Jesus’ Victory

You're listening to Mountain View Church Audio, Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City, Whitehorse, UConn. Here's this week's message.

Oh, your grace so free washes over me. You have made me new, now life begins with you. It's your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new, now life begins with you.

washes over me. You have made me new, now life begins with you. It's your endless love pouring down on us. You have made us new, now life begins with you. Our Savior displayed on a criminal's cross. Darkness rejoiced as though heaven had lost. But then Jesus moved with our freedom in hate. That's when death was arrested and my life began.

So free, while she's over me You have made me new, now life begins with you You draw endless love, falling down on us You have made us new, now life begins with you Come join the song of all of me Yes we're free, free forever invested in my life Began oh we're free, forever we're free Most of us assume we have lots of time left. Imagine life as an invisible hourglass that we carry around with us. We just assume the top half is mostly full. But what if it's not? What if the sand is nearly gone? What if we're living in the final grains of life?

My name is Jeremy and I'm the lead pastor of Mountain View Church. If this is your first time checking out our content, feel free to get connected at mountainview.church slash connect or search Mountain View White Horse on social. Today's Easter Sunday and we're focusing on Jesus' victory over sin and death, the resurrection. And over the next 20 minutes, we're going to investigate and celebrate that resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My name is Nicole. I'll be reading Luke 24, 1 to 12. But on the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of the sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise. And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.

But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. He saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home marveling at what had happened. Imagine coming to a grave site, expecting death, but instead you're faced with a miraculous encounter. That's what happened on that first Easter morning. A small group of women came with spices in hand, ready to care for Jesus' body. They brought spices as part of the burial process to honor the dead and mask the smell of decay. They were in mourning and likely expecting an experience of deep sorrow.

as they tended to Jesus' body. That was what they thought was going to happen. But not in their wildest dreams did these women expect a resurrection. Instead of finding a body, they encountered a miracle and an angelic message. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen.

That message has echoed throughout history. Today, on Easter Sunday, all over the world, in every language, that verse has been read and that message has been proclaimed. Because the resurrection of Jesus was and is the single most important event in human history. And yet, so many people still live like death is the final encounter. So many people assume that death is the end of our human experience. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is evidence that death is just the beginning. We have a soul. There's more. It reveals that he is who he said he was.

It reveals that his teaching is true and that through him, God is offering a spiritual rebirth. Remember that point about humans also having a soul? And so the empty tomb means the potential for eternal life, that our soul will live on. But let's back up for a minute. Let's back up and unpack this angelic message. The opening question was, why do you seek the living among the dead? Which is both a correction and an invitation.

The women didn't expect a resurrection because they had either forgotten Jesus' words or they lacked faith in the chaos of their grief. So the angels remind them, he told you while he was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. The resurrection of Jesus wasn't an accident. It wasn't a twist ending. It was all part of the plan. It was the plan all along. Victory over sin and death was always in God's plan. Bible scholar Kevin D. Zuber explains the deep meaning behind the angel's message.

He writes, the message of the angels was stunning, emphasizing the divine necessity of the events. In effect, the angel was saying to the women, you should have expected all these events, the passion, the cross and the resurrection, because this is what Jesus was telling you all along. Now, there's an interesting twist in this account. God could have chosen anyone to be the first witnesses of the resurrection. And yet, he chose women to be the first to hear and carry the message that Jesus had risen. Although these women were faithful followers of Jesus, culturally in a male-dominated society, they would have been overlooked and dismissed. Believe it or not, women weren't even considered reliable as witnesses in court, which shows us that God doesn't operate according to social status or cultural bias. And this adds to the authenticity of their account. If someone were trying to fabricate the resurrection story, they wouldn't have written it in that way.

They would have included more culturally reliable witnesses. The fact that women were the first to carry the news of the resurrection is an assurance that God chooses the overlooked and the underappreciated, the unlikely and the unworthy. The women at the empty tomb give evidence that this isn't just a factional story. It's a supernatural, miraculous redemption story. That something truly remarkable has taken place. But now let's come back to the angel's question. He didn't say, why do you seek the risen one? He said, why do you seek the living among the dead?

