Easter 2026 - "The Indestructible Life" (2nd service) - Pastor Brad Neuschwander (April 5, 2026) | Life Bible Church

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enjoy this week's message. Amen. Incredible.

Welcome to the house of the Lord. Welcome to

Easter Sunday. New Testament church, he is risen.

Oh, you almost had it. Let's try it again. He

is risen. Yes, he is. Would you join me just

as I pray and we open the word of God this morning.

Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, you are incredible. Lord, we think about,

we've prayed about, we've honored, we've worshiped

the one that you have set your seal upon. The

one that you have declared as your only begotten

son, the one who has finished his work. Lord,

now has been given a name higher than any other

name. At the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as

the scripture says, every knee shall bow, every

tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

of lords and King of kings. Lord, we bless you.

And we ask now, Lord, that you would take your

word. Lord, your word, which is the bread of

heaven. Jesus declared it in John 6. He said,

it's not like the bread that the fathers ate

in the wilderness, but the bread that comes down

from heaven. Lord, you are that bread. You declared

it. You said, I am the bread. So Lord, we welcome

you this morning. Come, feed us, strengthen us,

encourage us. Teach us. We need you. In Jesus

Christ's holy name. Amen. Amen. Why don't you

just turn to a few people and say you're glad

to see them this Easter Sunday morning and they

look really nice. Come on, you can just be encouraging

this morning. Greet a few people around you.

Beautiful. Well, this morning I want to deal

with a subject called the indestructible life.

As we celebrate the resurrection, you know, honestly,

Christianity, in all of its doctrines, in all

of its theology, the resurrection is, as what

one theologian, I believe it was, said, the lynch,

is the lynchpin. Everything that we believe as

sacred and true, this truth of the resurrection

from the dead separates Christianity from any

other belief around the world. Why? It believes

and it holds true that Jesus Christ conquered

death, hell, or if I could say it, Hades, the

grave and sin to become and is the living. God

who rules and reigns and only through believing

in him by faith do we have life. Now that is

a, that's a big category. So I'm going to try

to break that down a little bit today. I'm not

going to preach every subject. Trent asked me,

he says, how much of the Bible are you preaching?

I said, well, only three quarters of it today.

Hallelujah. But for the reality is there is so

much to talk about on this resurrection Sunday.

Why? Every one of the, if I would say, tributaries

of the truth that are in the scriptures lead

to the reality that Jesus Christ has defeated

every foe that we would face. And as I sat down

to study this morning and was just thinking about,

or not this morning, well, I did that too. I

actually changed the message three times since

I've been here since 4 .30. We got up at 4 .35

this morning here and I... Lord, I've got so

much, but you've got to help me trim it down.

So I had 18 pages. When I got done, I had 19.

And I realized that during prayer, I've got to

change something because there's no way I can

get through 19 pages on Easter morning. So I

want to skip the first couple of pages if you're

running the slide machine. I want you to go right

to my first slide. Here's what Easter is about.

Easter is about God's remarkable reclaiming of

the way, the truth, and the life for mankind.

That is the essence of what Jesus was saying

in John 14. He was saying, I am the way, I am

the truth, and I am the life. No man comes to

the Father but by me. That was Jesus' exclusive

saying, which means what? that every other approach,

fact is he actually said in other scriptures,

any other person that's tried to climb in, climb

over, go another way is a thief and a liar. That

ought to tell you how Jesus believed it. He said,

listen, I am the way, I'm the truth, and I'm

the life. And what his life did is it claimed,

reclaimed for you and I the way to the Father.

It reclaimed that he alone is truth, and it reclaimed.

us having the ability to have eternal life with

him. That's what he gave us. But the Bible says

this, the wages of sin are death, but the gift

of God is eternal life. Now that's really what

it's about. Every one of us in this room, every

one of us, we recognize as we're sitting here,

and I can just say it. Carefully here, I'm not

asking you to look around at an old person, but

I am just saying to you, we eventually get old,

we wither, we grow weaker, and eventually our

milk curdles. There's a shelf life on every one

of us. I don't like it, you don't like it. When

death actually comes, it brings with it decay.

And what people say is, scientists say that after

the age of 30, you're now on the decline. Just

look at somebody and say, hey, the reality is,

if you're past 30 years old, you are decreasing.

That doesn't feel too great. You know, the famous

writers say, youth is wasted on the young, right?

