Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Special Services / Easter Season 2001

Easter 2001

Intro: Raise your hand if you admit to watching the TV show 'Survivor'. OK, now raise your hand if you watch but won't admit to it. Is this show popular or what? I even had someone, who will remain nameless, call me to see if I watched it so I could tape it. Well, I don't watch it, but...I was flipping one evening and the show came on so I watched to see what all the fuss was about.  This is what I found out.

     The idea of an alliance intrigued me. It seems you can conspire with one or more people so that they will agree not to vote you out if you agree not to vote them out. I understand that  Sometimes it works, other times it dog eat dog...or man eat rat, something like that. Sometimes these alliances break down because people don't keep their word. We all have alliances; family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and even church family. they are the people we count on to be there for us. Unfortunately, even these alliances can break down.

     Surviving the challenges placed before the contestants of the TV show 'Survivor' is tough, no doubt. And when they survive a challenge, one will get an 'immunity' garland or some such nonsense. So that they can't be voted out of the tribe, at least for one vote. But surviving the challenges of life is infinitely more difficult, to be sure. I am here to tell you this morning that not only can we survive life's challenges, we can be victorious over them and can be assured of making an eternal alliance,... when we receive eternal immunity.

     I'll come back to that later. There is something else about the show I want to look at. Reality TV. This has become a totally new genre of TV programming. Shows like 'Survivor' 'Temptation Island' Boot Camp' 'The Real World'  'the Mole' and 'Pop Stars' to name a few are all Reality TV shows.

What is Real about them?

People are artificially chosen to participate on the show.
Plots and challenges are artificially set up for the people to participate in.
People are given artificial immunity against being kicked off the show.
The people know there are cameras everywhere so much of their behavior and words are artificially provided for the
    audience's or ratings sake.
And they are artificially removed from the show when   they don't meet up to the standards of the rest.

     This is reality? I think not. But to many, becoming a Christian and living the Christian life isn't reality either. Why? Because so few outside the church have seen the reality of surviving life's challenges by the power of God. If they can't see it, they won't believe it is possible and therefore not a reality to them.

     The reality is, Christians can survive life's challenges, no matter how difficult they may be, when they are in an eternal alliance with the God of the universe by receiving eternal immunity through the work of His Son, Jesus.  That is Easter and what we celebrate this morning.

Trans: Open your Bible's to 1 Cor. 15:1 were we will find the Apostle Paul telling the Corinthian Christians and you here this morning, how to survive life's challenges.

I. To the Believer: Remember (1 Cor. 15:1-2)
Read: 1 Cor. 15:1-2

     Essential to the Christian faith is the belief that Jesus was raised from the dead. That is what Paul taught and that is what we have learned as well. It is by this resurrection faith that we can survive life's challenges. But the Christians at the church of Cornith had forgotten that. Paul had preached the Gospel of Christ to them and they believed, they were saved, they rejoiced, and lived powerful lives by the Gospel. But somehow, overtime, they forgot.

     Perhaps they got comfortable. Perhaps they took their eyes off Christ and began to feel pretty good about themselves. Perhaps they figured they could handle the challenges life would bring. After all, they were the Corinthian church, they had all the spiritual gifts and they all used them with abandon.

     But notice Paul said..'if you hold fast the word which I preached to you'. They didn't hold fast, in fact the idea here is that they dropped the ball. Perhaps they had forgotten the power of the Gospel and instead preferred the power of the gifts. Paul spent much time dealing with that very issue earlier in this letter.

    Paul says remember the Gospel. It will help you to stand. You see there was great division and many problems in the church of Cornith. The fact of the matter was, they were not surviving life's challenges because they were either trying to go it alone or take it out on one another.  They were not looking to the source of their power, the truth of God's Word, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the foundation, the base, the source of power for victorious Christian living.

 But, they  had forgotten.  Have you, Christian, forgotten from where your power comes? Have you tried to fight life's challenges alone?   Have you sought to take your frustration out on others? Have you forgotten the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Remember! Remember the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Trans: In verses 3-8 Paul reminds the Christian what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. And to those who were perhaps in the church of Cornith or even here this morning, who are not Christians, who have never accepted Jesus as Savior, Paul wants you to know what the Gospel is too.

II. To the Unbeliever: Know (1 Cor. 15:3-8)

 Rom. 1:16-17 says 'For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.'

     If you are here this morning and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you are battling life's challenges alone and powerless. Paul says the Gospel is God's power not only for salvation but for life....as we live by faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, you may be asking, what is the Gospel that it is so powerful? I am glad you asked and so is Paul because that is what he tells us in verses 3-8.

