Greg Laurie - Easter. So What? (12/09/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie challenges us with "Easter. So what?" asking what Jesus' resurrection truly means for daily life now. From John 21 and key Scriptures he unpacks seven life-changing truths: acceptance by God, Christ's ongoing intercession, Holy Spirit power for living, eternal life in heaven, a perfected resurrection body, reunion with loved ones, and the certainty of final judgment—calling everyone to personal faith in Jesus for forgiveness and assurance.
Why Easter Matters Today – "So What?"
I would like you to turn in your Bibles to John chapter 21. The title of my message is Easter. So what? Now don't misunderstand that statement. I am not being disrespectful. But what I am really saying is Easter. So what? What does it mean to me today? What bearing does an event that we accept, that is historically true, that Jesus Christ died on a cross and rose again from the dead three days later have to do with me today living in the 21st century?
You know there is a lot of confusion about it even. I read that 60% of Americans that went to church last Easter, one-fourth of them did not know what the occasion signified. And I am wondering what kind of churches are these people going to? You go to church on Easter and you don't know what the occasion signifies.
It reminds me of a story I heard of a Sunday school teacher that was speaking to her four and five year olds and it was Palm Sunday. So she said, okay kids, today is a very special day. Does anyone know what it is? And a little girl raised her hand. Four years old. She said, it is Palm Sunday. The teacher said, that is amazing. You are only four and you know that. Do you know the significance of Palm Sunday? A little girl confidently said, that is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey. Very good the teacher said.
Now can anyone tell me what next Sunday is? Same little girl puts her hand up again. Teacher calls on her. What is next Sunday? That is Easter Sunday. Again very good the teacher says. And what is the significance of that? The little girl says, that is the day that Jesus rose again from the dead. And before the teacher could congratulate her for getting that answer right the little girl continued on and said but if he sees a shadow he has to go back in for seven more weeks. That is Easter Groundhog Day or something like it.
So what? What does this mean to us? Let me give you seven takeaway truths from Easter. Seven things that you need to know about what Jesus accomplished for you at the cross and through the empty tomb.
1. The Resurrection Assures Acceptance by God
Number one. The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures me that I am accepted by God. Now when I say that I am speaking to a person who has put their faith in Jesus Christ. If you have not done that yet I am going to tell you how at the end of the message. But if you are a Christian the resurrection of Christ assures us that we are accepted by God.
Romans 4:25 says He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. I wish we could lay to rest once and for all this crazy notion that the way we get to heaven is through good works. I am amazed that sometimes even those that profess to be Christians hold this belief. Listen. No matter how many good things you did with your life you would never be able to satisfy the righteous demands of God.
There is no forgiveness from balancing records. Only from canceling them. And that is what Jesus did on the cross. He died there in your place and absorbed the wrath of God and then justified you. Now what does that mean? Well the word justified is a word that has a twofold meaning. First it means that you are forgiven of all of your sins. That is a lot right there. But then it also means that God has placed the righteousness of Christ into your account.
Here is another way to look at it. God treated Jesus as if He had lived your life so He could treat you as if you had lived His life. Now if that is all the resurrection of Jesus did for me that would be more than enough, don't you think, to know that I am now accepted by God. But as they say in those commercials, but wait there is more. A lot more.
2. Christ Intercedes for Us in Heaven
Number two, the resurrection of Jesus assures me that Christ is now interceding for me in heaven. The Bible says in Romans 8:34, who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus who died—more than that, was raised to life—is at the right hand of God interceding for me.
Why is that important? Because I have a vicious prosecuting attorney. His name is Lew. Last name Sipher. Also known as the devil and Satan. He is there attacking me. He is there accusing me before God day and night. Now the devil is clever. First he will come to you as the tempter and whisper in your ear, why don't you go ahead and do this? No one will ever know. I won't tell if you won't. Then you give in to his enticement and he comes back as the accuser. He says, you hypocrite. Do you think God would ever hear your prayers? You are not worthy to approach God.
But see this is where Jesus comes in. He stands in our place. It is sort of like we are in a heavenly courtroom and God the Father is the judge and I am on trial and Jesus is my defense attorney and Satan is the prosecuting attorney. And I am told in 1 John 2:1, My children I write these things so you will not sin. But if you sin you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is standing there for me.
So here is the scene. Satan stands up. Today we have on trial Greg Laurie. Let me read the charges against him. Hours turn into days. Days turn into weeks. A month later he is still reading charges. I realize I am dead in the water. I am looking over at Jesus. He doesn't look concerned at all. I say, Jesus, I don't know what you are going to say for me. But he says, don't worry. It is easy for you to say. You are not on trial. He goes, just hang on.
