God knows who you are.
He brought you here today to hear these words of truth, hoping that your eyes may be opened to the reality that He has always been with you, in hopes that those of you who are far from Him would come near to Him.
Three questions to answer on Resurrection Day
One: What is the real Easter Story?
Two: Why does it matter?
Three: What is my next move?
One: What is the real Easter Story?
It does not begin at the tomb; it begins at the cross.
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning..
-Luke 24:1a
Greek: “as soon as they saw the sun”
…the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
-Luke 24:1b
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
-Luke 24:2
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
-Luke 24:3
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?
-Luke 24:4-5
He is not here; he has risen!
-Luke 24:6a
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'
-Luke 24:6b-7
Then they remembered his words.
-Luke 24:8
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.
-Luke 24:9-12
Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
-Luke 24:12
Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’
-Acts 4:18-20 (NIV 1984)
No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word.
-Albert Einstein
Two: How does the Easter story change everything?
If Jesus rose again….
1. Everything he said about Himself is true!
2. Everything He said about God is true!
3. Everything He said about His own life, death, future is true!
4. Everything He said about my life, death, future is true!
What is God’s name?
- Elohim: (plural) Mighty One.
- El Shaddai: God Almighty—Protector.
- The Tetragrammaton: (Greek for 4 Letters): Yod, Heh, Waw, Heh, Often Pronounced: YHWH OR YahWeh
‘Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…’ Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is his name?” Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.”’
-Exodus 3:5-8a;13-14
God says: I am who I am = "ehyeh asher ehyeh"
1. Self-existing: He is the only being who does not depend on anything outside for His existence.
2. Unchanging: Immutable; does not fluctuate.
God says: "ehyeh asher ehyeh" = ehyeh repeated means: I am. I always am.
YahWeh: Yod, Heh, Waw, and Heh
- Yod: Right hand symbolizing work. Awesome/Powerful work.
- Heh: Ancient symbol for outstretched hands. Behold/Reveal.
- Waw: Binding and Securing. A tent, nail or peg.
- Heh: When doubled up: Past man’s beholding and revelation into Divine beholding and revelation.
Yod: Hand
Heh: Behold
Waw: Nail
Heh: Behold
Behold the hand. Behold the nail.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’
-Romans 1:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-John 3:16
Believe: pistis (greek): Belief that leads to action.
R.S.V.P.
R: Repent and acknowledge that you have not been living for Christ
S: Say you’re sorry for putting your trust in anything other than God
V: Verbalize your trust in Jesus’s work on the cross to save you
P: Plunge your past by participating in baptism. Die to your old life and be raised to new life in Christ
One: What is the real Easter Story?
Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin and death.
Two: Why does it matter?
If Jesus rose from the dead, everything He said is true and you and I are lost in our sins—eternally separated from God, until we respond to the gospel.
Three: What is my next move?
Respond to the Gospel! R.S.V.P.
And for us this is the end of all the stories, but for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world…had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
-C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle
The reason the resurrection of Jesus is so important is because it validates his identity and words.
R.S.V.P.
Easter: Resurrection Day = New Life!
Make a Decision