Death And Resurrection | Alex Gallien | "Apostles' Creed" Part 5

And I know we probably have a handful of first-time guests in the room.

And so with that in mind, let me first say my name is Alex Guy.

I'm the lead pastor here at Overflow Church.

And it's such an honor to have you worshiping with us today.

Whether you're in the room, whether you're watching online, and you may not know this, but we got like 50 people in the Overflow seating area right now.

Can we just give them a shout out real quick?

Hey, we love you guys.

You're not alone, you're not separate.

The same God, the same spirit that's in this room.

He's in there with you guys too.

We love you guys so much.

If you want to catch this one in person, just come back through.

We're doing this again at 11:30.

Get in here, get your chairs, and go through it all over again with us.

Um, but I uh, man, I'm I'm so thankful that you came to worship with us today and celebrate Jesus.

And I know that Easter is a time period where oftentimes people find themselves at church, maybe for the very first time or for the first time in a long time.

And so before we get knee deep into today's message, let me go ahead and fill you in on the fact that today is actually part five of a series, a collection of sermons where we are walking through this ancient document known as the Apostles' Creed.

And there's a reason we're doing that.

Every year, here at Overflow, we theme everything we do each year around a specific word or phrase that we feel like God's been speaking to us in prayer.

And in 2026, that word for us has been remember.

And that's because we believe that if the church forgets its past, we might also be in danger of forfeiting our future.

And so throughout this year, we've been dedicating ourselves to remembering the history, the practices as of today, some of the decor, and of course, the beliefs that have been building Christians into Christians for centuries now.

And throughout this particular series, we've been moving line by line to this ancient document known as the Apostles' Creed.

These are collections of truths that the early church built for us.

Okay?

The Apostles' Creed is the simplest and probably the oldest summary of what all Christians have always had to believe in order to be a Christian at all.

The first ever generation of Christians compiled these truths together to help us learn what it meant to teach the gospel of Jesus, to protect it from distortion, and to pass it down faithfully from one generation to the next.

And over the last four weeks, I'll catch you up on what we've covered so far.

We've covered these lines of the creed.

I believe, that was week one, week two, in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Week three, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

And then week four, which was last week.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

And that leads us to today's section of the Creed a section that people have been asking about since we unveiled the Apostles' Creed for the first time.

And it reads like this He descended into hell and on the third day rose again from the dead.

Today's gonna be a lot of fun.

And if you're taking notes, the title for today's message is going to simply be Death and Resurrection.

Because while we believe that Jesus faced death and descended into the depths on our behalf, we also believe that on the third day, on Easter Sunday, he rose again from the dead.

Now, with that in mind, I gotta be honest with you, been in church my entire life.

I've literally never missed an Easter Sunday.

And as far as I can remember, through all the pastors that I've had, all the churches that I've attended, pretty much every Easter we talk through the same things, rightfully so.

We put a lot of pressure on the events leading up to the cross, and then of course the events of the cross themselves, and then of course the resurrection.

We talked about how the leading, the religious leaders of his day accuses that they accused Jesus, falsely accuse him of blasphemy, and they hand him over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to not only be tortured, but to also be crucified, to suffer a criminal's death on the cross.

And we always typically took some time to talk through the gruesome details of the crucifixion, but we did last week.

Jesus being whipped, being brutalized, having a crown of thorns shoved onto his head, being dressed up like a fake king and offered fake worship, being hit in the face with a reed, then being forced to carry his cross to the hill of Golgotha, where he's then nailed to his cross.

The cross is put up for all to see, and Jesus hangs there for about three hours until eventually he suffers and he dies.

And to make sure that he was dead, they then take a spear, they shove it through his side, and once they've done that, they remove his body from the cross and they lay his lifeless body in the tomb.

And when we get to this point in the story, typically we jump straight ahead to the moment where everything changes.

The Easter Sunday morning resurrection, where Jesus is raised from the dead, defeating sin and death and creating a way for all mankind to once again be reunited with the God who loves us.

Truths that have changed human history since they became reality.

Truths that we celebrate on Easter, truths that we celebrate every Sunday, truths that we celebrate every day.

But you want to know a part of the Easter story that I've never had anyone explain to me?

What was actually going on when Jesus' body was laying lifeless in the tomb on Saturday?

What was Jesus doing in the spirit?

I mean, was he just napping?

Was he just sleeping?

Was he showing us the importance of a Sabbath day's rest and how even God needs to take a day off?

Like, is that really what's being communicated to us there?

Was he just hanging out with God the Father for the first time in 33 years, catching up, letting him know all the things that have happened on the earth as if God didn't see it?

Was he um, I don't know, was he chilling out, maxing, relaxing all, cooling all, shooting some b-ball outside of the school?

