I don't know if this blows your mind or not, but thinking about
those words that we just sang for endless days, we will sing
your praise. It's been a couple thousand
years since Jesus died and rose from the dead.
And for a couple thousand years people have gathered and
worshipped and praised the name of Jesus.
And we get the opportunity to join them today.
And here's the good news, it's going to go on for endless days.
We get to continue to praise him because he's alive and he is
risen. So happy Easter, He is risen.
Praise the Lord. Hey, we're talking about the
king we need. And today we're talking about
the triumphant, the victorious king.
But I got to tell you, I had a moment this week.
I had a moment. It's spring break for our kids
and, and, and 1st and sunrise service.
Dale talked about basketball, which gets me excited.
I love basketball. And he talked about who the
greatest of all time is. And of course, if you know me,
you know my favorite player, Shaquille O'Neal.
He played back in the 90s and early 2000s, maybe played a
little bit in the, you know, late 2000s.
But but he, I watched almost every game that Shaq played.
He was dominant, one of the most dominant players in NBA history.
I mean, he dunked on people. He was fast, he had good
footwork. He was awesome.
How many of you ever watched Shaq play?
All right, I love Shaq. I used to watch almost every one
of his games. In fact, I went to see him in
Lai, went to see him in Cleveland.
I went to see him in Miami. I went to see him in Atlanta.
I went to see him in Charlotte. I loved watching him play.
But one of the things I watched from Shaq, one of the most
dominant players in history, is it was sometime around his time
with the Miami Heat, maybe the Phoenix Suns.
He dropped off a little bit. All of a sudden, he wasn't quite
as fast. He wasn't quite as strong.
He wasn't quite as dominant. Well, I got to tell you, it's
been spring break for our kids this week.
And so one of the things we we can't go, I'm a pastor.
I can't leave on Holy Week and go on a trip.
And so one of the things we've done to make it special as I've
come up here in the evenings and played pickleball with my boys.
Now, let me tell you, Shaq was a dominant basketball player.
You, I have been dominant over my children at pickleball.
I mean, Shaquille O'Neal level dominance, left hand, right
hand, doesn't matter. Dominant.
On Monday night we came up to church.
I had a moment. We came up to the church.
It was Sam and Charlie and I and, and my first game playing,
I played against Sam, who turned 15 this week.
He wasn't 15 yet, but we played our first game and I wasn't so
dominant. It didn't go my way.
I lost the game. I came back the second game I I
fought and I clawed. Listen, I'm not in peak physical
condition right now. I'm not in my athletic shape.
I'm not in dominant Shaquille O'Neal form.
The second game I clawed back and I was able to get the win.
The third game, it was a tough game.
I'm sweating, I'm hurting, I can't breathe.
He wins a point. This is the worst part of all of
it. He wins a point.
I go jogging over to get the ball.
I'm running and this crazy thing happens.
I fell, guys. I don't fall.
Nobody pushed me, nobody tripped me.
I just fell. I just fell over my own feet and
it hurt. I don't think I broke a hip, but
it hurt. And he went on.
Sam Mahaffey. Go ahead, give him some love,
everyone. Sam Mahaffey went on to win two
of three against me on Monday night.
And pickleball and the once Shaquille O'Neal dominant
pickleball player that I was, I didn't feel so good anymore.
There's a saying in sports that Father Time is undefeated.
No matter how good you are, no matter how dominant you are,
eventually time will catch up to you.
You will get older, you will slow down, and you will not be
dominant anymore. There's another saying that says
there's two things you can count on.
What are they? Death and taxes.
All right, all joking aside, can I, can I be really serious with
you for a minute? Sometimes I have anxiety over
aging and thinking about getting older and life changing.
I love sports playing, I mean, playing pickleball is fun.
I love that I get to play with the boys and, and, and I'm I'm
glad Sam got his day in the sun. And trust me, I'm not, I'm not
done yet. There will be dominance again.
But I got to be real honest with you and say that, that sometimes
I think about the fact that I'm getting older and I think about
the fact I, I, I took Eli on a college visit and I, I went to
my old college and I thought, man, it's been longer since I
was in college than it was before and during college.
I'm getting older. How many of you have ever had a
little anxiety over aging or death?
It's a real thing. Two things you can count on,
death and taxes. Well, I got good news today.
Today we come together to serve the risen Savior, the victorious
king, the triumphant King. And because of that, we have
victory, we have life. Not just life, we have
everlasting life. We're going to be in First
Corinthians 15 today, but last week we talked about John
chapter 13 and in John chapter 13 we saw this that the evening
meal was in progress and the devil had already prompted
Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot to betrayed Jesus.
