The Day that Changed the World | Easter

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Sign up at harvest.org. The resurrection of Jesus assures me that I am accepted by God. Coming up today on A New Beginning, in a special Easter message, Pastor Greg Laurie has insights on our standing before the Lord. We need to lay to rest, once and for all, this idea that if I live a good life, I'll find God's approval.

Listen, you have God's approval because of what Jesus did for you at the cross. When you're right about resurrection generically, you know, the celebrity's popularity has seen a resurrection, the word isn't capitalized. But when you're writing about the resurrection of Christ, it must be capitalized.

So significant was that event in the context of history. So significant is that to Christians worldwide that even secular writing experts give it that respect. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us appreciate all Jesus' resurrection has accomplished. Happy Easter, everybody. He is risen. Oh, I like that.

You guys are sounding good. All right, so the title of my message today is The Day That Changed the World. Of course, Easter is a celebration of the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This singular event changed everything.

It was literally the day that changed the world. But before there was a resurrection, there was a crucifixion. And I've told you before about the horrific whipping that would happen to Jesus. They probably used the Roman cat of nine tails, which would rip into the skin and the skeletal tissue, even exposing vital organs.

In many cases, people did not survive the scourging. And Jesus took 39 lashes on his back. It was described as the halfway crucifixion. So now Jesus is sent to the cross. And as he hangs there, he makes seven profound statements. Every statement is significant.

Even the order of the statements is significant. Statement number one from the cross was, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Statement number two in response to the words of a thief crucified next to him who said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Christ said, verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Then seeing his mother at the foot of the cross, Jesus said, woman, behold your son.

And seeing John standing next to her, he said, son, behold your mother. Presumably, all the sin of the world was placed upon Christ at this moment. If it wasn't at this moment, it happened at some point where he bore the sins of the world, causing him to cry out, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Then his fifth statement was, I thirst.

His sixth statement was, it is finished. And finally, statement number seven, to the Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. So Jesus dies on the cross. So Mary, Peter, and John come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. John and Peter race to the tomb. And John points out that he won the race.

That is called a perk of writing your own gospel. Yeah. I beat the old dude. Yeah.

I got there first. They come. They see the empty tomb. But Mary Magdalene, who had seven demons cast out of her, remains. She was only there to anoint the body of Jesus, to pay her respects, if you will. But then we read in Matthew 28, verse eight, they went to tell the disciples. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, rejoice. And they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. So in the middle of this, these disciples run off, and they run into Jesus.

And I find it really interesting because it says, Jesus said, rejoice. And the word that he uses there for rejoice is a simple greeting. Sort of like, hey, hello, greetings. How are you? I would have expected him to say, ta-da.

No. It is almost like a common greeting you would just give to someone. Like in the south they say, hey, how you all doing? If you're from Hawaii, they'll say, how's it? Or, aloha. If you're from New York, you'll say, what are you looking at me?

Depends where you're from, right? Just a common greeting. Sort of picking up where he last left off. But Mary remains at the tomb. And this is what happened. John 20, very familiar passage, powerful passage. Verse 11, Mary stood outside of the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said, well, they've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've laid him. Now when she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping?

Whom are you seeking? She, thinking it was a gardener, said, well, sir, if you've carried him away, tell me where you've laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus said, Mary. She turned to him and said, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said, do not cling to me, for I've not yet ascended to my father and to your father, but go to your brothers and say I'm ascending to my father and your father, to my God and to your God.

What a moment. She recognizes his voice. Jesus said her name in a way that no one else said it.

Did not our Lord say, my sheep, hear my voice and know my voice? She suddenly realizes it's Jesus risen from the dead. And he says, don't cling to me. Now isn't that interesting, because we just read that the disciples took hold of him.

He didn't stop them. But to Mary, he says, don't cling to me. I think she probably had a death grip on Jesus. Sort of like when you're with your kids and you're crossing the street and you're holding on to them tightly, like, you're not going anywhere, right? And she's saying, Lord, I lost you once, but now I'm hanging on to you forever.

You're my own personal Jesus. No one's going to take you from me. He's like, I wonder if he was saying, ow, let go.

No, probably not. I think really what he was saying is, Mary, listen, things have changed. I'm not going to be there for you physically anymore, for you to reach out and touch.

