life? Or are you still
living among the dead? I don't want to live among
dead bodies. I'm just going to be honest. Like,
that sounds terrifying. Does anybody live near
a, like a, what are they called? Cemeteries.
Anybody live near a cemetery? Okay. Does that
creep you out? No? Oh, yes. Yeah. It's creepy.
Well, we got one that says yes. My house growing
up was like a block away from a cemetery, and
I always thought that was the creepiest thing.
I don't want to live among dead people. And likewise,
if I have the ability to live a good living life,
like abundant life, I don't want to live a life
that stays in the bed all day. I don't want to
live a life that sits on the sidelines. Maybe
you played sports or maybe you were in theater
and you got cast as the understudy, but you wanted
to be the main character. You wanted to have
the leading role. Well, in the life that Jesus
has called us to, there are no understudies.
You can be in the play too. You can be a part
of the act. You don't have to sit on the sidelines.
And what I mean by that is we don't have to live
in the tomb. Just like Jesus lives outside of
the tomb, we too can as well. So if there's a
stirring in you or you're questioning, have I
been living the resurrected life? I want to offer
an invitation to you this morning because there
is power in giving your life, surrendering your
life to Jesus. There's power, as the song says,
there's power in the blood. Power. There's power
in the blood. There's power in the risen Savior.
And that power isn't just a concept. It is the
marker of our life. So this morning, if you are
struggling, if you're questioning, If you don't
know where you're at, if you're confused, wherever
your life has you today, no matter how broken
you may feel, no matter how lost you may feel,
I want you to be able to trust and know that
there is hope for a new life for you. And so,
if you need prayer, if you need conversation,
if you just need support, and if you are ready
to give your life to Jesus, We want to offer
you the invitation, and I want to give you this
one last thing. I want you to just imagine what
it would be like if you could take communion
today for the very first time as a new creation.
Because there are people in this room, I know
you're in here. There are people in this room
who have not given their life to Jesus yet, who've
not had their life resurrected. Well, I want
you to think about, as we get ready to take the
Lord's Supper soon, you could take it. as a new
creation this morning. Whatever the Spirit is
stirring up in you, I want you to listen to it.
And if you need to respond, please do now as
we stand and as we sing.