Why? Because they too experience this reality

that everyone has a limited time span. And the

truth of Easter is Jesus took on man's four greatest

enemies. Death, Hades, the grave, and sin. Now

I wish I had... time to dive into all four of

those, but that's probably going to be a year

long series if we just actually do it the way

it should be done. But the reality is those four

enemies, death, Hades, which includes hell, the

grave, and sin. Those are things that you and

I have no power to escape except that God would

grant us help. And that's what Easter is about.

That's why we come to celebrate because more

than any other celebration on the earth, this

is a celebration of the one who broke the power

of the four enemies that held mankind in complete

bondage. Why four? Because four represents a

number that represents, it's not seven perfection,

it represents worldwide. That's why we have the

four directions, the four corners of the earth.

When the Bible uses those in those four enemies,

it means that you were chained and I was chained

at every post, unable to escape a sentence of

death, of Hades, of the grave and of sin. And

so Easter, Jesus's victory is about Jesus's victory

over death. his victory over the grave, the power

of the resurrection, him actually ruling and

reigning, and then the fifth one is what? His

return. That's what the resurrection signals.

But this morning, we got four things he conquers,

five things that he does. I wanna just boil it

down because I had nine things. We gotta boil

it down to three. He's our sacrificial lamb.

He's our incredible great high priest and he

is our reigning king. Now for us to understand

really what good news is, and here's what I want

to just dive into this morning. You really can't

understand good news unless it's framed with

the backdrop of the bad news. The reality is

we've lived for several generations now, at least

one for sure. that have tried to frame the gospel

in only good news with only a good background.

And the problem is people take advantage of what

they think God's love is, not understanding what

really is the bad news, that the good news is

really good news. And in order to do that, you

have to understand what Jesus's resurrection

meant for you and I and means for you and I.

So in order to do that, let's go back and look

at the gospels for a little bit this morning.

In Luke 24, verses one through 10 says this,

but on the first day of the week, early in the

dawn, they went to the tomb and taking the spices

that they had prepared and they found the stone

had been rolled away from the tomb. But when

they went in, did not find the body of the Lord

Jesus. And while they were perplexed about this,

behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.

And they were frightened and bowed their faces

to the ground. And the men said to them, why

do you seek the living among the dead? He is

not here. He has risen. Now that's an incredible

statement. Here are two angelic beings talking.

to Mary and Martha and Mary's and saying, hey,

why are you seeking the living among the dead?

Just the matter of factness from heaven. He told

you this was gonna happen. It did happen. Now,

why are you not seeking him who's alive? Why

are you coming to the place of deadness? He's

risen. And then the angel decides to drop this

heavy on them. Remember when he told you while

he was in Galilee that the son of man must be

delivered into the hands of sinful men to be

crucified and on the third day he would rise?

And then they remembered his words and returning

from the tomb, they told this to the 11 and to

the rest. Mark's gospel says it this way. It's

chapter 16, verse six. And the angel said to

them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth,

whom was crucified. He is risen. He is not here.

See the place where they laid him? But go tell

his disciples and Peter that he is going before

you to Galilee. There you will see him just as

he told you. Right from the beginning, the messengers

of heaven would help equip the messengers of

the earth to remind them that Jesus' words, all

that he promised, all that he said would take

place, surely happened. And there is no other

way to find him except the way he said he would

find them. Now we see this early Easter morning.

This is why we celebrate on Sunday. This is why

the whole New Testament, if you will, the covenant

of this new covenant that was in God that moved

us past the old covenant of the law of Moses.

Begins with a different day. Sabbath ended. And

Sunday began. Why? It was resurrection day. So

all around the world. That bright morning dawn,

the power of Jesus Christ busting the chains

of death, the power that held all of humanity

is celebrated on that early Sunday morning. And

then as we go through the gospels and we look

at Matthew, Mark, Luke's account, when we get

to John's account, thank you, we get to John's

account, something else radically changes. Jesus.

The angels told them, he'll go before you like

he promised you. He will meet you in Galilee.

And then we read in John chapter 20. And the

John 20 · chapter mention

evening of that day, so before resurrection day

was finished, on the first day of the week, the

doors being locked where the disciples were for

fear of the Jews. Let's just focus on that for

a moment. Jesus' promises are true. Jesus' words

are true. Everything Jesus promised the disciples,

he was going to fulfill for them, yet they thought

it wouldn't happen because of what they had seen

and what they'd experienced. They did not have

faith to believe he could do. They are what?

