Mon 9 Apr 2007
Easter Sunday, 2007 - The 3 R’s of Easter
Posted by Chuck Holton under Sermons
The 3 R’s of Easter - by Dr. Larry Halsey
Mark 16:1-7
The Sunday School lesson was about the crossing of the Red Sea. Nine year old Danny couldn’t wait for class to be over, so he could tell his father about the great miracle. In the car on the way home, Danny said excitedly,
“Dad, dad, I heard an incredible story in Sunday School about Moses and
the Red Sea.”
“Well, son, tell me about it,” dad replied, obviously pleased with his boy’s interest. “Well,” Danny began, “you won’t believe it. Moses and the people of Israel
were leaving Egypt and the Egyptians chased after them. They got to the
Red Sea and they knew they were in big trouble.
All of a sudden, Moses pulled out his walkie-talkie, called the Israelite army
in and they began to fight. The Air Force began dropping bombs on the
Egyptians. The Navy hurriedly put up a pontoon bridge and they all
escaped safe on the other side.”
“Son,” dad replied, “is that what they told you in Sunday school?”
“Well, no dad,” Danny allowed, “but if I told it to you like they told it to me, you’d never believe it.”
This morning, we celebrate the greatest miracle of history—Jesus Christ was raised physically from the dead on the 3rd day!
On February 26th (2007), BBC news reported a new documentary about Jesus by Hollyweird film director James Cameron. The film claims that Jesus had a son named Judah and was buried alongside Mary Magdalene.Cameron e
Cameron examined a tomb found near Jerusalem in 1980, which is claimed to have belonged to Jesus and his family. Speaking in New York, the Oscar-winning Titanic director said statistical tests and DNA analysis backed this view.On March 4th, the Discovery Channel reported this find on a program titled, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.”
Notable archeologists, scholars and religious authorities — both here and abroad—have debunked the claim as fantasy.
But why has the film appeared now, almost 30 years after the discovery of the ossuary? Many pundits think it’s all about money, on the heels of the phenomenally successful “The Di Vinci Code,” and the buzz about the Gnostic Gospels.James Cameron was by no means the first to attack the Resurrection. Are you familiar with the Jefferson Bible? Founding Father Thomas Jefferson not only dispensed with Jesus’ resurrection, he took a New Testament and a pair of scissors and cut out every miracle he found in the Gospels. It’s striking that the “Jefferson Bible” ends abruptly with Matthew 27:60:
“Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden; and in the
garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they
Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.”
End of Gospels…end of Jesus.John Adams, Jefferson’s contemporary and second president, noted:
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our
inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of
facts and evidence.”
There are 10 indisputable stones of evidence for the physical resurrection of Jesus. There is nothing I enjoy more on Easter than talking about the evidence.
However, this morning, I am asking one simply question: Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on Easter Morning—So what?
*What are the personal implications of Easter?
*How should that intersect with my busy life and yours?We are looking for answers to those important questions in Mark’s account of the Resurrection. I’m talking about “The 3 R’s of Easter.”
Mark 16:1-7
The First “R” of Easter is found in Verse 6:
The angel announced, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified…”
The angel talked about redemption.The word translated “redeem” or “redemption,” means “to buy back.” In NT time it was used to speak of the purchase of a slave, with a view to setting him or her free.
That’s why Jesus died willingly on the cross. You and I need redemption because are slaves to sin. Now, we have no problem admitting that we are less than “perfect” but the Bible is very specific about our spiritual condition, how God views us outside of Christ.
There was a mom with two children who were playing in the other room. One was a five-year-old and the other a six-month old baby brother. Hearing a blood-curdling scream, she slipped to the door, and asked
“What’s going on in here?
The five year old was rubbing his head: “He just pulled my hair, and it hurts so bad that it makes me mad,”
“Don’t get mad,” Mom said, “He doesn’t know how much it hurts.” A couple of minutes later, there is a second scream. “What happened this time?” Mom enquired.“Now he knows,” his brother said.
You look at a sweet, innocent, little baby, but before long, he or she will start to act out something theologians call “depravity.” It is a sin nature, that our race has been passing down since Adam.
But “depravity” is not just sin. We all do bad things. It is the predisposition for sin. We want to do what’s right. We want to think that we are people who do what’s right, but in our minds and hearts, we’re prepared to do what is wrong if we think it’s necessary.
Someone said, “If depravity were blue, we would be blue all over.” There are no exceptions…except one—The Lord Jesus, the Sinless Son of God. That’s why he qualifies to be your Savior.
The biggest obstacle to salvation is the idea that we can do something to merit salvation or heaven. The idea that God places everything I do—good and bad—on scales. And at the end of my life, if the good outweighs the bad, I go to heaven; it the bad outweighs the good, I go to hell.
Friend, Easter means that salvation is not spelled “do;” it is spelled “done”— Jesus has done everything that is necessary—what you could never do—satisfy the demand of a righteous God. He offers you eternal, if you will but trust Him as your personal Savior.
The Second “R” of Easter Is Relationship. (I love this!)The resurrection was confirmed over the next five weeks by 10- Post Resurrection appearances.
…He appeared to as many as 500 at one time!
…He appeared to the disciples behind closed doors in Galilee!