And so finally Lucifer completes his charges against me and says to the judge, Your own law, Your Honor says, the soul that sins shall surely die. Therefore you must send this man to death. I rest my case. He sits down. So Jesus, my defense attorney, stands up and He says to the judge, permission to approach the bench. Permission granted, says the judge.
Jesus walks up there, leans in and says to that judge, Hey Dad, we both know that Greg is guilty of all the charges. But we also both know that I already paid the price for those charges. And the judge pounds down the gavel and says, All is forgiven. Case is dismissed. It is not based on what I have done for God. It is totally based on what God has done for me. That all came from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
3. Power to Live the Christian Life
Now we also know that because Jesus rose again that I have all the power I need to live the Christian life. Again the resurrection of Jesus assures me I have all the power I need to live the Christian life. Romans 8:11 says, The Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. And just as He raised Christ from the dead He will give life to your mortal body. The same Spirit is living within you. So you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
Some people will say, You know I tried the Christian life but I failed. It didn't work for me. Listen. Let me make a statement you might find provocative. I don't think it is hard to be a Christian. I don't know if you think it is. I don't think it is hard at all. I think it is impossible to be a Christian without the help of the Holy Spirit. If you are trying to do this on your own friend you are going to fail. But if Christ is living in you He will give you all the power you need to live this life.
You know sometimes people go to church on occasion like Easter and Christmas. So hello and I will see you guys again Christmas. Okay. Thanks for coming. Some people go to church three times in their life rather. When they are hatched, when they are matched, and when they are dispatched. The first time they throw water. The second time they throw rice. And the third time they throw dirt. Well that is unfortunate.
You say, well I am here at church today. It is Easter after all. And it is good to have a little religion in your life. Listen. You don't need a little religion. You need a whole lot of Jesus. It is about relationship. That is what He wants to do for you. So God will give you the power to live this life He has called you to live.
4. Eternal Life in Heaven – The Greatest Promise
Now here comes, I think, the biggest result of Easter. The most significant thing that Jesus accomplished for us. The resurrection of Jesus assures me that I will live forever in heaven. Now don't rush past that one. Now if you are young you are thinking, oh that is nice. But I am young and I am very attractive. I know because I just looked at myself in the mirror. And I have a picture of myself as my wallpaper on my iPhone that I like to look at. Yeah. You know and everything is good. Okay. But guess what? You are not going to always be young.
And as you get older and as the effects of gravity kick in and you are going to start treasuring this point that I have just made. Or maybe one day everything is going fine and you get a call from a doctor that says, we have done these tests and the results are not good. You need to come in immediately. Or something else wakes you up to the fact that life could end for you. Just like that.
But the good news is because Jesus died and rose again I can be confident and I will go to heaven. Now we don't want to think about death on a day like today. It is Easter. We are thinking about brunch and other things. But listen. Easter was the day that death died. And when did this happen? Death died when Christ rose. Because Jesus rose I will rise. Because Jesus died I will never die.
You might say, well Greg you are in denial. You are going to die. Oh no. I know that. I understand there will come a point when this body will cease to function as it does now. But at the same time I realized that in another way I will never die. Because Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.
Listen. Death is not the end of the road. It is only a bend in the road. The road that winds ahead that Jesus Himself has gone. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead He conquered death. We are told in 1 Corinthians 15, when our perishable bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. At last the Scriptures will come true. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh grave where is your victory? Oh death where is your sting?
I heard a story of a father and his little boy that were driving along and they had the windows in their car down. And a bee flew in. And this was really a serious issue because this boy was highly allergic to bee stings. In fact if he were stung it could be fatal. And the little guy began to panic, understandably. And the father reached out his big hand and grabbed that bee and clenched it in his fist and held it there for a moment. Then opened his hand and the bee flew out. The little boy started panicking again. And the father said, Son, don't worry. Look at my hand. The stinger is gone. He can't sting you anymore. The father took the sting for the son. And at the cross Jesus took the sting of death for you.
The tomb is not an entrance to death but to life. The moment we take our last breath on earth we take our first breath in heaven. That is because of the death of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead. First Corinthians 15 says, Christ has been raised from the dead and He has become the first of a great harvest of those that will be raised to life again. So just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has come through another man, Christ.
5. A New Resurrection Body Awaits Us
So let's summarize. Because Jesus died and rose again I have access to God. I have the forgiveness of sin. I have the intercession of Jesus. I have all the power I need to live a new life and I will go to heaven. But there is even more. Number five, Easter assures me I will receive a new body just like His.
One commentator put it this way, quote, Jesus rose with a real body in a real world in a real way and with a real voice commissioned His disciples to do real work until they in His own time die and are raised again also in real bodies to be with Him. Listen. God has a brand new resurrection body waiting for you. It is not altogether different than the one you are in now. It is upgraded dramatically. But listen to this. You will still be you. When God gives you this new body you will simply be you in a perfected state.
