Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Special Services / Easter Season 2000

Easter 2000

INTRO: A lot of new things are happening at CBC.

We have a brand new front to our building.
We have new trees and flowers in the Worship Center.
We have a new sound system for our new sound room.
We have new central air conditioning.
We will soon have new carpet for our worship center.

 We are experiencing a 'New Beginning' with our church physical plant. A new beginning that will bring us up to date in our furnishings and will add more comfort for our people.

 And that is good...really good but...it's not great!

 You see, one day, the front will once again need to be replaced, the trees purchased again, the air conditioned reconditioned, the sound system updated and the carpets reinstalled. Our beautiful new building will need to be thoroughly overhauled sometime in the future. All the effort, time and money spent today will one day be forgotten and we will have to do it all over again. The same is true with our lives.

 Last week I said that people really want a new beginning, a fresh start in life. One that will bring lasting peace and security.

 And that they will often follow whatever comes down the road or is advertised on the TV promising the world. Only to discover later that it didn't meet their expectations nor the promises it made. And disappointment often follows. That's where many people are today, it is called a rut. And they don't now how to get out of it. They want a new beginning, a fresh start that won't disappoint them in the end, one that is all it promises to be.

 I said that if you came back I would tell you about a new beginning that once started never ends..one that is everything it promises and one that will never disappoint you. Well, that is what I want to talk about this morning. Because while getting a new beginning with our church building is good....getting a new beginning on life...is great!

EXP:  This is Easter Sunday, what do we celebrate today?

 I would venture to say that everyone here knows that this is the day we celebrate God raising Jesus from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is central to Christianity. It is the root, the foundation, the basis for what all Christians through the centuries have believed.  Christians don't remember a martyr decaying in the grave, they follow, they serve, and they love a resurrected, reigning and returning Savior...who is Jesus Christ!

 So I want to talk this morning about that new life that is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  How do we experience this new beginning in Christ? We must examine God's Word to find the answer.

I. THE ROAD TO A NEW BEGINNING requires
   A. An encounter with the person of Jesus Christ
Texts: Acts 2:22-24,32-36; Matt. 16:13-16; Jn 11:25-27; 1 Jn5:20

Acts 2:22-24  Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know, this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.'
Acts 2:32ff This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. having been exalted to the right hand of God. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.

Matthew 16:16  'But who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

 When we examine these texts, what do we find about the person of Jesus?

1. He performed miracles in their midst by the power of God.
2. He was crucified according to God's preordained plan.
3. God raised Him from the dead, also according to His plan.
4. The risen Jesus was seen by many witnesses.
5. By His resurrection Jesus put an end to the fear of death.
6. God exalted Jesus to the highest place in heaven.
7. He is the Christ, the Messiah the one who will save His people.
8. He is the Son of the living God.
9. He is our life now and forever.

An encounter with Jesus will reveal that He is everything that God's Word says He is.
An encounter with Jesus through God's Word will reveal that He will do all that He has promised to do.
An encounter with the living Jesus will start you on the road to a new beginning in Jesus Christ.

Trans: The Road to a New Beginning requires

    B. An encounter w/ the presence of the Holy Spirit
 Regenerating: Titus 3:4-7

Titus 3:4ff 'But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit'.

 What does regeneration by the Holy Spirit mean?

 This text, taken with Eph. 2:1 which says 'we are dead in our transgressions and sins', is telling us that before we can experience the new beginning in Christ, the Holy Spirit must wake us up from the dead. That is what regeneration is.

ILL: Lazarus was dead and in his tomb. There was nothing he could have done to come out  and live again.. he was dead. It took Jesus calling Lazarus to life to make him walk out of the tomb.

 Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is bringing back to life that which was dead.

 Indwelling: Romans 8:9-11

Romans 8:9ff  'However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.'
 When the Holy Spirit wakes you up spiritually, He comes to reside in your life. When Jesus came as a baby, He was called, Emmanuel, God with us. Now, when the Holy Spirit comes into your life, He truly is God with us.

 Sanctifying: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

2 Thessalonians 2:13ff 'God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit.'
 Because God is with you, you can no longer live a life of habitual sin. Sanctification is your right standing before God now and the process of becoming more and more like Christ in your everyday life. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives you the power to put your old life of sin behind and put on your new life in Christ.

 An encounter with the Holy Spirit will reveal God's work in you. It will reveal God drawing you to Himself, making you interested in spiritual things, giving you a desire to know more about salvation and He will convict you of your life of sin.

 If you feel any of that, recognize it as an encounter with the Holy Spirit.

