He is Good | The Message of Easter | Mark 8:31-38 | Coleton Segars

As a church, we are in a series that has been titled, we've actually have been in it for almost a year now, titled He is Good, and we have made it into the second section of Mark where Mark really begins again.

Like if he's writing this one gospel, this is the beginning of book two.

And so this particular text is the beginning of the book two.

And it works out really, really well for Easter because what Jesus is doing is announcing the message of Easter.

He's announcing what we remember today.

And so it really just happened to align that way where we could just continue with our series.

But if you haven't been here, this is the series that we're in.

If you have been here, it's just the next section in the Bible up in Mark.

And so that's what we're doing today.

But it's Mark 8, 31 through 38.

And this is what Mark says about Jesus.

He says, Jesus then began to teach them, the disciples, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed, and after three days rise again.

He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter.

Get behind me, Satan.

He said, You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.

And then he called to the crowd to him, along with his disciples, and said, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves.

They must take up their cross and they must follow me.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and forfeit their soul?

And what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

And if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes into his Father's glory with his angels.

This is the word of the Lord.

Maybe it's a nice light text for Easter, or maybe it's a hard text.

I don't know how that hits you, but we're gonna get there.

One of my favorite stories, I love good stories.

I actually will make decisions in my life that uh might be difficult in order to create a good story that I could then tell later at a party or something like that.

Um so one in particular.

I uh was leaving a wedding and was going driving back home at an old house that we used to live off of Warnock Grove here, and um it was like uh it wasn't the national championship, but it was a big Georgia football game, and I was gonna go watch it at my house by myself.

The issue was my TV broke, and so I couldn't watch it at my house.

Turns out I was driving down towards my house, and there was a giant house filled with cars, and I could see through their window that the game was on.

And it said, Happy birthday, Tim.

And I was like, I'm gonna go say happy birthday to Tim.

And uh so I just pulled my car up next to all the other cars and um walked up to the house and uh was like, hey, I saw some people standing outside.

I was like, hey, where uh um where's Tim?

Where's Tim?

I just I just have a lot of people here who haven't seen him.

And uh he's like they were like, oh, he's inside.

And I'm like, oh dear, okay.

One, I have no idea uh who Tim is, what he looks like.

I I'm whatever.

I'm about to roll in a guy's house and probably get shot in Memphis.

But um I go in and uh I did happen to have some drinks with me because I was going home to my house to do this by myself, but this was better because it now it looks like I have a gift for Tim.

And so I'm carrying my gift, and I get into the house, and there's people everywhere, there's food everywhere too.

I'm like, this is gonna be great if it goes well.

And um I get to the I get to the table, snag a chip, ask another person, hey, you guys seen Tim?

You seen Tim?

It's like, oh yeah, he I I saw him in the back hallway back there.

And so I'm walking through the living room, TV's right there, checking the score, make my way to the hallway.

And lo and behold, there's Tim.

The issue is there's two men standing there, and I don't know which one is Tim.

Like, so I'm like, I have to go and say hello to Tim so that I can sit at his couch and he doesn't go like, who's this random person sitting in my living room?

Um and I wanted to like just say hello and I'm like, hey, I just wanted to say happy birthday.

I came with so and so, and then go sit down and and leave him alone.

So I just 50-50, right?

So I just hand out, hey Tim, and just start walking towards him, hoping to God that Tim also responds by walking towards me like this.

And uh turns out he did.

Tim and I clasped hands, I said, Happy birthday, brother.

I brought you a six-pack.

He's like, Thank you so much.

It's like so great.

It's like, we I don't, you know, he was trying to figure out where I was from.

I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, just you know, I'm just glad to be here.

You know, everybody else is in there.

I'm gonna go in there and watch the game.

And he's like, Okay, bye.

And then I go in there, I sat on his couch, I ate his food, I drank his drinks, and I watched the game, and it was awesome.

And then I snuck out as people were leaving and was like, that's it.

And so, if you're new here, you may see me at your house one day.

If I if you got a big screen TV, you just need to know.

But that is a real story.

Ray, Rainey got home after the wedding and was like, Where are you?

It was like, I'm at Tim's.

Who's Tim?

