Everything about eternity, heaven, Christianity, Jesus, all hinge on this one reality, there is a resurrection. JESUS IS ALIVE!
1 Corinthians 15:12-14,NLT- Tell me this, since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.
Everything about eternity, heaven, Christianity, Jesus, all hinge on this one reality, there is a resurrection. JESUS IS ALIVE! *
And the second a human chooses to believe Jesus is alive and exercises faith to be born again, they are raised with Christ. Their new life begins.
The first thing humanity has to come to terms with is the fact that God designed everything connected to Him to be discovered through our beliefs. That’s what free-will is. “All things are possible...”
Acts 4, Let it be known to all of you, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. And there’s no other name among men by which man can be saved.
Easter, resurrection, Christianity, is all about acknowledging this one reality, Christ left His world and took on humanity, born of a women. His name is Jesus. And He became the sacrifice for humanity to have a way back.
Philippians 2, Jesus, even though He had equal status with God refused to cling to the advantages of that status. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and became human! Having become human, He stayed human. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death.
THEN HE GOT UP!!
All anyone has to do is take a step of faith and choose to believe this simple message about Jesus.
Here’s the thing, because humanity has been separated from a relationship with God because of sin, God sent Jesus into the human race, sacrificed Him and raised Him from the dead.
It had to be this way because of eternal law. God couldn’t just make up a new exception for His new creation because eternal beings are subject to spiritual law just like we are. So by following spiritual laws already in place, He sent a sacrifice to atone for humanity’s sin.
What the prince of darkness didn’t know was that from the beginning, God’s plan was to raised Jesus back up.
This is why in Ephesians, Paul prays that we grasp the utter extravagance of God’s work in us who trust in the fact that He has raised Jesus from the dead.
Ephesians 2, God, immense in mercy and with incredible love, embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. Then He raised us up and sat us down in the highest heaven, in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us right where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. All we have to do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. Jesus is God’s gift from start to finish!
Remember las week as we were following Jesus, He’s recruiting His disciples and after calling Matthew, He goes to hang out with Matthew and his sinner friends, where He makes this radical statement from the prophet Hosea, “Go learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Luke 15:1-2,NKJV- Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were openly critical of His association with sinners. And the fact that Jesus recruited one to be a disciple really frustrated the religious of the day. (Not much has changed.)
But Jesus makes it clear that He will always be going to and calling the ones that are away from God.
Sometimes I think the enemy isn’t so concerned about us coming in here, but when we start going out there, he’s gonna do everything he can to distract and disrupt.
In Luke’s view from Jesus’ time at Matthew’s house, Jesus makes His point very clear with 3 different parables. (The lost sheep, lost coin, lost son) “He came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Today’s title, “Running Back To You” was inspired from the father’s perspective about his son, from the parable of the prodigal son.
This revelation of restoration absolutely releases the Kingdom of Heaven into humanity, and by design spark revival.
There was a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, I want my inheritance right now. So the father divided the property between them.
The younger son packed his bags and left home. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt.
He signed on with a citizen there who sent him to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn-cobs in the pig slop.
Luke 15:17-19,NLT- When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, at home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.
verse 20, So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he RAN TO HIS SON, embraced him, and kissed him.
Remember what Jesus told the Pharisees at Matthew’s house, you go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
This resurrection Sunday, let the REVELATION OF RESTORATION settle in our spirits just like the father was toward his son.
Take a second, use your Holy Spirit inspired imagination and see the farther running to you.
verse 21, His son said to him, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.
Make no mistake, “I’m not worthy” is one of the enemy’s most successful tactics against believers that have messed up. And this is the ultimate reality about being raised with Christ. He has made you righteous. As a matter of fact, Colossians makes it very clear, “Christ made you alive, when He forgave all our sins. God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.”
You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
verse 22-24, But his father said to the servants, Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found. So the party began.
Every year Christians make such a big deal about Easter because on the other side of anyone making the choice to believe in Jesus is alive today, "you shall not perish but have everlasting life."
The harsh reality is that the landscape of our society today is skeptical, even critical. And regardless of where you stand today, you stand there based on beliefs you have established in your own life.
And to some degree, whether they are actually truth or not is irrelevant because you've accepted them as truth.
Everyone human on the planet lives this way because God created us this way. We live within the boundaries of our God given freedom of choice.
Deuteronomy 30:19,NLT- “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!"
Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth" and it’s Truth that'll make you free.
All I'm asking you to do today is that you give Jesus the same consideration you give your current beliefs. Because the truth is, every human is going to exist forever.
Eternity is part of humanity, but only eternal life comes through Jesus.
For the one listening today and thinking, "I'm not sure I can accept this stuff as truth." By design, the life of faith will never be discovered through intellectual confirmation, but a spiritual revelation.
On this resurrection Sunday, my prayer, just like with the prodigal son, is that the REVELATION OF RESTORATION settle in your spirit about the Father just like he did toward his father.
Here’s the deal, just like the prodigal, everyone fo us have that God given power to choose.
The life He gave you is exactly that, the one He gave you. And until you choose to give it back to Him, it's all yours.
This is why we've got to tell people about Jesus. This is why Paul tells us that the gospel is the power of God to salvation.
He said if you'll just talk about me I'll show up and reveal myself right in the middle of a conversation about Me.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand new life, including a future in Heaven, and THAT FUTURE STARTS NOW!