Jesus knew all things had been put under his feet or under his
power, that he had come from God and was returning to God.
In verse one it says he knew that his hour had come.
So, so two things we said last week.
We said Jesus knew when he gathered with his disciples in
the Last Supper that Jesus knew two things.
Number 1, he knew that his time had come.
He knew that he would be going to the cross and dying on a
cross. He was about a day or less from
dying on a cross when he gathered with his disciples.
The second thing he knew is this, that God had put all
things under him. He was all powerful.
There was nothing that is over Jesus.
And last week we talked about the servant King, that even in
the midst of all of that, He bowed down and he washed the
feet of his disciples. But moving forward, ultimately
he chose to go to the cross. He knew he was going to be
crucified on a cross. He knew that there was going to
be excruciating pain and and then it would be torturous.
And Jesus chose to go to the cross.
He knew that all things were under his power, but he also
knew that he must defeat sin and death for our sake.
Praise the Lord, He has risen today.
Say he has risen today. We're going to look at First
Corinthians 15. Stand with me if you don't mind,
and honor God's word. And there's two parts of this.
The first part is the good news of the gospel.
We're going to start in verse 3. And so Paul says in First
Corinthians 15, he says for what I received I passed on to you as
of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures, that he was buried and that he raised on the
third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared
to Cephas and then to the 12. This is the good news of the
gospel guys right here in 2 verses.
Jesus died on the cross for your sins.
Praise the Lord. You should be excited about
that. We celebrate this on Good
Friday. Celebrates a tough word, but we
do. We worship and celebrate that
Jesus gave everything on the cross to pay for our sins.
The reality is this, every single one of us descend and
fallen short of the glory of God and every single one of us
deserves the punishment for that.
But praise the Lord Jesus Christ, because of His great
love for us, gave His life on a cross.
He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.
He was buried just like any dead person is buried.
He was buried. He was sealed in a tomb.
But on the third day he rose again, triumphant, victorious.
Praise God, that's the gospel. He didn't stay dead, He rose
from the dead and gives us victory over sin and death.
To continue on. In verse 20 it says, But Christ
has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a
man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
For as an Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive,
but each in turn Christ the Firstfruits.
Then when he comes those who belong to him, Then the end will
come, when he hands over the Kingdom of God the Father to God
the Father, after he has destroyed all dominion,
authority and power. For He must reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he has put
everything under his feet. Now when it says everything has
been put under his feet, it's clear that this does not include
God himself who put everything under Christ.
When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject
to him who put everything under him, so that God may be All in
all. Praise the Lord, the good news
of the gospel. Have a seat.
Paul is writing this in a culture that struggled with
resurrection. Do you ever struggle with the
idea of resurrection? We say we believe it, but let's
be honest, if we struggle with aging and death, maybe we
struggle a little bit with the concept of resurrection.
This this culture that he's writing into struggled with it.
The they had the influence of their culture, which believed
that their bodies were traps. They were, they were tombs and
they didn't believe their bodies were good, But also they had the
influence of the Sadducees who were religious people who denied
the resurrection. And so Paul is writing this into
a culture and and I didn't read verse 12 through 19, but but he
makes this logical argument. This is from a commentary that I
read. It says if there is no principle
of resurrection, then Jesus did not rise from the dead.
See, the people that he's writing to did not believe and
resurrect. They did believe that Jesus rose
from the dead, but they didn't believe that we would be raised
from the dead. And so he's writing, he says if
there's no principle of resurrection, then Jesus did not
rise from the dead. And if Jesus did not rise from
the dead, then death has power over him and has defeated him.
And if death has power over Jesus, then he is not God.
And if he's not God, then he cannot offer a complete
sacrifice for sins. And if Jesus cannot offer a
complete sacrifice for sins, then our sins are not completely
paid for before God. And if my sins aren't completely
paid for before God, then I am still in my sins.
Therefore, if Christ has not risen, he is unable to save.
Guys, Paul is writing this because this is a big deal.
The resurrection of Jesus. The reason we gather on Easter,
the reason people around the world gather, is because this is
a big deal. Jesus is exactly who he says he
is. He's the Son of God and he died
and three days later rose from the grave.
Today is huge. He is risen, praise the Lord.
Verse 20 to 28, he moves on and he says, but Christ has indeed
been raised from the dead. Three things that we see we're
going to work through three things we see verses 20 to 28
that are good news of the gospel for this Easter for you and I
Three things. Number one, Christ's
resurrection is the first fruits.
