Put to Death, Brought to Life // 613 Ghosts // Read
Brace yourself for an unsettling, terrifying truth: You’re being haunted. I know. You’ve never seen a ghost, and you aren’t even sure they exist. But they do. In fact, you’re being followed by 613 ghosts at this very moment. Don’t be scared! You’re in good company. In fact, every Christian who has ever lived—including Jesus’ disciples—has been haunted by these same 613 specters. Who are they? What do they want with us? Why do they single out Christians to haunt? And how can we deal with them so we don’t have to be haunted anymore?
Amen, amen, can we give it up for Mario? Absolutely, man that is, that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. That's what we're about here at Cornerstone that is what the resurrection looks like when it is played out in our lives. People who were once sentenced to death are now living in the life that Christ offers. Isn't that incredible man? And I want to let you know, too, if this is your first time with us here at Cornerstone either in person or you're watching online, and today, you've been like, man, this is powerful. I feel God moving, I feel him speaking to me, I want to let you know, you come back next week, it's gonna happen again. Like it's gonna happen again, we live in this resurrection reality. And so don't worry, there's no post Easter let down. There's no oh, this was a special day. But then next week, it's awful. This is what we do every single week. And the reason it's like that, and the reason I can make that promise is because here at Cornerstone, we believe two things about the resurrection. one, that it happened. Then there that this isn't some metaphysical thing that we're talking about. And we're talking about less spiritual and reaching another plane, that kind of resurrection. No, we believe then in there, there was a man named Jesus who was killed and who rose again, and he is God Himself, reconciling us to God, we believe that happened then in there. And we believe resurrection is happening here. And now. We believe it's a reality that we live in every single day when we put our faith and our trust in Jesus. So I can confidently say, if you are liking what you're experiencing today, come back, come back for more of it, come and see what God will do in your life and through your life as a part of Cornerstone Church.
God is on the move in our church in so many ways. We're we're in the middle of a building campaign, who who knows about here and now, our here now building campaign? There we go. I want to see the hands online, as well. I told you guys last week, that so far, and I mean, we just started this, you know, like a month ago, we've had over 100, either families, individuals or couples over 100, give so far not make a commitment actually give towards over 100. And get this again, in just a little over a month, we so far have brought in just shy of $150,000, in a little less than a month. That is incredible. That's incredible. Like I said, God is on the move in our church. And I'm just excited to be a part of it.
And I'm excited for today. I'm excited. I love Easter, in fact, what we're going to do here in a moment, and we don't normally do this, but with what we're celebrating today what we're remembering Today, I'd like to ask you if you would to stand at this time because we are going to stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. We're going to be looking at the account from the book of Matthew, this actual historical account of what we are celebrating today what we are remembering today. This is what the book of Matthew says in chapter 28. "After the Sabbath at dawn, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. I gotta tell you, I love that the resurrection took place at dawn." I love it. Because you know, that tells me it tells me that God doesn't wait for the midday sun. He doesn't wait for everything to look perfect and well lit for resurrection for miracles to happen. He works even in the midst of darkness. Even when the sun is barely peeking over the horizon. God is at work. And the same is true in your situation. It looks dim. It looks like God's not doing anything. But resurrection can happen. Resurrection can happen in the midst of it.