Hold up in a room behind locked doors, afraid

that they are going to get persecuted because

what was done to Jesus, there was now indictments,

if you will, and a rumor that they were all going

to have their lives taken. Notice what Jesus

does. Right through the locked doors, Jesus came.

and stood among them and said to them, peace

be with you. Now, please understand this. If

I could just preach to you a little bit this

morning, I don't care how locked or how walled

up you are. I don't care what you've been through,

what you've gone through. Jesus promises to actually

get to the heart of all mankind. Though who will

put their trust in him, he has the ability to

get behind your mind, get behind your heart,

get behind the events of your life that were

heinous and maybe tragic. Jesus has the ability

to show up and get inside and in front of you.

And his first thing he says isn't, I told you.

Now, if it was me, that's probably what you'd

get. I told you. But that ain't what Jesus does.

He shows up behind locked doors. He shows up

behind the walls. And the first thing he says,

my goodness, come on, get this in your spirit.

First thing he says, it isn't like, you sucker,

why didn't you believe me? No, first thing he

said, peace to you. First thing he says. First

thing he says to every person that's in fear,

feels rejected, feels inferior, deals with what

they thought they've been a failure. First thing

he does, getting behind a locked heart and a

locked door, is peace be to you. He doesn't say,

I told you so. You should have listened. I should

beat your, no. He doesn't say that. He doesn't

say that at all. He always comes with the nature

of love and grace. Can I get an amen? Now Jesus

alone, when we understand this, we recognize

that he becomes our sacrifice. He displays like

he did for three and a half years. He displayed,

in fact, there's so many scriptures we could

quote, but he said, if you've seen me, you've

seen the Father. I come to represent the Father.

Everything the Father does and everything the

Father says, I now say it to you because I am

not here or testify on my own authority. I testify

of him. Jesus doesn't change. He doesn't change.

The Bible says he's the same yesterday, today,

and forever. And so what does he do? The minute

he rose from the dead, the minute he conquered

death and hell, he didn't all of a sudden get

all pompous and hoity -toity and start walking

in and say, hey, kiss the ring. Doesn't do that,

does he? He moves to the place of still operating

as what? Not only the sacrifice for our sin,

but he also operates as the mediator, the one

who comes to bring you into what? Union back

with the father. Now, in order to understand

this, of what the father would allow his son

to go through, when we talk about holy sacrifice,

what does that mean? It means that God in his

purity, God in his righteousness, holiness simply

means above what you could even possibly know.

It's altogether different. It's without any tarnishment.

It's purity in its most extravagant, holy, righteous

form. Jesus became that, which means what? He

lived a sinless life. Out of obedience and out

of love for the Father. And this is what he took

on for you and I. Jesus as a holy sacrifice had

to be willing to embrace the agony of the soul.

What does that mean? It means that when we talk

about, we sang about it today. We sang about

the blood of Jesus. We sang about the cross.

We're going to take the meal later this morning

here in a bit. Talking about what he gave, his

blood and his body. You have to understand that

the cross, the resurrection, that three days

includes everything that happened from the moment

they started Passover, finished that Passover,

or in the middle of that Passover meal, that

started what is called the cross experience.

It was at that table. That Satan filled Judas'

heart to fully betray him. It was at that table

where he began to wash the disciples' feet and

people, Peter began to argue with him of how

much of the washing he needed or didn't need.

Right from the very beginning of that first table,

Jesus began to deal with the objections of mankind

wanting to sift out what they could take of him

and what they didn't have to take of him. What

he would require versus what he came to do. And

Judas betrayed him as they took the rest of the

disciples across the brook of Kindron, which

is exactly what Jesus did all those years ago

that he said, the seed of David shall occupy

his throne. David crossed that brook of Kindron

in mourning, knowing that his son Absalom had

betrayed him and was on his way to kill him.

Jesus crossed that same brook now with a hymn,

now with groaning in his heart, knowing that

time of his suffering had begun and it was going

to be a process, a long three day process until

it would be finished. From the agony of the soul

to the personal betrayal of his disciples, not

just Judas, but every one of them left at the

garden. The religious leaders rejection, the

people crying. who cried just five days earlier,

Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord, now shouting as they're revved up

in just a day or so, crucify him, crucify him.

He experienced the scourge, the shredding of

front and back behind him, getting to the areas

of the blue blood where the scholars would say

that blue blood was a place where it's blood

next to the bones. He experienced Pilate's political

rejection, Herod's political scorn. He experienced

the humiliation of the Roman guard and the spitting

and the mocking and the crown of thorns. He carried

the sentence of death, which most... People believe

that hundred pound beam was what was placed upon

his shoulders, having been shredded by the scourge,

now walking that final place of the Via Dolorosa

to the place of crucifixion called Golgotha.

