Live In Easter Victory!

Easter Sunday, 4/17/22 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Live In Easter Victory! I. Victory in death II. Victory in life It was reported last Wednesday that 2021 was the deadliest year in US history, surpassing the record number of deaths set in 2020. Maybe that news comes as no surprise to you. After all, we spent every day of 2021 dealing with the COVID pandemic. The report stated that 415,000 people in the US died of COVID last year. Surely that contributed to the record-setting mortality rate. But it wasn’t the only factor. Not all the data is in yet, but it appears that drug overdose deaths in 2021 will exceed those in 2020. Likewise for deaths due to cancer, diabetes, liver disease, and stroke. Taken together, these stats would indicate we’re not winning the daily battle to live. We appear to be losing. Much the same can be said for other aspects of our lives. The inflation rate last month hit a 40-year high. The increased cost of fuel for our vehicles and food for our tables is hitting many people hard. And we’re likely facing more of the same for months. In fact, in some cases, prices may never come down. We’re losing the battle to spend less and save more. Manufacturers can’t find the raw materials they need, and nearly every employer can’t find enough qualified employees. I heard the other day that some restaurants are interested in purchasing robots to deliver meals to diners. Businesses are having a harder time doing business than ever before. And if all that isn’t enough, our hearts ache for the people of Ukraine whose country is under a vicious and immoral attack. And, closer to home, we shake our heads in disbelief over another mass shooting in a subway in New York. We’re losing the battle to maintain peace in our lives. By now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Enough, Pastor! Enough! I didn’t come to church this morning to be reminded of all the bad things that are happening in my life and in my world. After all, it’s Easter, Pastor! It’s Easter, and I want to hear some Easter good news.” Precisely! I couldn’t agree with you more. Easter’s good news is exactly what we need to hear and believe and ponder. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the good news of victory in a world in which we appear to be losing. And that Easter victory is not just your comfort for the moment of your death or for the moment when Jesus returns to this earth. Jesus wants you to live in Easter victory right now, today, every day of your life. Live in Easter victory! That’s our risen Lord’s encouragement here in these words from 1 Corinthians 15. Live in Easter victory! May the Holy Spirit enter our hearts through his Easter message this morning and enlighten us regarding what that means for us each day. I. With the only exception being the children among us this morning, we’ve all stood at the gravesite of a loved one. And what hits us is the finality of it all. We’ve seen our loved one for the last time. Within minutes the casket will be lowered, or the urn of cremains will be placed and that will be it—our final connection to our loved one will be removed from us. Gone! Billions of people living on the earth today think that way. When the casket is lowered or the urn is placed, or the ashes are scattered, that’s it. It’s ashes to ashes and dust to dust and that’s it. But listen to what Paul tells us, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” Paul informs us of a mystery. It’s a mystery in the sense that this truth can’t be known using human wisdom and knowledge. It’s a truth that only the Lord Jesus can reveal to us. And that mystery is the resurrection of our bodies in glory on the Last Day. Every religion believes in some form of life after this life is over, but only Christianity teaches and believes that there will be a resurrection of the body on the Last Day. Paul wanted his readers to know that will happen even if “we do not all sleep.” He’s telling us that, if we’re still alive when the Lord Jesus returns, we won’t experience death. But our bodies will be changed. They’ll be glorified like Christ’s glorious body after his resurrection. Likewise, the same will happen to our bodies if we die before the Last Day. Our Lord Jesus is almighty. He has the power to do anything and everything. He created our world and the entire universe out of nothing simply by speaking his word. He also has the power to raise bodies from the dead. The bodies of Christians will be glorified like his glorious body after his resurrection. And he will raise us never to die again. It’s a morbid way of thinking about life, but the moment we’re born into this world, we’re heading slowly to our inevitable death. It has to be that way. We’re mortals. We die. But not after the resurrection. Then our bodies are clothed with immortality. We’ll never die—which is the way God created the first human beings. So, in spite of the record-setting number of deaths in our country, in spite of sickness, disease, war, and crime, we’re not losing. We ultimately win—we win the battle over death. That’s what Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on Easter means for us. His victory is our victory by faith in him. Live in Easter victory—victory in death. Paul once told the Thessalonian Christians who held to a false teaching about death and the resurrection on the Last Day that he didn’t want them to live like the rest of the people in this world who have no hope. In some ways, we know how they felt. The older we get, the less healthy we are and there doesn’t seem to be any solution. Our physician is relegated to helping us manage the inevitable decline. No matter how young or old we are, we have hopes and dreams for what we want to accomplish or experience in this life. If we’re fortunate, we realize a fraction of it. The rest remains just that—a dream. Meanwhile, we suffer through daily setbacks and disappointments. Will things ever get any better? Not in this world. Not in this life. It’s called the curse of sin and we’re all under it because there’s no one who is righteous on their own. Our