Easter Sunday 16th April 2017 – Simon Benham
Happy Easter. If there's one day to celebrate its today.
What better way to celebrate than baptisms. Dying to an old way of life -
rising again to a new one.
If you were here for our Good Friday meeting you'll have
heard Simon talk about Jesus as the greatest revolutionary leader who ever
lived. That he came to lead a revolution, not to overthrow an external system
of government but to give us a heart transplant. And how when he died on the
cross, rather than marking the end of the revolution as happens with most
revolutionaries, it was the act that made the revolution possible. That Jesus
died that our sin might be forgiven.
The resurrection is
not the reversal of a defeat but the manifestation of the victory Jesus won on
the cross for you & me - Nicky Gumbel
If you had a window into the lives of the disciples that
first Easter Sunday morning, they weren't celebrating Jesus victory. In their
minds it was all over. Jesus had gone the way of so many other revolutionaries.
They were in hiding from the authorities and planning on going back to their
old lives. They'd had a great three years with Jesus, but sadly now it was all
over. So now we come to the point on Easter Sunday where news of the revolution
begins to break out!
READ Matthew 28:1-10
The revolution had begun. And its a revolution which
continues to this day.
Today, all around the world over 2 billion people who call
themselves followers of Jesus will be joining in this celebration. Later in
this meeting we're going to witness ? people doing the thing Jesus commanded us
to do as a sign of us joining his revolution. Getting baptised.
What is baptism? It's a public declaration where you're
saying "I'm part of the revolution". Not only do I identify myself
with Jesus death and resurrection, I too have experienced my own death and
resurrection. I've died to my old way of life, the Bible calls it repenting,
which means I've turned away from my sin. I've turned away from all the things
in my life I put there in place of God, and I'm not turning towards Jesus,
putting him in the centre.
Simon gave the opportunity for people to join the revolution
too.
What was the nature of the revolution Jesus began? We get a
huge clue from Jesus resurrection body.
At the resurrection Jesus wasn't just revived. We read
stories of people who have near death experiences. Simon has a friend, John
Burke, who gathers stories of people who have medically died and then been
revived. Often they have very similar stories of what they experience. But when
they are revived they still have the same body they had before. In Jesus
ministry there was a guy called Lazarus, who died and after four days Jesus
raises him to life again. But he comes back with the same body. Sometime later
Lazarus dies again, this time for good.
We get a glimpse of what our resurrection bodies will be
like when we recall Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. He still had visible
wounds, and His disciples could physically touch Him, yet He was able to travel
effortlessly and appear and disappear at will. He could go through walls and
doors yet could also eat and drink and sit and talk. Scripture informs us that our
“lowly bodies” will be just “like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).
Indeed, the physical limitations imposed by sin that hinder our ability to
fully serve Him on earth will be forever gone, freeing us to praise and serve
and glorify Him for eternity.
Suddenly in Jesus body we have a demonstration of the
revolution. That the separation between heaven and earth has now been removed.
Then we see the conclusion of the revolution at the end of
time. Revelation 21:1-4
Let our response to the risen Jesus be the same as that of
the two women:
- There is no more important thing in life than to meet with Jesus. Not to become religious, not to find yourself, but to have a genuine encounter with the risen Jesus. Jesus didn't want the women just to have information about him, he wanted them to know him as a friend.
- Be filled with joy. It's hard to be afraid but happy. Happiness is generally dependant on our circumstances. There is something much deeper about joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength. To know you are free from guilt, free from shame, free from fear, your past is forgiven, your present has purpose and your future is secure.
- Worship him. Put him at the centre of your life. Make him your Lord.
- Go and tell others that you have seen him
When Jesus raises us from the dead we don't just revert back
to what we should have been. He takes our brokenness, and makes it part of the
new creation he is making us in to. He doesn't deny our past but redeems it and
uses it to form part of the beauty of our future. Just as a mosaic forms
something of incredible beauty from broken pieces, God forms beauty from our
brokenness, both as individuals and as a community. As he takes each one of us
and begins to form us into his church, into his bride.
QUESTIONS:
Are you putting Jesus
at the centre of your life?
IS there an area of
your life you need to hand to Him?
When was the last
time you shared your testimony with someone?
Can you share your
testimony with your group today?
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