"So they went to look at the tomb," verse 2, "there was a violent earthquake, for an angel the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, He rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and they became like dead men. The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid for I know that you were looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has risen.'" Let's say together he has risen. He has risen and get this I love the very next line that the angel said, "He has risen just as he said," just as he said. Not even just as Scriptures for told no just as he, this man who all authority has been given to just as he said. Jesus called his shot. He called a shot. And he rose from the dead just as he said he would. "Come and see the place where he lay," verse seven, "then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
I don't know where you're at today. But chances are in one area of your life or another you are just like the two women at the tomb. You've entered this place today, you walked in here you signed in online with fear in one area or another. With graves in your life that are threatening to steal your joy. They're threatening to steal the purpose that God is putting in your heart. Don't get into them. Because there is room and there is reason for joy. Today there is resurrection power that is available to everybody who calls on the name of Jesus. And that can be true in your situation, no matter where you're at, no matter what you're facing today, the joy that they left the tomb with, you can leave the tomb with joy today, as well. I want to pray for you. Let's pray together Father God, we thank you for the truth of the resurrection. We thank you that we are not people who gather around and fill our heads with self help mumbo jumbo and, and one line slogans to get through life. No, we follow a risen Savior, who is actually alive and actually at work in the world today. And we get to be co-laborers with him. Not only are you working in us, God, you are working through us to make an impact and to bring your kingdom into fruition here on Earth. God, help us today to step into that resurrection reality. To step in to the resurrection power that you offer, so that our lives can change for the better. And that we can help in inflict change in every situation we find ourselves in. That we can be bearers of the kingdom of God to every situation, every relationship and every circumstance we find ourselves in. Because that's what it's all about. It's all about furthering your kingdom and advancing the kingdom of God, to every corner of the earth. Help to do it in us and through us, God and we will give you all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise and it's in your name we pray and everybody said in agreement, amen. Amen.
You can go ahead and grab a seat. Jesus's tomb is empty, his tomb is empty. That's the best news you'll ever hear, and the second best news that follows right behind it is, while Jesus's tomb is empty, another tomb is occupied. While Jesus's tomb is empty, and the only thing in there are his old burial clothes, there's another tomb that is occupied, and it will stay occupied. And that tomb is occupied by our condemnation. Under the law, our condemnation, our sin, the things that condemned us the things that said, there's no way we can ever be right with God, those are the things that Jesus, if you let him will put into a grave, and they never will have power or authority over you, again. Jesus has been brought to life and the power of the law has been put to death. This is how the Apostle Paul phrases it I love this. This is from the book of Colossians. This is a letter he wrote, this is what he says whenever he is talking about the resurrection of Jesus and what exactly happened when Jesus died on the cross and rose again in Colossians, chapter two, verse 13. Paul says, "When you were dead in your sins, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ." That is some good news. God made you alive with Christ. "He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us."
This legal indebtedness that Paul is talking about. This isn't the law itself. This isn't the law itself. What it is, is it's our condemnation under the law. It's all the ways that we've fallen short of the law. It's the written debt that says, this is where you fallen short. This is where you've gotten it wrong. This is where you haven't lived up to the holiness standards. This is where you haven't been faithful or righteous. In that charge of our legal indebtedness, the written code has been nailed to the cross. Verse 15, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." You see what Paul is hitting home here is the fact that when it comes to the law, when it comes to our condemnation under the law, it is no more. It's dead. It's gone. It has been put to death, and we are living in the new reality of Jesus Christ and the law of Christ. That's the essence of what we've been looking at this entire series 613 ghosts, if you haven't been with us, I'll give a real quick recap of where are we been.
So week one of this series, we talked about this idea that we need to resist the resurrection, tell the person next to you resist the resurrection, resist resurrection, put it in the chat. And no, we're not talking about the resurrection of Jesus right before you start throwing stones or getting up and leaving the service today. We're not talking about the resurrection of Jesus. We're talking about the resurrection That we try to perform on the old way of relating to God and relating to people. Because we do, we try to resuscitate these old 613 laws of the Old Covenant, we try to take this backup breathe life into it in mix and match it with Jesus's New Covenant way of living. And when we do that, we get the best of neither and the worst of both. It's like whenever we tried to make our own cocktail at like a soda fountain, right? We get a little bit of lemonade, a little bit of coke. Who else did this? Whenever they were little right, you go up and you make your own little cocktail, little bit of coke, a little bit of lemonade, a little bit of sunkist, you think it's gonna be great because you love all three of them. You try it, and it's awful. It's awful, you get the worst flavor profiles of all of those things, because they were never meant to be mixed and matched together. And we do the same thing with the Old Covenant law and this new covenant way of living, we mix and match them, but that was never what was intended. Now, why do we do this? Why do we even have to resist the resurrection? Why are we constantly trying to resurrect this old covenant way of living? And it's really simple. It's because we're People of the Book.