My guess is that that's not what he was doing.

And even though I hate ruining surprises, so as to ruin the surprise for you, if you really want to know what Jesus' spirit was doing when his body was laying lifeless in the tomb all day Saturday, all you have to do is read the opening line of the section of the creed that we're covering today.

It says that he, being Jesus, descended into hell.

Now, initially, this may be a shocking concept for some of you to hear because you've never even been taught this.

But if you haven't been, that's okay.

Number one, I'm gonna teach you today.

It doesn't come from nowhere.

There's all sorts of scripture to back it up, and we're gonna read all of it today.

I'm not gonna leave a single thing out.

But number two, if you've never been taught this, even before we start unpacking the scriptures that are specifically talking about it, logically, this should make more sense than what you probably think it should right now.

And this is why.

At the very beginning, when God creates Adam and Eve, the first two humans, we're all talking all the way in the book of Genesis, he essentially gives them one warning.

He says, You can do whatever you want.

Go name the animals, build a family, build a life, eat all the fruit on all the trees and the bushes that you see, but do not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And if you do, if you sin, meaning if you disobey me at all, you will surely die.

God tells us in the beginning that the result of human sin on any level is death.

This is why when you get to the book of Romans, we're taught that the wages of sin, what you earn from God when you sin, is death.

And yes, that of course means death in a very literal and physical sense, but as you've already experienced, sin doesn't just cause literal and physical death, it causes death to your joy, death to your mental peace, death to your relationships in this world, death to your relationship with God, death to your purpose, death to your right standing with God, death to your finances, and if you've ever paid attention to the Bible, also death in the form of eternal banishment from God in this location that we refer to as hell.

And here's the bad news.

You know, Jesus' gospel.

It's called the word gospel because that means good news.

But if there's good news, that means that there also has to be bad news.

The bad news is that the the unfortunate reality is that every human being has sinned against God, which means we are all deserving of death in all of its forms.

We're not just deserving of real, literal physical death, we deserve to die and go to hell.

And this is the good news of Jesus' life and Jesus' death.

He takes care of this problem for us, and I want to read it in 1 John 2.2.

Now, our regulars know I typically give you a moment to turn to different places in your own Bible so that you can read along with me.

This is the only time I'm gonna let you know.

I'm not gonna do that today for the sake of time, but you can write all these verses down, go back and read them, but you could obviously also follow them along on the screens.

1 John 2 2, it says, He himself, meaning Jesus, is the sacrifice that atones, that makes up for our sins.

And not only our sins, but the sin of the entire world.

Okay.

Christians believe that on the cross, Jesus carried the full weight of our sin upon himself, on his body.

Meaning, he died the death that we deserve because of the sins that we committed, so that by trusting that his death was enough on our behalf, we could be forgiven of sin.

We could be washed clean from sin, made right with God, set free from the power of sin, filled with the Holy Spirit, and also avoid an eternity in the location that we refer to as hell, which is amazing news.

It is great news.

That's why it's called the good news of Jesus, the gospel of Jesus.

That's awesome news, but I want you to really quickly think about what we just said.

The Bible very clearly states that Jesus took upon himself and suffered the full penalty and the full punishment for human sin.

If that's the case, the full penalty for sin is not just physical death.

The full penalty and the full punishment and the full consequences of anyone sinning against God is that person then going to hell, which means that if Jesus has to suffer the full penalty for human sin, he not only has to die a real, literal physical death, but he also has to not necessarily suffer, but he certainly has to at least arrive in the destination we refer to as hell.

And even though this is the first time many of you have ever even heard that Jesus did this, there are so many scriptures talking about the fact that he did and teaching us why it's such a big deal.

So let's get into it.

The first one that I want to read is 1 Peter 3.18.

1 Peter 3:18, it says Christ suffered for our sins once for all time.

1 Peter 3:18

I think we can all agree with that.

If you're a Christian, of course you believe that.

He never sinned.

Fair enough.

I think we believe that too.

But he died for sinners to bring us safely home to God.

No problem there.

Seems to check out.

That's what we celebrate and remember on Good Friday.

He suffered a real physical death.

Now I want you to pay really close attention to this last line.

But he was raised to life in the spirit.

I want you to say in spirit on the count of three.

One, two, three.

So Jesus suffered, he died, and he took our place so that we could be brought back to God.

No one's denying that.

I don't think.

If you're a Christian, you believe that it's called the gospel of Jesus.

Yep, if you read this closely, you'll notice this verse stops at Saturday because it only mentions being Jesus being raised to life in spirit.

Okay, and in case no one's ever told you this, that's not what we're celebrating today.

That's not what Easter is about.