He experienced the jarring after the searing

of the nails pinched through, pierced his feet

and his hands, then the slamming down of that

cross into the hole that was bore. and then the

process of crucifixion, which created a suffocation,

where all of his joints were pulled out of their

sockets. And as he suffered, gave his last breath,

that lasted six hours. Not to mention the humiliation

of false witnesses and being completely naked.

Not some Renaissance version of some white towel

over him, but completely as was Roman culture

to strip all dignity from every criminal. And

in front of his mother, in front of his aunts

and uncles, in front of his cousins, absolutely

humiliated. The father had to be willing. to

place his son under all of that. And that should

describe for us a little bit of the incredible

love that God has for us. It was love that caused

the father to go to incredible lengths with the

breadth and the scope of the horrific treatment

of his son from rejection to being torn to shreds

to the very last thing of being bartered and

traded. A criminal Barabbas. offered in exchange

for a perfect, obedient son, Jesus. So when we

say he took our place, what does that mean? It

means that God allowed what was in us, on us,

to be placed on his son. In fact, as the scripture

said, he who knew no sin became sin for us that

we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.

Jesus took our place. He paid our debt. Our debt

was what? The debt of broken law. Every one of

us has broken the law of God. And what we don't

understand and what we've allowed a generation

of preaching to do is broken law means, there

means there has to be judgment. You can't have

a righteous God without judgment. You can't have

a righteous God that would just say, I'll allow

murderers, I'll allow liars, I'll allow false

witnesses, I'll allow every form of every detestable

type to go unpunished. That does not equate to

righteousness. Righteousness means there is the

standard of what it means to make things right.

And so the Bible says that because of every person

that was born in Adam, through one man's sin,

all became sinful. That's what the book of Romans

is about, Romans 6 and 7. Through one man, 5,

6, and 7, through one man's transgression, sin

entered and all became sinful. So what you and

I, being just born by nature, Born into this

world are born already lawless and broken and

already have within us a penalty that deserves

to be what? To be set against us that we have

no access to the father and his life. That's

what it means. And it means that someone if I'm

going to break out of that, has to pay for the

right setting of my life to now have access to

his life. And that's what Jesus came to do. When

he says he paid my debt, it's dealing with the

fact he paid the debt of judgment. If you will,

the judge gets off the bench. writes the payment

to pay for my transgressions. Only in this case,

Jesus is more than a check. In this case, Jesus

is more than just a pin number on a debt card.

This case, God has to take his own son and allow

his own son because it had to be divinity. Why

divinity? Had to be divinity and humanity combined

because human blood that would now be born of

Adam would be tainted. So it had to be the righteous

seed of God. That's why John starts his gospel

with, in the beginning came the word. word is

what? The seed. In the beginning came the word

and the word was God and the word was with God

and the word came forth from God and he manifested

and the word became flesh and blood and we beheld

him. That's the gospel of John. And that's why

it's so important that only Jesus could be the

lamb and only Jesus could pay the debt and the

father had to be willing to put the son through

it because of his love for you and I. That's

why John the Baptist would say in his gospel

in chapter 1, verse 29, behold, the Lamb of God

that takes away the sin of the world. That's

why the apostle Paul would say in 2 Corinthians

5, 21, for our sake, here it is, God made Jesus

Christ to become sin who knew no sin so that

Jesus, in Jesus, we might become the righteousness

of God. This is why Jesus Christ is worthy to

be worshipped. We sang it today. There is only

one found worthy. Why do we sing that? Because

that's the picture that we get in the scriptures.

The Father and the Son. The Son. as the lamb,

the son as the priest, the son as the king. All

the mysteries of the truth of scripture come

and find their fullness in the face of Jesus

Christ. And when we read Revelation 5, 12, it

says this, worthy is the lamb who was slain to

receive power and wisdom, riches and honor, strength,

glory and blessing. And every creature that is

in heaven and on the earth and under the earth

and those that are in the sea and all that are

in them, I heard saying with a loud voice, blessing

and honor and glory and power be to him who sits

on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever.

He is the one who paid the price. But folks,

If it was just about dying, we of all people

are miserable. If there wasn't a resurrection,

dying would have to keep happening over and over.

That's why God was so particular about that it

had to be a God -man. Why? That he had to fulfill

in humanity. He had to be tempted. And the whole

book of Hebrews deals with this. He had to be

tempted and he had to suffer in every aspect

that you and I share in. That's part of the makeup.

in that suffering and in that temptation and

in those predicaments. That's why he was born

in such a lowly, humble place. That's why he

had to be subject to a stepdad and a mother and

why his whole upbringing, he was teased about

the fact that he was born out of wedlock. There

was rejection woven into every aspect of his

life so that he would understand the hardship

of what it was in every form of humanity. yet

it would be the God part of him on the inside

that even though Jesus laid down or laid off

his divine prerogatives, didn't stand up as the

son of God, somehow some superhero. We have...