I've said it, I've used that phrase, I'm a, I'm a person of the book. I'm a Bible follower, I follow the book. And whenever we do that, whenever we just see the Bible, we see the Old Covenant and the New Covenant way of living as equal. What we do is we mix and match Jesus's commands with Old Covenant commands. And we end up doing things like having works based salvation, we end up thinking things like the prosperity gospel are true, we get ourselves into all kinds of headaches and mistakes when we try to mix and match. And the fact of the matter is, we're not people of a book, we're people of a person. We were never intended to be a text centric faith. We have always been a person centered faith with Jesus at the middle of our faith. And that's how it's always supposed to been.
And that's what we talked about last week, this idea of better promises, better promises. We have a faith that is built on better promises, the better promise of Jesus and who he is, that he is the center of our faith. That we follow His commands. And the reason we love the Bible here at Cornerstone, the reason we value scripture here at Cornerstone if you're a Christian, the reason we value this and we study this is because Jesus vouches for it. It's why we take it serious. In the same way, this $20 bill, it's just a piece of paper, right? This is just a piece of paper. But I'm able to go out to the lobby, I'm able to buy some awesome Cornerstone merch, I get a nice mug, I can get a you know, I can get a nice sweatshirt. And the reason I can do that with this piece of paper, is because we as a society, and more importantly, the United States federal government has seen this paper and is vouching for it. They are saying hey, we vouch for this, this is currency. This is good. This is legal tender, you can use this to buy and to purchase things. And in a similar way, we see the Bible with value. We see this as God's word. We see this as important because Jesus, a man who called his shot on being crucified and coming back again, pulled it off, and he vouches for it. He says he believes it, he takes it seriously. So therefore we take it seriously. Our faith is built on better promises with Jesus at the center, everything pointing to him.
And I want to let you know, when Jesus, this better foundation is the center of your faith instead of a book, even the holy book, when Jesus is the center of your faith with everything pointing to him - everything about your life gets better. Everything about your life gets better, not in a prosperity gospel way, in a truly what it means to live a better life. Everything gets better when Jesus is at the center.
Now today, what we're going to be talking about, if you're taking notes, the sermon title we're working with today is "Put to Death, Brought to Life." "Put to Death, Brought to Life," the old way of relating to God has been put to death, the old way of relating to one another, has been put to death. We are living in the new era of the new covenant that Jesus has established under better promises. This old way has been let's say together, put to death, this new way has been brought to life. And if you start following this way, I promise you, you are going to step into this new life that Jesus has in mind for you and your life is going to get better. You're going to get better at life. Things are going to start working the way they should in your relationships, because it's what Jesus intended. The law of Christ is here.
And now, who growing up I just want to see a show of hands, who growing up had like house rules? Like your dad, your mom instituted house rules. Okay, just about everybody, online I want to see your hands if you're someone who had house rules. We had certain rules around the house at the Young household. My dad, though he wasn't like, wasn't like an iron fist guy like he didn't you know, "This is what we're gonna do!" But we did have certain things around the house. One of them was, and maybe your dad was similar this way, one thing my dad did is if we were driving anywhere and it was at night, under no circumstances is there ever a good reason to turn on a light in the car. Anybody else? Never. You do it and you're gonna die. He's gonna crash the car. We're going to get pulled over and he's going to get arrested. Like all of these things. If you turned on the light it was like "What are you doing?! Turn that light off! Turn it off." And whoa, sorry, sorry, right? Just crazy. So if you drop something on the floorboard, on the floorboard, it will stay until you get home. Like you are not turn on that light to look for it. That was that was a big no-no. That was one of ours, here's another one.