His resurrection paves the way for our resurrection.
It says here, but Christ has indeed been raised from the
dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the
dead comes also through a man. For as an Adam all die, so in
Christ all will be made alive. The idea of firstfruits is that
it's the beginning, it's the first part of the crop.
And so Jesus, his resurrection was the firstfruits, and there
was a lot more to come. And guess what?
That's our resurrection, that we, even though we will die,
will be raised again and have eternal life with Christ if we
believe in Him. Praise the Lord, He's our
resurrection. He's the first fruits.
There's no reason to have anxiety over fear and death if
you understand what's coming after.
If you're a believer in Christ and you know that there's
something better coming, you don't need to worry about not
being good at pickleball anymore.
You don't need to worry about getting older.
You don't need to worry about the things you're going to miss
because there's something so much better.
I remember in high school, I got to go on a date.
It was the best looking girl at our school and I went to the
Aerosmith concert with her. Now this was right when that
movie, I don't even remember the movie.
It was the Armageddon, Thank you.
And that song, I don't want to miss a thing.
Huge song. And I went to the concert
Aerosmith with the best looking girl in school.
And I remember laying there on the grass there in Nashville
thinking, I don't know if it gets any better than this.
This is pretty good. Some of my favorite music, the
best looking girl in the school. I don't know if I want to leave
this. Have you ever had a moment where
you were just like, I don't know if it's going to get any better.
The guys can I tell you, praise the Lord, it get it got a lot
better. I didn't end up with that girl.
I ended up with the best girl in the world, one of the most
beautiful girls in the world, my wife Megan.
And praise the Lord that I didn't stay in that moment.
It was a fun moment, but praise the Lord that there was
something so much better. See, if you know there's
something better, you don't have to worry about losing what you
have. Megan and I joke about this all
the time, but we'll have a meal that's really good.
And we think, oh, if we could just rewind and have that meal
again and again and again. Have you ever thought that about
a meal? Is it just me?
That's why I'm losing pickleball, isn't it?
But you know, when you go to The Cheesecake Factory, you don't
worry about the meal ending because there's something else
coming, right? There's dessert, there's
something better. And here's the deal.
If we have anxiety over over death, over aging, and listen, I
know it's it's a human thing, but I want you to know that that
aging and dying here on Earth are, are just a passing through
to a better thing. Yeah, this life is good.
It's a blessing. It's a gift from God.
Praise God for every day that I get with my family and friends.
Praise God for every day that I get to get up here and preach
the gospel. God is good.
But you know what? As I age and I'm no longer fast
and I'm no longer athletic and I'm no longer beating my kids at
pickleball. And as I move towards the later
part of this life, I don't have to have anxiety or fear because
Christ's resurrection is the first fruits and has paved the
way for me to have eternal life with Christ Jesus.
There's something so much better.
Praise the Lord, we can come here and we could celebrate
today because death for the believer is not the end.
Aging is not losing. It's a step towards what God has
for us, eternal life to #1 Christ.
Resurrection is the first fruits #2 I want to give you the good
news that Christ reigns over everything, says in verse 25.
For he must reign until he has put all things under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for he has put
everything under his feet. I I want to give you the good
news that Jesus reigns today. This doesn't say that he will
one day reign. It doesn't say that he did.
And at some point, well, again, it says he must rain today.
This is an active raining. This is Jesus is over
everything. Everything has been put under
his feet. Praise the Lord, he reigns.
You know, sometimes it seems like like bad is winning,
doesn't it? Sometimes it feels like things
aren't going our way. And sometimes it feels like
there's someone else that's in control.
There's someone else that's raining.
Maybe it's the the stuff that's happened around us.
Maybe it's war. Maybe it's that terrible word
cancer. Maybe it's the hatred that we
see around us. Maybe it's chaos.
But sometimes it looks like Jesus isn't in charge, that all
things aren't under his feet. All right, can I?
I'm going to. I may offend some people real
quick. OK, Jesus is over everything.
That shouldn't offend you. Hopefully you're not offended by
that. Jesus is over everything.
If you're ever tempted to wonder why there's still difficulty in
pain, it's because we still have a part to play in this and there
is still people who choose to go against Jesus.
And here's the deal, guys. I think sometimes we get our
priorities out of whack and we think that Jesus that that he
reigns over everything, but that what he should do is he should.
All right, here we go. That he should make America
great again or that he should build back better?
