“God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all
witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to
the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him
the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. For David himself never ascended into heaven,
yet he said, ‘The Lord said to
my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I
humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’ “So let everyone in Israel know for certain
that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they
said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of
your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. Then you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This
promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been
called by the Lord our God.” Then Peter
continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save
yourselves from this crooked generation!”
Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church
that day—about 3,000 in all. All the
believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and
to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and
the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one
place and shared everything they had. They
sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each
day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy
and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the
people. And each day the Lord added to
their fellowship those who were being saved. Acts 2:32-47(NLT)
ack
in the days when you could still ask the question in the public schools, a
third grade teacher asked her pupils: What is Easter all about? Many of the children gave their answers,
mostly about colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, and the like. The dismayed Christian teacher was about to
give it up when one little boy offered, Easter
is when Jesus died on the cross and then he was buried. The
teacher thought: All right! At least he's got it. But the boy
continued, And on Easter morning Jesus
comes out of the tomb, and if he sees his shadow we get six more weeks of
winter.
Sadly
enough, many children today know this (and less) about the greatest event ever
to happen in history. We teach them
about George Washington, Martin Luther King, and how to wear a condom, but the
most important thing they need to know for time and eternity is left to chance,
or relegated to fable.
May
God have mercy on our souls!
We
will need mercy, because if the constitution falls, as so many governments do
today (and all through history); If the condom fails and AIDS is the diagnosis;
If the lipstick on the collar isn't yours, wife; If the brakes fail and the
truck coming the other way doesn't see you; If..If..If.....WHEN it
happens, you will need Jesus.
When
the Easter Bunnies of this world are not enough to meet the crises of your real
life, you will need Him.
And
Easter is the reason why. And if you
depend on the Son of God rather than the Easter Bunny of fables and
merchandizing, here is what you’ll have:
Resurrected Christ
In
Peter's sermon to the gathered crowd he told them emphatically, God has raised this Jesus to life, and we
are all witnesses of the fact.
WITHOUT THE RESURRECTION CHRISTIANITY IS
EMPTY!
Without
the resurrection, life is meaningless, and religion then becomes no more than
ritual, or the kind of fanaticism that can end up in a cult that drinks the
poisoned Kool Aide.
THE
RESURRECTION REALITY MEANS CHRIST IS EVERYTHING.
Peter
said that they were witnesses. The
resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most verified miracle of all.
· He
was publicly executed during the busiest season of the year in Jerusalem.
· He
was pierced in the vital organs with a Roman spear.
· He
was stone cold dead, laid in a tomb from Friday to Sunday –and then appeared,
touched, ate with and taught more than 500 witnesses for a month before
ascending to heaven in front of all those witnesses.
The
church, established in His name, has not been perfect. But, believers have suffered and died in His
name for the last two thousand years.
Why? What is the value? The value is what the death and resurrection
of Christ means.
Speaking
of Jesus, and those who have trusted in Him for salvation, Paul wrote:
If we die with him, we will also live with him.;
2 Timothy 2:11b(NLT)
That's
the value!
Without
resurrection this life is all there is.
We might as well be the grabbing, selfish society we see gripping the
whole world. Grab the gusto! Get all you can; first man to the top; the
one who dies with the most toys.....And so on!!!
Ah,
but with the resurrection there is different meaning. This life is but a preparation for the life
to come – an eternal life with a living, resurrected Lord, Jesus!
When
the Easter bunnies of materialism, prestige, and other human appetites begin to
lose their luster, and life falls apart at the doctor's office, or the bank, or
the grave – there is a Resurrected Christ who says, Come unto Me...and I will give you rest!
What
else do we get, preacher? He is also a:
Raised Christ
On
earth things are fickle. Last week (Palm
Sunday), Jesus was a hero, entering Jerusalem triumphantly, tree palms made a
royal carpet road to welcome him with upraised palms of hands in worship.
By
Friday, Jesus was crucified as a common criminal, spread-eagle on crossbeams,
naked on the town garbage heap. There
are countless stories of rags to riches
and back. That would tell the story
of Jesus for certain, if this life tells all there is to the story.
But
Dr. Luke says we are to be assured of this,
God has made this Jesus,
whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah
Acts 2:36b(NLT)
On
earth Jesus was despised and rejected of men; in heaven He has been exalted,
and sitting at the right hand of the Father.
Beloved,
all people have a sense of judgment. We
know that fire burns us, sharp things pierce the skin, radiation kills, and
cancer will literally eat you alive.
There
is a judgment, and the throne Jesus sits upon will utter the judgment one
day. You will need Him when the Easter
bunnies of earth are long past.
Everyone
must make a decision for Easter Bunnies or eternal blessing! Only a resurrected Christ, and a raised
Christ can offer you eternal life.
That
means everyone must make a:
Radical Change
When
the people Peter preached to on this occasion heard of the resurrected and
raised Christ, they were convicted, cut to the heart! They wanted to know what to DO about it.
Peter
said, Repent! To repent means knowing that you are guilty
of sin, sorrowful over that sin, and willing to change – to be different – to
be God's kind of person. The Scriptures
call it Godly repentance.
Many
people in jail are guilty and sorrowful; they’re guilty because they DID it, and sorrowful
because they GOT CAUGHT. The problem with that kind of sorrow is
they’re not really willing to change. If
they could find a better way to do what they did, so they wouldn’t get caught
they’d do it again a hundred times!
Godly repentance is being willing to turn from doing those same sins again.
This
is what happened in Jerusalem. Three
thousand people allowed Christ to be savior and Lord of their lives!
Here’s
what they did:
They DEVOTED themselves to the
apostles' teaching, prayers, giving to those in need; their lives changed
dramatically!
The
key word, devoted,
means they changed, or rather allowed the teaching of God's word to change all their ways. That's what coming to Christ is all
about. It isn't church services, giving
money and giving up the weekend drugs.
It's about having your life so altered that Jesus' priorities become
your priorities.
Beloved,
the difference between an Easter Bunny faith and miraculous Christianity is
allowing Christ to fill your life.
Do
you want to belong to a church?
Fine!
Do
you want to be known as a Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian or Methodist? Fine!
Do
you want to attend services, and help with doing good stuff in the
community? Fine!
Those
are all representative of the kinds of changes Jesus will bring.
But…
YOU COULD DO THOSE THINGS WITHOUT EVER KNOWING JESUS, AND THEY WILL ONLY
AMOUNT TO AN EASTER BUNNY FAITH.
That's
not resurrection power.
Have
you let Christ into your heart?
Are
you willing to let a
resurrected,
raised Lord
radically change you?
Are
you willing to have a new life? Are you?
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