Easter ~ 2008
Our Hero Lives!
Scripture reading
Luke 23:39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
Luke 23:40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
Luke 23:41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Luke 23:42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Luke 23:43 And Jesus
said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you,
today you will be with Me in
Pray
Intro
√ Our hero lives!
A hero is defined as…
“A person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities.”
Heroism…
“The qualities of a hero or heroine; exceptional or heroic courage when facing danger (especially in battle).”
It would be fair to say that all of us, or most, have at least one person in our lives’ whom we think of as a hero.
Might be one of the men in our video clip.
Might be your mom or your dad who put their life on hold so that they could make you the focus of their time and energy.
Might be the policemen and fire fighters who climbed into
the
While each of these heroes may have saved us from some great tragedy or mortal enemy there remains one enemy whom they cannot save us from…
…that is Death!
There’s only One Person who is able to save us from Death and every other enemy we have and that is Jesus Christ!
The awesome truth is that while He gave His life to save ours…
…He also conquered Death itself and is alive this morning!
Ap. Our hero lives
Jesus certainly fits the criteria for being the hero of all heroes! Without a doubt He displayed the ultimate heroism…
“Exceptional or heroic courage when facing danger (especially in battle).”
He went to the Cross and did what no other man could do!
He took all of the sin of Mankind and heaped it onto His shoulders.
He bore not just the physical pain of the crucifixion, but also the spiritual punishment for every sin ever committed.
He looked into the eyes of Satan himself and the cruelty of the Grave and shielded us from their power with His own body.
He did all that for us and because Jesus did come back to life we can have confidence that all of His promises are sure!
His victory over Death validates everything He said and promised!
For example, the promise that Jesus made to the thief on the cross next to Him came to pass just as Jesus said it would.
How can we be sure?
Because He conquered Death and the grave!
So, this morning as we celebrate the greatest Hero that ever was, and ever will be…
…I want to review some of the promises He made to those who trust in Him and encourage you that you can have confidence that they are all true because our Hero lives!
Love
√ Love
You can be absolutely positively sure that God really does love you because our Hero said so! Speaking to a religious teacher, Jesus said…
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
How can we be sure that what Jesus spoke here has authority of God?
That is, he says that God loves us, but is it so?
If there was ever a man who might be tempted to doubt the love of God it would have been Saul of Tarsus who tried to destroy the Church by violence.
Yet, Paul was confident in God’s love because of his hero’s death.
Paul wrote…
I’ll bet Paul had himself in mind as he penned this verse!
Ap. Our hero lives!
Because Jesus is alive today we can be sure that what Jesus told us about God’s love for you is true!
That should change the way we live!
Think about how you and I acted (or act) when we first discovered that the special person whom we were attracted to…
…loved you back!
Everything’s different! Where life was dark and dismal, now there’s light and excitement!
Nothing gets you down because nothing else matters now that you know that special someone is in love with you!
Shouldn’t the knowledge that God loves you have an even greater impact in our lives and how we live?
Acceptance
√ Acceptance
All of us want to be accepted.
In fact, most of the strange behavior and odd ways in which people dress is done for the sake of fitting in…
…is all done with the purpose of fitting in, finding a person of group of people who will accept us.
There’s One Person whom we can’t fit in with no matter what we do, or how we dress.
That’s God!
Because of our sin we are separated from God and therefore unacceptable to Him in our sinful condition.
But, because of what our Hero did on the Cross and the fact that He lives we can be sure that we are now accepted by God!
Eph. 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Eph. 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ap. Our hero lives!
Because Jesus is alive today we can be sure that we are accepted just the way we are.
Even with all our warts, ill-tempered outbursts, lapses of judgment, lack of discernment…
…and just plain sinful behavior, God still accepts us because of our faith in Christ.
Because our hero lives we can be sure that God accepts us just the way we are!
Forgiveness
√ Forgiveness
It’s been said that…
“To err is human, to forgive is divine”
And, it’s corollary…
“To err is human, to blame someone else is more human.”
Anyone who has ever done some bonehead thing for which someone else is still holding a grudge knows how true that is!
The bottom line is that all of us will say, do or think something that is just plain sinful!
Live long enough and you’re sure to have someone somewhere who just can’t forgive you for whatever it is you said or did!
In fact, you may have done or said something for which you can’t forgive yourself!
Thank God that by the death and resurrection of our hero Jesus Christ we can be sure that God…
…the only One who really matters, has forgiven us for every sin and transgression we’ve ever committed, and will commit!
Eph. 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
What about you?
Is there some sin committed for which you have trouble believing that you’ve been forgiven?
