Blood, Sweat and Tears - Everything Changed

This beautiful Easter morning.

In the strong name of Jesus, everybody say.

Amen.

As you grab your seat, I want to welcome you this morning.

My name is Forrest Lee, Pastor, here at Multiply.

If I've not met you before, welcome.

If you're new with us today, we're so glad that you have joined us this resurrection Sunday.

And I also have to celebrate the fact that there are several people in our church that this is their very first Easter as a follower of Jesus, a very first Easter as a Christian.

And so can we give it a point now for everybody in the room that this is their very first resurrection Sunday as somebody who's set free and holy and made righteous?

And I pray today that today is the first Easter morning for even more people to come to know the saving knowledge of Jesus.

Now we have so many new believers in the house.

I want to share you just a little tradition that I grew up with, which was as the pastor says, He is risen, and then the congregation says, He is risen indeed.

So can y'all do that with me?

I'll say, He is risen, he is risen indeed.

What a beautiful morning.

This Sunday that we celebrate the resurrection.

And the title of my message today is Everything Changed.

The title of my message, it reflects the very first words of the songs that we just sang.

And just to catch some of you up, the last four weeks we've been walking through this series, blood, sweat, and tears, inspired by the psalm that we just sang, as we talked about only by the blood.

And we talked about what it meant to have the gift of life be freely given to us, that we be washed from the inside.

And today we get to think about and meditate on and celebrate an empty tomb from Easter Sunday where everything changed on earth and in heaven.

And as we celebrate today, what we're celebrating is the final result, which is victory.

Everybody say victory.

It's hard for us Americans to hear the word victory without thinking about sports, right?

Famous athletes that put their blood, sweat, and tears into the game, leave it all on the field.

It uh reminds me of one of the most victorious, the goats, Michael Jordan.

And as successful as Michael was, there was a funny stint in his career when MJ decided that he was going to go play baseball.

Now it was inspired by his father, that was his dream, that his son would play baseball, and his father was tragically murdered in 1993.

And so MJ in 1994 spent a year in minor league baseball.

And uh just to tell you, it was kind of like a midlife crisis.

It didn't go probably how he thought it was gonna go.

And then in 1994, there was a fax sent sent to the NBA with a message from MJ, and there were just two words.

I'm back.

And he returned to the game, but he didn't just return to the game, he dominated it.

As we think about great comebacks, and we think about this Easter Sunday, it's easy for us to think about Jesus as having this comeback story.

But D, Jesus didn't just come back to life.

Jesus brought back and reclaimed what had once been stolen.

See, we celebrate the resurrection as a comforting moment, but we forget the fact that the resurrection was a confrontation.

It was a confrontation where Jesus literally walked out of the grave being in enemy territory, and he walked out reclaiming what had been taken, what had been stolen by the enemy, and on that Sunday morning everything changed.

And has anything changed in you because of it?

The stone was rolled away, and also the curse of sin was rolled back.

It wasn't only for personal salvation, just for each person individually, but it was this cosmic shift that happened.

That the resurrection was a revolt, that there was a cosmic conquest that Christ had overcome so that he would beat death in the grave, so then we could walk in it as well.

And I want to ask you this question: is it possible that on this resurrection Sunday, that Jesus' story isn't just a comeback story, but his takeover?

See, Easter isn't just about the tradition of Easter around here.

All the fun of getting to dress up and eggs and candy.

It's not just a tradition, it's true.

And it's easy for us kind of to settle for the Easter bunny, buddy buddy Jesus story, and we can settle for a savior that we're just looking for a little bit of inspiration on a Sunday morning, but not a savior who is the one who ultimately changes us.

Or it's possible for us to believe that the tomb is empty, but then forget that we're also called to make hell empty as well.

And on a resurrection morning, as we think about this story and it comforts us, it doesn't only comfort us, it is a calling for us.

For us to step into the power that Jesus has for us.

And I wonder for you today, as in all the goings-on of Easter Sunday and all the fun, all the traditions that are going to happen, if you would allow for this Easter to be a transformation in your life, not just a tradition.

See, this whole story, it started in the first garden.

And I'm so excited to share this message with you today because we're gonna take a look at the whole picture.

We're gonna preach Genesis to Revelation.

So three hours from now, you'll be able to go eat lunch.

I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding.

But I am excited about the fact that we get to look at the whole picture of the scripture, and it started in this first garden when sin entered into the world because Adam and Eve, the first people who were made, ignored the things of God, and they were disobedient to God, and because of that, humanity was then cursed with evil and death.