And this is I don't think this was like unique to my dad. I think it's just kind of a dad thing in general. No one else can mow. Like no one else. Not only can you not mow, he doesn't even want you looking at the lawn mower. Don't even think about it. If he comes, put it this way. If he comes home and he finds the grass has been mowed, and you did it, just just leave the state, go start a new life somewhere else, new identity because you won't be welcome back in the house. That was his domain. And then another one this this one always made me laugh. My dad loved these little things. The little, I think this is a dad thing because in between services, people are like "My dad was the same way." My dad loved these little toothpicks. And if you ever saw one laying around somewhere, even if it had been like you could tell it been used and gnawed on, leave it where it is. Leave it where it is because it is not done fulfilling its purpose for my dad, right? Like, this man would sit on one of these for two hours straight during a game. He would like, if you would walk into our house, you could always guarantee there were going to be three places where these little toothpicks would just be sitting around. One on the little end table right by the recliner, one on the computer desk right by the computer, and then in his car in the middle console just these things all the time. In fact, my dad was just such like a fanatic about having a toothpick. I forgotten about this until my sister reminded me this morning. My dad was at a football game once, a local area high school football game, didn't have a toothpick and he was like, oh man, thought I had one of these and didn't plan it. So you know what he did? He fashioned his own toothpick out of a piece of mulch. I'm not embellishing this story. I'm not making this up. The man did it like he did. He did that. He's from French Lick, if that kind of helps like, oh, okay, that makes so much more sense now.
But he had all these like little rules all these little just, you don't do these. And of course, we had serious ones as well. Like, of course, we had it. If me and my brother, if we had a girl at the house, or my sister, if there's a boy at the house, doors had to be open everywhere, right? You could only be over a certain amount of time. If you're out, don't go over the speed limit. Don't be out past this time. Don't drink alcohol. Like we had all these rules, all these different things that dad wanted us to do. But the funny thing is, as we got older, it's almost like all those rules started to become less and less. Like whenever we were younger, there were plenty of "No, don't touch that. Now leave that alone. Oh, hey, can you go grab this, hey, do this don't don't do that." Avoid this avoid, that there were tons of rules whenever we were younger. But as we started progressing, and as we started getting older, they became fewer and fewer until I can remember dad gave me like a talk right before I went out for the first time after I had gotten my license. It was the same thing he did with my sister, Rachel, same thing he did with my brother, Zach. Right before we left for the first time having our license, he told us he's like, "Hey, hey, I just want to remind you, I know you kind of already know this. But I just want to say it while you're out, not just tonight. But going forward, you've got this new responsibility, you've got this new independence. And I just want you to remember any time you're out, remember, you're a Young. Remember, you're a Young, remember who you are, and what that means and act like it. Act like you're a Young, act in such a way that you know what our family values, what our family rules are." He summed up all these different do nots, do this, avoid that, cling to this, he summed all of that up in just this one simple law: Remember, you're a Young.
And Jesus, in a very similar way, summed up all of these teachings, all of these laws that he came to fulfill, he summed all of it up for his disciples the day before he went to the cross, I want to read you this is from John chapter 13. I'm gonna read a little bit and I just, I don't even want the words up on the screen, the words are gonna come up just at the end, just the last two verses, but I really want you to put yourself in this moment, really trying to transport yourself into this context. Imagine this Jesus is sitting down for one final meal before he goes to the cross with his closest followers, these men who have followed him for three years, these men who have put their faith and their trust in Jesus and this is what happens. John 13, starting in verse one, "It was just before the Passover. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who In the world, Jesus loved them to the very end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas the son of Scariot, to betray Jesus. Now really pay attention to this, this next verse, verse three. "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come to God and was returning to God. So Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing and wrap the towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin, and began to wash his disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him."
