The Thread of Life – Part 26 (The Resurrection)

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The Thread of Life – 31 Stories that point to Jesus

Part 26

Welcome to Jesus church: Here and Online

• Today is a significant Sunday in our year long series on the Bible
  • Because everything we have read has built up to this point
  • Adams fall > Abrahams promise > 10 commandments > Temple
    • History echoed the need for a Savior
• As much as if you were caught in a building that was on fire
  • And I said I was going to rescue you
  • You wouldn’t call me your rescuer until you were safe
  • This week we read about God’s fulfillment of that need
• Because up to this point, Jesus is a lot of things…
  • This week he becomes our Savior
  • Rescues his people not from what they wanted rescuing from
  • But from what the needed rescuing from

Last week we read through the days leading up to Jesus Death

• How Jesus became the ultimate servant
  • And laid down his life for us
  • So that the penalty for sin would be paid for
    • Not because we make ourselves worthy…
    • But because he made us worthy
• Today we read about the day that Jesus defeated death

[Pray]

Story

Have you ever had something staring you in the face… just miss it

• And once you see it… it makes total sense
  • You can never unsee it at that point
  • And it blows you away that you didn’t see it the first time
• And usually the answer is far less complicated than we make it
  • My daughter is really into riddles and jokes right now
  • So for Thanksgiving she was locked and loaded
  • I mean an arsenal for everyone that was with us
• Had this riddle… showed it to me… naturally I gotta figure it out
  • Here is a picture of her riddle… figure out what 5 equals
  • Well the answer is actually the first thing you read
  • But I’m made it so complicated I could see the simple truth
    • Michelle got it by the way – the brains of the family

The death/resurrection of Jesus blindsided everyone

For the disciples it was so outside their frame of reference

• It completely shattered everything they expected in a Messiah
  • So they had to dismantle and rebuild everything they knew on
    • God
    • Messiah
    • Promises
    • Future
• No one was more blindsided than Peter… his story is so prominent
  • From declaring Jesus as the Son of the living God
  • To refusing to believe Jesus could die (and called Satan)
  • To denying Jesus 3 times… then restoring him over breakfast

And after all that – These are Peter’s words on the resurrection…

1 Peter 1:3-9

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trails These have come so that the proven gentleness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes and though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though yet have not seen him, you love him and even tough you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are reeving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Now when reading anything – Need to answer why should we care

• Why should I care what Peter thinks of the resurrection
  • If anyone could relate to idea of not seeing & then seeing
  • I think Peter could do it
• Why should I care what Peter thinks of the Resurrection…
  • 1: Peter was one of first people to see the empty tomb
  • 2: Peter was one of the first eye witnesses of resurrected Jesus
• So Peter talks a few decades later of how clear it is now
  • Actually in original Greek… one long run on sentence
  • Most translations carve it up into multiple sentences
  • But this is super dense with theology… thought… passion

And Peter says this to a group of Churches going through persecution

• Don’t know details… mentions suffering, grief, imprisonment
  • So Peter is writing to his churches – His people
  • Wanting to help them keep their faith… hope… love for Jesus
• And what is the first thing Peter says to help them hold on is this…
  • First thing Peter brings up is the resurrection
  • Not their hope that death is not the end… which was relevant
  • No… it’s Jesus’ resurrection
• For Peter – When reaching someone who is struggling and hurting
  • The first place to direct their attention
  • It’s the empty tomb and the risen Jesus

Peter tells us why this is the first place to go… gives this powerful image

1 Peter 1:3

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

• To Peter it wasn’t just a crazy story of someone back from dead
  • To Peter what Jesus accomplished…
  • It changed the way he saw the world
  • That God’s plans way bigger than he understood

What Jesus did gives world: A LIVING HOPE

We’ve talked of confession Peter makes b4 rez

He says: You are the Messiah, Son of the LIVING God.