Easter is not about Jesus being raised to life in spirit.

Easter is about Jesus being raised to life in the flesh.

It is about his literal physical body being raised from the dead.

So here's the question: if that's what Easter is actually all about, then what is Jesus doing in the spirit on Saturday before his physical body is raised back to life in the flesh on Sunday morning?

To answer the question, all you actually have to do is read the next two verses of 1 Peter chapter number 3.

Let's look at verse 19 and 20.

Now, this is assuming after the events of the cross, because that's what Peter's just talked about, after the events of the cross, Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison.

That's interesting.

There is only one prison for spirits, and I think we can all agree that's called hell.

So Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison.

Those who disobeyed God a long time ago, when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat, only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood.

Now, the extra details that I'm about to give you are found in 2 Peter chapter 2.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

You can go through and read it in detail later on in case you're like, wow, is this really true?

It is, and it's there.

You can go back and read it, but let me summarize it for you real quick.

During the days of Noah, not only were humans rebelling against God, but the scriptures teach us that angels were also rebelling against God.

In fact, when you get to the book of Genesis, we're taught that this is why giants existed.

Because angels, in an act of defiance against God, almost as if they're giving God a middle finger, they procreate with humans.

God's good creation.

The people that are made after God's image and after God's likeness, these fallen angels go and procreate now with these humans.

And the Bible is clear in that God is not a fan of this, and he punishes it.

And you've read the story of Noah.

The wicked humans drown in a flood, meaning their spirits go to hell.

But if you read closely in 2 Peter chapter 2, it says during that same time period, God took those wicked angels that rebelled against him, and he put them in prison in hell as well.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Now, for some of you, you are officially thoroughly confused.

And that is probably for a myriad of reasons, because we're talking about something that unfortunately you've never been taught about.

But others of you, you're confused because of what's coming to your mind when you think about the word and the location of hell, because your only understanding of biblical truths came from your Memol or from your Sunday school teacher.

And we love Memol and we love your Sunday school teacher, but you cannot afford to only learn the Bible from someone else.

You have to do this thing called using your brain, and you have to open it up and you have to read it and you have to interact with the scriptures yourself.

And when you do, you want to know what you're gonna find out?

You're gonna find out that in the old testament, when they refer to the realm of the dead that we would call hell, they call it Sheol.

And then when you get to the New Testament and they refer to that same realm of the dead that we call hell, they call it Hades.

Now, this is the same realm, it's two different words because we're talking about two different languages at work and at play at this point.

But this realm is probably not what comes to your mind when you think about hell.

And that's because as a 21st century Christian living in North America who's been fed all sorts of crazy ideas about the scriptures and who probably hasn't really interacted with the scriptures.

What comes to your mind when you think about hell is the lake of fire, right?

Well, in case you've not read your scriptures thoroughly, that doesn't actually even come into the story until Jesus returns for his church.

That doesn't come into the story until the second coming of Christ.

Meaning, when the Bible's talking about hell, it's not talking about the lake of fire.

When the Bible speaks of Sheol or Hades or Hell, get ready, your mind's about to be blown.

It is describing a temporary holding place where the souls of everyone went following death.

The souls of the unrighteous and the souls of the righteous.

Again, some of you are like, Are you serious?

Is this real?

Yeah, this is why when you actually read the Bible and pay attention, you will notice that the Old Testament saints do not speak about the afterlife in the way that the New Testament Christians do.

New Testament Christians say that when I close my eyes in death, I awake and I'm with Christ.

And that's true.

But when the Old Testament saints spoke about their afterlife, it was not in terms of dying and then going to heaven to be with God.

And it was not in those terms because that wasn't their expectation.

And you want to know why that wasn't their expectation?

Because that wasn't their reality.

That's not what was happening yet.

And David shows us this.

One of the great examples that we have of this in scripture is Psalm 16:10.

Psalms 16:10

This is King David, the man after God's own heart, maybe the clearest foreshadowing of Jesus that we have in the entire Old Testament.

And he writes this, of course, as a prophecy about Jesus, but he's also wrestling with the tension of his anxiety surrounding what's going to happen when he dies.

And he writes this in Psalm 16:10.

Psalms 16:10

Surely you won't abandon my soul to Sheol.

Surely you won't leave my soul in the realm of the dead or let your holy one seek corruption.

Okay, why does he write this?

Because David understood that when he died, he wasn't going straight to heaven.

That wasn't his great hope.

His great hope was not that he was going to die and awake with God in heaven.

His great hope was that one day God was going to rescue him from Sheol.

His great hope, and the hope of everybody who died before the cross who was righteous, was that one day God was going to rescue them from the realm of the dead.

