1 Sermon Series: Easter 2014 Overview of Gospels B[r]ought Out of Darkness Pastor Brian Long : April 20th, 2014 Big Idea: We are bought {redeemed} and brought {by divine power} out of darkness and into the light. Happy Easter to all of you! I hope you have enjoyed this service to this point as much as I have. Thank you worship team for getting us fired up. And thanks to all of you for joining us in this celebration. My 8th grade basketball redemption story Athletes often use the need for redemption from some past failures, mistakes or poor performances to motivate themselves to train and prepare. For example, teams who blow large leads and lose to a team they are favored over try to come back the next week and redeem themselves. They try to perform better to make up for their failures earlier. Bodie Miller was billed as an alpine skier who badly needed to redeem himself in the 2010 winter Olympics. Medal winning performances in the 2010 and 2014 Olympics allowed him to redeem himself from failures in the past. Sometimes athletes need redemption because of their off the field antics. Tiger Woods faced a huge challenge to redeem himself after his debacle a few years back. One article stated, In order for Tiger to redeem himself as a golfer it s straightforward. All he has to do is go out and win more golf tournaments and surpass Jack Nicklaus major championships record and I can assure you he will be redeemed in the eyes of the sports world. Our society has a very short memory when it comes to athletes and their indiscretions as long as the athlete can inspire and excite us with their unique gifts and talents. If and when Tiger is able to come back and dominate the sport, he will continue to be admired and worshiped as an icon in the sports world. Therefore he would be redeemed in the eyes of the public. (http://goodmenproject.com/health/ tiger-woods-redemption/#sthash.3umtzjpu.dpuf) In instances like these, it seems that athletes, teams, or celebrities who have failed, fallen, or acted foolishly can in some way redeem themselves in the eyes of fans or teammates. I wonder if you recognize that each of us is need of redemption even greater than the kinds these athletes need. Way more than simply trying to redeem our image in the eyes of people, each of us needs to be redeemed in the eyes of God. But here s the thing redemption in the eyes of God cannot be accomplished on our own. In fact, too many people think life is like athletics and that if they just perform well enough in life more often than they fail, then they will be redeemed in the eyes of God.
2 But, that s not true because God is a perfect and holy being and his standard is perfection. And since none of us is perfect, then we can never redeem ourselves. This is why today s Easter Celebration is so important and exciting. Easter celebrates our complete and total redemption we could never have ever pulled off ourselves. It is a redemption that God provides and Jesus accomplishes for us. And it is a redemption that completely and totally cancels out all our performance failures and mistakes qualifying us unquestionably for heaven. The Bible calls us to give joyful thanks to the Father {hence our Easter Celebration}, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. You see this is why Easter is a big deal. God the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of his holy people. The inheritance of his holy people is basically life lived connected with God now and in eternity in heaven. But, how is this possible? Listen to the next part For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Don t miss the significance of the first thing this verse tells us regarding rescue. People who need rescuing need rescuing because they can t help themselves. They can t get out of the dire situation they are in. And what do we need rescuing from? We need rescuing from the dominion of darkness. The dominion of darkness is: A life of loneliness and angst because you can t trust anyone else. You feel like it s you against the world. It s a life that s in bondage to self-destructive habits A life dominated by addictions of one sort or another A life that carries wounds as you try to cope from the failures and mistakes of others. The dominion of darkness is basically a human heart disconnected from their Creator and doomed-to be that way for eternity. C. S. Lewis, in his classic novel, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe describes the fictional land of Narnia by saying, it was a place that was always winter and never Christmas. That s a creative description of a life under the dominion of darkness. Think about the last time you were in the dark because the power went out or something. Darkness is so limiting. When darkness dominates our confidence dramatically shrinks and our vulnerability dramatically increases. When we re in the dark we can t see, we can t know or understand what s around us,