But Mary, it's going to be better, because I'm going to come and live inside of your heart. You'll never be separated from me again, because I'm going to my God and your God, to my Father and your Father. Wait, Father? In the Old Testament, you would never address God as Father. He was the awesome, almighty, holy, untouchable God. But now Jesus is saying, He's my Father and He's your Father.

We take that for granted, because we're raised on the Lord's Prayer, being taught to pray our Father who art in heaven. But for a first century Jew to be told they could address God as Father, well, that's life altering. He was going to come and live inside of her now. I remember I was driving with two of my grandkids, Allie and Christopher.

And so Allie was, I don't know, she might have been around four years old at this point. And Christopher's just a little guy and she's giving him a little lesson on theology in the back seat. She says, Christopher, Jesus is God and God is Jesus. I thought, that's very good. And she says, and if you pray, He'll come and live in your heart. And then she said, but then He'll come and live in your stomach too.

And I'm thinking, okay, we got to work on that a little bit. There's no Jesus coming into our stomach part. But I love this. So Jesus had risen from the dead. Let me close now with four practical truths of how the resurrection of Jesus affects you. Number one, if you're taking notes, the resurrection of Jesus assures me that I am accepted by God. It assures me I'm accepted by God. Romans 4 25 says, He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. We need to lay to rest once and for all this idea that if I live a good life, I'll find God's approval. Listen, you have God's approval because of what Jesus did for you.

You don't have to earn it. Even among some Christians, there is a belief sometimes that if I live a good life, I'll get to heaven because heaven is for good people. No, heaven is not for good people. Heaven is for forgiven people.

It's true. There's a shock. There's going to be some good people, I'll put that in quotes, that will end up in hell. There's going to be a lot of bad people that will end up in heaven. Because those bad people turned from their sin like the thief on the cross and believed and they're allowed, they're welcomed even into heaven. And those so-called good people who thought they did not need God will end up separated from Him for all eternity. And so I am made right by God. I am accepted by God because there's no forgiveness from balancing records but from canceling records.

Jesus canceled the charges that were against you at the cross. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. You know, there's nothing like hearing the Word of God and worshiping the Lord together. I want to encourage you to join us for something we call Harvest at Home. It happens every Saturday and Sunday at harvest.org. You can join Christians literally from around the world as we worship and we study the Word of God together.

So join us for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well, today we're learning what the Lord's resurrection accomplishes on our behalf. Today's message is called The Day That Changed the World. Number two, the resurrection of Jesus assures me I have all the power I need to live the Christian life. 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 raised Christ from the dead.

He'll give life to your mortal body by that same Spirit living inside of you. So dear Christian friends, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. Sometimes you say, I couldn't control myself. The devil made me do it.

No, he didn't. He may have tempted you, but you had to yield to his temptation. And God even promises to the Christian that there's no temptation taking you, but such is as common to man. But God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above your capacity to resist. But what with the temptation? Make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

Let me loosely paraphrase that. There's always a way out of every temptation. Quick poll. How many of you have ever been tempted to sin? Raise your hand.

Okay. How many of you have ever given into that temptation to sin? You better all put your hands up. Mine's up.

We have, haven't we? But there is no sin that needs to control me. I don't have to be an addict. I don't have to be under the power of alcohol. I don't have to be under the power of any vice or any sin whatsoever because Jesus has died and risen again and the Spirit of God lives inside of me. You say, well, I've tried to live this Christian life and it's hard. Let me correct you. It's not hard.

It's impossible. It's impossible to live as a Christian without the help and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 15, without me you can do nothing. But then the Apostle Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That all happened because of the resurrection of Jesus.

Point number three. The resurrection of Jesus assures me that I will live forever in heaven. It assures me that I will live forever in heaven.

Christ died and Christ rose again from the dead and thus death died when Christ rose. Because Jesus rose I too will rise. Because Jesus died I will never die.

You say, Greg, you're delusional. You're going to die. Well, I know in one sense I will unless the rapture comes in my lifetime which I would really like to happen actually. That's up to the Lord. When Jesus died on the cross he conquered sin. When he rose from the dead he conquered death.

And 1 Corinthians 15 says, our perishable earthly bodies will be transformed into heavenly bodies and will never die and the scriptures will come true. Death has swallowed up in victory. Oh death where is your victory. Oh death where is your sting.

Your sting. I was walking on the beach a while back with my wife. And for some reason there were bees everywhere on the beach.

