Pastor Zach (15:58)
Let's go back to the beginning. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible describes the earth as dark, chaotic, and caught in the abyss. But when it came time for God to create life, he spoke. He said, let there be light. And all of creation followed after. That imagery, we find in Genesis 1 mirrors the state of the world after Jesus was killed. Everything was dark and chaotic, frenetic and unruly. The earth itself was off kilter and shrouded in shadows. But On Easter Sunday, God brought the light. The light came from the tomb, emerging in splendor and glory. In the Gospel of John, he said that Jesus was the light of men. The same light that brought life to the earth rose from the tomb that Sunday. The same is true with our hearts for those without Christ. Life is dark, chaotic and caught in the shadows. Jesus brings light and life into our lives. The resurrection is supposed to be a reclamation of Eden. You hear that imagery in the story. When Jesus emerges from the tomb, we are hearkened back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis, when the world was at peace with God. For those of us who believe in the resurrected Christ, our hearts are brought back to the Garden of Eden. Unity with God, peace with him in paradise. Jesus gives us harmony. John 1, 9, 11 tells us that the true light, which gives light to everyone, came into the world, yet the world rejected him. This reality was personified in the guards as they ran away from the light of Jesus. At first they were indifferent to Jesus. But when the light emerged, they became hostile. When they realized that the true and radiant power was coming from him, they ran away. This is the process many people in the world go through when they come in contact with the Gospel. At first they are indifferent, then they are hostile. Then they become scared and run from it. May we be known as people that are always running towards the light and not from it as one. John encourages us. May we walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. The resurrection also means redemption is finished. The penalty of sin is paid in full. The weight of sin has been lifted. Death is destroyed under the boot of Jesus. Powerful sacrifice. The cross to us is good news. We know that our sins are dealt with. And there is a dying to ourselves that takes place when we go to the cross. The cross is the greatest news to us who are believers today. But the followers of Jesus at that time don't know he's resurrected yet. The characters in this story, at this time, they don't know what we know. That's a really important detail. Joseph of Arimathea doesn't know that yet. Mary Magdalene doesn't know it yet. Peter, James, John, the rest of the disciples, they don't know anything. To them, the cross is bad news. Dead is dead. And to the disciples, Jesus is dead. There's no expectation of the resurrection for them. Especially if you have just experienced what the disciples have. Their whole world has been flipped upside down. Their expectations for the future have been thwarted. Their best friend, Master and king has just been brutally murdered. They all scattered and hid. When Jesus was arrested, all but John fled. So not only are they living in loss, but they're also living in regret. Something I bet you and I can relate to. That state that they are in. This state of loss and hopelessness is a picture of our hearts apart from Jesus. A heart without the resurrection of Christ is vulnerable to the tragedy of sin, shame, death, loss and regret. We actually see this in the disciples in John chapter 20 and we'll explore it in our next episode. They are somber. They had locked themselves in a room because they are too afraid to face the world. I want us to hone in on the pre resurrection state of the disciples in the world at this moment. They are cowardly running away in the face of danger, denying Jesus in front of little girls and hiding in a room with the doors locked. There is a very clear distinction between the disciples before the resurrection and the disciples after the resurrection. Because afterwards you see this boldness from every single one of them, proclaiming the gospel unabashedly, being beaten, singing hymns in prisons, and preaching in front of thousands of people with tongues of fire. What does that mean? It means that the resurrection of Jesus is a big deal. Something occurs in us because of the resurrection. It means that the resurrection of Christ has a serious supernatural effect on the hearts of those that follow and believe in Jesus. It is not just for show. The resurrection changes us. Paul the Apostle believed this so strongly that he said that our faith in what we believe is worthless unless Jesus rose from the dead. Our faith in Christ, our Christianity, hinges on the resurrection of Jesus. Without it, death has the final word, not him. The resurrection is necessary and the resurrection was also foreshadowed. The resurrection of Christ is woven as a tapestry throughout the entirety of scripture. There is story after story in the Bible of those who were once enslaved and dead in their ways, but then risen again by the redemption of God. There was these heroes that had this resurrection theme flowing through their lives. Noah was preserved in the ark and rises out of it once the floods are over. Jonah spends three days in the belly of a fish and is spit out to proclaim repentance to a far off nation. Daniel is shoved into a lion's den for his faithfulness to God, but then comes out a few days later unscathed. Moses spent years in the wilderness before leading Israel out of slavery into the promised land. And David spends years pursued by his enemies, hiding in a cave, only to come out on the other side to lead Israel into a period of thriving. All of those stories of deliverance fall short to saving our souls, but they point towards our true north, Jesus. All of these narratives are but shadows of the gospel. Daniel may have come out of the lion's den, but that fact doesn't bring your soul out of despair when your family is being torn apart by divorce. Jonah may have been delivered out of the belly of the fish, but he doesn't deliver us from our addictions. David may have slain Goliath, but that doesn't change the battle against our fears and insecurities that we face. Moses doesn't lead us out of slavery to sin and death into new life, but Jesus does. Jesus is the greater Moses. Jesus is the greater Noah. Jesus is the greater Daniel. He's the greater David. I can't walk in David's triumphs. I can't share in that with him. But I do share in the resurrection and the triumph of Jesus. That is the difference between Jesus and all the other characters of the Bible. Jesus brings us into new life. Jesus is the resurrection from the dead, and his spirit is in us. And now we have resurrection flowing through us. Romans 6, 5, 11 says this. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. For the death he died. He died to sin once for all. For the death he died. He died to sin once for all time. But the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The cross removes the sting of sin, but the resurrection removes the sting of death and offers sweetness of life. The two together are the inheritance we have in Christ. Not only that our sins would be forgiven, but that we would step into new life with God. The cross does away with the sting of sin, baggage and failure. And the resurrection brings new life with the Spirit of Christ. The resurrection means we are new creation. 1 Corinthians 5 says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come. Jesus said that you cannot see the kingdom of God unless you are born again. This is the beautiful thing that has happened as a result of the cross and the resurrection, that there was an exchange of our sin for Christ's righteousness. And because of that righteousness, we get the spirit of God. We live as completely new people. Let that be an encouragement to us who feel like we're still caught in a continual loop of our past sins. That's not who you are. The old you has been crucified on the cross. You now have resurrection flowing through you. Many of us believe that becoming a Christian means that it's a change in subculture, hobbies and habits. We don't curse anymore, and maybe we hang out with a new crowd. But giving your life to Jesus means that you are literally a new person. You have different affections, you have different things that give you joy because you're new. We also have been given new purpose, and we'll get to that in later episodes as we draw close. Take heart in the fact that you get to live a life as an extension of Christ's life. And that's so sweet. We're not just sacks of matter flowing through life randomly with no absolute direction. You have a purpose, and that is a reality that people spend decades searching for, yet never find. But you have a purpose. Your purpose is to know God intimately, to love him deeply, and to find new and exciting ways to reconcile everything around you to his kingdom. You have the Resurrection flowing through you. This is something to rejoice in, cherish, and be emboldened by. Happy Easter. I'm so glad that you've joined us through Holy Week, but the Jesus Podcast is only getting started. We are going to spend the next few episodes going through the events after the Resurrection. We're going to follow the disciples as they wrestle with doubt, fear and anxiety. We're going to watch Jesus restore them and give them new purpose. After that, we're going to dive into other gospel stories. The parables, Jesus miracles, the Beatitudes, everything centered around the person and ministry of Jesus. We're going to cover here on the Jesus Podcast. Have a happy Easter. See you next time.
