So I'm excited to celebrate Easter with you guys.
I think that Easter is about a lot of different things.
Easter is obviously about Jesus coming back to life.
It's about death losing its hold on humanity itself.
And it's also a preview of things to come.
It's a preview of the future.
And Jesus rises not as a return to his old life,
but as a beginning of a new humanity.
And he was the first person to be resurrected from the dead and to be glorified.
So the other thing I'd like to share is that Easter is more than a miracle.
It's more than Jesus' resurrection.
It's also a sort of spiritual invasion.
It's a spiritual regime change in this world.
Because our world was broken by sin and by rebellion.
And humanity had been in bondage for so long.
And it was deeper than politics.
It was deeper than culture and personal failure.
It was sin itself.
So Christ had come to reclaim what was lost.
To redeem, to literally buy back humanity.
And Easter is the turning point in that war.
Now in modern English, firstborn, it sounds like, well, that's our first kid.
That's the oldest kid or the first person in line.
But in the Bible, when it talks about the firstborn, it's not just about birth order.
It's about a certain type of status.
And the firstborn is the person that carried the family name.
They carried responsibility for carrying the family into the future.
And they managed the family estate.
And we clearly see that where Adam failed, as a firstborn, Jesus succeeded.
And aren't there a lot of Bible stories where the firstborn kind of gets set aside.
And there's another one from the family that will come along.
And you see how all of that is a shadow of Christ being successful where Adam had failed.
So it calls him the firstborn among the dead.
And this matters, I think, because when the Bible calls Jesus the firstborn,
it doesn't mean that he's a created being.
He'd been there the whole time.
It wasn't that he was the first thing that God necessarily made.
It means that he is the one that carries a sense of preeminence and honor.
And he's inheriting.
So when Jesus says that, when John says Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead,
he's not saying also that Jesus was the first guy to come back from the dead.
That's a question people ask.
I'll get to that more in a minute.
Colossians 1.18 says that he, Jesus, is the head of the body, the church,
as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he himself may become first in all things.
So this is going beyond the idea of a resurrection.
It's starting to talk about ruling and reigning.
It's almost like a governmental language.
And that Jesus is not just alive again, that he is the beginning.
He is the firstborn.
He is the head.
And he's setting up this kingdom, his church, on earth.
And you may say, well, wasn't Lazarus raised from the dead?
Like, how is that different, you know?
But you see, Lazarus was resuscitated.
He came back to life and he died.
But Jesus was resurrected.
He received a glorified body.
You see, resuscitation is a return to the old life.
You know, Lazarus went back to a life where there was sin,
there was pain, there was loss, and there was suffering.
But resurrection is an entrance into everlasting life.
And that's why Easter is so different.
Because Jesus didn't just come back.
He came from the other side.
He survived.
He went through death.
And he came back in a way that death can never touch him.
Romans 6, 9 says,
So Easter is not just, well, good news, Jesus is back.
It means that this whole new creation has started.
It means that death has lost its grip on humanity.
And Jesus being the firstborn means that he's establishing a family, a household, a kingdom.
And that family is everyone who places his faith in him.
So Easter, in a way, is God showing the world that I'm not just saving individuals here.
I'm forming a whole new household, a whole new kingdom around my beloved son.
Now, the enemy's strategy ever since the Garden of Eden has been to isolate people,
to separate them from each other, and to more importantly, separate them from God.
But this resurrection of Jesus is forming a whole new body, a whole new family of people.
You see, when you're disconnected from the body, when you're disconnected from us, the family of God,
you're easier to intimidate, you're easier to take out,
you're easier to accuse and to exhaust and deceive.
And I believe that Jesus is saying, you know, stop trying to follow God in private.
Stop trying to be a Christian in private.
That we were not saved into a private spirituality,
but we were saved into a people who need you and want to be with you.
You see, Jesus wasn't raised just to create a spiritual consumer,
but a people that would share a life together.
Now, people often think that the devil or the enemy is a series of bad things happening,
of setbacks, of frustrations, of things going wrong, of difficult people,
and that can all be true.
But Scripture says that the final enemy, the real enemy here, is death.