And there was a serpent in the garden that tempted and lied to Adam and Eve to trip them up.

And this enemy, he too, the serpent, was also cursed by God.

And in the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis chapter 3, we see the story of the curse of sin that begins.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And nestled into that first couple of chapters of the Bible is the first proclamation of the good news that a Savior was going to come.

In Genesis 3, verse 15 is what's called the proto-evangelium, the first gospel.

Genesis 3:15

There's a promise of the one to come, and it's a foreshadowing of the Savior that one day will rule and reign.

Let's take a look at it together.

God is giving the curse to the serpent, to Satan.

And he says, This, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.

He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

In that moment of the curse of sin, that moment everything broke.

And in the first garden, the curse began.

But it leads to another garden, the garden tomb.

The garden tomb on Easter morning when Jesus would walk out of the grave.

And from a first garden where the curse began, it will lead to a garden tomb where that curse was broken.

Here's the story.

John chapter 20, starting in verse 1.

John 20 · chapter mention

Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene had come to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb, and she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have laid him.

So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were both going towards the tomb.

Verse 4, both of them running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

Now I just want to pause for a second and we talk about victory.

This is the Gospel of John.

The disciple who Jesus loved was John.

And for some reason he had to interject in the first couple verses of the story that he smoked Peter.

That he outran Peter.

That he was victorious.

That our boy John had wheels on him.

Okay, let me go on.

But Mary stood weeping, this is verse 11, outside the tomb.

And as she wept, she stood up to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.

They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping?

And she said to them, They have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing.

But she didn't know that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, Woman, Why are you weeping?

Whom are you seeking?

Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.

And Jesus said to her, Mary.

And she turned and said in Aramaic, Raboni, which means teacher.

Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I've not yet ascended to the Father.

But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to the Father and your Father to my God and your God.

And Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord.

And that he had said these things to her.

Mary distraught, thinks that Jesus is the gardener of this garden tomb.

And in a way, it's kind of a mistake on her part, but it also it's not.

Because it's Jesus who, in this moment, in this garden tomb, he restored everything that was lost.

What once had been lost in the first garden, Jesus restores in the second garden of the garden tomb.

He becomes how Paul describes him as the new Adam in this new garden, bringing new creation.

And as we think about the empty tomb and the stone that was rolled away, this tomb of Christ, it wasn't just opened, it was overthrown in glory.

It wasn't just rolled back, it was overthrown.

Sin's curse and the grave was no more overthrown forever and ever and ever.

It was overthrown.

And there's times in my life where I think that I can change the things in my life that needs to be changed just by my good and best efforts.

But the problem is that what I try to fix and those broken things that I try to fix by working harder and working harder, the curse of sin it runs deeper in me.

And it needs a savior.

And maybe for you, you've all got in the room today and you want freedom in Christ, but you haven't had the face-to-face moment with the risen Jesus.

You're kind of stuck in this cycle of sin and of shame and of pain and of guilt, and something is broken, and you can't quite name it, and you can't quite figure it out.

And Jesus walked out of the grave that was sealed off, that was shut, and the grave stone was rolled, and he walked out victorious.

And you and me, we need to collectively together and with the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to step out of where we're stuck as well.

We need to step out.

And the curse of sin, it's not just about bad behavior.

That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about a broken world that's in need of a savior.

And the world will tell you, well, you know, the things in your life, you'll figure it out.

You got this.

You just need to try a little harder, do a little better, work a little longer hours.

See, the resurrection isn't something just you you understand mentally.

It's something that you truly respond to and then you walk in.

And the areas of the life of our life where we feel stuck and we feel like we have our feet in cement.

It's Jesus who can mend everything that is broken.

It's not just that you need a new chapter in your life, it's that you need a new author.

And that author being the true son of God.

See, Jesus, he didn't just overcome the curse, he didn't just erase the curse, he crushed it.

He crushed it, what was promised to us all the way in the beginning, in the very beginning of Genesis, that the serpent, that the enemy would be crushed.

Jesus doesn't just erase it, he crushes it fully.

He crushes it through his mighty power.

And if you believe that, say he crushed it.

And on that Sunday morning, everything changed.

Has it changed you?

In the first garden, the serpent would strike at the heel.

And in the second garden, the savior of the world steps in and steps out of an empty tomb and crushes Satan and death.

And maybe this week you need to identify the lie that the serpent is whispering into your ear, and you need to bury it at the foot of the cross.