Jesus knew that God had placed all things under his power. Under his authority, Jesus had total supremacy, and total sovereignty. So he washed his disciples feet. So he served, so he humbled himself to the very image of a servant, and loved those around him. Skipping ahead, to verse 12, "When he had finished washing their feet, Jesus put on his clothes, and returned to his place." And then I love this Jesus asks this clarifying question, he does not want any one of his disciples to miss what just happened in this moment, Jesus says this, "Do you understand what I've just done for you? You call me teacher and Lord, and rightfully so. Because that's what I am. And now that I, your teacher, and Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set an example that you should do, as I have done for you." And then Jesus takes this example and in verse 34, he issues this new command, "A new command, I give you love one another, as I have loved you. So you must love one another." By this, by this, please note what Jesus is saying here. He is not saying by your sound doctrine, which doctrine, of course, is important. But it's not by your sound doctrine that people will know that you're my disciple. It's not by your perfect understanding of all the mysteries of God, it's not by your church attendance, it's not by how much you tithed the last year, no, by how well you love one another. Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
Think about this moment. Think about this moment, if you are Jesus's followers, really try to transport yourself into this context. And remember, Jesus's followers, they are all Jews, they're all Jewish people. And so when Jesus tells them a new command I give you, if you're a Jewish person, and you hear that you go, Whoa, who do you think you are? Because the only one who issues commands is God. And God already issued his commands once and for all, at Mount Sinai through Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant. So you're telling me you're you're giving me a new command? Who are you? Who do you think you are? Jesus is making it abundantly clear. He's not just a good moral teacher. He's not just someone who's commenting on life and commenting on God. Jesus is stepping into this authority as law giver, and someone who can issue commands, he sees himself as one with God the Father, he steps into this moment. Jesus is effectively telling all of them, hey, look, I know Moses was your guy. I'm your guy. Now. This is Jesus's Captain Phillips, hey, look at me. I'm the captain now moment. I know, I know where you've been and I know that you've seen Moses as your guy. And Moses was great. In that old covenant, it fulfilled a purpose. But I'm landing that plane. And I am giving you a new command. And what I'm going to do is, I'm going to give you a law to replace all law, I'm going to give you one law that sums up everything and gets to the heart of it. I'm going to take what was complicated, what was ancient what was cultural, I'm going to take all of this and I'm going to give you one law, one principle that is universal to every generation, to every culture, into every relationship you will ever find yourself in: love one another as I have loved you.
Now, not only are the disciples probably thrown off that Jesus is saying that he has the authority to issue a command. But also they're probably like, a new command? Jesus it's um, yeah, we're three years into your ministry. We've been following you for a bit now. You're just dropping a new command on us now like what? What's the holdup? Why did you wait so long? What's this long waiting period for? I think what Jesus was after is exactly what my dad was after. You see, whenever my dad issued this one command for us to remember that we're a Young and to live like it, he gave it to us whenever we were all 16. That means we had had 16 years of living up close and personal seeing my dad's example, seeing what it meant to be a Young. Like I was able to see the grace that my dad handled situations with, I was able to see the mercy and the benefit of the doubt that he gave people, I was able to see the way he believed the best about people. I was able to see the way he talked and respected and valued my mom, I was able to see the way he was tough and firm, but loving and compassionate. I was able to see all of this stuff up close and personal for 16 years. So when my dad said, hey, buddy, while you're out, remember, you're you're a Young, I had no doubt what that meant. I had no doubt what that looked like. I saw it up close and personal.
And so Jesus when he is issuing this command, when he's saying, look, I know I know you've heard it said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as you would want to be loved." I know that's what you've you've heard. That's what that's where we've been. But I am telling you now that is so old covenant. That's so old covenant, this new way of living, I am raising the standard. I don't want you to love people as you would want to be loved. I want you to love as I have loved you. What you have experienced over the last three years, what you've seen over the last 1,100 days, the love that I've had for you the way I've welcomed you in the way I've included you that same love I want you to give to everybody else, not the way you would want to be treated the way I have treated you. A perfect, holy self-sacrificial love, love everyone else with that kind of love.
Now scripture, it doesn't record this. So this is this is the Pastor Jacob version right now. I have to imagine that after Jesus said this, after Jesus issued this command and said, hey, I want you to love one another as I have loved you, Jesus wanted to really drill the point home. I can imagine he went around the table with every disciple with every follower, and reminded them of what that love looked like. Matthew, you, you remember where you were when I found you? You remember, you were a tax collector. You were a tax collector. Man, you you were the lowest of the low your own people, the Jewish people hated you. Because you are someone who worked hand in hand with the Roman government, this pagan Empire who has God's people under their thumb, you worked hand in hand with him to collect unfair taxes in wages from people. But Matthew, remember what I did. I included you. I loved you, I welcomed you in before you even quit doing what you were doing. I welcomed you into the fold. I brought you in I loved you, I included you. And you know what, Matthew? Every person you come in contact with, I want you to love them in the same way I've loved you. I want you to include them in the same way that I've included you.