And uh, anyways, it was a great day.

But I love a good story.

Uh, I will, I will make decisions.

The reason I say all that is because I love the Easter story.

Um, I have friends and people in ministry that are like that give this sermon week away to like, it's the same story every year.

Like, I don't want to preach it again.

And I'm like, man, what a loss.

Like, this is everything to us, this is everything for our faith.

And so I love telling this story over and over and over again.

It's not just something that we do on Easter Sunday, it is a story that we rehearse as a church and remember as a church every single week because Jesus builds on one thing, he builds the church on the gospel, he builds it on himself.

And so, this is what we're gonna be talking about today.

This message, Paul says, is the power of God.

The gospel is the power of God to bring people into life and more life and more life.

And the deeper that we understand it, the more that it gets into our hearts and our souls, the more life it begins bubbling up within us.

And so that's what this message is.

And so, what I want to do today is I want to look at the the Easter message Jesus gives us.

Here's the Easter message, here's what you remember.

And then he calls us, based on that message, he's like, and now I'm calling you to surrender to it.

Surrender to the Easter message.

And then ultimately he gives us a choice.

So he does three things.

He gives us the message, he calls us to surrender, uh, and then he gives us the choice.

And so the first he gives us the Easter message.

This is verse 31.

Jesus says, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and he must be put to death after three days and rise again.

That's the message that we remember every year.

At our church, we remember it every single week, but at Easter we remember this every single year.

And what I want to point out is that Jesus says, must.

This must happen.

This is something that absolutely must take place.

It's not like it might.

He's like, this absolutely must take place.

And the only way to understand why this must take place is to actually go back into the beginning, go back to Genesis and figure out like why must this take place?

And so I want to do that very quickly.

Uh, but so go to the next slide here.

Excuse me.

This is the history of humanity.

In Genesis 1, God brings up man from the earth.

This is what's happening at the beginning of the Bible.

He brings up man from the earth.

God tells the man, you can eat from any tree, eat from whatever tree you want to, just don't eat from that one.

And that's what he says.

And if you eat from that one, you will surely die.

Genesis 3 then happens, and the serpent says, You won't surely die.

And so they eat, they eat the sin hanging in the tree, and then they begin experiencing death after death after death.

First, it's the death of their peace, and they're afraid, they hide from God, and it's the death of their joy and they're ashamed.

Then it's the death of their union together as husband and wife, and they blame one another, and then it's the death of their closeness with God and all these just death after death, after death after doing this thing.

So they experience death, and then later in Genesis 3, they're kicked out of the garden, they're rejected from Eden, they're rejected from God's presence, they're rejected from his life, they're rejected from his fullness, his protection, everything.

They're rejected out of those things.

And then in Genesis 4, basically up till now to when Jesus is talking, if you read the Old Testament all the way through, what you see is that the people of God experience pain, loss, and suffering under foreign nations basically the entire time because of their sin.

They experience suffering under the oppression of other people because of their sin.

And so the history of mankind up to this point has been God raised man to life from the earth, they die because of sin that hangs in a tree, they're rejected away from God's presence, and they suffer many things.

And so when Jesus says, next slide here, when Jesus says, I must suffer many things, and I have to be rejected, and I must die because of sin.

And I must, must be raised from the dead from the earth.

What he is saying and what he is stating, he's like, I my plan and my goal, I want to run the course of history backwards so that I can fix it.

What happened in Genesis is something that was so dynamic and so catastrophic.

I want to do it the other way.

And so I'm actually gonna run the course of history backwards in order to get to the point where before sin entered into the world and infected everything.

I want to go back to when sin didn't infect the world.

I want to create a way where sin no longer can attach to us and have anything to do with us.

And what he's stating in this thing is he's like, y'all, everybody would have known this.

Like, this is what the people of God have experienced, and he's like, Notice, I'm running it all the way backwards.

I'm taking everything that happened to you guys up until that point.

I'm gonna run it all the way back.

And then on the cross, you see that he does this.

Jesus suffers under the oppression of a foreign nation, the Romans, and he does that because of the sins of the people.

He's rejected, not only by those who represent God, the scribes, the Pharisees, and all the rest of it, but he's rejected by God himself.