To move beyond where you are and stuck.

The thing that keeps tripping you up.

Mary.

She's looking for Jesus.

She's frantic, she's scared.

She doesn't understand what is happening, and she sees this gardener.

And she asks him and accuses him, Did you take my Lord?

If you have, let me know.

I'll go and get him.

And then Jesus said her name.

And she immediately recognized the way that Jesus said her name.

And she said, Teacher, some of you need to be listening for Jesus to call your name.

And as he's calling your name, for you to be able to hear and be able to have ears to hear that it's your Savior that's calling you.

And he tells Mary that I'm going to ascend back to the Father.

Go get the disciples, let them know I'm going to go back to the Father in heaven.

I'm going to be seated on the throne.

And a few days later, that's exactly what happened.

And at Jesus' ascension, it was his victory speech.

Before Jesus goes back to the Father, here's the words that he gives to us.

This is Matthew 28, verse 18.

Matthew 28:18

Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me.

Everybody say authority.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.

Jesus says that now, because he stepped out of the grave, all authority on heaven, in heaven, and on earth has been given to him.

And then he tells us that in his authority and his power, that we should then go and now be the ones that carry his gospel message.

He gives us the mandate because all authority has been given to him.

All things have been restored and reclaimed.

And so oftentimes I just want to feel the comfort of God and ignore what he commands me to do.

Some of you may have walked in today and you say that you believe in Jesus, but even the demons believe and they tremble.

Are you actively following him?

Because Jesus has all authority on heaven and on earth.

And us as his followers, when we receive the Holy Spirit by way of salvation, when we're born again and we're made new, then we then get to walk in the authority that Jesus has given to us.

And so we, as he stepped out of the grave, we step out of the grave and we begin to walk in his authority.

This command that Jesus gives for us to baptize all nations that we would be a part of reclaiming what was lost.

But oftentimes we just let ourselves say, you know, well, my faith, it's just a personal thing.

I'm not really ready to share it with anybody else.

Not really, really to.

It would be awkward if I told people what my beliefs were.

Don't you understand?

That it's Jesus' resurrection power that your story becomes part of his takeover.

Everything changed.

His love, his mercy, his grace has changed me.

From someone who my early years wanted nothing but popularity and approval, leading me to get into a party lifestyle and sin, promiscuity.

And Jesus was Jesus was loving enough and filled with enough grace that he interrupted my story and he took over my life and changed me into a new creation.

Put me onto a different path.

And Jesus can and will do that for you today.

Because all authority on heaven and earth has been given to him.

And then he wants to see you come to know him and be his disciple and be baptized and reclaim a lost and broken world, that we then get to be a part of his story together.

And maybe this week you need to think about who that person in your life who needs to be invited into a Sunday morning or into your home or onto you into your dinner table or in your small group that you would live in the way that Jesus has sent you and told you in his last words that because of his authority.

On heaven and earth, now you get to walk in his authority as well.

And true resurrection power.

We have access to the power.

The book of Ephesians shows us just how much authority and just how miraculous it is that the resurrection now allows us to walk in it with Christ.

In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19.

Ephesians 1:19

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him.

Everybody say, for us.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead.

Everybody say, same power.

It's the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.

And now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else.

Not only in this world, but also in the world to come.

God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he has made him head over all things for the benefit of the what?

The church.

And the world to come.

Little UFC Bruce Buffer for the boys this morning.

Jesus, he didn't just resurrect, he is reigning.

And his resurrection power now flows through our veins if we are in Christ.

And so oftentimes, even though I have this resurrection power, I cling to dead things.

I cling to things that will hold me back and tear me down.

And some of you, you just you keep waiting for a change in your life for a victory that's already been won.

It's already been won by Christ, and in doing so, allows us now, as we take our steps, that we would walk in his authority and we would walk in his power.

A power that comes only from him.

Hell has no hold on you if you're in Christ Jesus.

This is just who I am.

This is just my personality.

Jesus didn't just rise from the dead.

He reclaimed what hell thought that it had.

A hold on this world.

When those days that Jesus was in the tomb, the enemy thought that it won.

That the plan of God had been stopped.

And on that Sunday morning, everything changed.

Now we're gonna go to the end of the book.

The book of Revelation.

It talks about Jesus' mighty return after his ascension to the Father.

And one day our King Jesus is going to return.

And John, late in his life, pins a revelation and gives us a picture, a description of what it's going to be like when Jesus, the reigning victorious champion, returns as the sky splits, and he comes to claim those that are his followers.

