What is the Big Deal about Easter
Easter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!”
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar,
among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.
When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.
And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate,
saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’
Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.”
So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.
Lord’s Supper
Lord’s Supper
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.
Intro:
Intro:
There were some popular commercials a few years ago trying to get you to buy insurance. I’m sure you have seen then. They are the ones that tell you that you can save 15% in 15 minutes. They started that ad campaign many years ago, and a few years back they have added a twist to them.
They spent years teaching everyone that phrase and it became synonymous with their company Geico Insurance. The phrase is known by almost everyone so they have put a new twist on it. The commercial starts with one person saying “did you know you could save 15% in 15 minutes with Geico”, another person says, “ everybody knows that, then the other person says “yeah but did you know” then they say something like, “Pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker”. Then they show Pinocchio speaking and basically lying to people telling them they have great potential. His nose starts growing because supposedly he is lying or misleading his listeners.
The original person is saying what’s the big deal about 15% in 15 minutes. We have heard it before.
TS: That’s the way much of the world looks at Easter. They say what is the big deal. We are here to celebrate Resurrection Day, but the world has a different view.
All it is, is another way for people to make money. Easter baskets and candy eggs. It’s on Sunday which means that it is not even a holiday.
Our scripture this morning tells us what the big deal is about Easter.
Peter is encouraging and reminding Christians just what our faith is all about.
You see, the big deal about Easter is that without Easter, there would be no Christianity.
Peter is writing to the Roman provinces that we today know as Turkey.
Look with me at 1 Peter 1: 3-6a
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The proof (1:3)
The proof (1:3)
It is guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Peter proclaims that we are born again because of Easter.
Born to a living hope
What a great way to describe it!
LIVING HOPE
Easter gives us a new life and it gives us an eternal life because Easter proves that a man can be raised from the dead.
Jesus promised many things which could never happen if He remained dead.
1. TO rise again Mt 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
2. To send the Holy Spirit
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
3. To build a home and come take us to it
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
and many more
Jesus rose from the dead!
That is what the big deal is about Easter.
God proving who He was through the resurrection of the person of Easter.
Easter is not about new clothes or candy or baskets or eggs, it is about God proving that He and only He can provide eternal life to people.
In fact, we celebrate Resurrection Day, not Easter
He did this out of His Great Mercy.
God didn’t have to do this… He didn’t NEED to save us
He wanted to!
He didn’t do it because He was soft
He had the will to enact justice and He did, ON THE CROSS.
Sin’s penalty has been paid.
Mercy and its companion grace
He poured out His wrath on Jesus.
The permanence (1:4)
The permanence (1:4)
It is kept in heaven for us.
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
Life, righteousness, joy, peace, perfection, God’s presence, Christ glorious companionship, rewards, and all else God has planned is the Christian’s heavenly inheritance.
Incorruptible
It isn’t subject to passing away, wearing out, or decay
Undefiled
unpolluted, unstained with evil
What a contrast to our earthly inheritance
earthly is temporary and marred by sin
Unfading
Fading is used for flowers as they slowly wither and decay
A slow fade occurs with all we do here on Earth
Our heavenly inheritance will never fade… the new will never wear off
Because of Resurrection, we have an inheritance. We have eternal life in Heaven with God, the Creator of the universe.
Peter writes that this inheritance, this eternal life is waiting for us in Heaven.
He then points out that this inheritance cannot be taken away from us.
Our inheritance will not change.
I have talked with people who are discussing or working on a will. Through means of a will, someone will have an inheritance.
Guess what, that will can change. That inheritance can change by adjusting the will. That inheritance will certainly change depending on how the person who is developing that will manages their life and their finances.
Inheritances change all the time by how our government chooses to tax the inheritances of people.
The same thing was true in Peter’s day. Inheritances were an ever evolving thing.
Peter tells his readers and us that even though we are used to our inheritance changing, Because of Easter, because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our inheritance is set. It can never change.
Once we accept who Jesus was, what He did for us on the cross, His bodily resurrection from the grave, then our inheritance is set.
It can never change. No one can take it from us. They can’t tax it from us and no matter what we do, God will not take it from Us.
The big deal about Resurrection is that we are assured eternity in Heaven with God through what Jesus did for us.
The power (1:5-6a)
The power (1:5-6a)
God’s mighty power assures us that we will safely arrive in heaven.
who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
It is all made possible by the power of God
The omnipotent Creator of the Universe keeps us saved by His power
It is kept even through we may have difficult times.
Let me reiterate this. Our salvation is protected by what Jesus did on the cross and what God did three days later.
We are saved when we believe that but Peter is also talking about our future salvation. That final judgment that the Bible tells us about.
Hebrews 9:27 tells us this:
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Revelation 20: 11-15 tells us of this judgment.
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Peter writes that on that last day, you are protected because of what happened on that first Eater morning so long ago.
God’s grace through faith
For this we rejoice!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Be happy, take pleasure in your Christian life.
Resurrection Day is about rejoicing, about celebrating the life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Peter writes that there is wonderful joy ahead of you because of what happened on Resurrection Sunday
Remember that we have an inheritance that no one can take away from us because we are protected by God through our salvation through our belief in what happened during the week of Easter.
That is what the big deal is about Easter.
Christian, without Resurrection, there would be no Christianity.
The big deal about Easter is that it is the source of our existence.
Invitation
Works Cited
The Outline Bible (Section Outline One (1 Peter 1))
Wimpy Horace, https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/what-s-the-big-deal-about-easter-anyway-horace-wimpey-sermon-on-easter-192327
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