And this is going to shock you even more.

This isn't just something David believed.

This is what Jesus believed, and this is what Jesus taught.

If you go read Luke chapter 16, there's a story in there where Jesus talks about what's happening at that point in time in the afterlife.

Luke 16 · chapter mention

And he gives us this story about a rich man and a poor man who both die.

They both descend to the realm of the dead, but they descend into two very different experiences.

The poor man is described as being righteous and just, someone who followed God and trusted God, not someone perfect, but someone who followed God and loved God and trusted God.

And it says when he descends into the realm of the dead, he finds himself in a section there where he's experiencing comfort and ease.

But when the rich man dies, note the rich man was a man who would have attended the synagogue, he would have gone to the worship services, he would have sang the songs, he would have paid his tithes, he would have probably been a pretty nice guy to people around him.

But the Bible says that when the rich man dies, he was considered unrighteous, meaning he never actually submitted his life to following God.

He never actually loved God, he lived for himself.

He never denied his own comfort for the sake of those around him or for the sake of following God.

He lived for himself.

And so when he dies, the Bible says he's unjust and he's unrighteous.

And he finds himself descending to the realm of the dead, but in a totally different section where he's experiencing pain and agony and suffering and sorrow.

And what emerges from this teaching of Luke 16, as well as what Peter teaches us in 1 to 2 Peter, are at least three beliefs.

Belief number one is that at least at this time period, the unrighteous experienced suffering and agony when they went to the realm of the dead, and the righteous experienced comfort and ease when they went there.

Belief number two is that this holding place for human souls was not at all what we call heaven.

It was not heaven and it was not being with God.

They did not have that expectation because that's not what was happening.

And then the third belief that arises from every verse that we've just read is that there was another level of this realm that was solely reserved for wicked and fallen angels.

Now, let me be the first to admit this is pretty wild.

It's not just wild in general, it's wild that I'm talking about this on Easter Sunday.

Of all things that I could talk about on Easter, we're talking about this.

And you want to know why?

Because it's what the Bible teaches.

And it's not just what the Bible teaches, the Bible teaches that it's a big part of the Easter story.

Because long before Jesus raises from the dead on Easter Sunday, we're told that he descended into the realm of the dead on Saturday.

And so here's the next question we have to ask.

Has this really happened?

What happened to those spirits that were there when Jesus showed up?

I mean, what a moment.

The Son of God, the sinless Son of God, showing up in the realm of the dead.

So what happens to all three collections of spirits?

Well, first let's talk about the fallen angels, otherwise known as demons.

When Peter says that Jesus descended to these spirits in hell that were in prison and he preached to them, I'd bet that feels confusing to read because when you think about the word preach, you think about what we're doing right now, you think about it in a positive context.

But when you translate that word preach, it does not suggest that Jesus descended so as to give them an opportunity to repent for their sins and be made right with God and be forgiven.

That word preached assumes the idea that Jesus showed up there to convey to them and to proclaim his victory over them.

Because remember, when Jesus descends and he preaches to these spirits, we're not talking about the souls of humans that he's offering a second chance.

We're talking about the wicked angels that lived in rebellion against God back in the days of Noah.

And so the idea is that when Jesus descends and he preaches to these spirits that are in hell, here's what he's doing: he is delivering to them literally the worst news that they could ever imagine.

He's saying, Hey, you know that cross that you just hung me on?

That cross that you thought was going to be my demise?

Yeah.

Through that cross, the ransom from human for human sin has now been paid.

Death has officially been infiltrated, and what the forces of darkness thought was their greatest day ever, the day that the Son of God was crucified and killed.

God has now turned it around for your ultimate demise.

How cool is that?

It's like Jesus shows up in the depths of hell and he just goes, And I can, you know, there's a demon.

I don't know what a demon voice is like.

Uh who's there?

I don't know.

Who's there?

And no one says anything.

And he's like, they're going, What are we supposed to do?

We've never had anyone knock on the door before.

Like, what's good?

Well, go check it.

He looks to the people and he's like, everyone hide, right?

And he opens it up, and Jesus is like, hey man, what's going on?

You guys doing good at him?

Hey, I just wanted to let you know, you know that trap that you set for me yesterday?

Yeah, God used that trap, and now he's undone everything that you did.

Now, because of that trap, now we win in the long run.

So let me break this down in the most McKinsey, Tennessee language possible, okay?

On Saturday, Jesus takes some busy time out of his schedule just to descend into the depths of hell so that he could take some time and talk trash to some demons.

How awesome is that?

How tough is that, man?

It's why Colossians 2.15 says that through the cross, he disarmed the powers of evil and he made a public spectacle out of them.

