Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the Chroma Church podcast.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Last week I said it's Friday, but Sunday's coming. Today we celebrate that Jesus is alive.
And it is the most special, special day of the Christian calendar.
Jesus died for our sins.
But he didn't only die that your sin would be forgiven. He died that you could have a brand new life, that you could become a son or a daughter, that you would no longer be a slave, a slave to sin, a slave to broken relationships, a slave to addiction. This is what Paul writes about the cross.
He says, the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
Why?
Because of the resurrection of Jesus. Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important?
Because if Christ is not raised, you are still in your sins. That's what Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 15.
But if he is raised, if God has raised him from the dead, you can leave your sin at the cross. You can leave your old life at the cross, and you can become a son and daughter of heaven. That's what John opens his gospel by saying. You see, now Jesus is risen. He's put his enemies under his feet. The enemies that were making you and I a slave, Jesus has placed under his feet. And the final one, the Bible says, is death.
And now he fills his church by the presence of his Holy Spirit, so that each one of us can find relationship with God and become a son or a daughter.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, for though he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God, for we are also weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God towards you. You see? Why were the testimonies so powerful?
Because all of those people had an encounter with the living Jesus. They're not strong or superhuman people. They're normal people who were trying to get through life, and life overtook them. But Jesus encountered them.
They were weak, but now his strength is in them because the blood that he shed on the cross has changed their status.
You know, we've got two children. When they come into our house, even when they've moved out, they walk in through the front door. They don't ring the bell. They kick their shoes off. They leave their coat lying around. They go straight to my fridge and empty it. They borrow my tools, they take my things, and sometimes they even take my car.
Why?
Because they're sons and daughters.
And they know that one day, not too soon, it will all be theirs.
Why? Because they're A son and a daughter. They understand who they are.
But if any of you come into my house and help yourself to my fridge and especially my car, that is quite rude.
Why? Because you're not a son or daughter.
You might be a friend, you may be acquaintance, but you're not a son or a daughter.
Do you get it? Do you get what Jesus did at the cross?
Do you understand that when Jesus died on the cross for each one of us, John says he gave the right to become children of God.
He welcomes you in to his family. You become an heir of heaven. You see, when you come to Jesus Christ, you become a son, a daughter, an heir of heaven. And now all of the resources of heaven are available to you.
The tragedy is so many people don't realize what he's done for them.
C.S. lewis writes in Mere Christianity.
He says, I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus.
They say, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.
That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he's a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something quite worse.
You can shut him up for a fall. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
You see, if Jesus is the Son of God, if he died on the cross for you and I, if he was raised from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God on the throne in heaven, what is our response?
Will he become our life?
Will we start to live as sons and daughters? Will we welcome him in and live the life that he won for us? The writer to the Hebrews says this. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the faith. Throne of God.
Today is Easter Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If you're here today and you don't know the Lord Jesus, I would love the opportunity to introduce you to Him.
And if you know Jesus, I want to encourage you all the more to run the race that he set before you.
Because his resurrection life is before us.
We are thankful for the cross behind us, for all he has done that he set us free. He has come into our life and filled us. But now we live for Him. Now he is our Lord and our King and we run after Him. You see, we said last week, hey, it's Friday.
But today we say Sunday is here.
Everything changes because Jesus is alive.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship and how to donate, visit our website at Crema Church.