Job put it this way in Job 19:26, In my flesh I will see God. I myself will see Him with my own eyes. I and not another. There is continuity from this life to the next one. When you are resurrected on that great resurrection morning you will still be you. And the prototype of this if you will is Jesus Christ Himself. You see because Jesus died and rose again we can look at His resurrection body as a prototype for what ours will be like.
We are told in 1 John 3:2, Beloved, now we are the sons of God. It has not yet been revealed what we will be. But when He is revealed we will be like Him for we will see Him as He is. So let's look for a moment at John 21. That is our text. And we are going to see a post resurrection appearance of Jesus to His disciples and see how this works for us. What our new resurrected, upgraded bodies will be like.
This was His third appearance to His disciples. He had told them to go wait for Him in Galilee. That suited Simon Peter just fine. That is where he had been raised. He had fished those waters since boyhood. So Peter was waiting around not knowing what to do next. So he just hung a sign up in his little shop. Gone fishing. And got on his boat and went out and encountered the risen Lord.
John 21:3, Simon Peter said, I am going fishing. The others said, We will go with you also. They went out and immediately in the boat caught nothing. But when the morning had come Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the disciples did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, Children do you have any food? They answered, No. And He said to them, Cast your net on the right side of the boat. And you will find some. So they cast it. And they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. That is John. He is referring to himself, the author of this gospel. Now when Simon Peter heard it was the Lord he put on his outer garment for he had removed it and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in their little boat. They are about three hundred feet away from the land, dragging the net with the fish.
And as soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there with fish laid on it and bread. Jesus said, Bring some of the fish which you have just caught. Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land full of large fish, a hundred and fifty three. And although there were many the net did not break. Jesus said, Come and have breakfast. Or as the New King James Version puts it, Come and have breakfast. Yet none of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? Knowing it was the Lord, Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them and also the fish.
This is the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. There stood before them the risen Lord. A physical risen Christ still bearing in his body the marks of the crucifixion. What is amazing is with those wounded hands the Lord prepared a meal for them. He even prepared the fire. He was not a spirit. He was not a phantom. He was a man. Verse 4 says He stood on the shore. It doesn't say He hovered over the shore. Kind of ooooo. No. He was a man standing right there on the shore.
He made them fish and said, Come and have breakfast. I don't know about fish for breakfast. Bacon and eggs would have worked for me. But I don't know if that would be a good thing for a good kosher boy to make. Bacon and eggs. But over in Hawaii I have had mahi and eggs. That is fish. And that is pretty good. But anyway. Here was the risen Lord who had made a wonderful meal for them. He spoke to them with a human voice. They heard His voice. So this is a reminder that our new bodies will be like His.
Characteristics of Our Resurrection Bodies
Alright. So what do we see about the resurrected body of Christ? Number one He was recognizable including the scars from the crucifixion. Number two He did not have normal limitations. We know from another gospel He appeared in a room without using the door. And also He could ascend to heaven. So not the normal limitations. And thirdly He ate food. So number one we will still be us in our new body. And we will be recognizable. You will still be you.
We often talk about the differences that will be between the old and the new body. Let's talk about similarities. You are going to have a mind that works perfectly. Experts tell us that we use five percent of the brain right now. And some people I have met I wonder if they even use five percent. So presumably we will get the other 95 percent back. Maybe even more. The Bible says we will know as we are known. That is why when people ask, will we recognize one another in heaven my response is, why would you think you would know less in heaven than you know on earth? You will know more there. Yes you will recognize one another. No more senior moments.
Maybe you are suffering from Malzheimer's disease today. You have not heard of that. That is when you lose your car in the parking garage at the mall and can't find it. I have been suffering from it for years. Number two. We will not have the normal limitations of our bodies. Our bodies are spiritual and physical. But heaven is the earthly life of the believer glorified and perfected. The blueprints for our new bodies, our upgraded bodies, are in the ones we now possess. Our bodies will no longer age or get sickness or break down.
1 Corinthians 15:42 says, Our earthly bodies which die and decay will be different when they are resurrected. For they will never die. Our bodies now disappoint us. But when they are raised they will be full of glory. They are weak now. But then they will be full of power. And there are those reminders in life that, you know you are getting old. You know you are getting old when someone compliments your new alligator shoes. But the problem is you are barefoot. You know you are getting old when your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio. You know you are getting old when you suck in your gut and your ankles swell. You know you are getting old when happy hour is a nap. You know you are getting old when your idea of weight lifting is standing up. Or when it takes twice as long to look half as good.
You know you are getting old when you are sitting in a park bench and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you to cross your legs. You know you are getting old when your memory is shorter and your complaining is longer. You know you are getting old when your knees buckle and your belt won't. You know you are getting old when you light the candles on your birthday cake and the youth group from your church gathers around and starts singing Kumbaya. Get it? See there are so many candles on your birthday cake it is like a bonfire. And so they get around the fire and sing Kumbaya. How many of you got it the first time? Be honest. You did not.