daily sins are proof of it. But that’s what Good Friday was all about—a Savior who took the curse of our sins on himself and suffered for them. Easter—the resurrection of Jesus from the dead—is all about our future, our eternal future. And it looks glorious because death has no power over us. It may claim our bodies, but we still live with our Lord. And our dead bodies await their glorious resurrection on the Last Day. That’s God’s plan for your eternal future and the resurrection of Jesus guarantees it. Live in Easter victory—victory in death! II. Has it ever occurred to you how much time we spend waiting for things to get better, hoping for things to get better? And just when we think that happy days are here again, they vanish, and we’re confronted once again with the harsh realities of life. And we start singing the blues. The life of the Apostle Paul wasn’t better than any of our lives. In fact, in many ways it was worse. He suffered numerous beatings for his faith and died a martyr’s death. But we don’t hear him singing the blues. Just the opposite. Listen once again, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul uses no future tenses in those words. He doesn’t say, “God will give us the victory.” He emphatically states that God gives us the victory. That victory is yours right now. How so? Paul tells you that you have the victory over sin. The results of sin are death—physical death and spiritual death—separation from God in hell. The universal condemnation for sin was removed when our Savior suffered and died on the cross. His work was finished, completed, done. Sin’s curse and hell’s punishment were removed. And therefore, we live—we live in victory with our God right now and forever when he calls us home to him. Sure, our lives along the way will have setbacks. In fact, Jesus himself told us they would be full of trouble. But you have the victory right now. You have your Lord Jesus living with you and even in you through every difficulty of life. You have his promise that he is directing all things in your life towards the goal of eternal victory with him. Even in the face of tragedy, it’s going to end in eternal victory for you and for every member of God’s kingdom. How can I be so sure? Because Jesus is risen from the dead! He rose victorious and his victory is your victory by faith in him. Live in Easter victory—victory in life! In the verse following our text, Paul offers this application of the truth that you live in victory today and always. He tells us to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. When we do, we can’t lose. We’re living and working for the risen Lord Jesus who is directing all things for the good of his Church. As a member of his glorious, eternal Church by faith in Jesus, you live in that confidence. Each day is an opportunity to live for the Lord and win. You’re not losing; you’re winning, and so is the Church. “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Live in Easter victory! Amen.

Crucial Cross Hours—It Is Finished!

Good Friday, 4/15/22 John 19:30; Luke 23:46 Crucial Cross Hours—It Is Finished! I. Jesus is finished living for us. II. Jesus is finished suffering for us. Spring has sprung, and that means you have likely begun doing some of the things that spring brings with it. For instance, you might be moving winter hats and gloves to the highest shelf in your closet. You’ve moved your snow shovels to the back of the area where your shovels are located and brought your garden tools into a place that’s easy to reach. You’ve “summer-ized” your snowblower and are making sure your lawn mower is ready to go. Perhaps you’ve even mowed your lawn once already. And most of us look forward to the change in routine that a new season of the year brings. But for how long? I try to avoid mowing my lawn for the first time as long as possible because it isn’t long before I wish didn’t have to do it. But every week of the growing season, there it is—a lawn that needs to be mowed. And even if your spring cleaning includes washing your windows, and they look great for a while, it won’t be long before they’ll need washing again. My point is that we rarely do things once in life and then are done with them. In fact, it’s difficult to think of activities in life that you only do once; the vast majority of them are things that we do over and over again. And it gets to be exhausting. Tonight’s spiritual focus is where it rightly should be—on our Savior, whose body has been nailed to Calvary’s cross. In keeping with our Lenten theme, these are his crucial hours, his final hours of serving you and me and every sinner as the world’s only Savior from sin. As horrific as his death was, what comfort and confidence his death as our Savior gives us because here our Savior completes his work. He stated that very thing in one of his final words, “It is finished.” And then he spoke his final words and committed his soul into the hands of his heavenly Father. On this somber evening, let’s ponder his words and his work. Here are his crucial cross hours—it is finished! Let’s be reminded exactly what that means for us. I. How would you characterize your behavior in the crucial moments of your life? Well, to begin with, you and I tend to get tunnel vision. We eliminate everything that has the potential of diverting our attention and we focus on what’s in front of us. We spend all our emotional and mental effort on doing what needs to be done that moment. And when the pressure becomes intense, then we tend to say and do things that are out of character. We resort to language we try never to use. We lash out at others, even loved ones. Those aren’t our proudest moments. Can you imagine a more intense situation than a slow death by crucifixion? We can’t. Our minds don’t even want to go there. But that’s where Jesus was during these crucial hours on Good Friday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. But, instead of acting and speaking as we might expect from someone else, Jesus continues doing what he has been doing ever since his life on this earth began in the womb of the virgin Mary. He’s living