And in Revelation chapter 1, verse 13, it says, And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man, and he was wearing a long robe with gold sash across his chest, and his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire, and his feet were like polished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves, and he held seven stars in his hand, in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth, and his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

Revelation 1:13

Verse 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead.

But he laid his right hand on me and said, Don't be afraid.

I am the first and the last.

I'm the living one.

I died, but look, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and the grave.

Jesus didn't just defeat death, he destroyed it with his power.

He destroyed it, he disarmed death, and he walked out of the grave and he took the keys with him.

The keys that will open the gate for you so that hell would have no hold on you.

And there are people who've walked into the room, and you're in this state of feeling like, you know what, I'm just I'm never gonna get past filling the blank.

I'm never gonna get it past this thing in my life.

And Jesus holds the keys to unlock the gate of the garden to come.

I'll put it to you like this.

In the first garden, the curse was spoken.

In the second garden, the curse was broken.

In Genesis, death entered, in John, death surrendered.

In Matthew, the king reclaims, and in Ephesians, the throne remains.

In Revelation, the keys are in his hand to the tomb.

Everything changed.

The question is, has it changed you?

Has it changed you?

Imagine what your life would be like.

If you would acknowledge the resurrection power and you wouldn't just acknowledge it, you would then represent it.

Imagine what your life would be like.

If what has owned you for years lost its grip on you?

What if we as multiplied church, if we live like every person and every place and every neighborhood in this community was worth receiving the kingdom of God?

What would it be like?

What would happen?

So we need to ask the question of ourselves.

Because of this truth and because of the story of Christ, what does this change in me?

What needs to be different?

Can I tell you something?

You're not too late.

You're not too far gone.

You're not too broken.

Jesus walked out of the grave, not just for a Sunday service, but for your salvation.

And it can come to you today.

Not because you're great or anything that you've done, but everything that Christ has done for you.

To die in your place on the cross and then be raised back to life, so then you can also be alive as well from this life and into the next.

That your last breath on earth will be your first breath in heaven with Christ.

Because you put your trust in him, your faith in him.

You give Jesus your trust, your loyalty, your allegiance, the one true King.

From this day until your last breath on earth.

And Jesus is He's faithful to seal it and to save you.

And for those of you who have been saved and redeemed, for you each and every single day to walk in his resurrection power, the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead.

Can I pray for you?

Would you bow your heads?

Father, all across this room.

I pray today, God, on this Easter Sunday, that Lord, you would show us your resurrection power made manifest by your Holy Spirit.

God, we pray right now, Lord, for every man, woman, and child in this place who calls themselves a follower of you, a believer in you, that God, today you would remind them that you walked out of a tomb, but so did they.

In power and in resurrection.

And Lord, I pray, God, that you would make us a people who would have you on our lips and on our hands for our city to be made new, to be reclaimed, to be transformed by your resurrection power.

And Father, right now, I pray all across the room, right now, for anybody in this place who's not received you as their savior, who's not trusted in you, who's not asked for forgiveness of their sins from your death on the cross, and hasn't yet been made new by their decision to follow you, that today would be the day of salvation, that today would be the day, that their eternity, eternal destiny would change because of this moment, God.

And if that's you today, I want you to pray in your heart and your mind to the Lord, Jesus, save me.

A genuine place, Jesus, save me.

I believe that you're the Son of God and that you died on the cross for my sins.

Forgive me, cleanse me, wash me.

I believe that you walked out of the grave in victory, and I want to now too.

Forgive me, set me free.

As you gave yours for mine.

In Jesus' name.

Nobody looking around today.

You prayed to receive Christ as your Savior, to be forgiven, to be healed.

You prayed to receive what He did for you on the cross.

I want you to make a sign before heaven, before God, and so that I can pray for you and see you.

I'm gonna ask you if you prayed that today, for you to raise your hand at the count of three.

So that's you this morning.

You're crossing over from death to life.

I want you to raise your hand.

Ready?

One, two, three.

Hold it high.

Hold it high.

I see you right here.

I see you right here in the back, sis.

Hold it high, Father.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Father.

Thank you for new life in this place.

Thank you, God, that you walked out of the grave.

So then we would walk in your power, your resurrection now into glory.

We thank you.

We praise you.

See all these prayers.

In Jesus' name, everybody said Amen.

Church, will you put your hands together and celebrate new life in Christ today?

Will you stand to your feet as we worship and as we sing?