The Way Up Is Down: Peace, Power, Purpose

Jesus' death and resurrection. It's not just a nice story. It's not just part of a Easter celebration that we do year in, year out. This is historical reality that will change your present reality and your future if you let it. Jesus offers you just like those disciples where they were. He came and he met them, and he offered them the gift of peace. He offered them the power of the Holy Spirit, and he offered them a purpose, a purpose that would change them and change the world. [00:41:38] (42 seconds)  #ResurrectionReality

So today, church, as we gather on this Easter, I wanna remind you, the tomb is empty. Yes. Jesus is alive. Death, it's lost its sting. Its power over us has been broken. You and I, we don't need to be fearful and anxious because Jesus knows the beginning from the end. He's the one who can speak peace and power and purpose into our situation. And the way up is down. [00:42:20] (34 seconds)  #TombIsEmpty

He died for your sins, but you have to do something about that. There's an invitation to invite him in. Yes. He is a historical figure. He was crucified. He was punished. He died in your place. He took the cost of your sins upon his shoulders. And his resurrection shows not just that he was a son of God, but that he has power over death and that we don't need to fear. [00:39:57] (33 seconds)  #InviteJesusIn

They were filled with beautiful rich theology. This idea that when Jesus hung on the cross, he took all of our sin, all the bad things that we did. That mean we cannot stand before a righteous God. Jesus is our substitute. He took all of that, your sin, on his shoulders so that you, with giving him your sin, can take his righteousness. Righteous just that just means right standing with God. This is the substitution that's offered to you. [00:39:18] (39 seconds)  #SubstitutionaryGrace

You know your own heart. The things that you wanted the good stuff that you wanna do, you don't do it. And the bad stuff that you don't wanna do, you do it. We get it wrong. We can't live a good life in our own strength. There's just there was no way we as humans can do that. And that is why the Holy Spirit is seen to empower us as Christians to testify, to witness to Christ's death and resurrection, and also to live the life that witnesses to others what it means to walk with Jesus. [00:30:23] (34 seconds)  #SpiritEmpoweredLife

So in the breath, there's this idea, whether it's Adam, a creation, or whether it's Ezekiel with the valley of the dry bones, or it's now the idea of breathing life into that place where there is no life. This is the the second gift, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now why does why does God do it this way? Because we can't do it in our own power. [00:29:54] (28 seconds)  #HolySpiritGift

Yep. Peace be with you. A complete Wi Fi router reset. And I love that what he's bringing them is something they can't provide for themselves. They can't magic that peace from somewhere. That peace is coming from God. And then he's he shows them the marks of the cross. And to the disciples, I'm sure the message would have been cleared, clear to them. The wrath of God has been turned away. [00:27:17] (35 seconds)  #PeaceBeWithYou

Now I started off with this idea of the way up is down, and I see that's a bit of a paradox. You might be familiar with this picture, this drawing from a famous Dutch artist. And it's you look at it and you think that the people are climbing, but actually they're going down. We are going to meet the Jesus who has demonstrated to his disciples that the way up is actually the way down. That if you want to be held up, exalted by God, firstly, we need to humble ourselves, to bring ourselves low. This is the paradox. [00:20:16] (40 seconds)  #WayUpIsDown