And listen, this isn't a political thing on one side or
the other, but sometimes we get into the feeling that Jesus is
in the business of making this country or our relationships or
peace between countries. Can I tell you what Jesus is all
about? He's about salvation and life
for the people of this world. He's about life and hope.
And that's not to say listen, that's not to say there's one
side that's better this side. It's to say Jesus is most
concerned with your heart and your eternity and your
salvation, not what your pocketbook looks like or not
that we all are getting along perfectly.
Don't, don't miss it. Just because there's war, just
because there's pain, doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't rain.
He is over everything and His plan, His goal, His heart is
that as many of us as possible. His heart is that all of us
would come to know Him and walk with Him as as our Savior and
our Lord and have eternal life. That's what He's all about.
Maybe some of you come in with a heavy heart.
Maybe there's relational issues. I talked to someone before first
Service and we were just talking about how it's hard sometimes
because you can do everything right, you can treat people
right. And sometimes there's still
problems. People still look at you as the
enemy and we can't control that. Maybe for some of you, health
concerns are the big thing. My mom passed of cancer and and
she was the one that was most careful of all of us and and
listen. Jesus reigns over everything and
I hate that. That's something that people
have to deal with on this earth. But it doesn't mean that he's
not in control because can I tell you that my mom is OK?
Can I tell you that even in your your biggest hurts, Jesus reigns
and he wants to draw you to him. He wants you to have salvation
in life through Him. The things we can't control,
wars around us, the chaos all around us.
It doesn't mean that he's not in control.
It doesn't mean that he doesn't rain.
He is working, He is over everything, and he is trying to
draw us to Him so that we can have salvation in life.
Being a follower of Jesus is not a guarantee that everything's
going to work out easy. It's not a guarantee that you
won't ever get sick. Some of the best people I know
are walking through difficulty, but praise the Lord, Jesus
reigns and all things are under Him, and He is working in all
things to bring us to Him and to help us walk in eternal life
with Him. He reigns over everything, but
today He needs to reign over your heart so you can be at
peace even in the midst of the worst situations.
You can have peace even in the midst of cancer and pain.
You can have peace even if people call you the enemy.
You can have peace even in a world that's at war because you
understand that our God reigns that he's conquered sin and
death. He needs to reign in your heart.
The third thing we see, and I'm going to call this the already
in the not yet Kingdom. That's not something I came up
with. A Christ victory gives us
victory over sin and death. But then there's the one day
where he will destroy sin and death once and for all.
There's the already and the not yet.
I want to talk about what the resurrection means for us
already and the not yet. Verse 24 says then the end will
come when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father after
he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power, for he must
reign until he has put all things under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
First off, I want to talk about the already the good news of
resurrection Sunday is number one.
We don't have to fear death and aging because we have
resurrection life. We have eternal life in Christ
and there's something better to come.
But here's what I want you to understand.
Christ's victory and the cross and the empty tomb gives us
victory over sin and death. See, He lived a perfect life,
sinless life. He gave His life for us.
He died on the cross for us. He raised from the dead.
He defeated death. And now the very Spirit of God
lives in you. If you're a believer, if He's
your Savior, He fills you with his Spirit, the Spirit of the
living God that's defeated sin and death.
He lives in you and He's working to give you life and peace
today. His sacrifice on the cross gives
us forgiveness. His resurrection from the dead
gives us deliverance and transformation.
We are filled with the very presence of the living God, and
He's at work. I love the song we sing.
Death was never going to hold you, so it's never going to hold
me. Guys, God's plan for you is not
to just live in death until one day He delivers you.
The already of the Kingdom is that Christ died for sins.
He rose from the dead and in raising from the dead He not
only had victory over sin and death, but he gives us victory
over sin and death. And now he's given us his very
spirit. And we don't have to be the same
old. We don't have to be living in
death and sin. 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 18 says and we all who
with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory are being
transformed into his image with ever increasing glory which
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The old you doesn't have to stick around.
How many of you know there's an old you?
The old you maybe wasn't so kind.
The old you may be flipped out on the kids, the Co workers, the
people driving around you. The old you maybe was overcome
with guilt and anxiety. The old you maybe was overcome
with bitterness. The old you may have struggled
with addiction and pain. But praise the Lord.
His resurrection from the dead gives us victory over sin and
death. And His Spirit is living in US
and transforming us. So the old you doesn't have to
be who you are now. You have victory over sin and
death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ today.