And you see, you can improve your habits, you can fix your marriage,
you can fix your friendships, you can fix family relationships,
you can medicate pain, you can do all sorts of things to improve the situation
and to push back the works of the devil.
But there's one thing that you cannot do without Jesus,
is that you cannot negotiate with death.
You cannot negotiate with death.
You cannot negotiate with the grave.
You see, death is not just, you know, one of the devil's tools.
It is the ultimate tool.
It is the last enemy.
It is the final enemy.
And, you know, if you think about it,
death is this shadow that lives behind all of our fears.
If you think about the fears that you have for a minute,
I think about the fears that have run through my mind.
Fears of lack, or fears of things going wrong,
or fears of relationships going sour.
And you think, well, what if I follow this fear all the way out to its logical conclusion?
What if this thing just played as far out as it could possibly go?
And you think about it, and they can all ultimately lead to death.
Relational failure leads to isolation.
You know, failure of God providing, that fear of provision leads to death.
Every sin and every fear logically played out to its end leads to death.
But the Bible says that Jesus came to deal with this for us.
1 Corinthians 15.26 says,
The last enemy to be defeated, to be eliminated, is death.
The fear of death, the threat of death, the anxiety about death,
the dread of things being over, the dread of things ending,
this fear that this loss is going to be final.
But Jesus entered death, and he came out of the other side.
Revelation 1.18 says,
I was dead, but look, now I am alive forever and ever.
This is Jesus.
And I hold the keys of death and of Hades.
Now that's a fascinating passage.
You know, Hades does not mean necessarily the final place of judgment.
It means that the realm of the dead is just like when the Old Testament talks about Sheol.
The New Testament more typically uses like the word Gehenna for a place of final judgment.
So Jesus is not saying, you know,
I went into hell and I fought the devil to the ground and I took the keys.
We have to be careful here.
Because this language kind of gets blurred by church tradition and things.
But what the scripture does say is that he entered death itself, the realm of the dead.
He went to the place of the dead, and he rose in victory over the grave.
And I think that matters, you know, because the devil, as we know,
is not in his place of final judgment yet either.
Scripture says that he is still active in this present age.
How many of you know?
1 Peter 5.8 says,
Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
I had a pastor in Michigan.
I don't think you could go to church without him saying that at least once.
I loved it.
So the battle with the devil is not over yet.
It wasn't over at this point.
He is still roaming around.
Now his fate has been decided.
Hear me clearly.
His fate has already been determined by God.
He will be condemned forever and ever.
He is still roaming around.
So the outcome is certain, even though it hasn't been fully carried out yet.
So my point is that Jesus went into the place of death,
and that he overcame it, and it could not hold him.
So when Jesus is saying he holds the key of death and of Hades,
he is declaring that death no longer has the final word.
God does.
And this image of keys, it's about authority and control and ownership,
because the place of the dead does not get to keep God's people forever.
So the emphasis is the victory.
That's what I want you to see here, is the victory that Jesus had over death.
That he didn't merely escape the grave, but he overcame and he broke its claim on all of us.
So how do we, as God's resurrected people,
live in a world where this battle is still ongoing, it's still real,
the devil is still roaming around seeking whom he may devour?
How do we live in light of that this Easter?
The first thing I'd like to share is that we can face our fears very differently.
And like I said earlier, most fear is based in some sense of a fear of loss,
that we're going to lose something, that we're going to be humiliated or shamed,
or that we won't be able to provide, or whatever that fear may be.
And behind that fear ultimately is an ultimate loss, a fear of death,
a fear of endings, a fear of finality, a fear of desperation or being trapped or feeling powerless.
But if Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead, and that we are in him,
see, our fear does not get to be our master, right?
Hebrews 2.14 says,
Therefore, since the children, that's us, share in flesh and blood,
he likewise, this is Jesus, shared in their humanity,
so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death,
that is, the devil,
and set free those who were held, this is a word I underlined,
in slavery, all their lives,
by their fear of death.
That's a powerful statement to be thinking about,
living in slavery all their lives.
But when fear comes, we have the opportunity to say the truth,
and we can say it out loud.