And then he dies, hanging on a tree for the sins of the world.

And then once again, humanity, the Son of Man, is raised to life from the ground out of some tomb that was there.

And this is what he does.

Jesus' vision for history, really, and for us, is to run the course of history backwards.

And so for you, if you're like, what does Jesus want to do with my life?

Lots of people, if you ask them, they'd be like, I think he just wants me to be a good person, need to go to church a little bit, you need to tithe a little bit, need to try to be good, not be bad.

And it's like, man, that is a small vision, and that is not what he wants for you.

He wants to reverse every single death-like thing in your life where sin has any kind of grip in you.

He's like, I I went back into this thing to undo this process so that what you can experience is life and fullness, so that you can experience a life where sin doesn't ravage you and rule you and dictate you.

Because for Jesus, like he he has this vision of this life that we like, we don't even remember it.

Like we don't even know what life is like without sin.

We were born into this, like, I don't know, we have no idea.

But he remembers.

He's like, I remember what you used to be like.

I remember the way that you used to experience life.

I remember Adam, I remember Eve.

I remember how they used to feel this peace and this joy and this stuff.

And what he's trying to get us back to, he's like, there used to be a way of life in your life where you felt completely loved, and it wasn't dependent on some other man or woman in your life.

Like it wasn't like I need a relationship in order to feel loved.

He's like, you used to just feel that.

And like every every relationship was a kindness, but it wasn't something like I need this to survive.

Like there was a time when you felt whole and I was the one that made you whole.

There was a time when you didn't feel inadequate.

There was a time when you didn't feel unworthy.

There was a time when you didn't feel unvaluable or uh have any of those issues.

There was a time when you didn't feel like you needed to buy something in order to make yourself feel special.

Like, I just need more money so I can buy this thing, and then I can finally feel.

And it's like, there was a time when like you had everything and didn't it didn't matter.

You didn't need any of those things.

There was a time when you never thought what people would think about you.

You never considered what others thought about you.

It didn't matter.

You never worried being rejected.

What if they don't like me?

What if they like there was a way of life that existed where you never felt that way?

We used to walk together.

I used to give you peace.

There was a time when you felt like you could finally rest.

And you weren't sitting there resting with one eye open, going, but down the road, something bad's about to happen.

And so I gotta make sure that I'm planning for my future in these ways.

Like, there was a situation that existed at one point where life for you was truly peaceful and truly joyful.

And he's like, I just want to get that back.

I'm not trying to make bad people good.

I'm trying to reverse everything that's happened in your life up to this point so that the things that are actually destroying your life no longer destroy your life.

And so he gives this ultimately as the Easter message.

And so the Easter message is this.

Next slide here.

The Easter message is this Adam and Eve ate the sin that hung in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So Jesus becomes sin hanging on a tree at Calvary.

He goes back and he reverses it.

He's redeeming it.

He's like, Y'all, you died because of that.

Now I will die and change that.

Through Adam, people are born into this life.

They breathe, but they're not fully alive.

That's that song said.

I'm breathing, my heart's beating, but somehow I'm still longing for something else.

Like, what is that?

And he's like, Through Jesus, now you can be born again into a different kind of life, and you can experience that Eden life.

You can experience what it was actually supposed to be like.

He's worked the clock backwards.

It used to be stay away from the tree, stay away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and now it's embrace the tree with Jesus hanging on the tree, embrace that tree.

You have to see that he's going back in history and he's taking these things that the enemy has used against us, and he's going, I'm gonna make that thing actually something to be lifted up and high and lifted up.

I'm gonna make it in history where one day they sing, oh the wonderful tree, oh the wonderful cross.

Like I'm gonna do a thing where all of a sudden you're not sitting there going, Oh, that was the issue, that was the thing that made everything worse.

I'm gonna make it where it's like now that's the thing that makes it everything better.

He flipped it, he flipped everything on its head.

And if you notice, actually, you see this in the text.

What Satan said in Genesis 3, you will not surely die, he says again, he just says it through Peter.

Jesus says, I'm gonna go and die.

And through Peter in Matthew's version, he goes, You will not surely die.

And Jesus says, Get behind me, Satan.