Jesus isn't just someone who came back from the dead. He is the living one. This living descriptor is also used in John's Revelation, the last book of the Bible, where Jesus himself declares, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one. I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. If we come back to our core passage, verse 12 tells us that once Peter heard the news, he rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. He saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Even Peter, who had walked with Jesus, witnessed his miracles, and heard his teachings, couldn't fully grasp the moment. The empty tomb made him stop, think, and marvel at the transformative miracle that had occurred. Later on in Luke's second work, the book of Acts, Luke records Peter's description of the resurrection, quoted from his Pentecost sermon. Peter proclaimed that God raised him up, speaking of Jesus, loosening the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Did you hear that? It wasn't possible. It was impossible for Jesus to be held by death. The apostle Peter understood and preached that the resurrection was always in God's plan. It was impossible for death to hold him.

Jesus could never be counted among the dead because he is the eternal living one. The resurrection of Jesus wasn't God's correction of something terrible that had happened to his son. God was never worried about the outcome because it was his plan from the beginning. And here's why this is so important. This is why this fact is crucial. Because if Jesus really rose from the dead and it was God's plan all along, then everything Jesus said about sin and forgiveness and eternal life is true. It's all part of God's plan. The invitation to you and I is authentic. You're not just invited to believe in a story. You're invited into a relationship with the living one, the living son of God.

So this Easter, reflecting on the greatest miracle of all time, you have an opportunity. It's an opportunity to experience a personal miracle and a spiritual transformation. But let's come back to our hourglass concept from the intro. The hourglass is often used as a symbol to represent the sands of time. But there's a significant problem with the symbolism. This image is kind of misleading on what life is truly like. If you picture an hourglass, when we look through it, we see very clearly the top, which is the time we have left, the middle, which is our present time, and the end, which is also clear of all the time that's left.

And we see both time lived and time left. But in reality, the top should be completely blacked out. We don't know how much time we have left. We don't know how many minutes, hours, days, or years we have left to live. Now, we can see that we've lived a certain amount in the hourglass analogy, or for those of us with poor memories, maybe it's clouded. But for everyone, the middle, that skinny middle is crystal clear for everyone. And it's representing the time we have right now in this moment, the present.

Now, there can be moments in the present where life flashes before our eyes. Maybe you think your life might be over in that moment. It's a scary, terrifying moment. And then through a seemingly miraculous term of events, you survive. Sometimes it's a car accident. Sometimes it's a fall. There's lots of different moments people have. To emphasize this point, consider the following accident report published in December 1958 by the Australian Workers' Compensation Board. A caveat that some sources say this is an urban legend. Nevertheless, it emphasizes how quickly circumstances can change and how life can flash before our eyes. Allow me to read it.

Dear sir, I am writing in response to your request for additional information in block three of the accident report form. I put poor planning as the cause of my accident. You asked for a fuller explanation, and I trust the following details will be sufficient. I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks left over, which, when weighed later, were found to be slightly in excess of 500 pounds.

Rather than carrying the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel, using a pulley attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor. Securing the pulley at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the bricks. You will note in block 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 175 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope.

Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel, which was now proceeding downward at an impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions, and the broken collarbone as listed in section three of this accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping. until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of the great deal of pain.

At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now, devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel weighed approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight of 175 pounds. As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building in the vicinity of the third floor. I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, a broken tooth, and several lacerations to my legs and lower body.

Here, my luck began to change, slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough that lessened my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks. And fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain and unable to move, I again lost my composure and let go of the rope. And I watched the empty barrel begin its journey back down to me, which explains the two broken legs. I hope this answers your inquiry.

Now, this is a humorous story and urban legend. But if we look at it in light of the moments we have left, in light of this hourglass concept of the sands of time, that bricklayer should have died at least four times in that single afternoon. And yet somehow he lived to file this report. His hourglass of life got flipped, cracked, shattered, and flipped again all in the same afternoon. But somehow his sand just kept running through that chaotic present moment. Maybe you've had close calls like that. Now, in contrast, and on a much serious note, I'd like to share a very real account.

This past fall, a friend of mine back home lost his 19-year-old son in a car accident. He was driving home from work to join the extended family for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone was already gathered, thinking he had a full life ahead of him. But he didn't. His grandfather was also at the house, waiting for his grandson. His grandfather was a lifelong farmer who had lived a life of very hard work and more than a couple of close calls in farming work. One might assume, because of his age and the lifetime of farm work, that his grandfather would have run out of time first. And yet...

The grandfather is still with us today and the grandson has passed. The top of the grandfather's hourglass seemingly still holds sand and still pouring through that clear middle. Perhaps you've had a close call where you almost lost your life or you've experienced the sorrow of losing a close friend or a family member. Suddenly, in those moments, we are overcome with grief and a sobering reality that life is very, very short, too short. We're faced with the harsh truth that the present, the clear middle of the hourglass.