Philip, do you remember where you were when I found you? you doubted me since day one. Day one Philip. The first time you heard about me? You know what you said? Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth? How can anything good come from Nazareth? Man, you doubted me. Not only did you doubt me, you put down my hometown. Those are fighting words where I come from, right? But Jesus says to him, you know, you know what, I don't want to fight you. I want to love you. I wanted to bring you in, I wanted to welcome your doubts, because I know that your doubts, when they come face to face with me are going to lead you into deeper faith and deeper trust in who I am. And so I never turned you away. I welcomed you every step of the way, despite your doubts. And you know what, Philip? What I want you to do is every person you encounter who has doubts, or who seems to kind of struggle along and you feel like you're constantly pulling them, I want you to love them with the same patience and the same tenderness and the same compassion that I loved you with. That's what I'm calling you to. Peter, man, you've had a temper since day one. Since day one that I called you, you've been brass, you you've shot off in the mouth. And in all honesty, Peter, we're about three years down the road, and you really haven't changed much. You still shoot off from the mouth, you're still brass, you're still unpredictable, you still have a hothead, and an anger and a temper. And guess what? I included you. I've included you every step of the way in my ministry. Peter, not only have I included you, I said that your declaration of faith in me is the kind of faith that I'm going to build my Church on. That's how much I believe in you and the person that you are. And so I've included you in my ministry, I've not shut you out. I've not told you to clean yourself up first, before you're allowed to serve. I haven't done any of that. And so Peter, what I want you to do, is I want you to love and include and be with people, the way I have been with you, through all of your struggles through all of your shortcomings through all of your dysfunction. Love one another the way I have loved you.
Jesus could have said to the entire crew, because man, his disciples were a motley bunch, he could have said to all of them, and you know what, guys, a lot of you in this room are people, that anyone who is of any kind of prominence wouldn't want to be seen around. They would try to distance themselves, they would ask you to walk back at a distance. So it wouldn't be readily apparent that we're together. But you know what I've done, I have included you. I wanted to be seen with you, I wanted people to know that you're my disciples. And more than that, you're my friends, I wanted people to know that. So in your life, don't you dare think that there are people that you need to exclude and not be seen with, I want you to get closer to those people, I want you to include them and I want you to love them in the same way that I have loved you. That's what the law of Christ is.
I have to imagine, as he finished this all up, Jesus was able to tell them and guys, if you have had any doubt, over the past three years, what love looks like - tomorrow. Tomorrow, I am going to put on such a display of love, such a display of what true, self-sacrificing love looks like. I am going to take away every excuse you have, I'm going to take away every doubt you have. In fact, this is this display of love. It's going to take your breath away, it's going to take your sin away. I am changing the game tomorrow. And you will never have to wonder what it looks like to follow my law to love one another. It is love that loves to the end.
Now, what Jesus did in this moment, when he issues this command, he is raising the standard. He is raising the standard. I've had people throughout this series, ask me, write me emails and really good questions but asked me, man, like, is this just a license to sin then? Like you're talking about, we're just getting rid of the 613 commandments, and we're just under the law of Christ. And it's about love and we sounds kind of hippy sounds kind of loosey goosey. Sounds very subjective all the time and stuff? I mean, is this just a license to sin? Not at all. Not at all. That is not even remotely what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is raising the standard. He's raising the standard. Jesus is saying, once you fully understand what my love looks like, and what it requires of you, you will long for the day of 613 commandments, because what I am calling you to is so much greater and deeper than anything you have ever seen before. And I'm telling you, it's going to cost you. It's going to cost you. It's about to cost me everything. The law of Christ is costly. If you think that this is somehow a license to sin, you don't understand what the law of Christ is. It is a costly love that demands something of us to love others as Jesus loved us. What Jesus did is, he just took something very complex, and he made it so simple. But he made it demanding. He made it so simple. But man, it will ask everything of you if you want to love like Jesus loved.
