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Check out what Jesus said
I dropped the leaflet on to the door mat. He looked down and immediately said” I would like to live forever. But when you are dead you are dead. You don’t live forever, you are dead forever”
What do you think about living forever?
Is it a religious myth put about by vested interest so that you can be underpaid and overworked but ‘you get your just desserts in heaven’.
Is it true that death is the end? That when you die, that’s it.
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but its impact on our lives is bigger than just today. If Jesus rose from the dead then the man I spoke to in West End Road last Tuesday has got it horribly wrong. Death is not the end. it is a gate to a new dimension.
What do we know about living forever? We want it, in fact much of today’s culture is about living as if we live forever here and now. Remember the song’ Fame, I want to live forever. ‘
Remember my name. Fame!
I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly--high!
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made
everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Jesus was very clear
that he was different. He knew about eternity.
He told a story
about it.
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and
lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named
Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the
rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the
beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also
died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked
up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he
called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip
of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son,
remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus
received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26
And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place,
so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over
from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg
you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers.
Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They
have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he
said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they
do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if
someone rises from the dead.’”
This morning we celebrate the fact that Jesus is risen from the dead. But many remain unconvinced. In fact most of us have incredibly woolly ideas about life after death. Some , like the man I met in west End Road, believe that there is no life after death.
Others think somehow we all end up in some happy place. Others, believe that if you have had the correct rituals done to you then you go to heaven. Others if you have been on balance a nice person. But Jesus is the only guide to such things. He came from heaven and has returned to heaven. He said
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
He said
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his
one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness
instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does
evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their
deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into
the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been
done in the sight of God.
John 3:16-21
So our faith hinges on the truth of the statement
He is
not here! He is risen!
Let’s check it out.
First, the body is missing from
the tomb. The authorities had established a guard for the very purpose of
preventing the body being removed. They made out that the disciples had stolen
the body but that is unlikely as the majority had run away to Bethany. And they
were leaderless, hopeless, demoralised. They would have had to deal with the
guard, remove the stone and then hid the body. The authorities never found the
body. There are attempts very few years to discover the body but that is based
on the idea that a coffin marked Jesus means the bones inside belonged to a
particular Jesus, the one from Nazareth, who died on the cross.
Secondly, transformation of the
disciples. 40 days after the death of Jesus, the disciples were
enthusiastically, proclaiming his resurrection from the death. They were transformed from a bunch of no-hopers
to a convinced and dedicated team of people who told anyone they met about a
living Jesus, regardless of the risk to their own lives.
Thirdly, 2000 years later, you
will find countless groups of Christians meeting today to celebrate the
resurrection, witnessing to the fact that they have in many and varied ways
have evidence of the living presence of Jesus through the presence of the Holy
Spirit.
You can check the story out further by reading books like “Who moved
the Stone?” written to prove that it did not happen but ending up believing
that Jesus did indeed rise to life. Or check out the stories of those who are
his followers and claim to know him and speak and listen to him.
Mary stood by the tomb weeping.
She certainly did not expect Jesus to be alive. She was looking for the body so
she could pay her respects to her dead, Lord and master. But Jesus chose to
reveal himself to her. He also met the other women on the path back to where
the disciples were. Later he met his disciples in the upper room.
You can meet Jesus, this morning because he is alive. He has promised
that those who seek him will find him. So if you have never done it before,
start praying that he will reveal himself to you. Turn to him in repentance and
faith, and you will not be disappointed. Jesus is not on the cross, your sins have be atoned for. He is not in the
grave, he is risen from the dead. You
can live forever in Jesus.