From Death to Life | Easter Sunday 2024 | Ayren Nelson

I want everybody to do this with me. I want you to take a deep breath in

and let it out. Do it one more time. Deep breath in thin

and let it out. Okay? Now here's the next thing I want you to do. Okay?

I want you to, I want you to find a pulse. So either on your wrist,

on your neck, feel for your heartbeat. And when you find it,

I want you to take your other hand.

I just kinda want you to tap along to the pace of that heartbeat.

Are we all good ? Everybody's got it.

Everybody has breath in their lungs and they can feel that heartbeat. Hey, uh,

listen here, here's what I want you to think about. You know,

those two things are,

are probably the clearest indicators to any of us that were actually alive. Uh,

the reality is,

is that God forbid if there was something to happen to me right now and I were

to collapse and hit the stage, let me paint a picture of what would happen.

Okay?

The medical team would rush the stage and the first thing they would do is try

to find a pulse. And while everybody's panicking and freaking out,

the people who are up here in the front actually might be pretty easy for them

because what they would do is they would look at me and they would say, oh,

well, his chest is moving up and down so he's alive.

Everything is gonna be okay. And that's a physical reality.

If we have a heartbeat, if we have breath in our lungs, then we must be fine.

We must be alive. But when we open the pages of the Bible, what we realize is,

is that even though that as a physical reality, it's not a spiritual reality,

the Bible actually teaches us that there is a condition of the heart where you

can have breath in your lungs and a heartbeat in your chest,

and somehow you can still be dead. And so with that,

we turn to Ephesians chapter two, where a man named Paul writes these words.

He says, once you were dead,

because of your disobedience and your many sins,

you used to live in sin just like the rest of the world.

You were obeying the devil, the commander of the powers of the unseen world.

He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

All of us used to live that way following the passionate desires and

inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature,

we were subject to God's anger just like everyone else.

I for some of you who read this verse or who hear this verse,

I realize that you may have noticed what seems to be an oxymoron in this.

You notice Paul, he's saying, Hey, this is how, or he says, you were dead,

but then he says, this is how you live. He says, you were dead,

but this is how you breathe. And you think, well, well which one is it?

Was I alive or was I dead? And to this, the answer is yes.

Paul, was I dead or was I walking? Yes, Paul,

was I dead or was there breath in my lungs? Yes.

Was I dead or was there a heartbeat in my chest?

The answer to all of those things is yes,

because even though you are physically alive, there's a spiritual death.

And this is how he describes it. He describes it in three ways.

The first is that you were following the course of the world.

Let me ask you, have you ever found yourself doing just that?

Have you ever found yourself just kind of drifting along through life,

getting caught up in the rat race? And the next thing you know, you're like,

man,

I ended up here and I don't know how I was just kind of following the way that

everybody else was doing things. The second is he says,

we are following the prince of the power of the air.

What he's doing in this statement is he's opening our eyes to another spiritual

reality that if you've ever been trying your best to do your best and you feel

like, man, there's someone or something that feels like it's opposing me,

Paul is opening our eyes to the reality of yes,

you actually have a very real and active enemy who's actively trying to ruin

your life.

And then the third thing he says is that we were following the passions of the

flesh and carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.

Can we be real for just a second? We've talked about external forces that uh,

typically try to slow us down,

but do you ever realize how often you're the problem? Like,

have you ever noticed how following your heart tends to be the very pathway that

gets you into trouble time and time again? Listen,

this isn't a problem that's unique to you. This is a,

a spiritual reality that the Bible opens our eyes up to. Uh,

there's a theologian, his name was Eugene Peterson.

And Eugene Peterson took a, a large chunk of his life to try to, uh,

paraphrase the Bible and look at how he paraphrases Paul's words from Ephesians

two. He says,

it wasn't long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin.

Check this out. He says,

you let the world which doesn't know the first thing about living teach you to

live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief

and then you exhaled disobedience.

We all did it,

all of us doing what we felt like doing when we felt like doing it.

All of us in the same boat. Listen, if this is where we all are,

then what is it that we all need? We need a savior.

We need someone who is outside of that boat that can save us.

We need someone whose lungs haven't been polluted by disbelief to cleanse our

lungs.

We need a savior who can come in whose heart has never been defiled to cleanse

our own hearts.

We need someone to reach in and to intervene because as dead people,

we can't save ourselves.

I don't know if you've ever realized this or not,

but you've never seen someone giving CPR to themself .

No matter how hard you try and how weird it would seem,

you can't give yourself mouth to mouth.

And so if that's the case, if we're people who can't save our own mortal bodies,

then maybe it's true that we need someone to save our souls.

We need a savior. We need good news.

And we call that good news the gospel.