Like you're saying the exact we've been here before.

Like I know what this is like.

And they Adam was supposed to say the same thing.

Get out of here, serpent.

Get out of here, you're not supposed to be here.

And Jesus goes, get out of here, you're not supposed to be here.

I'm going to repair the world.

I'm gonna do this thing, and you will have no part in it.

Jesus is going back and he's flipping those things.

And so the invitation of Easter is not, hey, could you like do a little better?

Like, could you just act and behave a little better?

Could you like stop doing that?

That's not it at all.

It's not, here's some rules to follow.

The message of Easter is like, hey, there's a different way of living that's available to you now.

Jesus has accomplished a thing to where now you can actually jump back into, he calls it the kingdom of God.

You can enter into this kingdom of life where you actually sin doesn't have a rule and reign over you.

There was a space where addiction didn't dictate your life.

Like there was a space where your fear wasn't the thing that you just that guided you forward the entire time and you made decisions in fear.

There was a time when you actually had peace, and he's like, I want to get you back to there, and that exists now.

And next he tells us, ultimately, hey, I got this life, and now I'm gonna tell you how to receive it.

And so Jesus calls us in the next to surrender.

The call is to surrender.

He says this, he says, then he called to the crowd after telling them about this life, he's gonna go get upon.

He called to the crowd and said to them, along with his disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple, wants to take my life on theirs, must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it.

But whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

What good is it for you to gain this whole world and yet forfeit your soul?

To get everything in this life can offer and still feel angst?

How do I have everything I could possibly, everything I thought would fulfill me?

How do I have all of it that the world could offer and yet still there's something longing in my soul?

And that's what Jesus is saying, like, what good is it for you to get all that stuff and still not feel whole?

What can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

And so what he's saying is, if you want to experience the life that he offers, this Eden life, this thing that's available to you now, this fullness of life, he's saying, you cannot get there on your own.

You have to give your life away to me.

You have to give it to me.

I am the one who went back and died in order to purchase this thing, and now in order to get it back, you've never done that.

So I need you to give your life to me so that I can actually get you there.

You can't do it.

I need to, I need, I need you to give your life to me, and then I will get you there.

I promise I'll get you there.

And so if you're gonna experience a different kind of life, you have to surrender that old life to him.

And that's what he's asking for.

He's like, I just want the old thing, the thing that you also look at and go, like, it's pretty good, but there's still something lacking.

Yeah, give me that one so that you will go, like, I'm not lacking.

I lack nothing.

You have to surrender your old life to him.

There's this um great story I heard years ago, I love good stories, um, about this Japanese soldier that illustrates the importance of like why Jesus wants us to surrender and why it's important to surrender.

And so Hiro Onata uh was a Japanese soldier uh in the Japanese army during World War II, and some of you may know the story or read the book.

Uh but when World War II ended in 1945, uh he didn't believe it.

He was in the jungles of the Philippines, and um he didn't believe the war actually ended.

He thought it was propaganda.

He thought it was fake news.

Welcome back.

Um he thought it was fake news.

So there were flyers, he received letters from his family stating, hey, good news, the war is over.

Um, but he didn't believe it.

So he lived in hiding and survived on wild fruits, wild game, and occasionally engaged in shootouts with the locals and police, and he continued fighting World War II until 1974.

World War II ended in 1945, and he kept fighting.

He stayed in the jungle, still fighting, never surrendering.

I'm just gonna stay here.

He was 20 when he entered, and he could have left when he was 23, whole life ahead of him.

And instead, he stayed and left when he was 52.

He gave up his 20s, his 30s, and his 40s, and almost some of his 50s to a battle and a war.

You don't have to fight, it's over.

Like you don't, there's a different type of life that's available to you.

And he would not surrender.

And it was it wasn't until 1974.

Um, go to the next picture here.

1974, he finally believed it.

He believed there's a better life available out there.

Look at the difference.

You read his book, one of the things that he says is uh when he finally realizes it, he's like, Why did I waste all those years?

Like, what was I what was it all for?

But as soon as he surrenders, he surrenders his sword.

As soon as he surrendered, he stopped fighting, he stopped hiding, and suddenly a different type of life, a different type of abundant life became available.

