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“IT IS FINISHED!”

JOHN 19:30; MATTHEW 5:13-16

EASTER SUNDAY, 12 APRIL 2009

2ND STREET COMMUNITY CHURCH

GREGG LAMM, pastor-teacher

PART 1 … .PPT 1 …

If you’ve known me for any length of time, then you know I love quotes. Quotes from movies, quotes from novels, quotes from comics, quotes from stage plays, quotes from short stories, quotes from poetry, quotes from little kids, quotes from the Bible, quotes from speeches, and quotes from songs. I collect all kinds of quotes.

From Jesus Christ to Homer Simpson. From Eleanor Roosevelt to Woody Allen. From Pearl Jam to Handel. From Sam Shepherd to Jeff Buckley. From the King David to Emily Dickinson. From Hank Williams to Neil Armstrong.

Quotes fascinate me, because much of the time they prod me to go deeper into their context … asking questions and having conversations … digging my way to the truths that usually wait for us when we go to the center of things, instead of settling for the stuff that floats around the edges of words and ideas.

When I think about Easter, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the quotes that come to mind are a mixture from songs, the Bible, and the spoken word.

PART 1 … .PPT 2-3 …

1. [song lyric] “Christ the Lord Is risen today. Hallelujah.”

2. [Scripture] JOHN 11:25-26 … "I am the resurrection and the life. People who make the choice to believe in Me, will live even after they die.”

3. [contemporary quote] “Dead people don’t walk. Jesus is alive, and He stepped out of heaven, so He could step into our hearts.” - Blake Forest

4. [early church quote] “Christ is risen!” “Christ is risen indeed!”

5. [Scripture] MARK 16:6 … “He is risen; He is not here.”

Reading or singing these quotes, verses, and song lyrics about Easter without digging deeper into the meaning behind Easter, into what Easter is really about is to give up digging when the gold is just inches away. And in JOHN 19:30 … right before Easter … there’s a verse that pulls back the curtain and shows us what happened on the cross, and that whets our appetite for what Easter, the day Jesus came back to life, is really all about.

PART 1 … .PPT 4 … JOHN 19:30 (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Jesus’ final word before He died on the cross was the Greek word “tetelestai” … which was a well-known phrase in His day. When a person was convicted of a crime in the Roman Empire, they paid their debt to society in “time.”

In a Roman prison, your debt was written out and hung like a balance sheet around your neck. Spelled out on your balance sheet was your name, your crime, and the number of days, months, or years you were “paying” for committing it. And when you’d served your time, and paid off your debt to society, the jailer would write “tetelestai” across your balance sheet, which literally meant, “paid in full.”

Former prisoners were required to keep this cancelled out balance sheet to protect them from any accusation that they had to pay more debt to society. So if and when anyone accused them of not having “paid their debt”, they could produce their balance sheet bearing the inscription “tetelestai” and everyone would know that their debt was had been “paid in full.”

So here’s Jesus Christ … nailed to the cross … just seconds away from death … and He lets out a loud cry, so that everyone listening then could hear … and so that you and I can hear today … “Tetelestai … your debt has been paid in full. When I died on the cross [Jesus said] your name was on My lips. Your sins - every last one of them, were paid in full by My death on the cross.” Here’s how the Apostle Paul explained this Truth to the followers of Jesus Christ living in the town of Colosse, which was in what is now modern-day Turkey …

PART 1 … .PPT 5 … COLOSSIANS 2:13-14 (NEW LIVING TRANSLATION)

13-14 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

How many of your sins and my sins did Jesus forgive through His death on the cross? All of them. Jesus’ death on the cross, paid the price in full for your sin and for my sin. And then His resurrection on Easter morning, brought FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE into focus and began to show us what living a new life with Jesus Christ could be like. Here are the five central truths that make up the Easter story … and that we need to understand here this morning.

PART 1 … .PPT 6 …

1. God CREATED US, AND GOD loves US. God created everything … and God was in relationship and fellowship with the people He created. God loved His creation and He loved the people He created. God loves you and God loves me. Do you see this truth?

2. Our sin separates us from God. People loved God for a while. But then they made the choice to live life by their own rules. Through this choice sin entered the world, and broke the relationship and the fellowship God had with the people He created and loved. God’s heart is broken over our choice to sin. Will you admit this truth?

3. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S LOVE MADE VISIBLE. Jesus left heaven, and came to the earth as a baby. He lived, He taught, He healed, and He delivered people. God’s plan was to love people, and forgive people back into relationship and fellowship with Him … and His plan was all about Jesus. Will you BELIEVE this truth?

4. JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO COME BACK TO GOD. Jesus Christ was willingly crucified, and His death paid the price for your sin, and for my sin. We were the sinners who deserved to die, not Jesus. But Jesus knew that God’s plan of love was stronger than sin’s plan for our death. Will you ACCEPT this truth?

5. JESUS CHRIST’S RESURRECTION MAKES FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE ACCESSIBLE. After Jesus died on the cross and came back to life, He told His disciples to take this Good News Message to their friends and families, to the people they work with, go to school with, and even to their enemies. Do you LIVE out this truth?

MPG VIDEO: EASTER, SIMPLE COMPLEX [2:30]

I see four main ways people today connect with and respond to what Easter is …

PART 2 … .PPT 1 …

FIRST … THE OLDIE … Maybe you’re here, you’ve heard the Easter story since you were a young child, and you know it as well as you know your own lap. If this is you, let me say to you this morning …

Don’t make the huge mistake of thinking you know what the Easter story is all about and close yourself off to what God wants to say to you today about His new life. God longs to keep His relationship with you fresh and real.

PART 2 … .PPT 2 …

SECOND … THE NEWBIE … Maybe you’re here, and you’ve kind of known about the Easter story in the past, but it wasn’t all the long ago that you opened the Easter door and came in to a relationship with Jesus Christ. If this is you, let me say to you this morning …

Welcome to the family! We’re a bunch of ragamuffins – imperfect people in love with the God who loves us … and making the daily choice to follow Him and become more like His Son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s stay on this road together.

PART 2 … .PPT 3 …

THIRD … THE SEEKER … Maybe you’re here, and you’ve seen “Jesus Christ Superstar” or watched a TV Easter Special, but you’ve never really been sure about the “deeper meaning: of Easter … perhaps the real Easter story has somehow never made it onto your radar. If this is you, let me say to you this morning …

Don’t be afraid of Truth. Take God up on His offer to forgive your sins and teach you a whole new way to be human. Make the choice to begin to pattern your life after the thoughts, words, priorities, values, and actions of God’s One and Only Son Jesus Christ.

ILLUSTRATION … THE 1-2 GRADE SS CLASS STORY … “SOME

PEOPLE SAY IT ISN’T TRUE, BUT IT IS.”

PART 2 … .PPT 4 …

FOURTH … THE HIDER … Maybe you’re here, and you’ve known the Easter story for a long time, but you’ve grown apathetic toward the truth that Jesus is the way the truth and the life, and that no one comes to God except though Him (JOHN 14:6). If this is you, let me say to you this morning …

It’s time to come out of the shadows into the Light. It’s time to begin serving Jesus. It’s time to get your words, your thoughts, and your actions, lined up with what you say you believe. It’s time to stop being religious, and start living out your relationship with Jesus Christ in ways that are visible, and true.

Here’s how Jesus Christ talked about this new way of living while He was teaching a group of His followers up on a hill in Galilee …

PART 2 … .PPT 5-6 … MATTHEW 5:13-16 (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Have you invited the truth and the reality of Easter to begin changing you from the inside out in ways that are helping you to live this new way of life Jesus is talking about?

PART 2 … .PPT 7 …

1. A new way of life where you become God-seasoning in the relationships you have?

2. A new way of life where you become God-light in the dark parts of the places God has called you to live?

3. A new way of life where people will see how you live, how you talk, how you prioritize your time, your resources, and your very life, and be drawn to know this Jewish Rabbi you’ve turned your life over to and are following with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Quotes from movies, books, songs, and poetry are memorable because of the emotions they invoke, and because of the truths that linger after they’re gone. And gang, you and I will live lives that matter, that count, that will be remembered, and that make a difference, when our thoughts, our words, and our actions, begin reflecting the story, and the power, and the calling of Easter.

PART 2 … .PPT 8 …

Remember Jesus’ final word before He died on the cross? “tetelestai” … meaning “paid in full.” Turn to the person next to you and say “paid in full.” This is the quote I want you remember from celebrating Easter here today. Your sins were paid in full on the cross - every last one of them. Your debt has been paid in full. When Jesus died on the cross, your name and my name was on His lips. And Jesus Christ’s resurrection makes faith, hope, and love a reality.

PART 2 … .PPT 9 …

1. God CREATED US, AND GOD loves US.

2. Our sin separates us from God.

3. JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S LOVE MADE VISIBLE.

4. JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO COME BACK TO GOD.

5. JESUS CHRIST’S RESURRECTION MAKES FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE ACCESSIBLE.

PART 2 … .PPT 10 …

[early church quote] “Christ is risen.” “Christ is risen indeed.”

Let’s pray …

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