3 making it hard to act or react. In the dark we walk slower, we feel our way along, we strain to see, but can t, color and contrasts disappear. The dominion of darkness is limiting in so many ways, it s easier to get hurt, it s frustrating, and it s easier to become afraid. But God has rescued us from a life that is dominated by darkness. And he has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. This is Jesus. And the kingdom of Jesus is basically: A life where the rule and reign of Jesus is recognized and enjoyed. It s a life of light, love, and meaningful relationship. It s a life connected to God where you are never alone. It s a life where the Spirit of God fills you, transforms you, and empowers you to break through destructive hurts, habits, and hang-ups. It s a life that enables you to heal from past wounds and get on with your life. It s a life that allows you to maximize your life and look forward to life after this life. You see, the difference between the dominion of darkness and the kingdom of Jesus is night and day. But, how is this possible? How are we rescued from a life dominated by the power of darkness and brought into a life in the light? The answer is the last phrase, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. There s that word again, redemption. In Jesus, we have complete and full redemption. Jesus redeems us because we are unable to redeem ourselves. Here s how redemption works. There are really two parts to it. First, it refers to deliverance or liberation. When we take groups from our church to tour Israel, one of the most sobering stops is at Yad Vashem-the Holocaust museum. As you wind your way through the museum you see images and hear testimony of the round up, incarceration, starvation, and incineration of European Jews in the Nazi Concentration camps. Talk about the dominion of darkness. Towards the end, you see images and again hear testimony from the allied soldiers who in 1945 were the first deliverers to arrive to liberate the death camps. {Picture of Concentration camps} The stark pictures of piled corpses, and the emaciated, hollow-eyed survivors is a sober reminder of what happens to humans under the dominion of darkness. One allied soldier recounts that when they arrived to liberate the first camp, the survivors would reach out a finger or hand just to touch us to make sure we were real, and their rescue was real and that they we re hallucinating. Like the victims of the death camps, the dominion of darkness is not something we can deliver ourselves from. We are as good as dead without rescue. We need help. We
4 need Jesus help. And that leads to the second part of redemption. Redemption is a term borrowed from the slave market. In order to deliver or rescue, there is a price that must be paid, a ransom that must be paid. When Jesus pays the ransom we are delivered or rescued out of darkness. Meaning: We are emancipated from captivity to sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions. We are freed from having to pay the penalty for our sins and past failures ourselves. We are liberated from the power of Satan and evil ruling our lives. When Jesus pays the ransom: We are freed to resist sin We are freed to allow Jesus to rule our lives We are freed to love and live as God created us to in the light not in darkness. The ransom price Jesus paid was his life for our life. On the cross Jesus laid down his life and took on the penalty and punishment that was ours because of our sin, past failures, and flawed performances. In other words, Jesus died in your place. His sacrifice was accepted by God as the payment for the debt you owed because of your sin. As a result, your sins are forgiven. And we celebrate wildly at Easter because the life he laid down on the cross, he took back up again. The miracle of the resurrection proves that the redemption he promised had really been accomplished. The miracle of the resurrection verifies beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus was the Son of God and capable of delivering us from darkness and bringing us into the light. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves! Apart from his rescue and redemption, there is no hope for us against the power of evil and the enemy. {Put concentration camp pic back up} Those under the dominion of the Nazi darkness had no power to overthrow them and deliver themselves. But, in Christ, we are truly, completely, and totally liberated and redeemed. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God invaded the enemy s territory and liberated people from his tyranny. Jesus bought us and brought us out of darkness and into the light! That is the celebration of Easter. That s why Easter is so exciting and joy filled. There s one final piece to this I want to make sure each of you know. Simply understanding that you re redeemed is not enough. Every one of us needs to make a conscious choice to accept the redemption and forgiveness Jesus makes possible. This choice involves:
5 1. Admitting that you need rescuing from sin. 2. Believing that Jesus redeemed you by offering his life for your life. 3. Surrendering your life to his leadership from this day forward because of your gratitude for his love and sacrifice for you. I d encourage you to make that choice today. There s not better time to respond to God s invitation than the present. If you want to make that decision today or even if you have more questions or want to talk with one of us about this, please let me know that by filling out that card in the chair pocket in front of you that looks like this. {Hold up green striped card.} Fill that out and toss it into the basket as it comes by later. Those who respond discover a union and a sense of being found and at home with their creator and lover of the soul. Those who don t, never know peace in their soul. So, they restlessly run after just about anything in an effort to fill the void. Everything they think holds promise of fulfillment ends up filling their life with trouble. Do you need to choose Jesus and his way this day? If so, then call out to him. Let him know you re tired of trying to do life your way and you want to choose his way! Then let us know that you are making that choice today by filling out the card in the pocket in front of you with the green stripe on the top. PRAY Church of the Foothills 2014