• But even then Peter didn’t truly understand what he said
  • Why do I say that?
  • Because Jesus responds: Flesh and Blood didn’t reveal this…
• The next story… Peter pushes back on Jesus predicting death
  • What does Jesus say now…
  • Get behind me Satan. Don’t have things of God in mind
  • Why… He didn’t get it yet (revealed but didn’t get it)
• But now he really understands what God showed him
  • And it changes everything… it was right in front of him
  • And when he finally sees it… could never not see it again

And the reason Peter starts with hope… He learned from Jesus teaching

• Jesus understood that weaved into human fabric: Need for hope
  • Even the world of non-theological psychology gets this
  • It is universally understood… humans have deep need for hope
• It’s part of what makes humans unique… we’re different from pets
  • Your dog wakes up… wants your affection… wants to eat (cat)
  • But dogs don’t wake up with a deep need for purpose to life
  • They don’t have a hope to be part of a bigger story
    • They just want you to pet them… walk them… feed them
• Humans have this deep need for life to be organized into a story
  • To have some sense of greater meaning with a goal/purpose
  • So that we can put our HOPE into that purpose
  • And Jesus/Peter understand this is vital to a healthy existence
• And we know this by experience: When hopes/dreams are taken
  • It shakes us to the CORE OF WHO WE ARE
  • We lose identity… we lose motivation… we lose HOPE

Story of Victor Frankle

Holocost survivor (Jewish Psychologist) – Wrote a book on experiences

• Him & wife were captured by Nazis… sent to concentration camp
  • Out of all his friends/family/wife
  • Only he and one sister survived 2 ½ years
• He talks about what he learned and how he survived
  • He said how he survived was by brining meaning to his life
  • Every day he worked like everyone else
    • But at night he did therapy sessions with people in camp
    • This was his way of finding meaning and purpose
    • He talks about his observations and kept notes
    • Saw how all these people were dealing with the trauma
• Compared a lifetime of tragedy for most concentrated in 2 years
  • You lose your home… forced to leave your place of origin
  • Lose loved ones… status… security… health… freedom
  • Many will deal with a majority of this… just over a lifetime

Was fascinated how people dealt… common factor in the survivors

• Is exactly what Peter is talking about: HOPE
  • Ability to BELIEVE their life fit into a story that was greater
  • That this was not all that there was
• He could see people who lost their hope… sense of meaning
  • Became either very animalistic: Violent/Instinctual/Survival
  • Others became indifference: Numb – Block it all out
  • Some thought of after its over – I’ll get everything back
    • But he followed up and for many that didn’t happen
    • Many died after the camps because hope still lost
• But a small group who made it out and continue to survive
  • They had a hope that transcended their circumstances
    • A baker who just wanted to bake bread for others again
    • A musician who just wanted to play music for others again
  • This was a hope that brought life because no one could take it
    • Their captors couldn’t…
    • Their circumstance couldn’t…

This is what Peter talks about… First thing he points hurting church to

1 Peter 1:3-4

… he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

• A hope opened & revealed Easter morning… that no one can take
  • And that hope can do something to you – Living and Dynamic
  • He says (straight from Jesus) makes u new kind of human
• It completely changes who you are
  • From your outlook to your reactions to your conclusions
  • And the only language that satisfies the reality of resurrection…
  • Is to say “Oh that person was born again (second time)”
• Which means if we will allow the hope of resurrection in our lives
  • You will see the world different/act different

Now how do we get that hope… many don’t live this

Most Christians don’t use “Living hope” to describe how they feel today

• When you hear the news of the world that we live in or your life
  • Peter tells us it doesn’t come from denial of tragedy & suffering
  • But by embracing and letting it refine & transform us
  • B/C its in resurrection we become people of hope/joy/wisdom
• We’re not crushed by sufferings… actually made more beautiful
  • But how does that happen???
  • Because we’ve all know it doesn’t “JUST” happen

And Peter explains this through a financial metaphor

1 Peter 1:4-5 (after new birth into living hope through resurrection)

And into an inheritance that can never spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation…

