APRIL FOOL

APRIL FOOL

The Resurrection is not an April Fool joke!

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

CONNECT What was the best April Fool joke you ever experienced? The best one you ever pulled on someone else?

TENSION There are many today that would say that the Resurrection is the cruelest April Fool joke ever.  Only a fool would believe that someone could rise from the dead!

SOLUTION The Resurrection is the foundation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Don’t be a fool by rejecting the fact of the Resurrection.

My purpose today is not to talk about the “What”; to convince you that the Resurrection

happened. Most people here in El Paso believe that Jesus got up and walked out of the tomb.

My purpose today is to talk to you about the “Why". Why is it important? Believing that Jesus

rose from the dead is essential to enjoy everything God has for you, both in this life and the next!

TEXT 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NKJV) For I delivered to You first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

INSTRUCTION

1. The Resurrection declares that Jesus is God

Romans 1:4 NKJV and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of

holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

2. The Resurrection allows us to be saved, be born again, become a child of God

Romans 10:9 NKJV that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart

that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

3. The Resurrection gives us the forgiveness of sin.

I Corinthians 15:17 NKJV And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

4. The Resurrection gives the promise of eternal life to us and our loved ones.

I Corinthians 15:18 -19 NKJV Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If

in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

5. The Resurrection gives us hope while we live today.

I Peter 1:3 NKJV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

6. The Resurrection allows us to rule and reign over death, hell, and the grave!

Revelation 20:6 NKJV Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such

the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign

with Him a thousand years.

ILLUSTRATION

In the movie, “The Green Mile”, Tom Hanks character, Paul Edgecomb, has an encounter with a

mystical character called John Coffee, played by Michael Clarke Duncan. The result was that he couldn’t die! In the final scene, he says, “I was infected with life!”

INSPIRATION

John 10:10 NKJV The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have

come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly!

1 John 5:11–12 NKJV And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have

life.

APPLICATION

Jesus came to give us life!

John 11:25 NKJV Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me,

though he may die, he shall live.

ACTION STEPS

What does it mean to believe? It doesn’t men intellectual belief; the devils believe and tremble!

Remember that Paul said “If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you

will be saved!” What is ‘heart belief’? The NT was written in Greek. The Greek word ‘believe’

means three things:

1. Trust in – you cannot save yourself; you must trust Christ will save you.

2. Cling to – you cannot walk it out; you must cling to Him and let Him walk it out in you.

3. Rely upon – it is Jesus alone; nothing added; nothing left out.

INVITATION

Roman Road…

HASHTAG #nofool!