Wouldn’t you loved to watched and listened from behind a curtain? But I would most liked to have been a “fly on the wall” when Jesus had a private interview with a broken, humiliated, fisherman who had turned in his discipleship papers!
Verse 7 is marvelous—“go tell His disciples, and Peter…”
It’s as if all of heaven and earth had watched Peter fall in slow motion! He had professed so much and—under pressure—failed so miserably!…When he should have prayer, he slept.
…When he should have trusted, he talked.
…When he should have led, he fled.
Peter had two interviews with Jesus. The first was private. It was too personal and sacred to be recorded in Scripture.
The Second interview was public. You remember: The Lord Jesus came to Peter and six other disciples who had returned to the old fishing business. (You read the story in John 21)
In the private interview, Jesus dealt with Peter’s fellowship (not His sonship). He dealt with Peter’s heart.
In the public interview, the resurrected Lord focused on Peter’s discipleship—He dealt with Peter’s feet! Discipleship—being a genuine follower of Jesus—is always an issue of love for Him. Three times He asked, “Peter, do you love me?” Peter had professed great things! I think the tragedy is that, back on the fishing boat, Peter was lost to the Savior’s purpose. He had be called to be a difference maker. To spend his life for something more than catching and counting smelly fish!
Aw, friend, don’t settle for less than God’s best. Live every day with the Judgment Seat of Christ in view.
The Lord Jesus took the initiative on the Cross that you might have a relationship with God. He came seeking Adam in the cool of the day. And now as a part of his family, when you blow it— when you get…
… cold spiritually
…apathetic
…distracted,
…and tempted by lesser priorities,
He takes the initiative to restore you to fellowship. I. John 1:9 is to the Christian life what John 3:16 is to receiving that life: (Literally, it says)
“Since we are the ones who are confessing our sins, He is faithful and Just
to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Easter prompts serious thinking about Redemption, and Relationship.
This leads to the Third “R” of Easter. You find it in verse 6b.
This “R” stands for resurrection.The angel announced, “He is risen! He is not here!”
The NT says several significant things about the empty tomb. It declares…
The angel announced, 1. That this Jesus who died on the Cross and rose again is the Son of
God.”
Listen to Paul’s writings: “Declared to be the son of God with power by the resurrection of the
dead.”
2. The empty tomb is God’s seal of approval upon everything Jesus
taught about God, Himself and about salvation.
Romans says, “who was delivered for (because of) our offenses, and was
raised again for our justification.”
That is, that God might declare you righteous when you receive Christ into
your life.The resurrection answers the question so often asked today, “Is Jesus the only Savior?”
In the wake of September 11, 2001, Americans were grimly aware that
this nation—and the world—would never be the same.What most believers did not anticipate were the pervasive questions 9/11 raised about Jesus and his claims. One writer says, “Is Jesus The Only Way,” (quote) “has become maybe the biggest issue of our age.”
….For a few months, churches were filled with people
….folks were more open to discussion about spiritual things than before.
…There was an unprecedented interest in this unfamiliar religion called
“Islam.”
The media jumped on the bandwagon. Larry King articulated the question on the minds of the masses:
“What if you are Jewish or Muslim and you don’t trust in Christ at all?”
Watch this video clip.I want to you turn to someone near you now and weigh in on this question: Is that the bible answer?: “I know they (the Hindus) love God, I have seen their sincerity.” Yes or no? You might want to comment on how you have answered it
Who is this? Cultural icon Oprah Winfrey, of course. Oprah put it like this: “ One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to believe that there is only
one way.”
There are many diverse paths leading to God is the prevailing idea. How can any faith believe that it is right and that other faiths are wrong without threatening world peace—without a spirit of superiority, or aggressiveness or violence?
Rosie O’Donnell said there is no difference between radical Islam and radical Christianity.
A Navy captain was at the helm of a ship. He saw a light on the horizon, and
it was clearly on a collision course with his ship.
He sent an urgent message: “Change your course 10 degrees to the west.”
He got a reply back: “Change your course 10 degrees to the west!”
He sent another message: “I’m a Captain of the U.S. Navy. Suggest you
change your course now!”
Another message comes back: “I’m a Seaman Second Class in the U.S.
Navy. I suggest you change your course now.”The captain sent a final message: “I command a battleship. I’m not changing
course.”
Then, he received this final message: “I oversee a lighthouse. Your call, Sir.”
The NT says that the Savior’s resurrection is like a lighthouse. There was a day when this Man stood up and said, “I am the light of the world.”Buddha never said that.
Confucius never said that.
Mohammed never said that.
Jesus also said, “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life, no person comes to the Father but by me.” And thinking people say, “Where’s the proof?” He walked out of the tomb alive—
The question is: Will you listen to Oprah, or will you hear Jesus?
The Biblical language for “change your course” is repentance. Acknowledge your need for Christ as your personal Savior; to steer your life now in view of the reality of the light of the world.
A Buddhist in Africa was asked why He became a Christian. “It’s like this,” he said. “If you were walking along and came to a fork in the road, and two men
were there. One was dead and the other was alive, which man’s
directions would you follow?”
The Christian faith is open for investigation and scrutiny—He is risen!
God has placed the ball on your side of the court—Jesus waits for your response! I will be available on the platform…
…to help you,
…to answer your questions,
…to show you how you can know Christ!