Disney and DC Comics and all the others to come

up with all that. The reality is Jesus didn't

operate in superhuman strength. What he did operate

in is he operated under the leadership of the

Holy Spirit to guide and to shape him so that

he could model it for you and I. And in that

process, he would now do what? He would now be

the one who could bring us back to God. Scriptures

say it this way. 1 Timothy 2, 5 and 6 says it

this way. There is one God and there is one mediator

between God and men. The man, Jesus Christ, who

gave himself as a ransom for all. Hebrews 9,

15 says it this way. Therefore, Jesus is the

mediator of a new covenant so that all who are

called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

And then Hebrews 12, 24, which we sang about

today. Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant

and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better

word than Abel. Why does it speak a better word

than Abel? Some of you might in this room go,

well, who's Abel? Well, he's not the guy playing

the biker on the Sons of Anarchy. He was the

first and second born. Cain was the first, Abel

was the second. Soon as soon, now please get

this. As soon as man. broke fellowship with the

Father. As soon as sin, as they chose out of

willful rebellion to deny what the word of God

was as the only truth and opened their life up

to another form of truth, which is a lie. The

very next scene we see, other than Jesus covering

their sin by killing perfect creation to cover

them with tunics, the next thing we read about

is what? Brothers growing up, and it moves from

rejecting and just taking a choice of self to

in just a matter of years, it turns now to murder.

That's why the Bible says that the enemy is a

murderer, a thief, and a liar. Notice he lists

murder first. Why? Because that's the nature.

A lie never stays a lie. It always leads to destruction.

It always leads to a murdering of what? The truth,

the murdering of morality, the murdering of innocence,

the murdering of relationship, the murdering

of unity, every part of it. And we see this degradation.

And when God came to visit Cain, he goes, why

do I hear your brother's voice crying from the

ground? It lets us know that blood, and he later

defines this in multiple different ways in the

scripture, that blood has life in it. That's

why it says in Leviticus 17, the life is in the

blood. Meaning that when Jesus came to visit

or the word of God came to visit, the presence

of God came to visit Cain. He says, I hear your

brother's voice crying from the ground. Meaning

what? Abel had a word. What was Abel's word that

was struck down by his brother Cain's life? Abel's

blood from the ground was crying out for what?

Bring me satisfaction and judgment, Lord. Because

I was cut down. I was innocent. I didn't provoke

my brother. I just was obeying you. And the very

simple part of obeying you provoked something

inside of Cain that he wanted to shut up and

destroy that which would obey fully and give

another way that would create a wider path. Sound

familiar today? Shut the voice down of only one

way. And create only a path that has several

ways to God. You see, the blood of Abel has a

voice saying, give me justice. But when Jesus'

blood was shed, what was his prayer? Father,

forgive them, for they don't know what they do.

Jesus' blood cries out forgiveness. and grace

instead of retribution and judgment. Why? Because

the Bible says that mercy triumphs over judgment.

That's the voice of Jesus' blood over the blood

of Abel. If it was still the blood of Abel, we

would still be eye for eye, tooth for tooth,

break for break, vengeance for vengeance, right?

Burn for burn. That's what it says in the scripture.

But because of Jesus and his life, no longer

is it about revenge. No longer is it about I

will pay you back what you owe me and more. It's

about now I forgive. And as God, you broke my

law, but I sent my son. To redeem you from that

judgment where I would have to punish you in

fullness. That's the beauty of it. He's the living

high priest. He's the mediator. Let me just say

this one verse. I want to go to Hebrews 7 verse

Hebrews 7:15

15. Skip down just a little bit. Hebrews 7 verse

Hebrews 7:15

15. It becomes more evident when a priest arises

in the likeness of Melchizedek. Now let me, without

going too deep here in the... theological kimchi.

What we're saying here is this, is that Melchizedek

means priest of peace or king of peace and righteousness.

It's an eternal office. It means that Jesus has

now become a priest, a mediator to God on the

basis of what? Peace. Remember what he said to

the disciples when he came into the locked room?