It's the reality that a man named Jesus over 2000 years ago came to this earth.

He lived a perfect life. He died, he went in a tomb, but he didn't stay there.

He rose again in new life.

And that's the reason why us in hundreds of thousands of churches across America

and churches around the entire world this weekend will spend time celebrating

the reality that the grave is empty and that Jesus walked out under the power

of the Holy Spirit being resurrected. And here's where we come in.

Jesus wasn't the only one who was resurrected that day

when Jesus walked out of the tomb.

What he was proving to the entire world is that all of these people that Paul

described in Ephesians two who were dead, they can walk out of the grave too.

All those people who are spiritually dead.

Now there's a resurrection that can happen. And so you say, well,

how does that happen? Well,

Paul actually lays this out for us in the next verse. This is Ephesians two,

four. He starts it off with these two words. He says, but God,

you know,

if you open your Bible and you read through the letters written by Paul,

what you'll realize is, is he was really eloquent and really capable of, uh,

describing the gospel in a way that just opens your mind to all the realities of

heaven. It's this long flowing sermons that just filled with beautiful,

eloquent language, but it's these two words that sum up the whole thing.

But God, when we were drowning,

when we needed someone to step in and save us when we couldn't save ourselves,

but God, yes, you were following the course of the world, but God, yes,

you were following the power of the prince of the world. But God, yes,

you were following the passions of the flesh and carrying out the desires of the

body and the mind. But God, yes, you were drowning, lights fading, hope,

waning, but God,

he chose to get involved even when there was nothing we could do to save

ourselves. And he did it on our behalf.

But the thing that blows our minds is how he chose to do it.

It almost seems counterintuitive. You know, I talk about how Paul,

he eloquently writes, uh, the gospel and, and he has,

I mean there are chapters upon chapters of how he does this,

but one of my personal favorites,

it's one sin and it comes in second Corinthians 5 21.

He says that God made him who had no sin to

be sin for us,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Do you realize the implications of this? Well,

second Corinthians 5 21 is saying, Hey, the God of the universe,

the creator of everything, you know what he did?

He gave himself lungs and he filled them with air.

The God who is so high above a so other that God

gave himself a heart and said, start ticking.

And then he allowed his heartbeat and his breath to be taken away

for our sake and our on our behalf. And why did he do it?

Why would, why would God make himself killable?

Because by doing this, he could show us two things.

He shows us a spiritual reality and a physical one. The spiritual one is this,

is that sin and death is no match for him.

Everything that Paul says was our previous condition.

Everything that he said that we were subject to Jesus stared it in the face and

said, you're no match for me. And in turn,

opening our eyes to a possibility. And then for the, the,

the physical reason of doing this is to prove that death doesn't have to be the

end for us. See, Paul redefines death.

He says,

just because there's breath in your lungs and a heartbeat in your chest,

it doesn't mean that you're alive. And now Jesus comes along and says, listen,

just because you lack those things, it doesn't mean you're really dead. In fact,

you're more alive than you could ever be because of what I'm doing.

For you see, Jesus in his death,

in his burial and specifically in his resurrection, a lot of us like to think,

oh, Jesus came to earth and he did it for us.

But this isn't just about something he's done for us.

It's about something he wants to do in us.

The physical death of Jesus is a, a representation of our spiritual death.

But so is the physical resurrection of Jesus.

The physical resurrection of Jesus is a physical resurrection that happens,

or I'm sorry, a spiritual resurrection that happens in each of us.

And he calls this eternal life, right?

You've been to a football game before John three 16.

Jesus came to give us eternal life. But what what does that mean?

Here's a, a fun little piece of Bible trivia for you right here. Okay?

So when you go to work tomorrow and somebody goes, oh,

what'd you do over the weekend? You say, I went to church. And they go,

what do you learn? You're like, this is, here's something.

I got it in my back pocket for you. Okay, hold on to this.

What did Jesus do the night before he died?

It's kind of a trick question 'cause there's a couple of right answers to it.

But the one that stands out and the one that impacts me the most is Jesus

prayed. He prayed for you and he prayed for me.

And I want you to make note of this prayer as I think you should because if

Jesus prayed for me, well,

I'm willing to bet that's probably the most important prayer that I'll

ever have spoken over my life.

This is John 17 verse one. It says, when Jesus had spoken these words,

he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father,

the hour has come glorify your son,

that the son may glorify you since you have given him authority over all

flesh to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

So Jesus's prayer for you and for me is this,

I pray that they receive eternal life. What does that even mean?

He explains it right here in verse three. He says,

and this is eternal life that they know you,

the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent

Jesus himself,

came and died and rose again so that you can have access to the life

you are always designed to have.

And that is in an intimate relationship with God.

