Introduction: A preschool teacher, overheard an animated conversation among her students. Little Maria threw out the question: “Who loves God?” All of them responded, “I do! I do! I do!” Billy said, “I love Jesus.” Kelly protested, “But He died.” Billy said, “Yeah, but every Easter He rises from the dead!” Obviously, young Billy’s understanding of the meaning of Easter is still developing.
We know that Jesus died once for all (Rom. 6:10; Heb. 10:12) and, of course, rose from the dead once. Three days after paying the penalty of our sins on the cross, the sinless Jesus conquered death by rising from the grave and breaking the power of sin. It was this final sacrifice of blood that opened the only way for us to have a relationship with God now and a home with Him forevermore.
The Apostle Paul made this statement in Philippians 3:10-11
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
Theme: When the Apostle Paul talked about the power of the resurrection, what was he talking about? To be in the image of Christ's resurrection is to experience the power of the resurrection:
1) The power of change,
2) The power of victory,
3) The power of hope.
Let’s look at these three elements of the resurrection experience:
THE POWER OF CHANGE (Galatians 2:20)
The teaching of Paul here: When he became a Christian, he was crucified with Jesus. He died with Jesus, and when Jesus arose from the dead, He came to live in Paul’s heart, and directed his life.
It’s not me who lives any longer. I died to sin/guilt/fear/self
• But it’s Christ who lives in me. And empowers me. And I live my life by faith in Him, (calling the shots, directing my life to comply with His will, not mine)
The power of the resurrection is that when Jesus is allowed to move into one’s heart, and be Lord, there is going to be change!
Medical studies have shown that even though people who have had heart-bypass surgery are told that they must change their lifestyle or die, about 90 percent do not change. Typically, 2 years after surgery the patients haven’t altered their lifestyle. It seems that most would rather die than change.
Talk about the importance of Repentance – Acts 2:38
THE POWER OF VICTORY (1 Corinthians 15: 54-57)
We remember Paul saying that the “wages of sin is death, but gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23) Sin leads to eternal death – eternal separation from God
• The power of the sin is the law – condemning us! But Jesus became the curse of the law for us. The sting of death is sin – but Jesus removed it. The Resurrection validated the process – brought victory.
Talk about My uncle who was in the honey business all of his grown-up life, hardly ever wore protective clothing.
One day my brother-in-law, who was just getting into the honey business, did not wear his protective clothing. When he opened a hive, he found group of foreign bees trying to take over the hive. He was stung 25 times. He was very sick by the time he reached the medical clinic. Because of the covering of Jesus' blood, we have victory over sin, and eternal death.
THE POWER OF HOPE (1 John 3:2)
If it were not for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we as Christians would have no hope. It is the foundation we as Christians stand on. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 – If Christ be not raised. Evidence: Peter, 500 +, James, the apostles, to Paul. Showed Himself alive –“convincing proofs” Acts 1:3 Why would the apostles give their lives for a lie? Hope 4 us. 1 John 3:2 – Our ultimate goal – to be totally like Jesus.
In a children’s church session, the leader gave the children a lesson on one of the Ten Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before Me” No candy, toys, video games. An older child in the group responded with a thought-provoking question. She asked if being a Christian was about keeping rules or if instead God wanted to be involved in all areas of our life.
Conclusion: Our goal is to be like Jesus.The resurrection gives us hope of not only seeing Jesus again, but being like Him, having a complete likeness to God.
Photo: Simon Dewey - Artist
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