April 16, 2006
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Sermon Outline

“New Beginnings”

Resurrection Sunday 2006.  Pastor Matt

God is Holy

Psalm 99:9

Exalt the LORD our God
       and worship at his holy mountain,
       for the LORD our God is holy.

God cannot be where sin is

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Those of you who think you can ignore the sin in your life…

Those of you who think God can’t see the sin in your life…

God knows everything about you.  He knows all you have been through.  He knows all the sin too.

Matthew 10:26b.

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.

Hebrews 4:13.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Matthew 12:36.

But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

1 Corinthians 4:5b.

…He [the Lord] will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts…

 

 

 

 

There is a problem with all this sin in our lives.

Romans 6:23.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

One thing we can guarantee in this world is death (and taxes).  Sin brought about human death as a wage for sin. 

What is death? Ultimately it is separation from God. 

There is nothing you can do to make things right with God. 

You have an incurable disease.

There is a cure for the sin in our lives.

John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 6:8-10.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Life can only be found in Jesus.  When we reject Jesus’ gift, we stay separated from God.  We exist but we don’t really live.

There is only two places to go after we die, and really it is a continuation of how we are already living here on this earth. 

-         We can continue walking and living with the Lord

-         or

-         We can continue existing in a place separate from the Lord.

Eternal life is transfer from this world to a world walking with the Lord. 

Eternal death is a transfer from this world to a world separate from the Lord in a terrible place called Hell

What happens to our sin?

If God can’t be where sin is, how do we spend eternity with Him?

Romans 2:16. (KJV)

In [that] day [of judgment]… God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Romans 2:16 (Young's Literal Translation)

in [that] day [of judgment]… God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my good news, through Jesus Christ.

One day we will all face God in judgment for the lives we lived here on this Earth.

If we have given our lives to Jesus, we will be judged according to the Gospel. 

We will be judged through Jesus

(You have to get past Jesus, you have to condemn Jesus in order to condemn us…and that’s not going to happen)

If we have not given our lives to Jesus, we will be judged according to our sin and because we know we cannot exist in the same place as God (with sin) will exist forever in Hell/ the Lake of Fire.

We all have sin.  God sees all our sin.

We will all be judged someday.

However, for those of us who know Jesus…

Romans 8:1.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Acts 13:39.

Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Hebrews 8:12.

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Colossians 3:3b.

…your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Why would He do this?

Psalm 103:8-13.

 8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
       slow to anger, abounding in love.

 9 He will not always accuse,
       nor will he harbor his anger forever;

 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
       or repay us according to our iniquities.

 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
       so great is his love for those who fear him;

 12 as far as the east is from the west,
       so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 13 As a father has compassion on his children,
       so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

God Loves you.  He loves you more than you could ever know.  He loves us so much that He provided a way out.  It is a gift that you have to receive.

What does this mean?

 

-         God loves us more than we can understand.

-         God forgives us even when we’ve done the unforgivable.

-         God gives us second chances at life.  He gives us New Beginnings.

 

 

Everyone wants a second chance. 

 

Everyone wants a new beginning.

 

We have that in Jesus. 

 

Here on this Earth and in eternity to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closing

How do I respond to this?

1 Corinthians 15

 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

 12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

 

All of what I have said today hinges on whether or not you believe the Cross. 

 

Not just the death, but the resurrection of Jesus and what it means to you.

Romans 10:9-10

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

-         Let’s take some time to confess our sins.

-         Let’s take some time to Believe in our hearts.

-         Let’s take some time to put our lives into His hands.

-         Let’s take some time to thank Him that we have been forgiven because of the Cross.