If Paul, a man who participated in the murder of Christians could be sure that he was forgiven…
…how much more can you and I be confident that every sin we’ve ever committed, or will commit, has been forgiven!?
Freedom
√ Freedom
We Americans know something about freedom!
Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of expression…
…the founding documents upon which our nation is built guarantee us freedom!
But, there are some things from which the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence can’t free us!
Things like guilt and shame, sin, fear and Satan.
While I esteem our founding fathers and those who fought (and fight) for our freedom as heroes…
…they can’t help free us from these other harsh rulers.
But Jesus can! Jesus claimed…
John 8:36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Free from the power of sin…
“And having been set free from sin…” ~ Rom. 6:18
Free from guilt…
“how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” ~ Heb. 9:14
Free from fear…
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” ~ 2 Tim. 1:7
Free from the burden of trying to earn our way to heaven…
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” ~ Gal. 5:1
Jesus has the power to grant us real and lasting freedom so that we can…
Say “no” to the sin that once ruled our lives.
Laugh at the fear that kept us from experiencing life.
Sleep peacefully in the knowledge that our past sins won’t keep us from God’s love.
That’s real freedom!
Ap. Our hero lives!
Because Jesus rose from the dead we can be confident He has the power to set us free from everyone and everything that would try and enslave us!
Victory
√ Victory
Many great battles and wars have been fought throughout the history of Man, some of which have produced a direct benefit for each of us.
Other conflicts, ever very bloody ones, may have had little or no direct impact upon our lives.
Yet there is one war whose outcome has eternal consequence for every person who has ever lived!
The war for planet earth and the souls of her inhabitants!
That war was fought at the Cross where we find that Satan was defeated and stripped of his power!
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
Furthermore Jesus promised that if He went to the Cross that He would then gather together all people who had been scattered by sin and Satan.
Ap. Our hero lives!
Our victory over sin and death is sure because Jesus rose from the dead demonstrating that Satan could not hold Him!
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” ~ Rev. 1:18
And, if He who loves you enough to die in your place has the keys to Death and Hades…
…then you can be confident He’s going to share His victory with you!
Special
√ Special
Human nature is such that each of us wants to be special, unique, to be the object of another person’s special favor and love.
If that weren’t so then we wouldn’t experience jealousy, or envy.
The reality is that we all want to be the focal point of someone’s attention, care, and affection.
Ex. Belle & Elsker
How about God’s?
That is, wouldn’t it be great if God picked you above all others to be the focus on His affection!
Guess what, the Bible tells us that each of us who have placed our faith in Jesus has become that special person to God.
1Pet. 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1Pet. 2:10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Peter’s point is that God has made you His favorite person!
To be more accurate He’s made us His special people.
We are the focus of His attention and care.
We have been selected from all others to be the recipients of all His favor, gifts, love and glory.
All because the Father sees us “in Christ”, His only Son!
Ap. Our hero lives!
We can be sure that God loves His son, and thereby you and me too because…
…He confirmed it by raising Jesus from the dead!
Completed
√ Completed
One of the things that bugs me is giving someone a job to do, or project to finish, then having them tell me it’s finished…
…only to discover that they didn’t complete the job!
Ex. Taking out the trash
My point is that in life you and I often find out that what other people said was completed really wasn’t and we had to then come in and finish the job.
There was work left undone that fell to us.
But not when it comes to the work of Christ on the Cross! Jesus said that He would complete the work leaving nothing for us to do!
John 17:4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
And…
John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
How refreshing to know that work required for our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, and access to Heaven is done!
No more laws to fulfill.
No more sacrifices to be offered.
No good deeds or works required.
Rather, Jesus has done it all! The work is finished, it’s complete and all we have to do is accept it and enjoy it.
Ap. Our hero lives!
But how can we be sure!?
Because Jesus said so and we can be confident that the Father accepted His sacrifice as full payment for our sins because He came back to life!
The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead confirms everything…
He told us about life and godliness
The promises that He made
We have a sure hope because our hero lives!
Close
√ Our hero lives
Jesus is a hero you can put your trust in.
We can’t say that about any of the heroes we saw in our video clip, or any other that we might admire.
That’s because they are all just human and every human has a “glass jaw”…
…some flaw, or indiscretion that reminds of their frailty.
Ex. The new governor
of
Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign because of his sexual encounters with prostitutes.
David Paterson the assistant governor was sworn into replace Spitzer with the thundering approval of both parties and championed as a hero and role model for the blind and minorities.
Hours later Mr. Paterson admitted to his own indiscretion!
Men are flawed, people are weak, those we look to as heroes will fail and let us down.
But, there is a Hero who will never disappoint us and can be trusted to always do the right thing…
…that Hero is our Risen Lord Jesus!