He's not chewing on berries anymore, like the man can go eat.

He's not trying to chase down and hide from the enemy.

He's like, I can just walk the streets.

He ends up getting married.

He never has kids, but he gets married.

And he's like, he couldn't, I couldn't do this.

I was at war.

I can't get married.

I I turn away from all of those things when I'm at war.

And it's like, yes, but there's a new type of life that's available to you.

And because he didn't believe it, he delayed joy, he delayed the abundance that he could have had.

And this life that he is currently living, he passed away, I think, in 04, 14, something like that.

Um, but like he got a job and he like helped kids and he did this thing, and his life was very abundant.

But it didn't happen until he surrendered.

And it didn't happen until he believed that it was actually possible that he could surrender.

And that's what Jesus is calling us into.

The reason he calls you to surrender to him is not to steal from you.

It's like I'm not trying to make you lose.

It feels like losing.

The way the cross felt like dying, but the cross is my victory.

And when you step into that space, when you surrender and it feels like dying, you can trust that like what I'm calling you into is I'm trying to actually lead you into greater life.

You currently live in death, and so life feels very death-like to you because it feels so awkward.

It feels, it doesn't feel like anything good.

Because what's normal to you is a bad thing, and so you're not used to good things.

Like you don't even understand what this means.

C.

S.

Lewis talks about it like kids that would want to go on making mud pies in the dirt or in the slums because they just don't understand what it means to go on vacation to the beach.

And he's like, that's us.

Like we just, when Jesus is going, I do want you to surrender, I need you to do it, but I'm not calling you to lose something better.

I'm calling you into something better, to say goodbye to something bad and actually step into something better.

That's what I'm trying to do.

I'm not trying to make bad people good.

Like I'm actually trying to lead you into a thing.

And if you would believe me and surrender, there's this life that's available to you that I went and bought for you that I want to give you.

And so when Jesus says, give me your life, give it to me, let me lead your life.

Let me actually You can't get there on your own.

You don't even know how to get there.

You don't know the path how to get there.

Let me lead you.

Yes, lay down, deny yourself, take up your cross.

But then notice he's like, follow me.

I will lead.

I will go first.

I will be the person that actually leads you there.

And so when he says, give me your life, when he says, deny yourself and forgive people that you naturally don't want to forgive, he's not trying to steal from you.

He's going, if you will deny yourself, I will then, and you'll do that thing, and follow me in that thing, I will lead you into further life.

I want you to deny yourself and seek to reconcile that relationship.

It feels like death, just like, I don't want to do that.

And it's like, right, because you live in death.

I'm trying to guide you into life.

Deny yourself and be more generous than you want to, not because I'm trying to take money from you or that I need money from you or time from you.

I don't need those things.

I'm just trying to get you into that space where you actually experience life.

I want you to confess your sin instead of hide your sin.

I want you to honor others above yourself.

I want you to admit when you're wrong.

I want you to trust me and wait instead of making decisions out of fear.

I'm not trying to hurt you.

I'm trying to, if you will just surrender to me, I will guide you more and more and more into this life that I've purchased for you.

He's trying to lead us out of something that's death-like into something that's actually fullness of life.

Now, the issue that we face is that uh surrender sounds terrible.

And it did to Onada as well.

It sounds really bad.

Um, and we're in good company because I love Peter.

Like Peter's like the everyday disciple.

Like he's like us.

It's like, hey, Jesus, heard what you said.

That's a terrible idea, bro.

And then that's what he he steps into that and rebukes Jesus.

Like he just does what we would naturally do if we felt comfortable enough to say some things to God.

Like he just actually says it to him and he pulls him aside.

It's like, hey, listen, you've had some pretty cool ideas.

I really love the thing with calming the seas and the water to wine.

That was really strong.

Um, listen, what you're talking about right now, you're an absolute nut.

We're not gonna do any of that, but thanks.

Um could I get some more wine?

That's right, Peter's strong.

And what I love about Peter is like he hears this surrender idea and he's like, no, this is terrible.

This sounds really, really bad.

And I think, like Peter, we think we know better than Jesus.