Sometimes you have to yell,
this is not the end.
It might feel like an ending, but it's not.
And we can say death is real, but it's no longer the end.
It's no longer the final answer.
It is no longer sovereign.
And we can say,
I don't walk into the darkness alone.
I don't fight alone.
Jesus, the firstborn, has already gone ahead of me.
And I think that that gives a sense of calmness,
and a sense of power.
Not a fake calm, not a denial,
not a bury my head in the sand kind of a thing,
but a steadiness.
I think that God's people,
the people that are closest to God,
are some of the most steady,
steadfast,
unshakable people
in the whole world.
I mean, look at Diane.
Nothing can shake her.
Nothing.
I love seeing her.
Oh, this is going wrong.
Oh, what are we going to do?
And it's fine.
Everything's fine.
And you can get to a point,
I'm encouraged by you.
You can get to a point where you,
everything is okay.
You can get to a point in Christ
where everything is fine.
And we can inspire other people
by carrying that spirit
and that attitude
everywhere we go.
I'm sorry.
Number two.
We don't have to prove our worth.
This is a big one.
I think this is a really big one
for people in my generation especially.
We don't have to prove our worth
because we inherit our worth.
You see, this firstborn
is kind of the language
of an inheritance situation.
You see, and most people
live their lives like they have to,
they have to earn their place
in the world.
They have to establish themselves.
They have to perform
in a certain way.
They have to impress people.
They have to grind
and prove themselves
and hustle when they have to.
And, you know, I'll say this.
I think that AI has become
such a crisis for people,
especially in my generation,
because we see all the things
that we've done to validate
and prove ourselves
and create a place
for ourselves in the world.
And we see how it's taking
so much of that leverage
that we had away.
College educations
are starting to feel like,
well, why did I do this?
You know, creative people
are really struggling.
People that are in the arts
are like, well,
why did I spend 20 years
learning how to do this?
But here's the truth.
is it is revealing
a dependence
that creative people
and intellectual people
have had
on their own abilities
to bring them
a sense of validation
and worth.
And that is the truth
that is coming out.
And that is the lie
that's being exposed.
And that is why people
are panicking
about what's happening.
But our confidence
is in God
to provide our value,
to provide our source
of strength.
We don't have to impress God.
We don't have to hustle
for God.
We don't have to grind
and prove ourselves
to God.
And we shouldn't have
to do that
for anyone else.
So I think that
the crisis
and the feelings
that people have
are exposing
a weakness
that God has to come in
and deal with
and heal
in people's lives.
You see,
the resurrection life,
it doesn't begin
with self-invention
or self-proving,
it comes with an identity
that we receive
freely from God.
Revelation 1.5,
from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness,
the firstborn
from among the dead,
a ruler over the kings
of the earth,
to the one who loves us
and has set us free
from our sins
at the cost
of our own blood.
You see,
your identity
is inherited.
It's not a wage.
It's not something
you earn.
You don't have to
negotiate with shame.
You don't have to
negotiate with anything.
You can stop living
like you're trying
to prove yourself
and trying to
audition for something.
You're not trying
to earn a seat anywhere
because Jesus has opened
the family of God
to all of us.
Number three
is to come out
of hiding.
See,
what happened
in the Garden of Eden,
it taught Adam and Eve
to hide,
didn't it?
But I think
the Easter calls us
back into the light
and back into
the presence of God
because,
you know,
what are you afraid of?
What are we really
afraid of?
What is our fear?
When we are in Christ,
what is our fear?
Are you afraid
that God's going
to find out?
It's preposterous.
It got a few laughs,
but it's ridiculous.
Well,
I'm afraid God's
going to find out
I did this thing.
Okay.
Let's work on that.
Maybe God's
going to find out
that I'm imperfect.
That's traumatizing.
Maybe God will figure
out that I need
something from him.
Gosh.
Maybe I'm just
not as polished
as I think I am.
And, you know,
this ship has sailed.
It's sailed for me.
I think it has sailed
for all of us.
And what breaks
the enemy's grip
that is the truth
of the light
of Jesus Christ.