Peace be with you. And what? Of righteousness,

his divinity. So it says, listen, he's in a likeness

of Melchizedek, verse 16, who has become a priest

not on the basis of legal requirement concerning

bodily descent, which means what? Jesus didn't

get this by being of the tribe of Levi according

to the order of Moses under Aaron. Jesus didn't

even qualify. He was not born of the tribe of

Levi. He did not qualify under the Levitical.

of where a priest had to come from. He qualified

by being sinless, and the Bible changes complete

order when he moves it out of the tribe of Judah,

which means Jesus didn't qualify according to

men's standards. He qualified now on the basis,

listen, this is where this message comes from,

on the basis of a power of an indestructible

life. That's why he's qualified to be high priest.

That's why he's qualified to bring your life

before the Father because he lives in the power

of an indestructible life. And this is what the

beauty is about this. That when we actually give

our life to Christ, we're actually saying, Lord,

I'm not just believing in you. I'm asking you

to come. Live in me and let me be in you because

everything in the New Testament is about what?

When you're in Christ. That's why when you're

in Christ, you can now have the very same thing

that is around Christ, which is what? An indestructible

life. Now, what I'm not saying, Colin, is that

when you are driving your go -kart at 90 miles

an hour around the track, that does not mean

that you can just be crazy, right? There's certain

laws apply like gravity and speed and good tires

and all of that stuff. But when you're just zipping

around the track, that doesn't mean that you've

got this eternal life decoder ring. in Christ

now, you now have the ability to bypass what

held all of mankind. Because going back to those

four things that held us, death, Hades, the grave,

and sin, being in Christ allows us to break free

from every station, one on our foot, the other

foot, hand in hand, chained. Chained to death,

Jesus breaks that we are transferred. That's

the beauty of it. We're transferred from, that's

what Paul said, I was transferred from the kingdom

of darkness into the glorious inheritance of

his son's light and love. How does that happen?

He gives me the ability by faith to be in Christ.

And when I'm in Christ, I'm now in his indestructible

life. That's the beauty of it. That's why Jesus

came. And I wanna move forward just a little

bit more in the notes because I'm not gonna finish

where we need to finish. So let's just keep going

here a bit. That Jesus came. Oh, let's just find

it here. In John 11, when he was dealing with

Lazarus, And I want us to kind of focus here

as I just kind of just spend these last seven

minutes before we get ready to take communion.

Trent, if you could have them start to file in,

that would be great, the choir and the team.

Can you hang with me for just seven more minutes

here? When Jesus said in John 11, as Martha came

to talk to Jesus about the loss of her brother

that had been dead, four days before Jesus would

actually stand in front of that tomb and call

Lazarus forth from the dead. Martha was really,

because they were friends, she was harping on

him, Lord, if you'd been here, if you'd have

just been here, he wouldn't have died. And Jesus

looked at her and said, Martha, I am the resurrection

and the life. Now please hear what I'm gonna

say. Whoever believes in me, Though he dies,

yet shall he live. Now, I need to describe that

word, live and life. There is the root in the

Greek called zoe. Just like there are four different

words for love in our English language and the

Greek. There are four different definitions of

love in the Greek language. Only one in the English

language. The same is true for life. This life

that Jesus was talking about here, whoever believes

in me, though he dies, yet shall he live. That

word is the word Zoe. Zoe is the Greek word.

Life is the English word. It means In several

things, it means the principle of life. It means

better life in the absolute sense. So Zoe life

means a better life, but it's more than just

a better life. It is, and here goes the big one.

It is the life that God has. It is that which

the father has in himself. And it is that life

that the father has with himself. That he gave

to the son to have life inside of himself. So

it means that if you will. Now listen to what

Jesus said. Do you believe that I am the resurrection

and the life? Whoever believes in me though he

dies. Yet shall he have what? A better life.

But more than that. A life of God. And everyone.

Now listen to the connection. And everyone who

lives. and believes in me shall never die. Do

you believe this? Can I just say something this

morning that maybe you're not gonna maybe necessarily

like. Maybe you haven't liked anything I've said

this morning. Okay, here's another one. We have

so had a gospel that is only focused on love

that we have left the other side of the gospel

out. Which means what? The other side of the

gospel means he can't just be Savior. He has

to be Lord and King. You see, it's not just enough

to believe that Jesus died. Every demon in hell

believes that Jesus died. Why? They saw him.

They were a part of helping put him there. That's

why the sky turned dark at noon for three hours.

That darkness literally manifested on the earth.