So the disciples, whenever Jesus issues this command, they have no doubt what it looks like. They have no doubt what it means to love one another as they have been loved by Jesus. And you know what? Neither do we. There is no doubt in our mind what that looks like. Because in the same way that I'm sure Jesus went around the room, I mean, we could go around the room in here today. We could go around the room in here today. Owen, when do you remember where you were when Jesus found you? Dean and Bernice, do you remember where Jesus found you? Rachel, do you remember where you were? JC Do you remember where you were? I remember where I was. I remember where I was. I remember who I was when Jesus found me. And and not the cleaned up for church version of my testimony. I'm talking about the one where you don't want to tell anybody. You got a spouse, your spouse doesn't even know. You hate that. You know, it's the thing that you try to push back. You don't even want to dwell on, you don't even want to think about it. And here's the thing. Jesus has seen even that version of your testimony, and he loves you and he's forgiven you for it. He's seen even that. And so whenever he says, do you remember where you were when I found you? And I still loved you. I still welcomed you in. I still call you a friend. I'm still bringing you closer to me. And not only that, not only do I want to save you, I want to include you in what I'm doing. I'm not just saving you and telling you have a seat now. I want you to be a part of what I'm doing in the world. That kind of love is what we are supposed to have for the people around us. Same grace, same mercy to everyone. Do you remember where you were? Tell the person you came with, say I remember, tell the person next to you. I remember, put it in the chat, say I remember. I remember where I was and the love that Jesus gave to me and the grace that he extended to me and that open hand saying, I'm at work in the world, I want you to join me that grace, that mercy to everyone.
This is the law of Christ. That's the law of Christ. That is what has come into fruition. That is the new plane that we have taken off in the old plane of the Old Covenant, Jesus has landed it and we are now in flight. Under this New Covenant way of living, under the law of Christ, it has replaced the 613 commandments, essentially turning them into 613 ghosts, our condemnation of the old law, we just read it in Colossians, has been nailed to the cross, we live under a new, better reality, the reality of Jesus. And here's what's so amazing. And this isn't just a play on words. It's true. Jesus fulfilled the law, and introduced a law that fulfills. That's what he did, he introduced a new law that fulfills us in every possible way. It truly leads to a fulfilling life whenever we grasp what it means to love each other, as Jesus has loved us. We breathe resurrection into every situation we step into when we start living by the law of Christ, and honestly, just about everything good that we experience in society today, can be traced back if you just keep following it back to people who believed in Jesus. Who followed Jesus and who lived not my 613 commandments, but who lived by the law of Christ, and wanting to love others and give them opportunities in the same way Jesus has done for them.
Do you know why we have universal literacy as a goal for our society? Why this is like a common good that just about everyone can agree on? That everyone should be able to read, and should have access to be able to read? We get that from Martin Luther, Martin Luther, a Christ follower, someone who understood the law of Christ who said, universal literacy should absolutely happen because every man, woman, and child should be able to read the scriptures and come to knowledge of Jesus for themselves, everybody should be able to do that. And because of that, today, we have this common goal of universal literacy. And it's traced back to the law of Christ. Charities, hospitals, you know why we have those and why those are all over the place? Because followers of Jesus followed a man who was known as the great physician, and they realized, you know what, Jesus healed people, we want to follow our Lord and King, we want to heal people as well. We want to be able to do what we can to model him and to love people the way he loved us, we want to help the lame to walk again and the blind to see again, we want to be able to make that happen. Because they followed the law of Christ, the whole idea of forgiveness, being seen with moral beauty, and not as a sign of weakness, which is exactly what it used to be. It used to be a sign of weakness. Now it's seen as a sign of moral beauty. And it's because of Jesus followers, who for centuries, were being murdered for their faith. And as they were being murdered, declared, Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. People living this out, living out the law of Christ, the world we live in today, everything good about it can be traced back.