What is this all about? Bees? Sunbathing?

What were they doing? Here is laying around all over the sand. Kathy said, Greg, be careful. You don't step on a bee. I said, I'm not going to step on it. And I stepped on the bee.

And I screamed like a little girl. But here is the thing. That bee had stung its last person. And then the same way Jesus took the stinger out of death for us.

He took the sting you see. So the tomb is not an entrance to death but to life. And the moment we take our last breath on earth we take our next breath in heaven. When we close our eyes on earth we will open them in heaven. That is all because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is right. One more point. The resurrection of Jesus assures me that I will receive a new body just like His. Isn't that great to know. Especially as this body is beginning to wear out.

Right. There are telltale signs you are getting old. You know you are getting old when you drop something and when you reach down to pick it up you wonder what else can I do while I am down here. This is a lot of work.

I don't really want to come back here again if I don't have to. You know you are getting old when there are so many candles on your birthday cake the youth group shows up and forms a circle around you and sings Kumbaya. Right. So things are breaking down.

Things aren't working like they used to. You have all kinds of new aches and pains. And the Bible promises we will have a new body. And what will our new body be like. Well it will be like the risen Lord's body.

Because the Bible says in Colossians 3 and 4 when Christ who is our life appears we will be like Him. So Jesus was risen. It was a physical body.

He wasn't like some phantom. And one of the first things He did was give me some food. They give Him a piece of fish and He eats it. So we know in our new body we are going to eat still. There is going to be food in heaven people.

I am guaranteeing this. Because it is in the Bible. Remember the wedding supper of the Lamb. And we will sit down and we will eat with these great men and women of God and loved ones that have preceded you.

It will be a great reunion. Some of you are going to family gatherings after church that can be good or bad depending on your family. But in general it is great to get together with family and have fun together and eat together. You don't want to have a meal with someone you don't really know. Especially you don't want to have a meal with someone you don't really get along with.

They give you indigestion. You want to eat with people who you are comfortable with. In my case it is because I am a slob when I eat. So you know I am comfortable with you.

You already know I am a slob and get food everywhere. Anyway the point of it all is is that in our new bodies will still be us. It will just be a radically upgraded version of us. It says over in the book of Job, in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see Him with my own eyes. I and not another.

Yes. These are all the promises given to us because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But let me close with this.

These promises are for the Christian and the Christian only. And I ask you in closing do you know Jesus? A number of years ago I went to a mental institution. Not as a patient.

As a visitor. It was with a friend of mine named Mike. Now this is back in the early 70s. So I had long hair. I had hair.

Start with that. Had hair. I had long hair.

It was parted in the middle. Past my shoulders. A long beard. Some said I sort of looked like Jesus. So we walk into this mental institution and my friend Mike walks up to one of the patients and says, have you ever met Jesus Christ personally? Without skipping a beat this guy turns to me takes my hand and says, Jesus it is good to meet you. I am like I am not Jesus.

I am Greg. But we can meet Jesus personally. He will come and live in our heart. Not in our stomachs.

I have to add that correction. But in our hearts as our Savior and Lord. Again he said I have gone to my God and your God. To my Father and your Father. You can know God as a Father. Maybe some of you didn't have a father growing up.

I didn't. Maybe some of you had mean fathers. Even abusive fathers. Harsh dads.

Harsh dads. But you have a Father in heaven who loves you unconditionally and accepts you because of the death of His Son in your place and you can begin a relationship with God right now. You know it is possible to know all about God but not know God. You know people follow different people on social media and they feel like they know them. You don't know them. You see what they pose. You think you know them.

The fact is you know a little bit about them and you probably know as much about them as they want you to know. But knowing God is not just knowing about God. It is knowing God. And I ask you today do you know God in a personal way? Is Christ living inside of you?

You say well I think so. Listen if Jesus lives inside of you you are going to know. Illustration. If someone moved into your house in the middle of the night do you think you would know? You smell something being cooked in the kitchen. You hear the shower. What is going on?

Yeah. You would be aware. And if God Almighty has taken residence in your heart you are going to know it. And if you don't know it maybe He is not there.

In fact I would suggest He is not there. You will know if God is living inside of you. You will know if Christ is living in your heart. And if you want Him to come and live in your heart He will do it right here right now. He came out of that empty tomb to fill your empty heart.