Read: 1 Cor. 15:3-8

     Paul begins by saying understand that what I am about to tell you is the most important thing I have ever said to you. So don't miss this. You need to know this. Verses 3-8 can be broken down into 2 parts.

    1. Christ died for your sins
         Jesus came into the world and died a horrible death on the cross of Calvary and was buried in the ground for one purpose, to bear the penalty of sin on our behalf.

 Rom. 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. You sin, you die, eternally separated from the grace and love of God. Everyone must pay that debt.

     In this hopeless situation, comes the Gospel. Jesus died for your sins. When John the Baptist saw Jesus he cried 'Look, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!' Through his death we are saved from the consequence of our sin: eternal punishment. Instead, he offers eternal immunity: life in heaven with God for ever.

     Yes the wages of sin is death BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    2. Christ rose from the dead on the third day
     If Jesus had died on the cross, was buried and stayed buried, then this would have been just another tragic story. BUT, God raised Jesus from the dead. What is so important about that?

         a. God shows himself to be God Almighty that He has the power to do what he says He will do. You can survive life's challenges because God is able to do abundantly more than we could ask.

         b. God shows us that we can not only survive life's challenges, we can be victorious over them. Jesus's situation was pretty challenging...alone, nailed to the cross between two thieves, w/o the chance of pardon. He was going to die.

    Satan's strongest power was sin and death, that was his domain. And Jesus sinless life broke Satan's power. The devil is defeated and Christ is victorious. The Gospel of Jesus Christ promises that same victory to those who believe.  Think about it. If Satan's biggest guns are defeated, then whatever troubles he may put in your way are no match against the power of the gospel in your life. You can survive life's challenges because Jesus rose from the dead.

     You may be asking how do I know this is true? Well, Paul says that not only did the Bible predict Jesus would die and be raised on the third day, there were hundreds of witnesses. The Gospel is True!

Let's play good news - bad news.

     The bad news is if you have not accepted Christ's death on the cross as payment for your sin and asked him to be your savior, then you will pay the payment yourself and you will pay it by failing life's challenges and ultimately by spending eternity in torment.

     The good news is the Gospel. In fact, Gospel means Good News! Jesus already paid the price, and by asking and believing in Jesus as your savior your sin debt is wiped out.

 Rom. 10:13 says 'whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'

     Do you want more than just to survive life's challenges, do you want victory ? Do you want eternal immunity, eternal life with God in heaven? Call out to God, confess your sin, accept His work on the cross.

Rom. 10:9 'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.'

 God has made a way for you and the way is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Son of God.

Trans: Are there still some of you who are doubting this could be real? Do you think your life is so bad that Jesus can't forgive your sin? Or so insignificant that He doesn't care? Well, you are not alone. Many feel that way and Paul speaks to you as well.

III. To the Doubter: Trust  (1 Cor. 15:9-10)
Read: 1 Cor. 15:9-10

    Paul said if the gospel saved me, it can save you too. Not only was I not a 'church person' I persecuted the church. I hunted Christians down and had them imprisoned, beaten even killed. Yet, the Gospel saved me and gave me a victorious life. Not that I am responsible for my victories, Paul reminds us. My victory is in Christ. It is by his grace, or undeserved mercy, that I not only did I survive life's challenges, and Paul had a pretty difficult life, but I have been victorious over them.

     Paul ends by saying surviving life's challenges is not dependent on his ability to be strong or clever. But on God's ability to deliver him from disaster through faith. Faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.

     Paul is pleading with us, believer and unbeliever alike. Trust the Gospel. (Jesus died for your sins) Trust the Gospel (God raised Him from the Dead) Trust in Christ.

Conclusion
     Sometimes when I am shaving n the morning, I look into the mirror and think, 'Man, I look old, but maybe with a good nights sleep, I'll look better tomorrow.' Then I hear a still small voice say 'Don't count on it. this is the best it is ever going to be.'

    The message of despair is everywhere, on TV, in the newspaper, even in my bathroom. Wars are breaking out, there are diseases for which we have no cures, there are problems in the homes, children and being abused and people are sleeping in the streets. Despair is everywhere. Denmark just passed a law legalizing assisted suicides. Marriages are in trouble, children are rebellious, illness and death touch all our lives. How can we survive? Where is our hope?

     In the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  No matter how wracked with pain and sorrow your life may be, even if there is loneliness and despair, you can survive life's challenges through the strength that comes from belief in the Gospel and a relationship with the person of the Gospel, Jesus Christ.

 The Easter promise is that we can survive life's challenges, through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.