Easter Sermon

This is rather long but I thought I would post it anyways. I taught today at Church, and this was my outline. Happy Easter to you! **EASTER SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON** ROMANS 4:25~He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. 1 PETER 3:18~For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. 1. GREETING 2. INTRO TO TOPIC Easter is a glorious time of year. It is a time for us to remember that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was raised from the dead. I would like to read a brief account of the resurrection from Matthew chapter 28, then look at an aspect of the resurrection that I think is of utmost importance for us. 3. READ MATTHEW 28 4. THE DARKNESS OF OUR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS Before we get to the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, we must first deal with the reason the Son of God died. “He was delivered over to death for our sins.” (Romans 4:25a) As the headlights on our vehicles are made most visible in the blackness of the night, so Christ’s righteousness is made most visible in the blackness of our unrighteousness. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous.” (1 Peter 3:18a) The Bible reveals to us that we are unrighteous. “There is no one righteous, not even one” says Paul who was quoting David in Psalm 14:3. This is our declarative state throughout the Scriptures--UNRIGHTEOUS! The Lord looks down from heaven at the heart of man and declares…”every inclination of the thoughts their heart are only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5)  Proverbs 20:9 states “Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?’” And 1 John 1:8 says “if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 5. WHAT IS SIN? 1 John 3:4 states, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.”  When God tells us that every inclination of the thoughts of our heart are only evil all of the time, it is because our hearts are lawless. We sit on the throne of our own kingdoms. We are the autonomous and self proclaimed sovereign over creation. We mock when King Nebuchadnezzar makes a golden image of himself and declares that everyone is to bow down before him, but we are the same exact way. Only we lack in power and authority over others. We get angry when we don’t get our own way. We get angry when the government doesn’t act in the way we would like. We get angry when our children don’t conform to our wants, our desires, our self proclaimed sovereign reign. We get angry with our spouses when they don’t love and honor us the way the Bible demands. Even though we are guilty of the same exact sin.  “Sin is lawlessness.” Our sinful hearts are lawless. We look up to heaven in our hearts and declare, “NO LAW OVER ME!” “I WANT TO DO WHAT I WANT TO DO!” We gladly submit to the laws of Scripture that are easy for us, the ones that we like. But we rebel, or are indifferent to the ones that are not consistent with our personal kingdom rules. SIN IS A LAWLESS HEART. An active rebellion to God’s law is equal to a passive indifference to it. In both cases, the heart is the same..LAWLESS.  The Bible declares throughout that WE ARE UNRIGHTEOUS! 6. THE LIGHT OF CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS As all of humanity sits in the darkness of our unrighteousness, one shines forth as the righteousness of God. Jesus the Christ! Again 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous.” READ ISAIAH 11:1-5 READ JEREMIAH 23:5-6 READ ACTS 3:11-15 (Peter had just healed a man crippled from birth) 7. WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS? Righteousness is simply “that which conforms to a standard.” The standard of righteousness then is God Himself.  PSALM 97:1-2 “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.” PSALM 119:137 “Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right.” 8. HOW THEN DO WE KNOW WHAT RIGHTEOUSNESS IS? PSALM 119:137-138 “Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right. The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.” We know the righteousness of God by looking to the law of God written in the Scriptures. God is the standard of righteousness, but He is a Spirit. He has chosen to reveal himself to us in a book, the Bible.  When the Bible declares that Jesus is the righteousness of God. It means that Jesus’ life fully conformed in every way to the law of God. Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law.  9. GOD DESIRES HIS PEOPLE TO PATTERN THEIR LIFE AFTER HIM READ PSALM 15 10. JESUS BECAME OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Jesus came to this earth, born of a virgin. He lived his entire life in perfect obedience to the law of God; the righteous standard of God. He lived the life that you and I are suppose to live. God made Jesus to be sin for us. God treated Jesus as if her performed each and every one of your sins; each and every one! The wrath displayed at the cross was due you. When God looked at Jesus, he saw you. He saw all of the sins you have, and will ever commit; and he poured out HIS RIGHTEOUS WRATH upon His Beloved Son. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:3b~”CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, THAT HE WAS BURIED, THAT HE WAS RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.”  JESUS DIED, NOT FOR HIS SINS; BUT FOR OURS. 11. THAT BRINGS US TO EASTER We now get the the second half of Romans 4:25 which says, “and was raised to life **for our justification**.” Romans 8:34~”Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died –more than that, who was raised to life –is at the right hand of God and is also **interceding for us**” Romans 6:10~”The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but **the life he lives, he lives to God**.” Hebrews 9:24~”For Christ did not enter a man- made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; **he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence**” 12. THE ASPECT OF THE RESURRECTION--OUR JUSTIFICATION JUSTIFICATION DEFINED: "Justification is a judicial act of God, in which he declares, on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner." ~Louis Berkhof Justification is a declaring from God, “not guilty.” It is standing in the court room of God’s justice, and hearing from God the judge, “not guilty.” But how is that possible? We learned that there is no human being who is righteous, “there is no one righteous, no not one.” How then can we stand before the righteous standard in God’s court room and hear him declare us not guilty. Because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.” Jesus’ death was the penalty that we deserve for violating God’s law.  13. GOD DECLARED US NOT GUILTY BY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS 1 CORINTHIANS 15:14-17~”If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless (THIS PREACHING IS USELESS) and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, **your faith is futile; you are still in your sins**.”  If Jesus did not rise from the dead, you are I are still in our sins. And any faith we have is futile (useless). But the opposite of futile is UTILE. Definition of UTILE is “absolute usefulness.”  If Jesus did rise from the dead, our faith is utile, and we are no longer in our sins! God has declared those who place their faith in Jesus, “JUSTIFIED!” 14. JESUS IS LIVING OUT OUR JUSTIFICATION Jesus is ever living at God’s right hand. He is there right now interceding for us.  15. CONCLUSION As you go through this day of Easter, remember Jesus. The righteousness of God. Remind yourself of your utter unrighteousness. Let the peace of God, fill you with joy this day as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Because He was raised to life for our justification!