We think if I follow your plan, Jesus, if we go with your way, like that's gonna be so much worse for me.

Like, I know how to create fullness in my life.

I know how to make my life great, I can do it.

And if I let you do it, who knows what you're gonna decide?

Like, what are you what are you gonna do?

Where are you gonna lead me?

And what we believe is what Peter believed.

It's like if I go your way, if I let you lead, if I do what you say and all ask, if I surrender my life to you, it's gonna be worse for me, not better.

And I think we experience and feel exactly like Peter, but um one of the things that I find encouraging about Peter's life and just comforting is uh he eventually does it, right?

Like Peter surrenders his life and begins following Jesus.

And like years later, he writes this letter after he's been following Jesus for a number of years, and he writes this letter.

And uh, but because like he hated it.

Like, Jesus, this is a terrible idea, you're kind of an idiot for saying this.

He hated it, and then he begins doing it.

He's like, But I'm gonna I'm gonna do it because like you rose from the dead, and I've never seen my do that before.

Um, and so he begins doing it.

And this is what this is what he says.

Peter finally talks about what it was like.

He says, Here's what it's like praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

And he has given us an eternal blessedness that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

That's pretty strong.

We are filled with joy unspeakable, for we are receiving the end results of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

And so, if you were to ask Peter, like, how like what was it when he said it?

It's like, I thought it was a terrible idea.

It's like, great, 30 years in, how's it going?

He's like, it's pretty good.

It's going okay.

Like I have uh abundance of life that I've never experienced.

I'm experiencing eternal blessedness, not totally sure what that is, but it sounds pretty good.

Uh I have joy so much that I can't even really express in words how much joy I'm actively experiencing, and also I'm experiencing some flourishing in my soul.

And again, what I love about Peter is that he responds the way that I want to respond to Jesus and the way that you want to respond to Jesus.

Hey, I want you to follow me, I want you to deny yourself, surrender your life to me.

And Peter's like, no, that sounds terrible.

But then from a firsthand account, how's it going 30 years in?

He's like, it's actually going really great.

I hated it at first, but honestly, now I'd never change it.

I would never go back.

And it wasn't because his life was super easy, but he is experiencing a life with Jesus that he's like, actually turns out he wasn't lying.

He actually can lead me into greater life.

And this is what Jesus is inviting us into.

This is why he calls us.

I want you to surrender.

I am turning the clock back on this thing.

And in order to experience it, you have to give your life to me so that I can experience that.

And you need to do that first and foremost, just in like actual decision making.

But we have to do that every single day.

Like you have to constantly, like, I have to choose consistently to be like, I have my natural desires.

I have these things that I want to do.

But I think that if I follow you and do the things that you tell me to do and take your words upon me, and instead of my words, I choose your words, instead of my ways, I choose your ways.

I just happen to believe that you're gonna lead me into greater and greater and greater life, that I'll find it with you.

And this is what he's inviting us into, and that's why he's saying it.

You have to surrender.

The only way to this is to surrender.

And then the last, he gives us a choice because he's kind, he gives us a choice.

Verse 38.

He says, If anyone is ashamed of me in my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his father's glory with his angels.

It sounds intense, let me explain.

Um, ashamed, the way we use it in our dynamic isn't exactly the same.

It's it's close, but ashamed for them is the word give me a second.

It's Greek, episkune.

Okay, that's what it is.

And what it means is that it's a feeling which prevents one from doing something.

This is the expression that's being given here.

It's a reluctance to say or do something because of fear.

I fear this is gonna go terrible, and so I'm nervous to make a decision on it.

So it's what Paul, the Apostle Paul, uses when he talks about people who uh turned away from him and didn't want anything to do with him because he was in chains for the gospel.

He's like, they were ashamed of my chains, me and my chains.

They wanted nothing to do with me because of, they thought that it would be something, it would, it would align something terrible in their lives.

And so what Jesus is saying is not like I'm gonna be super mad at you if you don't do this.

He's not saying that.

He's saying, if you want nothing to do with me, here's the choice.

If you want nothing to do with me, in my words, then I will give you exactly what you want.

If you want nothing to do with me, you I will give you exactly what you want.

I will not force myself on you.

