Audio from Senior Pastor Vaughn Drawdy on Sunday morning April 14th, 2019.
These sermon notes are made available through the YouVersion free Bible app.
https://www.bible.com/events/606112
Throughout history events and inventions have shaped the way we live. We are all affected by them… many things are so ingrained in our life that we don’t give it much thought to what it was before the event, before the invention.
Here’s a case in point…electricity.
We don’t give it much thought, we just have become use to having it. We don’t give it much thought of what life was without it. But life without it was very, very different.
What would life be without electricity?
In 1879, the great American inventor Thomas Edison was finally able to produce a reliable, long lasting electric light bulb in his laboratory. By the end of the 1880’s, small electrical stations based on Edison’s designs were in a number of US cities.
Now, we don’t give light bulbs much thought until we have to change one that is blown or the power goes out from a storm…
An even greater event - One event in history has changed everything… beyond what we can hardly even comprehend: Jesus’ resurrection.
Let’s look at this a little closer today.
Before Jesus’ resurrection - Here’s the truth of the how bad it was:
1. Sinful man is cutoff and alienated from God
Romans 5:6 NIV
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:6 NLT
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Romans 5:12 NIV
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
Verse 5:18 says we were condemned. (doomed, lost)
The sentence of judgment came from God in Genesis 2:16-17
Genesis 2:16-17 NIV
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
>We faced despair, condemnation, hopelessness, which leads to have fear in life and be helpless in the face of death.
>We were alone and in chaos.
2. Our sinful behavior made us the enemy of God
Romans 8:8 NIV
8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
In Romans 8:8 Paul says that if we live in the realm of the flesh, we cannot please God. For the flesh is hostile to God.
Colossians 1:21 NIV
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
What a really sad condition… man is destitute.
I love these two passages that show an interruption in the chaos… One starts with a “But Then”, and the other starts with a “But Now”…
These are significant moments - For in them, we hear the good news of how Jesus changed everything:
Romans 5:8-9 NIV
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Jesus reconciled us to God.
"But now..."
Colossians 1:21-22 NIV
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
Let’s look at these "But then, but now" history changing moments:
Luke 23:26-Luke 24:12
As a result of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection... everything changed.
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 NIV
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
The significance of His resurrection is incredible. He is the first fruits of those to be raised from the dead, ensuring that we will be raised, too (1 Cor. 15:20-23; Rom. 6:4-5). The power that raised Jesus from the dead, the Holy Spirit, is at work in us now (Eph. 1:17-20). The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies. Rom. 8:10-11)
Communion: 1 Cor. 11:23-26
Zakar - remember so that you live in and live out what has been given