1 John 1, 7 says,
But if we walk
in the light
as he himself
is in the light,
we have fellowship
with one another
and the blood
of Jesus his son
cleanses us
from all sin.
So I encourage you
to examine
these areas
of your life
of, you know,
these thoughts
of, well,
I'm imperfect
or I don't have
everything
or I'm not
as polished
as maybe I thought
I was.
I'm not the person
that maybe my cat
thinks I am.
But just take
one of those areas
of life
and just bring it
to God
and confess
and ask for help.
Ask for accountability
not to be shamed
but to be healed.
And I believe
that God will meet
you in that place.
Number four,
I love this one.
Live like the future
is already in you.
You see,
the resurrection
is not just something
that Jesus did.
It's not like,
hey guys,
look what I did,
you know.
But it's something
that Jesus started.
It was a starting point.
And he's the firstborn
but the family,
that's us,
is next.
So you can live
with a perspective
that looks towards
a future
with God.
It's a joy
that it doesn't depend
on circumstances.
You can live
with integrity
when the temptation
to do things
is very real.
You can live
with a stability
and a confidence
in God
that our culture
will just never understand.
You can live
with a sense
of generosity
and giving
when the desire
is to hoard
and to keep to yourself
and to self-preserve.
You see,
resurrection people
don't live
like the grave
and like the needs
and the cares
and the concerns
of this life
is the final authority.
And I believe
that's the message
of Easter.
The resurrection
is not just proof
that Jesus wins
in the end
but it's proof
that he has won
for his people
now
and today.
Revelation 21 says,
Then I saw
a new heaven
and a new...
I don't have a slide
for this.
I just decided
to read this.
Then I saw
a new heaven
and a new earth
for the first heaven
and the first earth
had ceased
to exist
and the sea
and the sea
existed no more
and I saw
the holy city
of the new Jerusalem
descending out
of heaven
from God
made ready
like a bride
adorned for her husband
and I heard
a loud voice
from the throne
saying,
Look,
the residence of God
is among human beings.
He will live
among them
and they will be
his people
and God himself
will be with them.
He will wipe away
every tear
from their eye
and death
will not exist
anymore
or mourning
or crying
or pain
for the former things
have ceased
to exist.
Revelation 21
calls them
former
things.
So we can live
like these former
things
no longer
have power.
They are powerless.
Jesus has proved
that
through his resurrection.
So it's not
just proof
that Jesus
survived death.
It is a public
announcement
that a new form
of humanity
has become.
A new king
is in charge
and reigning
on the throne
and death
has lost
its grip
for as many people
who choose
to put their faith
in Jesus.
So today
we don't just
celebrate that
Jesus is alive.
We celebrate
what it means.
It means that
that the firstborn
of the dead
has been risen
that we are made
alive in Christ
that we are
a new creation
that a new thing
is coming.
It means that
the future of humanity
is no longer
in question
and this future
and this promise
has a name
Jesus.
So if you're tired
if you're afraid
if you've been hiding
if you've been living
as though death
gets the final word
Easter is God
saying
no.
Death does not
get the final word.
Fear does not
get the final word.
Shame does not
get the final
word.
word.
The grave does not
get the final word.
And because Jesus
lives
you can live too.
And I encourage you
that if you're in a place
where you don't know
for sure
that if you died
tonight
you would go to heaven
or if you're still
working on that
today
is the day
that you can know
that you have
eternal life
you can know
that you're right
with God
and you can know
that you are
on your way
to heaven.
Hallelujah.
So dear Heavenly
Father
we thank you
for your death
on the cross.
We thank you
for your victory.
We thank you
that you
won
for us.
You won
a victory
that we could
have never
gotten
for ourselves.
And we thank you
that you have
invited us
into your family
that you have
invited us
to walk
in peace
and joy
and hope
of a future
with you.
And we celebrate
that this Easter
morning.
I pray a blessing
over each
and every person
that's here
this morning
and I pray a blessing
over their households.
Lord we celebrate
everything that you're
doing in our families
and in our lives
and I pray a blessing
over everyone's hands
as they work.
I pray that there's
peace
and hope
in every single home
represented here
this morning.
And all God's people
said
Amen.