You know you are getting old when you and your teeth don't sleep together anymore. How many of you... No. We will also eat in our resurrection body. That is good news. I love that. Clap for that. I tell you you are going to heaven. No applause. I tell you you will eat and you clap. Well it is true. Jesus after He rose to prove He was not a phantom or a ghost said, Give me some food. And He took a piece of broiled fish along with some honeycomb for energy no doubt. And He ate it. And here He is preparing a meal for His disciples with His own hands. I don't think He snapped His fingers and fish appeared. You know. Or eggs Benedict. Blueberry pancakes. No. He made that with His own hands. This is all because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
6. Resurrected Relationships and Reunions
Number six. We are almost done. Because of Jesus' resurrection we will have resurrected relationships. That means you will be reunited with loved ones and family members. Notice I made that distinction. Not all family members are loved ones. Sometimes when we think of a family reunion it gets a little depressing. I am going to have to spend eternity with them. Sad thing is they are probably thinking the same thing about you. The good news is in my glorified body I will no longer probably have those irritating features. And their glorified state presuming they are a Christian. They won't have them either.
But you know we have different kinds of friendships don't we. Some friendships are high maintenance. Or some people that just need to be coddled. You need to call them every couple of days. So how are you? Is everything okay with us? You know. They are always getting irritated or miffed by something. Or they misunderstand. Etc. etc. And so you have to give a lot of attention to this relationship. Other relationships they are just strong. They may go back to your days in school and you will see that person. You haven't seen them in a year. And it is just like you pick up where you left off last. Oh what were we talking about last time? And you know that is a real test of a good relationship. It can make it through time.
But then there are relationships that get disconnected. Have you ever been on the phone talking with someone and you are just disconnected. AT&T. Yeah. It has happened to me a lot. And it usually happens at the worst moment doesn't it? You know you are saying, I really need your response to this question. This is really what I have been building up to. So I want to ask you this. Silence. Silence. Say hello. Hello. Oh man they didn't like it. No actually you haven't been talking to them for three minutes. That is because you lost a signal. But that is how it feels when you have lost a loved one. You are talking with them one moment and then suddenly they are gone. You immediately reflect back on other conversations. In your dreams you have imaginary conversations.
But one day because of the resurrection of Jesus we will be reunited with our loved ones and pick up where we last left off. And guess what. This could happen sooner than you think. What are you saying you might ask. I am saying that this is going to happen at the rapture of the church. When do we get the new body? At the rapture of the church. That is the resurrection.
So here is what happens. When a person who is a Christian dies they go to heaven. They don't have their glorified body yet. That is coming later. When does that happen? It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:14. We believe that Jesus died and rose again to life. And when Jesus comes He will bring back all the Christians who have died. The Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout. With the archangel, the trumpet of God and the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then together with them we who are alive and remaining on the earth will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with them forever. So comfort one another with these words.
Ok. You say, I am confused now. They are going to rise from the graves. So my loved one they are in the grave. Well yes they are and they aren't. Their body is in the grave. Their spirit is in heaven. But at the resurrection their body will be resurrected to a glorified state. And you will get your new resurrection body then too. And that could happen at any moment. It could happen today when we would be reunited with loved ones. We would receive that resurrection body.
How fast will it happen? You can't even measure it in human time. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:51, I show you a mystery. We will not all die. We will be changed from mortal to immortal in a moment in a twinkling of an eye. That phrase twinkling of an eye is from the Greek word atomos. We get our English word atom from it. It means something that cannot be divided. It is so fast. Just instantaneous. You blink your eyes and there you are in glory with loved ones. Most importantly with the Lord Himself.
7. The Reality of Final Judgment
So this is all great stuff isn't it? Because of what Jesus has done for me at the cross in the empty tomb. I have access to God. I have the power to live this new life. I will go to heaven. I am going to receive a new body. It could happen at any moment. One final takeaway truth. And this is really your response. Because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead there will be a final judgment.
I am told in Acts 17:31, He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man He has ordained. He has given assurance of this by raising Him from the dead. Yes. There is a final judgment. Now if you are a believer in Jesus Christ you don't have to fear it. Why? Because I have been made acceptable to God. That is resolved. You see I will not stand at that final judgment. It is called the great white throne judgment. And the Bible says the books are opened and a book is opened which is the book of life. And whoever was not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.
This is the last thing God wants to happen to any person that He loves so much. This is why Jesus suffered and died in our place. This is why Jesus paid the price for our sins and rose again from the dead. If you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus you can have the assurance that you will be ready to go to heaven. Amen. Amen. Amen.