If you want nothing to do with the life that I offer, you want to stay away from it, it will stay away from you.

If that's what you want.

I'm not gonna force it on you.

This is what he's saying.

But what he's also saying is like, but you need to understand, if you ch we say this to Teddy, if you choose, then you have chosen.

If you choose this decision, then you have chosen.

And what Jesus is saying is like, but if you choose to stay away from me in my words, then the life that I also want to give you will also stay away from you.

It won't get close to you either.

Because the only way that this life exists is if you get near to me and you allow me.

I'm the only one that can get you there.

And so if you want nothing to do with me and you don't want to follow me, that's the choice.

You don't have to.

But it's just never gonna be this space where you actually allow me to walk you into this thing, where you ever actually see the stuff that I want to lead you into.

If you choose to reject me and the life that I offer, then you have chosen to reject that life that I offer and you won't experience it.

And some people are like, well, can I just be a Christian and like not surrender my life?

And the answer is like, yeah.

Lots of people do that, they're miserable.

Um, but yeah, lots of people can do that.

But just to take on the name and not do the surrendering bit is just to wear a Grizzlies jersey to the NBA game.

It's like you play in the game, no, but I have a jersey.

I'm like, okay, well, it's the same idea.

Like you took the name, but you're not actually doing the thing.

And so if you take on the name Christian, but at the same time reject the words of Jesus, reject Jesus Himself, you can call yourself a Christian all day, but you're never gonna walk in life that he actually wants to give you because you refuse to walk with him.

And it's not because he's withholding from you, it's because you will not allow him to give it to you.

And so his words sound harsh, but I think it's actually when you're talking about life and death, it it clarity is kindness, right?

Like it's nice to be clear.

Like, hey, I just really don't want you to be confused.

If you say no to me, you can.

That's the choice.

But if you do say no to me, like you are gonna miss out.

And I need you to know that so strongly, because I don't want you to get to the end of this thing and be like, I had no idea.

I thought I could enter into this life either way.

And he's like, No, no, I need you to understand.

If you reject me and the life that comes with me, I will give you what you want and you won't have it.

And this is why he's saying, like, please surrender.

Trust me, trust me.

Um Randy and I took Teddy years ago to um the City Museum.

And uh, if you've ever been to the City Museum in St.

Louis, it's this incredible playground for kids and adults, and it's awesome, and it's like scales, floors, and slides, and all these different things.

And we took him, I think it was like four, and uh he got into this first thing, been there five seconds, right?

He gets into this thing, and I have a picture of it here.

He gets into this little uh spot right here, and uh it's like he jumps into a prison.

Like it, like he gets into this little cage, and what you can't see is like to his left are like glorious ball pits and wonderful things.

And then over here are like five different slides he could take to enjoy life.

And he holes up in this cage and he gets scared and he won't leave.

And it's like, bro, we're Rainy and I are standing there, and we're like, go either direction, and you will experience joy unspeakable.

Like you will have so much fun, you'll experience all this stuff, and he's like, No, I can't do it, I can't do it.

And as we were telling him, like, just go down there, our words sounded harsh to him so much that he begins crying and says that we're being mean.

And it's like, I'm just I'm telling you the truth.

There's there's joy that way, there's joy that way, either way.

Like, just go experience the joy.

But my words sounded harsh to him, but we weren't being harsh.

We were actually saying, like, please go and do this thing.

And that's what Jesus is saying here, like, I'm giving you the choice and I am calling you to surrender, and it might sound harsh, but I this is the only way.

You cannot stay in this cage and experience the joys of the city museum.

Your experience will be, how was it?

Terrible, they put me in jail.

Like, that would be that would be what he said.

Like, there's so much available to you, and it's like you can't stay here and experience that.

You have to choose.

And I will lead you into, if you'll listen to my words, I will lead you into something where you experience something far greater.

But if you choose to stay here, if you if you are ashamed of my words and they scare you, and you refuse to make a decision, then you're gonna stay right here.

And this is gonna be your experience for the city museum.

And what a tragedy.

And Jesus is saying the exact same thing.

And so what I eventually had to do, because incredible father, father, you're Teddy asked me to come up in there.

