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Jesus is the resurrection and the life! Jesus wants you to have life.. not just a slightly better life… not just a fuller life.. not just a longer life… all of this is true, but most of all – Jesus wants you to have eternal life! When can we have this eternal life? After we die? After the trumpet sounds? When? Jesus wants you to have eternal life, NOW! He is the author of life, and he gives it to you freely as a gift. Join Pastor Chris Fluitt as we learn what happens when the dead hear Jesus’ voice and believe.
Praise the Lord everyone.
I love my “online people.”
I love my “in the room people.”
Welcome everyone to Redemption Church in Plano TX. My name is Chris Fluitt
Last week we talked about the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no more important message than that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. This is called the Gospel, the good news.
How good is this news?
It is news that can save your soul.
It is news that can rescue you from hell and make you a citizen of heaven.
It is news that you are loved.
It is news that God is not done with you.
It is news that God loves all people… no matter their skin color, language, gender, or lifestyle.
It is news that we don’t have to struggle through life and then die and that is all that life is…
It is news that life does not end in death. Death ends in life!
It is news that all your sins can be washed away.
It is news that the lowest thief on a cross is not far from a saving Christ.
It is news that the devil can kill you and still lose.
It is news that the very hand of God can reach you even if you are six feet under.
Does anyone think the resurrection of Jesus is good news?
Jesus died and came back to life! It is Good News!
Back to LIfe
Jesus coming back to life offers us more than a nice story.
His resurrection gives us more than a story with a moral that we can loosely extrapolate some point.
Because He got out of the grave… we too can get out of our grave.
Because He lives… we too can live.
Because He rose to heaven… we too will rise!
Let’s look to the Word’s of Jesus.
John 5:24-29 (NIV) 24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
These are amazing words from Jesus. No one else could say these words and they be true… If anyone else were to make this claim they would be a crazy narcissist with delusions of grandeur. …But Jesus says these bold words and then backs them up by walking out of his own tomb.
I want you to point out that what Jesus is promising is bigger than you may realize.
Jesus is promising…
Not just life… Eternal life
We go to health experts to try to add a little time to our life.
-We listen to dieticians who tell us that if we cut the following 60 page list of foods out of our diet, we will live longer.
-We have spent way to long on youtube looking for lifehacks, advice, and tricks for better strength and vitality… all in an effort to stave off the grim reaper a little longer.
-We listen to our doctor when they say a certain procedure will likely add time to our life.
This is NOT what Jesus is promising. Jesus is not just promising to tag on some extra life. He is not promising that if you die, He will resuscitate you so you can live a little longer.
Jesus is promising eternal life.
John 5:24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Step #1 Hear His Word! (Do you hear His Word?)
Step #2 Believe in the One who sent Jesus! (Do you actively believe?)
Step #3 Have eternal life.
The life expectancy in the US is 78.93 years old.
The eternal life expectancy in Heaven is… infinity!
Are you making the mistake of thinking that Jesus merely gives you more of the ordinary life you already have?
Are you only praying for more of the same mediocre life?
Are you concerned with simply prolonging your life?
To quote the deeply theological Monty Python’s flying circus… “And now for something completely different!”
Jesus offers different! Jesus gives better. Who wants better? It might be a good idea to HEAR HIS WORD, BELIEVE IN GOD, and then come to this altar today and ask for a better eternal life.
Not just when you die… Life Now!
At funerals we often talk about life beyond the grave. We offer encouragement that the loved one is in heaven experiencing eternal life. We say things like… they will never cry another tear or feel anymore pain. This is true and good to say… but do we only pull out these scriptures and themes when we are contemplating death?
Jesus means for us to experience eternal life NOW!
John 5:25-26 (NIV) 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
Jesus says the time has NOW come when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God! Those who hear will live. NOW!
We serve a NOW God. He wants to do this NOW!
Are you making the mistake of waiting on what God wants to do right now?
The victory of heaven is available now.
The Peace of heaven is available now.
The Joy of heaven is available now.
The Reward of heaven is available now.
In John 11 Jesus’ friend Lazarus dies. Jesus goes to the tomb where Lazarus is already buried and speaks to Lazarus’ sister Martha…
John 11:23-25 (NIV) 24Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Martha made the mistake of believing what God wanted to do was going to eventually happen but was not available NOW.
Jesus says I AM (present tense) THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!
John 5:26 (NIV) 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
The Father has life in himself. Jesus has life in himself. Do you have Jesus? Then you have life NOW! Through Jesus, you have the Father… so you have life NOW!
Jesus we want your life now. Forgive us for going a day without your life showing up in us.
Jesus speaks about 2 types of dead…
John 5:25 & 28 (NIV) 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
Verse 25 mentions the dead who hear his voice.
Verse 28 mentions the onese in their graves who hear his voice.
Not all the dead are in the grave. Some dead walk the streets…
I believe verse 28 is talking about physical death in a physical grave.
I believe verse 25 is talking about those who are dead in their tresspasses and sins… they are walking, talking, drinking a starbucks, and talking about the Baylor Bear national championship at the water cooler… yet they do not have the life of Christ!
Ephesians 2:1 (NIV) As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
Ephesians 2:4-6 (NIV) 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
We WERE dead… but we heard His voice! Because of Jesus, because of His death, burial, & resurrection, God has raised us up with Christ.
This is not saying one day in the future this will happen… it says that it has already happened!
Seated with Christ in heavenly realms. Does that describe your life? It can! It should!
Back to Life
Jesus came back to life. It is time that you came back to life… and not just come back to your life, come back with HIS life!
Do you believe Jesus has a better life for you today? Do you want that?
I can’t make you receive it, but I can tell you that Jesus is here to offer you something greater.
Jesus I want your life.
Spirit
Grace
Mercy
Forgiveness
Power
Anointing
Peace
Hope
Love
I want you Jesus! Bring me back to life.
Jesus I want to be born again.