Or in other words, God didn't just want to defeat the powers of evil, he wanted to humiliate them.

He didn't just want to win the game by a landslide, he wanted to take the football at the end of the game, spike it in the end zone, rush the crowd, and rub Satan's loss all in his face.

How cool is that, man?

And for the New Testament Christian, there's a lot of beliefs and truths that come out of this.

We don't have time to get into it, but to give you a little taste, the fact that Jesus now reigns supreme over darkness, the fact that he took back the keys of death, hell, and the grave, the Bible says that you are seated in Christ, in heavenly places, far above all principality, power, might, and dominion.

Meaning that if you're saved, if you've been engrafted into the family of God, you ain't got to be afraid of demons, you ain't gotta be afraid of Satan, you ain't gotta live in fear of darkness.

Why?

Because it's literally beneath you.

It's literally beneath you, as my Pentecostal ancestors might say.

He's under my feet, he's under my feet.

Some of y'all ain't been in good church services before.

Because Satan is under my feet.

That's what we're talking about.

He's literally beneath you.

That's cool, isn't it?

This is this is what Easter is about.

You ain't never been told this, right?

It's amazing.

But let's not forget, those wicked angels, they're not the only spirits that were located in hell at that time period, were they?

What about the souls of the righteous people?

The ones who like loved God and served God and were faithful to God whenever they were alive.

What happened to them?

Because while they weren't experiencing agony and they weren't experiencing suffering, the Bible says that they're being comforted and they're at ease in this realm of the dead.

The truth is that they're still in the realm of the dead.

They're still in Sheol, they're still in Hades, they're still in hell, meaning they are not with Christ in paradise, which is obviously a problem.

But as you probably well know, Jesus solves this problem too.

The scriptures tell us that though he did descend into hell and talk a little bit of trash, he didn't stay there for very long.

Eventually, he descends out of the depths of the earth.

Let's read it real quick.

Don't take my word for it.

Look at Ephesians 4, 9 through 10.

In saying that he ascended, what does it mean that he had also descended into the depths of the earth?

He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

So he didn't stay there, he didn't just descend, he ascended back to heaven.

But I want you to see what the scriptures say happened when he ascended.

This is Ephesians 4, 8, the verse that comes right before what we just read.

When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives.

Now, this is an interesting verse, and it may even feel a bit confusing unless you realize that this is a direct quote from Psalm 68.

And you want to know what Psalm 68 is?

It's an old Hebrew song about a conquering king who marches right into his enemy's camp and he takes back his friends and his family members and the people and his kingdom that have been stolen by the enemy.

He takes them from the enemy's camp and marches right back to his kingdom with all those people.

So when Paul in Ephesians 4 writes this about Jesus, here's the big idea.

When Jesus descends into hell, the idea at play here is that the souls of the righteous, those who had trusted God and loved God and been faithful to God before the cross, in that moment, they were rescued from their separation from God and they were brought back with Jesus to paradise to be with God.

This is why when believers now close our eyes in death, we immediately wake in the presence of God because Jesus led them out of hell.

For all intents and purposes, this is what this means.

Jesus descended to hell in order to rob it.

He descended to hell in order to have a holy stickup.

It's literally as if he walks in with a pistol, shoots off a couple rounds, and says, Everybody down.

This is a stick-up, and you can imagine.

Right?

The angels, the powers of numbers, they hit the ground.

But like David and Elisha and Ruth and Moses, man, they didn't hit the ground.

They're just standing there smiling.

They're like, He's here.

After all this time, he's here.

And Jesus looks at him and he's like, Oh, you guys know the drill, man.

Get your stuff, pack up your belongings, because we're about to roll out of this joint.

Matter of fact, follow in line behind Moses.

He led the first Exodus, but I'm leading the second one.

How cool is that, man?

How exciting is that for them?

It's like, man, thanks for saving them, God.

What does this mean for you, though?

Right?

This is great for them.

What does it mean for you?

Here's what it means for you.

Why is this so encouraging to you?

Why should you know this?

Why is it a travesty that you've never been taught this?

Some of you have convinced yourselves that your past is too dark and your sin is too big and your faith is too small and your life is way too pathetic for God to take you as you are in your current state.

And that if you really want a relationship with God, you're gonna have to clean your act up a little bit.

You're gonna have to get your life together, you're gonna have to start reading your Bible and praying.

You definitely gonna have to stop cussing.

You gotta start coming to church more, and you gotta be nice to people, and while all that stuff is fine.

That's not the story of the gospel.

And I want to reach you and grab your shoulders and shake you and be like, Are you kidding me right now?

Jesus is the God who literally descended to hell itself to rescue the people that he loves, and you think that your missiness renders you too far from God?