It was a sign of satanic power and thinking that

they had won. And then for three days in the

grave, almost nine tenths, his body lay there

but did not go under decay until what? He proved

to everyone. That there was nothing in him that

could hold him. And the power of God and the

word raised him from the dead. And he took the

one thing hell had had power over the victory

in the garden. Which was what? Authority to keep

people in chains and under the fear of eternal

punishment. Jesus took that. So when Jesus is

describing here. Do you believe that I'm the

resurrection and the life? If you believe this,

if you live in me and believe in me, notice Jesus

puts the connection. It's not just about saying

something. It's about living it. You see, the

idea that you can say one prayer, think that

you're good for eternity without living it is

not what Jesus preached. Let me give you another

verse. John 5, 26 and 27, for as the father has

life in himself, so he has granted that son to

have life in himself. First John 1, and here

it is, this one. First John 1, verses 1 through

1 John 1:1–3

3. This is the same author, the apostle John,

who wrote the gospel, now writing again to the

churches. He said, that which is from the beginning,

that which we have heard. That which we've seen

with our eyes, we've looked upon, we've touched

with our hands concerning what? The word of life,

the life that was made manifest. Guess what life

he's talking about? Zoe. It's the Greek word

here. The word of life, the Zoe was made manifest

to us and we've seen it. We testify to it. And

we proclaim to you that the eternal life, the

Zoe life that was with the father and was made

manifest to us, which we have seen and heard,

we now proclaim so that you too may have fellowship

with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the

father and with his son, Jesus Christ. What's

he saying? You say, you can say a prayer for

salvation. But the salvation is that you're actually

living it now with him. It means that salvation

is actually when you actually ask him to come

into your life, forgive you from your sin, and

that you invite him to be what? Not just your

friend. Friend is a wonderful thing. Friendship

comes after you're willing to submit to his kingship.

Come on. You see, the living part is the everyday.

The praying to come into my life can just be

one time. But the living part needs to be all

the time. Now, does that mean that God is keeping

score and every day you're in or you're out,

you're kind of like, you know, he loves me, he

loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not. No.

That's not what we're talking about. The living

means there is a God consciousness on the inside

of you that wants to please him and recognizes

him as king over your life. And that you desire

to know his will and do his will. And the more

his will is revealed to you, the more you want

to obey him. That's what it means to live in

him. Now listen, I gotta kind of land this little

Piper Cub on a riverbank here. Sometimes I don't

know how to. If I could say it to you this way,

right before we get ready to take the bread and

the cup, I need to ask you a couple of things.

Because everyone in this room has a choice. That's

what makes the resurrection so powerful. It's

a choice. One choice says, I don't need who Jesus

is. I don't need his blood. I don't need his

life. I don't want to believe in all of that.

I am a good person. Well, you're really not.

Sorry. I'm a good person and I prove it by my

works and I will give God, if he really is true

and that is him, I will be able to negotiate

by the things of how I've lived. But because

of grace, because of what Jesus did, that's why

we're living the age of grace. Because of that,

Stuart, God will let you have that type of foolish

argument. He'll not press you. He'll keep coming

after you in grace and in patience to try to

bring you into fellowship. But he will let you

make that choice because that's what he was willing

to put on his son at Calvary. Now you'll have

to stand eventually if you make that choice.

Now I'm praying that you don't. But you'll have

to stand before the Lord and you'll not have

anything to pay. For lawlessness and for sin.

That's where God is going to have to be in his,

where he moves from the place of love to the

place of judgment. Because the Bible says it's

appointed to every man to die and then the judgment.

But he gives you the ability to deny his blood,

to deny his son, to deny the good news that he

came. And he gives you that because if he didn't,

it would be forced. Or you can choose the other.

What's the other? That the gospel is good news.

What good news? That Jesus took your judgment.

Not just for the things that you're doing now.

And I'm not going to read the list. Okay. I'm

messing with you. But the fact that we were bound

to eternal death. There's a lot of... Things

out there in our society that have tried to strip

the idea that a loving God would not actually

bring judgment. But that couldn't be further

from the biblical truth. The reason he sent his

son is because there is an eternal judgment.

That's why it's such good news. The son being

sent, taking all the judgment from the father

is what removes you from the penalty of eternal

death, from the bondage of Hades and hell and

from the ultimate place of the lake of fire that

is removed from you. And you get what? Zoe life.

What's Zoe life? You now get. everything I know

it's hard to imagine Derek getting everything

but just for an instant here he gets everything

meaning what he gets everything except God's

divinity he gets the atmosphere of heaven he

gets assurance Of being with God. He gets God's

love. He gets God's grace. He gets God's authority.

God's seal upon him. And the atmosphere where

he's going. There will be no sickness. No sorrow.

No mourning. No death. No decay. His milk will

never curdle. He'll have a body. An upgrade.

I'm just telling you. That is the atmosphere.

That is the atmosphere of Zoe life that we get.

Now you can stand and choose the other and try

to negotiate, argue, and be as deceived as Satan

is thinking he's going to argue with the supreme

God of the universe and try to win on a technicality.

