Apr. 17, 2022

THREE QUESTIONS FOR EASTER

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!  Luke 24:5-6

1. WHO IS JESUS?

One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”  Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”   Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was.  Luke 9:18-21 

2. WHY DID HE COME?

“The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Luke 9:22

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.  Romans 4:25

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.  John 11:25

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.                                   1 Cor. 15:17-22

3. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God.”   Luke 9:23-27