You think that your brokenness and your sin renders you too far gone, man?

Give me a break.

Look at the person you sit next to you.

Say, give me a break.

Give me a break, man.

It's why the psalmist in Psalm 139, he writes of God.

He says, If I make my bed in heaven, there you are.

But even if I make my bed in the pit of Sheol, in the pit of hell itself, there you are too.

Jesus is not the God who's afraid of and runs away from your darkness.

He's the God who baptizes himself right into the midst of your darkness, right into the midst of your sin, right into the midst of your shame and your suffering.

That's why the book of Romans says that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.

And his death on the cross, followed by his subsequent descent into the depths of hell, it's a reminder that there is no sin, there is no moment of your past, there is no depth by which God's presence will not go to rescue the people that he loves.

You are not too far gone.

You are not too messy for God.

You have not made big enough mistakes, you are not so unimpressive that God is disgusted with you and wants nothing to do with you.

That could not be further from the truth.

You are loved by God, and in the same way that the prodigal son's father chased him down, God is chasing you down right now.

All you have to do is stop running and allow him to catch you.

That's the beauty, of course, of the descent.

But it's fair to say that all of that should make you consider the last collection of spirits that we haven't talked about yet.

The souls of the unrighteous.

The people who probably, most certainly, if we're talking about those of the Jewish descent, went to synagogue, offered sacrifices, brought tithes, learned scripture verses, aka grew up going to church, did all the right things, maybe even got baptized, maybe repeated a prayer, went to Sunday school, went to VBS, went through Discovery Weekend, went on some mission trips, those same people, the souls of the unrighteous, even though all of that would have been true for a lot of these people.

They're still there.

They're in hell.

What happens to them?

The ones that are not, they they went to church, but they weren't faithful to God, they didn't love God, they didn't submit their lives over to Him.

What happens to them when Jesus descends into the depths?

Nothing.

Nothing.

They remained right where they were and right where they still are.

In hell, separated from God.

I know we don't like talking about this part of the reality of Christianity and of life itself because of how weighty it truly is.

But I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't remind you that contrary to what pop culture wants you to believe, not everyone dies and goes to heaven.

People, loads of people still go to hell.

Many of your friends and family members went to hell when they died.

People that go to church go to hell when they died.

Some of you, right now, you're in danger of going to hell if you were to die.

Because it doesn't matter how good someone is, it doesn't matter how nice they are, how lovable they are, doesn't matter how rich they are, how famous they are, how good at sports they are, it doesn't matter how much uh of the Bible that they have memorized, it doesn't matter how much money they've given, how much time they spent in church, how many people they've helped in their life.

If someone does not want God, if someone hasn't loved God, if someone has not been faithful to God while they're alive, God's not gonna force them to do that when they die.

God's gonna give them what they've wanted their whole life, anyways, which is distance between them and himself, an existence devoid of God's presence.

But obviously, this leads us straight into the beauty of the Easter Sunday morning resurrection.

Because if Jesus had only descended, I don't know, if he had only faced death, descended into the depths of hell, rescued the souls of the righteous, and then ascended to heaven and stayed there, that would have been fantastic news for them, but it would have still left us in a pretty compromised position.

But as many of you are probably aware of, if you've been in church for any time at all, Christians don't believe that Jesus faced death, descended into hell, grabbed the souls of the righteous, went to heaven, and stayed there.

No, no.

We believe that on Easter Sunday morning, it's the last line of the creed here that we haven't covered today, that he rose again from the dead, that he really is alive.

In fact, because it's Easter.

I feel like a heretic if we didn't read it.

So let's check it out.

This is John 20.

We're gonna start at verse number 11.

This is early on Sunday morning, it's most certainly before 11 a.m.

She would have probably gotten up right when the sun rose, made her way to the tomb.

This is Mary stood weeping outside the tomb that Jesus' body was supposed to be in.

You skip to verse 15.

Suddenly she hears someone say, Dear woman, why are you crying?

Jesus asked her, Who are you looking for?

Well, she thought he was the gardener, so she said, Sir, if you've taken him away, if you've moved him, if you've done anything with him, just tell me where you've put him, and I'll go get him.

Mary, Jesus said.

And she turned to him and cried out, It's the son of Rabani, which is Hebrew for teacher.

My guess is that you you understand that this is what today is actually all about.

Today isn't about hell, today isn't about death, today is about resurrection because Jesus is alive.

He literally physically arose in a real human body.

All right, he was seen and felt and touched and heard.

His disciples felt his nail-pierced hands, they ate food with him, and over the course of the next 40 days, he revealed himself consistently to individuals, to groups, and one time even to a group of over 500 people in a single setting, leaving behind undeniable eyewitness proof that Jesus really is alive.

