Title: Our God is an Awesome God!
Date: April 8, 2007
Text: Mark 16:1-8, John 20:1-18
Introduction
- This was written in an inter-office memo a few years ago
- “If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains; If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles; if you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time; If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong; If you can take criticism and blame without resentment; If you can relax without liquor, sleep without worry, then… then you are probably the family dog.”
- many of us have come here with problems
- some of our problems seem huge and insurmountable
- Jesus can relate to that
- you see, Friday was Good Friday
- we commemorated the mock trial, the scourging and the crucifixion of Jesus
- why was it that Jesus was killed?
- what was the purpose for him enduring pain, fear, rejection and mockery?
- why did he go though with it all?
- around 3pm on that terrible day, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, it is finished!
- a soldier plunged a spear into Jesus’ side, and out flowed water and blood
- Jesus died
- the centurion confirmed to Pontius Pilate that Jesus was dead
- Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross and laid in a tomb that had been cut out of the hillside
- a huge stone was rolled over the entrance to stop people from having access to the body
- it seemed that the phenomenon called Jesus had disappeared from the scene
- a movement that had seemed to have so much promise seemed to fizzle out like a wet firecracker
- Jerusalem started to get back to normal, people went back to work, no doubt talking about the events of the last couple of days
- but in the darkness of the tomb, somewhere between Saturday night and daybreak Sunday morning, something awesome happened
- Jesus’ body disappeared
- the body had been wrapped in bandages, like an Egyptian mummy
- but suddenly the bandages collapsed, the body vanished
1. Jesus was not held by the tomb
- Mark 16:1-8 – Mary Magdalene and Mary Jesus’ mother and Salome visit the tomb, and find that an angel has rolled the stone away from the entrance to the tomb
- he has risen! He is alive! He is no longer dead!
- the disciples were very human – they found it hard to believe that Jesus was alive
- they had to experience it for themselves
- aren’t we like that too?
- we find it hard to believe that Jesus is real, that he is alive and well
- we want to experience it for ourselves, we want to see a sign, we want to see some proof other than another person’s testimony
- we need to see a change from the status quo
- we can prove that God exists – each class that comes through the program discusses this question
- we can know logically that the Bible is God’s word, and that it has been faithfully preserved for our use
- but ultimately, the proof we are seeking is that our own life has been touched, that something has changed inside of us
- when Jesus walked and preached 2000 years ago, lives were changed
- people with sickness and physical disabilities were healed
- people with mental illnesses were given a sound and stable mind
- people who were dead were raised to life
- and Jesus himself walked out of the tomb
- there were many witnesses that this actually happened
- the Bible tells that over 500 people saw Jesus after his resurrection
- historians like Josephus and Tacitus recorded Jesus’ death and resurrection
2. Jesus is alive today
- but the Bible tells us that God does not change
- Mal 3:6 – “I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed”
- God is a merciful God, as well as an awesome God
- Jesus is the one who created the earth, who keeps everything running in an orderly fashion
- there is no conflict between true science and God, many scientists believe in God
- on the other hand there are many who do not want God to interfere in their lives
- many of us may not be really interested in having God touch our lives
- that would mean changing the way we talk, the things we do, the way in which we relate to each other
- but Jesus has not changed
- he is alive today
- Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”
- the way Jesus was 2000 years ago, is the way he is today, we can depend on him
- the way he was 2000 years ago, is that he came to bring healing into people’s lives
- the blind saw, the lepers were cleansed and the dead were raised to life
- and he came to save men from the penalty for sins they have committed
3. Jesus has the power to forgive, to heal and to set things right in our lives
- Jesus was given the power to make change in people’s lives
- the people who were touched by Jesus were changed
- leprosy is a terrible disease
- on the island of Molokai in Hawaii, there used to be a leper colony
- Father Damien went there to serve the lepers, and to witness to the power of Jesus to change lives
- in Jesus’ day lepers were feared and rejected from society because of the risk of contagion
- there was nothing that could be done about their disease
- a leper came to Jesus in Matthew 8
- he knelt before Jesus and said “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean”
- Jesus said, “I am willing”, reached out his hand and touched him
- for decades no one had been willing to touch this man
- but Jesus did so, and his life changed forever
- when you have been rejected by all the people around you, because you have a contagious disease, it affects you deep inside
- you feel worthless, unworthy, a failure, nobody loves you, you are lonely and sinking in quicksand
- is that the way we feel?
- we feel powerless to get out of debt
- we feel powerless to break our addictions
- we feel powerless to save our relationships
- we feel powerless to change our situation
- to us, Jesus says “I am willing”
- he touches us and brings change
- no matter how tough things look, no matter how painful things may be right now, Jesus is able to take care of the situation
- not only is he able to take care of the situation, he is also willing to do so
- we are powerless
- but Jesus is powerful
- Jesus says to us today “Don’t give up, there is power available, and I am willing to touch you
- “I am not too proud or mighty to reach down into your personal and private situation
- “I am want to give you a meaningful, purposeful life, I am willing to change your life, just as I did for a leper 2000 years ago
- “because I have not changed”
- do we want Jesus to be the change maker in our life?
Conclusion
- the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is available to bring change in our life
- God desires relationship with us – he offers us an eternity with him
- we may have been rejected by society, but God loves us, wherever we are at, whatever we have done
- we have sinned and broken the rules
- but Jesus died for us so that that barrier between us and him can be taken away
- he has the power to change our lives
- to bring order into chaos, to bring confidence where there is depression, to bring purpose where we have given up and lost our way
- do you want to ask Jesus into your life?
- all you need to do is get on your knees like the leper, and ask Jesus to forgive your sins, and come into your life
- we do not have the power to bring lasting change in our life
- but God does, he is an awesome God
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