You can have victory today. Death has no power on us who are
in Christ. We can live victoriously through
Jesus, but we also understand so that's the already the already
and the not yet. That's the already is that
today. And listen, we believe that
today you can be delivered from sin and death, that you don't
have to be the same old person. You don't have to continue to
struggle with all of those things, but that God will
transform you and redeem you and make you holy.
That's the already we have victory, but we also understand
there is still death in this world.
There is still pain, there are still tears, there is still
cancer, there are still brokenness and fights.
But I've got good news. The already number one, we don't
have to live in that. We've been delivered, but #2 the
not yet. One day he's coming again and
he's going to destroy all of sin and death.
Death will no longer be a thing, Revelation 21 says.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's
dwelling place is now among his people, and he will dwell with
them. They will be his people, and God
himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no
more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away. So let me help you understand
this. Jesus reigns now.
We have victory over sin and death.
Now you don't have to let the things around you or health take
away the the joy you have in Christ, the life you have in
Christ. We have life today in Christ.
But praise the Lord, one day, one day it's all going to be
over and it's just going to be His goodness.
He's going to destroy sin and death and pain.
That's the not yet. That's what we look forward to.
He's already defeated death through the cross in the empty
tomb, but one day He will completely destroy all of it.
His desire in the meantime is that each and every one of us
and the people around us will come to know Him once again as
our Lord and Savior and that we will have life and eternal life.
God's heart. It's not just for us in this
room, but for the people around us, the people that came to
extravaganza yesterday, the people that work with you, your
neighbors that all will come to know him and have salvation in
life in him. And so we've got the all ready.
We look forward to the not yet. He reigns, He's victorious.
All of this good news today. The good news that you don't
have to worry about death, you don't have to worry about aging
because you have eternal life in Christ.
The good news that Jesus reigns over anything that's going on in
your life, He's over it. And the good news that you can
have victory today and there's victory to come.
The good news of all of that hinges on one thing, and that's
you accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
If you're here today and you've never accepted His free gift of
grace, it's here. He's already died on the cross
for all of your sins. His Spirit is here.
And all you have to do is surrender your heart, say
forgive me of my sins, and the price has already been paid.
And He will save you, and He will give you His Spirit and His
life. And you don't have to worry
about the things around you. You don't have to worry about
death. There's victory and resurrection
in Christ. Christ resurrection means #1 we
can live in victory today, say Amen.
We can live in victory today #2 We can live eternally with
Christ, say Amen. And #3 it means that Jesus
reigns, our God reigns, say Amen.
The chapter ends with this verse 54.
Stand with me worship team, come on up.
It ends by saying this. When the perishable has been
clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true.
Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, he gives us victory through the our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, my brothers and
sisters, stand firm, Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because
you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
How do we respond to God's Word today #1 If you've never
accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, He loves you.
He paid a price on the cross for your sins, and His grace is
available today. All you have to do is surrender
your heart and allow Him to be your Lord and savior #2 Maybe
you've already done that. Today you need to stand firm in
your faith. Let nothing move you.
Not aging, not losing pickleball matches, not the world around
us, not political stuff. Let nothing move you, for your
labor in the Lord is not in vain.
I got good news. First Corinthians talks all
about how, hey, if Jesus isn't raised from the dead, then we're
just wasting our time. If Jesus isn't raised from the
dead, then what are we doing here?
Why do we care about any of this?
The good news is this. Christ indeed is risen and
nothing you do is in vain. When you show up on a Sunday
morning and worship, it's not in vain.
When you read your Bible, when you pray, it's not in vain.
When you forgive your neighbor, it's not in vain because Jesus
is risen, He's victorious. We're going to respond today
and, and maybe your response is you need to give your heart to
Jesus. Maybe you need to accept his
grace. Maybe today you're struggling,
maybe you got some anxiety or some struggle with something
that's going on and you just need to lay it down at his feet.
Maybe today you just need to stand there and you need to
praise God and say you are King, you are victorious.
All of us today need to give our hearts fully to Him to have his
salvation, His love, his life. We can be victorious today and
for endless days. We can sing his praise.
We can spend eternity with Jesus.
Let's respond to God's word. The altars are open.
If you want to come pray, if you want to pray where you are, if
you need someone to talk to, find someone to talk to.
But let's respond to God's word. Let's worship the risen King.
He is our victorious, triumphant King.
Father, speak to us. Help us to respond to your word.
Thank you Jesus for the blood, Thank you Jesus for what you did
on the cross. But thank you Jesus, that you
rose from the dead and that today we can have life and
salvation and not just that, but transformation.
You give us life today. We respond to your word now.
We worship you with everything we have in Jesus name, Amen.