But the Bible calls that foolish. But God gives

you the right to follow it. you can recognize

that the grace of God and the gift of God is

Jesus Christ. He is the opposite of eternal death

and judgment. He is life, the Zoe life of God,

the perfect life, the life that is beyond what

we could ever have. And though we die because

sin has not yet been fully dealt with until Jesus

comes with, it's been dealt with in inauguration,

but the last enemy to be defeated is death. That

means that we actually, though we die, yet we

shall live. That's Jesus' statement to Martha.

And that's his call to you and I. Now, just right

now, just with every, but just do me a favor,

just bow your head, close your eyes for a moment,

giving people just a little bit of privacy to

ask a question before the Lord this morning.

The message is still the same message and the

cross and the blood of Jesus has the same power

it had 2 ,000 years ago. Jesus said to Nicodemus

and he's saying it to us now, if I be lifted

up, I will draw all people unto me. And now Jesus

is being lifted up in front of every person within

the sound of my voice, those that are on the

internet, those that are watching by camera,

those that are out in the lobby, everyone that's

in this room, the Spirit of God is lifting up

Jesus Christ as the good news, as the only hope.

And the only way we get to apply that, we sang

it today, for the blood applied, we actually

have to apply it. And applying it, God, chose

to do what? Application by the Spirit of God

or in the kingdom of God requires what? A form

of surrender and a repentance. It actually acknowledges

my sin. It acknowledges my independence. It acknowledges

my rebellion. It acknowledges that I have failed

in everything and that I need a savior and that

Jesus Christ is that savior. He's the only one

that could pay it and I choose God's way, not

my way. That is what opens the door. to your

salvation and to repentance and the blood of

Jesus forgiving you. And the Lord says in his

word, 1 John 1, 9, if you will confess your sin,

he is faithful and just to forgive you of your

sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

I don't know who you are. I don't know where

you've been. I don't know the life you've lived,

the disappointments, some of the experiences

that tried to validate the reason that you've

tried to put walls up. But I'm reminding you

this morning, just like John, John 20, Jesus

can get behind lock walls today. And his first

answer to you is not shame on you. His first

answer is I've already dealt with this. Now,

peace be to you. Come, come put your hands in

my side. Come put your hands in my wounds. These

were for you. And if that's you this morning,

I don't care where you're at. Maybe you've never

invited Christ. Maybe you've backslidden. Maybe

you've tried to harden your heart against the

things that are written in scripture. His words

are true. And today he calls you back. I'm not

going to have you come forward this morning,

but I do ask for a response. Why? Because if

you can't respond to Jesus in a place publicly,

then most likely that decision is not going to

stick. So I'm going to ask you in just a few

seconds, that if you want to be restored, we're

going to send some people back to pray with you.

You lift your hands in just a moment. It says,

I need Jesus, maybe for salvation, for rededication,

to be restored, to forgive me. I'm going to ask

you to just lift your hand right where you're

at. And I'll send some people to pray with you

before we take this communion table. If that's

you this morning, just lift your hand and just

say, that's me, preacher. You talking to me?

Just lift it, thank you. Talking to me. Come

on, we got two guys moving right now. Thank you,

thank you, right here. Anyone else? Josh? Yes,

we got one in the back, please. Heather? Thank

you. Are there any others? Come on, this is the

most important part. Why? Because it's not about

me, it's about Jesus. I'm only a proclaimer of

his word and his message. But he's the one that

saves. Is there anybody else? Just lift your

hand up high. We got a team that'll come just

meet you personally and start praying with you.

All right. Father, I want to thank you right

now for those that are saying yes to you. For

those, the rest of us in the room, that we know

our decision is but sure and true and that we

are walking in fellowship with him. Lord, you

are mighty. You are holy. And Lord, we get ready

as the family of God now to come to your table.

the bread representing the word of God and the

cup representing the blood. We ask you to bless

these elements this morning. And I'm asking as

we take communion, Lord, you would meet us in

that place as we worship you, fellowship with

us. Lord, the spirit and truth, fellowshipping

with us in our spirit, knowing that we are in

Christ and that you are in us. We love you and

we bless this table. In Jesus' name. As the ushers

come forward, would you just stand? They're going

to direct you on both sides of the table to come

and grab. Take an element of a cup and the bread.

There's gluten -free bread if you need it. And

then just take your elements back to your chair.

We'll take it together as a family, as the choir

and the singers help us worship a little bit

as we do that. Thank you for taking the time

to listen to this week's message. We are so grateful

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