But the resurrection isn't just proof that Jesus is alive, it's proof that there's a new way of living available for you.

Because the same power that defeated death and hell itself can certainly defeat the sin that's been dominating and destroying your life up till now.

It can certainly defeat the sin that has been destroying your marriage and your career and your mental health and your physical health and your finances.

It can certainly do that.

And the first way it does that is through this thing that we refer to as forgiveness.

Can we read about forgiveness real quick?

This is Colossians 2, 13 through 14, if you're writing it down.

Colossians 2, 13 through 14.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away from you.

Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all of our sins.

Meaning, in Jesus, every failure, every secret that still hasn't been made known yet, every embarrassing moment of your past, every unimpressive memory that you wish could be undone, the gospel is that it can be undone.

In Jesus, it can be forgiven, it can be wiped clean.

You can stand in front of God just as clean and holy and pure and sinless as Jesus Himself.

And the irony is that it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Jesus.

Jesus is life, Jesus is death, and Jesus is resurrection on your behalf.

God does not, and nor will he ever love you because of how awesome you are.

God loves you because of how awesome he is.

God loves you because of how awesome Jesus is.

And that forgiveness, it's available for you today.

But I do want to make very clear that resurrection isn't just about being forgiven of sin, it's about being set free from sin.

Those are two very different things.

Let's read about what freedom looks like.

This is Romans 6, 6.

It says, We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ, meaning you were on the cross with him when he was on the cross.

Your old sinful self has been crucified with Christ, not so that you could be forgiven, but look at this.

So that sin might lose its power in our lives.

We are no longer now slaves to sin.

Following Jesus isn't just about leaving behind an eternity in hell, it's about leaving behind a lifestyle of hell.

Jesus died to forgive your sin, but he rose from the grave to break its power over your life.

And Jesus, anger no longer has the final word.

Insecurity, the fear of what other people think of you, no longer has the final word.

Greed no longer has the final word, selfishness no longer has the final word.

The bitterness that you've been storing up against your parents, against that old coach, against your kids, yeah, that no longer has the final word.

The sexual temptation that you haven't told anybody about, or maybe even your questions with your own sexuality, that no longer has the final word.

Why?

Because if Jesus walked out of his grave, that means that you can walk out of yours as well.

That is the new resurrection life that's available, that's available for you today, beginning now.

But let's be clear that kind of life is not available through casually believing in God.

The demons believe in God.

You do realize that they believe in God.

Some of you have just been taught if you believe in God, you're going to heaven.

I don't think Satan's going to heaven, and he believes in God.

Jesus is Satan's God.

Do we realize that, right?

That kind of life that Jesus paid for you to step into, a life where you're no longer held down by all the dead things that have been destroying you up until this point, that kind of life doesn't come through casual belief, it comes through this thing called surrender.

Going all in, full-on surrender.

And this is the last verse I want to read to you.

This is Romans 10 9.

If you declare with your mouth, those of you that have been around here, you know where I'm going.

That Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved.

Meaning, first and foremost, this surrender, it looks like you surrendering your need to have it all figured out.

You gotta surrender your need for logic.

That's what faith is.

Faith is believing without seeing.

And you have to, not having ever met Jesus, you have to believe that he really is who he says he is, that he really did what he said he was going to do.

So, first, you have to surrender your need to know everything and to connect every dot.

The second form of surrender that this is gonna require, it's gonna surrender you trying to impress God, you trying to work your way into the kingdom, and you you've got to surrender your effort in trying to earn God's love, and you know what you have to do?

Just receive it.

You literally just have to receive it.

You have to, it is a freely given gift.

There's nothing you can do for it.

You don't receive it by going to church, you don't receive it by saying the right prayer in the right way, you don't receive it by taking communion, you don't receive it by going to Sunday school, by getting in a small group, by serving on a team, by doing it, by dancing, by raising your hands in worship.

You simply just receive it.

You got to believe that God loves you and that he's for you.

But then surrender doesn't end there.

There's a third part of surrender, and you know what that part is?

It is you submitting your life to Jesus as Lord.

This is why it says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you know what I know what that means?

It means you submitting to Jesus as the one who now owns and controls every moment of your life.

You're you don't get to keep you and follow Jesus.

You don't get to keep doing you, you don't get to keep living your life.

Christianity isn't about in including a little bit of Jesus in like the rest of your days.

No, it's about you dying to who you used to be.

That person doesn't live anymore, and now they belong to God.

Making Jesus Lord is saying, okay, now you have control over every moment, every word, every decision, every dollar, every relationship, every part of what makes me, me, God now belongs to you.

That's what surrender is, and it's the only natural response to actually having had an encounter with the love of God.