the perfect life of our Savior, a perfect life lived for us. Perhaps that’s most evident in his first words from the cross—words of forgiveness. Imagine it. While we would never want to see something so horrific as a crucifixion, his enemies got some sick satisfaction out of it. They weren’t satisfied with simply getting a glimpse of him nailed to cross; their utterly wicked hearts demanded that they watch the entire ordeal and that they mock him as they do so. Who would have blamed Jesus at that point if he had spit on his enemies and cursed them as long as he had breath to do so? But not Jesus. Instead, he lovingly does so easily what is so difficult, if not impossible, for us to do: he prays for his heavenly Father to forgive them. He does so perfectly without any malice in his heart. He had to, because we don’t. He did so as our Savior. And, when the pain was unrelenting, when the thoughts of most victims of crucifixion were completely consumed with the endless suffering, Jesus’ loving thoughts and his holy heart turned to his mother and her needs. Imagine that! Whose needs at the moment were greater—his or his mother’s? But while suspended between the earth and sky on a cross Jesus is concerned for his mother’s care. He won’t let anyone else take care of this responsibility. He placed her in the care of John, the disciple whom he loved. He perfectly kept the 4th Commandment right to the end of his life. He had to do so, because we don’t. He did so as our Savior. Here are his crucial cross hours—it is finished! There are times in our lives when we derive a good bit of satisfaction from our lives as Christians. The daily news is filled with stories of evil perpetrated by others, and we rightly shudder. We hear about the lies, deception, and corruption that mar the lives of others, and we’re thankful that their stories are not our stories. Instead of trying to take advantage of others, we try to help them. We derive a good bit of satisfaction from our lives as Christians. But then we see and hear what Jesus did on the cross during his crucial hours, we realize how far we fall short of what our God demands. We’ve often failed to forgive others in far lesser circumstances. We’re often too self-absorbed and too busy to think about the needs of others, and we excuse it because of what we’re facing at the moment. But not Jesus. He always put others, even his enemies, ahead of himself. He always did what was best for others, even when it meant offering himself as the sacrifice for their sins, for our sins. He gave his Father a perfect life in the place of our sinful lives. That’s the way it had to be and that’s the way it is. And therein lies our comfort, our confidence. In his crucial cross hours, he finishes the work of living a perfect life for us. II. Life is full of second chances, of opportunities to do things better the next time or even to make up for wrongs committed in the past. We appreciate it when others give us that opportunity and we try to extend those opportunities to others. But there is no second chance when a sin has been committed, at least not with the holy God. The holy and just God has announced that the punishment for a single sin is death in hell. And there’s nothing we can do to clear our sinful record. That’s why Jesus’ hours on the cross on Good Friday were so crucial. That’s where and when he suffered the punishment for our sins, the world’s sins. A few minutes ago, I referred to the unimaginable, unrelenting physical pain that Jesus endured on the cross. I’m sure it was unlike anything you or I have ever endured. The nails through his hands and feet. The thorns pressed into his skull. The skin on his back shredded from the whipping he received. And the ever-decreasing ability for his lungs to draw a breath. We can’t imagine it. But the torture, the physical pain, wasn’t the focus of his suffering on the cross. Again, the punishment for sin is not physical suffering; it’s suffering hell. Hell is separation from God. And that’s what he endured on the cross when he asked his Father in what must have been a haunting, desperate voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” During those crucial hours on the cross the Father withdrew his presence from his Son, and then Jesus felt the full weight of the world’s sins, all of them, of every sinner. He felt the weight of the sins of the Roman soldiers who had nailed him to the cross. He felt the weight of the sins of his enemies whose hearts were filled with hatred for him. He felt the weight of the sins of his disciples who had deserted him in his greatest hour of need. He felt the weight of the sins of all the days in the past and all the days in the future. He felt the weight of my sins, of your sins. His Father left him all alone and he suffered hell for them. And then he spoke his final words from the cross. He committed his soul into the loving hands of his heavenly Father. In doing so, he showed once again that he was in complete control of all that was happening. In fact, he made certain that everything happened as it had to in order for him to complete his work of being the world’s Savior from sin. He bowed his head and died. His crucial hours on the cross came to a silent end. All was now completed. It was finished. Finished. Never needing to be done again. Let’s go back to where we began. Is any task in this life truly ever done in the sense that it never needs to be done again? But here it is. The most important work in the history of the world, the work that the Father had sent his Son to this earth to accomplish. It is finished. No more punishment for sin. No more hell. It is finished. Here’s your answer to the guilt that plagues you. Yes, your God knows your sins and his Son suffered the punishment for them. Here’s your answer to a broken world. This sinful life in this sinful world isn’t the life God wants for you. He has something far better in store, eternally so. His Son earned it for you. It’s finished! In a world of endless unrest and oppression, here’s your daily and eternal peace. It’s here at Christ’s crucial cross hours. It is finished. Amen.