Surprised By Easter

Easter 2019

Surprised By Easter

Acts 3:11-16

The first Easter came as a surprise to all sorts of people.

God is still surprising people through Easter truth and power today!

A Short Summary Of The Easter Events

1. You Killed Him – Condemnation

• Condemned by the Jews
• Executed by the Romans
• Abandoned by God
• Buried in a borrowed tomb

2. God Raised Him from The Dead – Resurrection

The Resurrection of Jesus Confirms His Identity:

• The Son of God

“which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” (Romans 1:2–4)

• The Christ

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”” (Acts 2:36)

• The Savior

“The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 5:30–31)

• The Author of Life

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25)

3. We Saw Him – Witness

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–8)

• The Disciples’ Expectations

• The Disciples’ Transformation

Because of Easter, I Can Experience:

1. Assurance – Guarantees our Forgiveness

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The Resurrection is the consequence and demonstration of our salvation, because Death is the consequence and demonstration of sin

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14)

2. Transformation – Empowered to Change

“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:13–14)

“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 1:18–20)

3. Hope – A Future That Is Secure

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Peter 1:3)

“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:53–57)

4. Mission – A Mission to Pursue

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:16–20)

The opposite of love is not anger, it is Indifference

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)

How Do I Experience Easter Personally?

• Recognize

• Renounce

• Rely

Making It Personal:

• Have I genuinely experienced the life changing power of the resurrection in my life through renouncing my sin and relying totally on the finished work of Jesus Christ?

• Where in my life do I need to experience a fresh touch of God’s Easter power?

• How will the hope of eternity impact my day by day living and the priorities of my life?

• How will I love God and others by living out the mission of Jesus Christ?

• Who can I share these truths with?