Before that, we were all a hopeless case. We were all drowning.

There was nothing we could do to save ourselves.

And then Jesus himself stepped in in order to make that

a reality for all of us.

Jesus hung on a cross that was meant for you.

He got into a tomb that had your name on it.

But then he walked out proving that all of these people who for so long

had been dead, man,

there is a new reality where they are resurrected and experiencing

life to the full life that only Jesus could bring.

Listen, I don't know if you caught this earlier or not,

but when we're reading Ephesians chapter two,

Paul was talking in the past tense. He said, you were dead.

You were walking this way, you were breathing this way.

And the reason why he was doing that is because he was talking to, uh,

a group of believers,

people who had already put their faith in the resurrection of Jesus.

And now they had put death in the rear view mirror

for a lot of them. This was their past.

But I know for some of the people who are watching this, this is your present.

This is the way that you're living. You've got breath in your lungs.

You've got a heartbeat in your chest, but you're spiritually dead.

And to that man, listen, that's nothing that's, that's said to shame you.

In fact, the most loving thing that Jesus ever did was to,

to open our eyes to that reality.

But then he loved us enough to say, Hey, you're not gonna stay there either.

I love you. And so I offer resurrection to you.

I wanna finish out that verse that we started earlier.

Paul starts 'em with these words, but God and he continues.

But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

made us alive together with Christ by grace.

You have been saved and raised up with him and seeded and he seeded us with him

in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ. So that in the coming ages,

he might show his immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us

in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God,

not a result of work so that no one may boast for we or His workmanship.

Believe this about yourself. Maybe this is the first time you're hearing this.

You were created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

I wanna summarize this verse pretty quickly, just like this one.

God has already done the work. He's done all the heavy lifting.

He's going to the cross on our behalf. And so now this is where you come in.

The invitation has been extended and it's,

it is now your time to accept that. This is Romans 10, nine through 10. It says,

it says it simply. It says,

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that

God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with the heart that one believes and is justified.

That's the internal change. And it's with the mouth.

That one confesses and is saved. That's the out outward change. Listen,

I believe God wants to change you from the inside out.

He wants to do this salvation both on the inside and on the outside of you.

And then the final thing, and this is where God,

he comes into the picture again, he seals it with his spirit.

The Bible says, if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin,

the spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead swells in you,

he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead,

will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in

you. Listen, according to the Bible,

there's two statuses of every person who's ever lived,

those who are dead and those who are alive.

And the invitation to be alive is to experience the eternal life that Jesus

talked about.

It's to have a relationship with God that starts right now

and continues in the life to come.

But there's also a reality where we don't accept that invitation and we spend an

eternity separated away from him. Listen, God wants the absolute best for you.

And the absolute best for you is to say yes to his invitation.

So I'm gonna close out our time here by praying.

I wanna ask everyone to close their eyes. Even if you're watching at home,

I want you to do the exact same thing. Maybe you're by yourself,

maybe you're with other people in a room. But I want you to close your eyes

and I want you to take those inward and outward steps.

Here's the inward step I want you to resolve in your heart,

to decide with your mind, to believe in your heart

that what we're celebrating this weekend is true.

That Jesus actually did rise from the grave.

This isn't just something that we do to, to put another holiday on the calendar.

This is a moment when we celebrate the moment where all of humanity was invited

to walk out of the grave and recognize that Jesus extends that exact same

invitation to you. That's the inward piece. And then there's the outward piece,

Which is where we, we confess with our mouths. And so,

so maybe you don't do that part right now,

but here's what I am gonna ask you to do.

I'm gonna ask you just to raise your hand as a sign before God,

as a sign before maybe anybody else who you're around,

maybe even just a sign to yourself of Jesus,

I believe. Dear Lord,

thank you so much for each and every person who accepts the truth of

your word and says, I want to put my faith in Jesus.

I recognize that there's something going on in my life that's broken that's off

track.

I resonate with the words of walking around with my heart beating and air in my

lungs, but not truly being alive. God,

we pray that right now in this moment,

that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead will

infiltrate our souls.

That we will call you Lord and follow after you,

and that your spirit would give us new life,

a resurrected life just like Jesus experienced.

Father, we love you. It's in your name we pray. Amen.

Listen,

whether you're at one of our physical campuses or whether you're watching

online, we want you to to, we want to be there with you for that confess step.

We encourage you, man. We have volunteers and pastors all over the place.

Even right now, if you're watching online,

there's a space in the chat where you can just tell somebody,

maybe you're sitting in the room with family and you're like, Hey, listen,

something just happened . I don't really know what it is yet,

but I wanna walk along with someone through this. Listen,

there are people who are there specifically for you. We are here for you.

We would love to hear about it. We love you. Happy Easter.