Jesus IS ____, Week 1: ALIVE (Easter Sunday)

Freedom Church

Today we are starting a brand new series called “JESUS IS______”.

(Series explanation – We teach the principals found in the bible, in creative forms….)

Jesus is______? (How would you finish that thought?)

(Good man… Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr, etc… teacher, a fable, mad at me, etc)

(Jesus Video)

No doubt that all of us have some concept of Jesus…

BUT DOES HIS EXISTENCE HAVE ANY EFFECT ON OUR LIVES?!

Transition: No matter how you would finish that statement… we want to invite you on a journey this month as we discover who JESUS IS! It’s so much more than knowing about HIM…

This message won’t change your life. Church won’t put your life in a new direction. BUT experiencing who JESUS really is… and HOW MUCH HE LOVES YOU… will change you forever!

Transition: Today we celebrate the greatest truth about Jesus… He didn’t just die for us… He defeated death for us!

Message Title: Jesus is _____ ALIVE!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? If we are honest… that’s a lot of us. We are looking for life in all the wrong things! 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others… 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Luke 24:1-12 (NIV)

Maybe that’s you today… You’re wondering… “What does this all mean?”

We know there HAS to be more to life than we are experiencing… THERE IS!!

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT) If you want all your questions answered… I can’t help you. If you want an easy life… you won’t find it. But if you want a NEW LIFE… A life of Freedom… JOY… HOPE… it’s found when you DISCOVER JESUS!

Transition: The fact that Jesus is alive is the greatest truth in history… Because anyone can die for you. His death expressed how much he loved us… “while we were still sinners…”

The fact that He is alive proved that He was God… and that for Him NOTHING is impossible!

Transition: SO today I want to walk you through 3 things that His death AND resurrection mean for us!

1. We have PEACE

He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:25 (NLT)

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand… Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)

You see, because of our SIN (rebellion against His standard) we were enemies of God.

(Not enemies because HE wanted nothing to do with us… BUT because we wanted nothing to do with him!)

Whether you believe in God our not… there is no denying EVIL in this world… in all of us.

(Babies – Bent toward sin (sinful nature) – Pictures of Eleanor

There is a mark… a standard… and we constantly fall short of it.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 (NLT)

We can strive all we want… and a lot of us are! It’s exhausting… (Debt)

But WE HAVE PEACE… because of debt has been paid… our relationship reconciled!

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:10-11 (NLT)

God isn’t just willing to forgive us… He is passionate about it!

The Cross / “IT IS FINISHED!” There is more to that statement than we realize…

We need a greater view of God and a smaller view of sin.

Jesus came to break the cycle of sin and condemnation and give us our future back.

2. We have a new INDENTITY

The problem with being separation from God… is that our identity is only understood in the context of a relationship with our creator.

Without Him…we’re orphans… We’re lost… We don’t know who we are!

Jesus going to the cross was God screaming, “I LOVE you and will do ANYTHING to reach you!”

(I left my kid at church once… the feeling of losing your kid!)

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! Romans 8:15 (MSG) Your father… is searching for you. Calling you to come home. To the life He has always planned for you. You won’t discover your identity in anything this world can offer… or anything you can achieve.

3. We have new LIFE

(The video… “Why do you seek the LIVING among the DEAD?”)

To be honest… this is what we are all after.

(Always searching for “The Life”…but always coming up short.)

Some of us today… the search is ending… We’ve found what we’ve been looking for!

Jesus died for YOUR SINS… but He rose for YOUR LIFE

You see, the culmination of the story is not the Crucifixion… It was the resurrection!!

AND THE STORY ISN’T OVER… we are still living in the aftermath of it!

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. Very bleak… but look at the next verse. BUT GOD… God intervenes… butts in… not because of our efforts… or because we bugged Him enough, but because HE LOVED US SO MUCH!!

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!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

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. Ephesians 2:1-10 (NLT)

His love is SO deep and wide that in one moment of faith he can forgive a lifetime of sins… past, present and future.

Jesus didn’t die to establish a moral code of conduct… world peace… so we would go to church and read our bibles…so that we would behave… (And these are all good things!)

Jesus didn’t die to take you from BAD to GOOD, but to take you from DEATH to LIFE!

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

Big Idea: Jesus died for us… to take our place… our punishment.

He was buried to signify the death and burial of our sin… AND THEN he destroyed the power of death and sin… when HE rose to life!

This is what Easter is all about.

Challenge: Some of us today… if we are honest… are trying to find LIFE on our own. In our success… our ability… our addictions… And it’s not working… we’re lost.

THAT is why Jesus did what He did… to show that WE can’t… and that it’s time to stop trying.

HE DID IT!

Only Jesus can rescue you. Only Jesus can bring you peace. Only Jesus can bring you to life.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT)

All of this… is free gift from God. Free. Grace.

Salvation: God take control of my life… It’s the easiest thing you will ever do, but I will cost you everything.