So I look like some predator, like going up into this thing with kids.

I'm like, this is great, this is good.

But I get up in there and I'm with him, and it's I mean, it's like I have bad knees, anyways, and this thing is like this, you know.

So I'm like crawling up in there, and I get up in there and we're chatting, and I'm trying to talk to him about going down the slide, and he's like finally ready to go down the slide.

And uh, and so we go down this slide, and y'all, the the ability to squeeze through the slide, like like I work out, but I'm like, eh.

And so like he's laying on my chest, and like we pass through it, like my nose almost like like barely make it through all the way down this slide, which would have been incredible for a kid, but for me, I was like, this is terrifying.

Um, but he finally did it.

Like, I was like, I'll go with you.

Like, just come with me, we'll go together.

And then eventually he had fun and experienced the city museum, and it was great.

In the same way, Jesus says, like, hey, it's not the same way, I realize Jesus is better than me.

Uh, but in a similar way, um, Jesus says, Look, I do want you to deny yourself, and I do want you to take up your cross.

But notice he hasn't told the disciples yet that he how he's gonna die, and he's doing it right here.

I want you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.

And the reason he's like, he's like, I will go before you, I will go with you, I will be this person who leads you into this space.

And you can trust that if I'm asking you to do something, I will never ask you to do something that I haven't done first.

And so, whatever happens to me, you can trust that that's gonna happen to you.

And I denied myself, I emptied myself of heaven, and I came here and I did this thing, and now I sit enthroned over all of creation and all of those things.

It's like I I took up my cross and then I went there and I did that and I died, and now life and abundance comes through this thing.

And so I he's like, I surrendered to the Father.

I did it.

His words were go to the cross, I surrendered to that.

Like now I'm experiencing life.

And he goes, Look, I've I've just gone before you, I know how to do it, and I will I will show you you can trust me.

I will never call you into something that's actually gonna hurt you.

I'm trying to give you life, I'm not trying to steal from you.

And so he is the one that goes before us.

And so that's the choice.

The choice again, believe it or not.

The choice again is a tree.

What are you gonna do with the tree?

In Genesis 3, it's like, what are you gonna do with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

And now the choice again is what do you do with the tree of Calvary?

And the answer is like, listen to his words.

His words back then were like, Don't eat from this or you will die.

And they're like, nah.

And then they all experience death after death with death.

And Jesus is going, embrace the tree and experience life.

And if we go, nah-uh, then we're gonna continue to walk in this space where it's like you don't have to be here.

You could just surrender and walk into new life.

And so that's the message of Easter.

What are you gonna do with the tree?

The cross testifies to Jesus' love for you, the fact that he gave his life to save you.

And so, if it is your life, if it is your finances, if it's your relationship, if it's your space, time, where you live, what you drive, like whatever he's asking of you, anything that he points to and is like, hey, I'd love to do this my way.

The cross testifies like, I promise, I am only ever going to try and give you life and life and more life.

And so anything I reach into your story and into your life and go like that, I want you to give me that.

Deny yourself and give me that.

What he's saying, he's like, I'm going to take death from you and I'm gonna replace it with life.

Paul calls it the fruits of righteousness.

Like, if you will just do it, something in you will begin to grow.

Life will begin to be formed in you the way fruit grows on a vine.

He's like, if you will just do it.

But it's a choice, and you get to choose.

And so my encouragement to be to you would be surrender.

He has given you life, he wants you to experience life.

So surrender to him today.

Let me pray.

You're the only one that has come back from the grave in a resurrected body with resurrected life.

And so you're the only one that's ever had death not have any hold over them.

And so everything you give us, everything you say, death cannot touch.

You can never lead us into something destructive because death can't touch you.

You'll never guide us into a space where we experience less from you because sin has no hold over you, and the sting of sin is gone.

And so, God, I just pray that you would help us to trust you.

Wherever you're calling us to actually give our lives to you, to surrender.

You've done this amazing thing in trying to bring us into life.

And that's what you want from us and for us to actually experience this life that you have.

And so, God, I pray that you would work in our hearts, Holy Spirit, that you would move in our hearts and lead us to trust you and to surrender to you so that we experience the life that you have for us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.