It matters more than we acknowledge, especially day to day. We take the present for granted. We're often so worried about the past or so focused on planning for the future. In reality, we should be taking full advantage of the right now. So the immediate application of this message, it's straightforward. What we do right now matters. Today, even this very hour, really does matter in your life. But the greater application is that this all points to Jesus. On Good Friday, we remembered that that day, that terrible day that Jesus was crucified and buried, the enemy had stirred wicked men to execute him, seemingly bringing his life to an end.

But even then, God was still in control. The proof is that on the third day, he raised Jesus from the dead. His resurrection body still bore the wounds of his hands and feet, the piercings and the large pierce in his side. All of that remained. It was like Jesus' body. If we look at it in our hourglass analogy, it had been shattered and yet fully restored. And yet you could see the crack marks fully bonded together. And these marks, the scars in his hands and feet inside are a reminder of the price he paid. And that was the cost of our redemption.

Because the resurrection of Christ in that, and because of that, we've been given a choice. You have a choice right now in the middle, that thin crystal clear middle of your hourglass of life. It's thin, but it's clear. And this is the moment today when you have a decision to make. That decision can affect both the time you have left and the eternity that follows. The scriptures state that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Through Jesus, we're offered an eternity that never ends. Picture a bottomless hourglass, a life everlasting. Imagine enjoying the beauty of the present in the kingdom Jesus is preparing as God continually pours sand into the top and it flows out, never ending, like a timeless hourglass. How amazing is that? That's the kingdom of heaven. That's the kingdom Jesus is bringing in, has brought in for you and I. But the choice is yours between spiritual life and spiritual death. Will you accept God's son, Jesus, or will you delay, waiting for death to arrive, hoping for the best, hoping that you have plenty of time left? Now, it is human nature to assume we've got lots of time left, but we're not guaranteed tomorrow. We never are. And scripture teaches us that death isn't the end. That soul concept.

mind, body, and soul, the human person, that soul continues on. And so in many ways, death is just the beginning. When your sand runs out, the sands of your time, whether that's tomorrow or 50 years from now, if you have faith in Jesus, God will have placed his seal on your life, on your soul, with his Holy Spirit. And in that moment of death, he will transform your hourglass, where the sand will continually flow, everlasting life with Jesus, where time never runs out. So with everything we've talked about today, what will you do with this moment?

While the sand is still flowing through that crystal clear middle, will you place your trust in Jesus? Will you accept God's forgiveness for your sin and receive the seal of God's Holy Spirit? If you're ready to take that step of faith, please pray this prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner and that I have fallen short of your glory. But I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again on the third day. Today I confess Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I turn from my old ways and put my trust in you.

I place my present, my future, and my eternity in your hands. Please forgive me, fill me with your Holy Spirit, and lead me in the new life you have promised. Thank you for the gift of salvation. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Thank you so much for being here today. If you prayed that prayer or you're thinking about your next step, we would love to connect with you. Simply visit mountainview.church slash connect or search at Mountain View White Horse on any social network. Before you go, we have a few important updates. For families, we offer a children's program called Base Camp at our 9, 30, and 11 a.m. gatherings. But if you're watching online, there's an Easter video lesson and activity downloads available for your kids at mountainview.church slash base camp. For teens, we offer a youth program on Sunday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m., alternating weeks between junior and senior high. Tonight is junior youth for grades 5 through 7.

If you're watching online, be sure to follow and subscribe so future messages will appear in your feed. And now it's time for our discussion and prayer focus. If you're with some friends or family members, ask them this question. If not, if you're watching online, drop a comment in the feed. What's the one thing you would do today if your death was tomorrow? I know it's sobering. It's a hard question, but it's important. What's the one thing you would do today if your death was tomorrow? After you talk about that or leave a couple comments in the feed below, pray. Spend some time in prayer. Pray for help to live today like it truly matters for eternity. Pray for help to live today like it truly matters for eternity.

Then come back next week where we'll be studying the authority of Jesus. What does it mean for us that Jesus speaks with power and authority like no other person before or after? Invite a friend or family member to watch with you and let's keep discovering how the person and power of Jesus can transform our lives. Happy Easter. Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you next week. If you prayed to receive Jesus today or would like to connect with our church community, visit mountainview.church and click the connect link. If this podcast and radio ministry has been a blessing to you, please consider partnering with us or making a tax-deductible donation at mountainview.church.

Thanks for listening to Mountain View Church Audio. Join us next week for more Christ-centered teaching from the Wilderness City of Whitehorse UConn.