• So what Peter says is what was experienced in the holocaust
  • You need this hope that cannot be touched
  • Uses a metaphor saying: It’s like money in the bank
• And the point isn’t we get it when we die and go to heaven
  • Its that our inheritance is in Jesus
  • When he returns he will bring that inheritance with Him
  • And nothing in this world can take that away from us
• This is the kind of hope that is necessary for us as humans
  • It is what we need in order to walk through tragedy & suffering
  • And come out on the other side more beautiful and like Christ

And here is the cool part… it won’t be changed – But you will be

• If the resurrection is your hope: it will transform you
  • Peter describes what its like to follow Jesus & hold on to hope
  • And to go through all things that life throws at us
  • And the process of change we experience if we let it happen

1 Peter 1:6

In all of this you greatly rejoice (yay… we got money in the bank), though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

• So Peter admits that life here is very difficult… don’t kid yourself
  • If you think difficulty = lack of faith
  • You don’t know the Bible
• But he says if our hope is in this LIVING FAITH… what is my posture
  • Joy… Verse 8 – Filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy
    • Now what does that mean
    • Is it just “Turn that frown upside down”
  • If someone loses everything in life… take them out to coffee
    • They say “Everything’s great – Never been more happy”
    • Thought would be: Oh boy this person is super unhealthy
• So what does Peter mean by this extreme JOY
  • How did Jesus respond to most intense night of grief & death
    • Is Jesus laughing and happy go lucky…
    • Is he just shaking it off… rise above those emotions
  • No… he is so full of sorrow he doesn’t even have words
    • All he has is scriptures of lament he memorized as a kid
    • Which is what he quotes
  • But look at what Jesus does – He choose hope
    • How does he do it… Commits his life into the fathers hands
    • B/C he trusts all this is working together to fulfill the story
    • He ends in a place of trust & hope “not my will but yours”

What Peter is saying: There’s a deep trust in the truth of resurrection

• If I believe in this LIVING HOPE… then I choose in face of suffering
  • To hold on to hope… to hold on to joy
  • To trust in the Father
• Doesn’t mean I am going to automatically feel happy
  • But it means I believe this pain doesn’t have last word in my life
  • And that choice changes you in a significant way
• And he concludes this thought with another metaphor
  • When you choose joy in the hope of resurrection
  • What happens in the midst of pain – This image of metal & fire

1 Peter 1:7

…your faith is of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

So with gold… it comes from the ground and you mine it as a mineral

• When you get it out of the earth – its veins with rock/dirt…
  • And to refine it… you melt it down in fire
  • And all the impurities start to float to the top
  • And you scoop those impurities off the top thru intense heat
• That process of fire reduces gold to its more pure/basic state
  • And you would think you are destroying it… fire is a bad thing
  • But you aren’t destroying it… you’re refining it
  • Making it possible to remove anything not a part of its essence
    • The value is in how close it is to what it’s supposed to be
• So the resurrection in Jesus makes it possible to have a living hope
  • That is so transformative… that even deep pain and loss
  • The resurrection allows us to see that process as a strange GIFT
  • That transforms you into a NEW AND DIFFERENT human

If you’ve ever been around someone who has been through lots of life

• And they allow this LIVING HOPE to transform their lives
  • You know what I’m talking about
  • They are different… and you can tell
• Because even through the pain and loss they have endured in life
  • It has turned into a gift… why?
    • • Think about what happens…
    • Remember Dr. Frankle… those who found hope in life after tragedy
      • But hope was in a job/people/things… still lost their hope
      • Why: It was in something that couldn’t bare the burden
      • Jesus and resurrection are only thing that can bare the burden
    • And that person who has learned and been refined by the fire
      • They have learned the value of the process
      • And the value of what to hold on to through that process
      • Whcih is the LIVING HOPE IN THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

Matt. 11:28-30

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

[PRAY]