You don't have an encounter with the love and mercy of God and think, I just want to keep doing my thing.

I know.

When you have when you really see Jesus for who he really is, the only natural response is going, Oh, I'm all yours.

I've been messing this thing up long enough.

I'm ready to follow you.

And today, I want to give someone in here the opportunity to do that.

So if you would, without grabbing your keys in your purse and getting everything ready, would you stand up on your feet with me?

And without leaving the room, would you stay on your feet with me?

The invitation today is simple.

Let me tell you what it's not.

The invitation is not get your act together.

The invitation is not work harder.

It's not do better.

It's not read the Bible more.

It's not be nicer to people.

The invitation is come to Jesus just like you are and let him figure it out along the way.

Let him forgive you.

Let him receive you.

Let him make you new.

Because we come to Jesus.

You come to Jesus just like you are.

But the beauty is that he doesn't leave you that way.

But it's his job not to leave you that way.

It's your job to simply say yes.

And if that's what you want to do today, if you're ready to say yes to God's forgiveness, to God's presence in your life, to God's spirit that's going to reside on the inside of you, and of course, to a life where you're no longer living your way and your life and your truths out, but you're ready to live out his way and his life and his truths.

If you're ready for that, if you're ready to be saved, then I want to give you an opportunity to do so today.

And here's how we're going to do it.

We are going to pray out loud and all together as a church.

I want to walk you through this initial moment of you repenting from your sin, you turning from your sin and you turning to God.

But let me be very clear.

This is not the I'm going to pray this because I don't really want to go to hell prayer.

This is the I'm going to pray this and declare it and believe it because I want to stop living like hell prayer.

This is the I'm done living for me.

I'm done doing my thing.

I've realized that hasn't got me far, anyways, and I'm ready to lose my life and to step into the life that He has for me, prayer.

And if you're ready to do that, we are going to pray out loud, all together as a church.

And up front, this should not be the pinnacle of your relationship with God.

This should simply be the start of your relationship with God.

This is just day one.

You're going to have an infinite amount of yeses that He's going to ask you to make, but today, this is the first yes.

So do me a favor, with eyes closed all over the room.

I'm not asking you to close your eyes because I think this is some kind of secret moment.

In fact, it can't stay between you and God on some level.

This actually has to go public.

I'm asking you to close your eyes because I don't want you focused on me.

I don't want you focused on the stage, and I don't even want you focused on the person standing next to you.

I want you figuring out where you land.

This invitation is for two groups of people.

Maybe for you, you had a genuine moment in your life at some point where you said yes to Jesus and you experienced change, real change.

But right now, when you consider your life, you don't feel close to him.

And whatever happened all those years ago when you were eight or sixteen, it didn't mean anything.

Maybe today that's you.

Maybe you need to make a recommitment of your faith.

Maybe it's not that you need to say yes to him for the first time.

Maybe it's that you need to say yes to him for the first time in a long time.

But there's another group of people in this room.

Those of you who, regardless of whether or not you've gone to church for your whole life or this is your first time on an Easter Sunday ever, those of you who cannot look back at your life and define for me the moment or season when everything changed, if you cannot verbally walk me through when God began transforming your life, if you cannot tell me about a season of time where you gave him your all, you surrendered your life over to him, and he began transforming you.

If you can't walk me to a moment in time where all that started changing, a pastor of old used to say, No change, no Christ.

If you've not experienced that change, that transformation, you know you've never said yes to that, but you're ready to.

You're ready to receive his spirit, to experience his love, and to get turned into a new person today, to begin that process today, then this is for you as well.

So do me a favor, 9 45.

You guys got extra sleep today.

This is the most important moment of the day.

And what I need is that when we pray this out loud, I need you to pray this with a little bit of passion, like you actually believe that this is the most important moment of someone's life.

So can you do that with me?

Alright, if you're making that fresh start today, I want you to pray this with faith, believing that as you confess your sins, as you acknowledge Jesus as God, that God right now is sending his spirit to reside on the inside of you, that he's forgiving you, and he's gonna meet you right where you're at.

Come on, let's pray this together.

Here we go.

Jesus, today, I give you every part of me, my life, my words, my actions, my time, it all belongs to you.

I turn from my way and I choose your way.

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for my sin and rose from the grave to forgive me, love me, and set me free.

Right now, I receive that freedom, that love, and that new life in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Now the count of three.

If you made it in the first start, I want to invite you to raise your hand, let us know, and you're in the middle of the drill.

We are gonna lose our minds, and we're gonna sing even if that one person raises their hand.

You ready?

Here we go.

One, two, three.

Anybody in here?

Come on, anybody in the middle.

We see you back here.