He will come in right here right now. And you can walk out of here as someone who knows God in a personal way. As someone who is forgiven of their sins. As someone who knows that they will go to heaven when they die.

And someone who will be ready for the Lord's return which could happen at any moment. So if you want Christ to come into your life. If you want Him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to go to heaven one day.

If you want to be ready for His return. Pray this prayer after me right here right now wherever you are. You could pray it out loud. You could pray it quietly in your heart. But do pray this prayer if you want Jesus in your life.

Pray these words. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know that you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Jesus come into my life now.

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus name I ask this.

Amen. An important prayer by Pastor Greg Laurie. And if you've just prayed that prayer and met it sincerely we want to welcome you into God's family.

And we want to follow up with you by sending some resource materials. We call our New Believers Growth Packet. It's free of charge if you prayed along with Pastor Greg today. Just ask for the New Believers Growth Packet when you call 1-800-821-3300.

Call anytime 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click on the words Know God. Well we're so grateful to have Lee Strobel with us today. Best-selling author, former legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. And he's just finished a book on the afterlife. An eye-opening book called The Case for Heaven. Pastor Greg you've made the point before that after your son went to heaven so unexpectedly it piqued your interest in heaven. Yes it did.

It did. I wouldn't say I'm an expert on heaven but I would say I'm a student of heaven. I've always believed in it.

Obviously I've always taught on it. But when my son went to be with the Lord I just really started digging in like never before into the topic of heaven. Wanting to know more details of a better sense of it. Something I could almost imagine.

It's very hard to imagine. But try to wrap my mind around it a little bit more. And so I'm always interested in talking about this subject.

Learning about this subject. And that's why I'm so excited that my friend Lee Strobel has written a book The Case for Heaven. And the cool thing about Lee is you know Lee I think it's true to say that there's still a skepticism in you. And I think there can be a healthy skepticism. You know it's been said skepticism is not necessarily a sign that a man is wrong.

It may be a sign he's thinking. And Christians can be gullible and just believe what anybody says. Oh someone says I went to heaven and saw X Y and Z and I wrote a book about it and they may just believe it.

But no we need a reliable source which of course is the scripture. But you go with the degree of skepticism looking at these things and you do research to well sort of like you're in a courtroom and it's a case. And tell us about how your brain works when you come to a subject and specifically the topic of heaven. Yeah I mean I spend a lot of time trying to determine who are the best experts in the world to talk to because you know I can't be an expert on everything. But as a journalist you seek out people who have spent a lifetime investigating these issues. And so I have interviews in this book with Dr. Sharon Diercks who's a neuroscientist with a PhD from Cambridge University talking about the existence of a soul.

That we do possess a soul that continues after the demise of our physical body. I interviewed John Burke who studied a thousand near-death experiences and has written a profound book about them. I interviewed Clay Jones a professor who wrote a book called Immortal which deals with how people try to cope with their fear of death. I interviewed probably the most profound interview. I wanted to interview someone who was headed for heaven soon. And so I sat down and had the last interview before he died with Luis Palau who was one of the great evangelists of our generation. Shared his faith with a billion people around the world. He knew he was dying. He had stage four cancer. And I sat down with him to say what's it like knowing that you're going to be going to heaven like any time now.

He'd already exceeded the lifespan that they had expected him to have. And so we had a profound conversation and that is in the book. I think that will encourage a lot of people. Because even Luis Palau said in these last days, Satan whispers in your ears, you've pointed millions of people toward heaven but you're not going. You've been disqualified. You're never headed for heaven. And Luis said he had to come against it with the word of God and say it's just not true. And so he gives some great insights into what it's like to be on the precipice of entering into heaven. Beautiful. That's all in these new book, The Case for Heaven.

Brand new and we'll send it to you for your gift of any size this month. Yeah, that's right. And we'll take that gift, that investment, and reach out on your behalf. We're all about teaching believers and reaching unbelievers. In fact, since March of 2020, we've seen 220,000 professions of faith through Harvest Ministries.

That's what your investment helps accomplish. So we hope you'll send a generous donation today and ask for Lee's new book, The Case for Heaven. You can call us anytime 24 7 at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg offers some important insight on the Lord's Prayer. Now, not the one we usually think of, the one that starts our Father who art in heaven. We'll consider the prayer Jesus prayed on our behalf. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.