TRANS: The Road to a New Beginning requires
   C. An encounter with the power of sin
Texts: Rom 3:10-18,23; Rom 6:13a; 1 Jn 1:10; Jn 8:34

Romans 3:10ff 'There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. And the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.'
Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death.'

 When we examine these texts, what do we see about the power of sin in our lives?
1. No one can say they are by nature good people.
2. No one can earn a place in heaven.
3. No one seeks after God by their own desires.
4. No one experiences true peace.
5. Everyone is a slave to the sin in their life.
6. If we sin, we die...eternal separation from God in the fires and eternal torment of Hell.

 By the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives, we encounter the truth about who we are...we are by nature sinful and unable to please God in anything we do. And the penalty for our life of sin is death.

 As we travel the road to a new beginning in Christ we must encounter the seriousness of our sin before a Holy God.

TRANS: Next the Road to a New Beginning requires
   D. An encounter with the path of repentance
Texts: Matthew 4:17; Acts 17:30-31; Acts 3:19

Acts 17:30ff 'God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.'

Acts 3:19 'Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away'

 For those who have encountered Jesus and the presence of God's Holy Spirit,
 For those who have encountered the power of sin in their lives,
 They must now turn from their life of sin and turn to a life of holiness before God.
 They must encounter the path of repentance.

 Repentance is more than just feeling sorry for your sin, it is being repulsed by it to the point of rejecting it. It is turning away from it and desiring to live as God's Word commands.This is only possible because you have already encountered the indwelling Holy Spirit who moves you along the path of repentance and gives you the desire and power to resist sin when it comes along. Can you always resist sin, be perfect? No that is why I said earlier that it is a process, guided and enabled by the Holy Spirit.

 The road to a new beginning in Christ requires a trip down the path of repentance. And what will you find at the end of that path? You will...

II. ARRIVING AT THE THRONE OF GRACE we realize
   A. Jesus is on the throne: Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:8ff  'Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.'

 Here we encounter not only Jesus the man from Galilee but Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We encounter Jesus in all the majesty and glory of His holiness. We find that we have no other choice but to bow in His presence.

Arriving at the Throne of Grace we realize that
   B. Jesus brings us to the throne: Colossians 1:13-14

Colossians 1:13-14 ' For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved
                                   Son.'

 Even the encounter with Jesus on the throne was not done by our own seeking, Jesus, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, delivers us to the throne of grace.

Arriving at the Throne of Grace we must
C. Jesus is confessed as Lord: Romans 10:9-13

Romans 10:9ff 'that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. for Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.'

 This is where we realize that without Jesus we are doomed to an eternity separated from God in Hell. This is the place where because of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we acknowledge Jesus as our Savior and Lord. This is the place where we call out to God for salvation by believing in His Son, Jesus. This is the place we encounter the wonderful, saving grace of God.

Our encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ at the throne of grace will meet our every expectation.

III. THE REWARD OF A NEW  BEGINNING
   A. The peace of forgiveness
Texts: 1 John 1:9; Romans 8:1-4

1 John 1:9 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'

Romans 8:1-2 'There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.'

 Did you hear that? The reward of this new beginning in Christ is forgiveness of our life of sin..a complete cleansing of our filthy rags of self righteousness.

 Did you hear what else? There is now and will forever be no condemnation, no penalty that needs to be paid, no more punishment for our life of sin. In Christ we are at peace with God. And peace with God brings eternal life with God.

  B. The promise of eternal life
Texts: John 3:16; John 3:36a; Romans. 6:22-23; 1 John. 5:13

John 3:16 'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.'

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

1 John 5:13 'These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.'

 What does this say about eternal life with God?
1. Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish or go to Hell
2. Because we have been freed from sin, because we have been sanctified, we have eternal life.
3. We have received the gift of eternal life from God.
4. We can know...beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have eternal life...a new beginning that will never end!

   C. The production of fruit
 Another reward of a new beginning, a new life in Christ is fruit...what do I mean by that?
Text: Acts 2:41-47; Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22-23 ' But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.'

 Isn't that what you expect out of life? Isn't that what you want? God's Word promises these fruit for those who walk with God. Who could be disappointed with those results?

CONCLUSION:
 Easter Sunday reminds us that a new beginning is possible because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He lives, we too can live.

So, do you want a fresh start, a new beginning?  One that is eternal in scope and will never have to be repeated?

 Seek the face of Jesus,
Yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life,
 Acknowledge the presence and power of sin in and over your life,
 Repent and turn from your sin and turn to God for deliverance and salvation.
 As God speaks to your heart from the throne of Grace Acknowledge that Jesus is Lord
 and you will experience forgiveness and will receive the gift of eternal life.

 Won't you take this road to a new beginning with the living Jesus Christ?