Love one another, as I have loved you. Everything, everything we experience, the law of Christ, when we follow it, we breathe resurrection, and we breathe life into every situation. We find ourselves in the law of Christ, it makes life better, it makes us better at life. We just saw that from Mario's testimony. Whenever you get a grip on who Jesus is, and what he has done for you, it changes everything for you, it puts to death your old notions of how you relate to God, and it brings you to life, to the reality of the resurrection.
And here's what I want to say in just our last few minutes together. The law of Christ is not subjective. It's not based on opinion. Again, like I said, I've gotten so many comments from people, you know, good faith comments, but asking doesn't this sound subjective? And isn't it kind of like we're making up our own rules of what God looks like? And what love looks like then? If If we don't see this as like a divine rulebook? Like, if I don't see this as a divine do this, and don't do this list, and this is how far it can go. If I don't see it that way, then how will I know that I'm not sinning? How do I know that I'm in right relationship with God if I don't have this as a rulebook to give me guidance? Not only is Jesus example clear through the law of Christ, and that's a way we could know that we're not sinning. Here's another way and honestly, I can't believe I even have to say this on Easter Sunday, but I feel like sometimes this needs to be included.
Sometimes, we just live and we don't realize that how we're living doesn't line up at all with what we believe or what we're saying. But here is the fact of the matter. You want to know how you can go through life and know that you're still following God's will, and that you're not sinning without having to use this is a divine rulebook? Here's how you can know: Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive. If Jesus, if the God we believe in is a dead God, by all means, this is the only way you could ever relate to him. The only way he can ever speak to you. Because he's dead. He's not real. This is it? This is it.
You want to know how I knew I wasn't living up to the Young family standard? We didn't have a rulebook that was laying around the house. We didn't have a book on them. Yeah. I moved the toothpick. Yikes, that's not good. Oh, ah, the lawn mower. I shouldn't have mowed that. Man. That's that like, that is not how it went out. When I did something in our family that dishonored our family name, when I missed the mark of what it meant to be a Young, you want to know how I knew? My dad had a talk with me. My living dad, who I have a relationship with who I have access to, came up beside me loved on me and said, but you're missing it, you're missing the mark, you're missing the mark, this is where you need to be. And I'm telling you today, you can live and know that you are living in God's will, that you are not sinning through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not Pastor Jacob's opinion. Jesus Himself said when I send the advocate when I send the counselor when I send the Holy Spirit, He will convict. Now notice what he didn't say, not your pastor, not the elders in your church. Not the Bible study that you're asking for, not the book that you're reading right now. The Holy Spirit will convict and prove the world to be wrong when it comes to sin and righteousness and judgment. So is it great to come to church? Is it a great to have Bible studies? Is it great to have your pastor talk with you? Of course, but those are not the necessities to be able to live a Christian life.
If we truly serve a God who got up from the grave and who is living today, we have access to him 24/7, and he is working in your life, he is working in your soul. And he's pointing out the areas where, hey, you're not living like I called you to live. You're not living out the law that I set up for you, you got to get better. You've got to stop missing the mark in this area, because we serve a God who is still alive and who is still speaking. And I want to let you know, I believe he's speaking to you right now. I believe he is speaking to you right now, that he is drawing you closer to him. And that those fears. And we talked about earlier, just like the women leaving the tomb, full with fear. But at the same time having this joy of what might be true. I'm gonna let you know all of these areas in your life where you have fear. And you have doubt, and you're scared. I want to let you know Jesus wants to rob those graves and fill them with the joy of what the resurrection means for you. He wants to do that for you. He wants to take the power away from sin and from shame and from death. And he wants you to live under this new resurrection reality. And the great thing is you can do it. It is up to you. Jesus has already paid the debt, he has already nailed the letter of condemnation to his cross, you can leave that old life behind, you can step into this new reality and have resurrection be a reality in your life. Every single day.
Heavenly Father, 2000 years ago, your son, conquered sin, conquered death conquered the grave, and ushered in a new way of living a new way of relating to you a new way of relating to other people. God has put to death, the old way of things, the Old Covenant, these old laws. God, we now live under a new time that is founded on better promises and a better foundation. That's you, that's you, and that's your son, Jesus, and the life that he lived and the example that he gave and the power that his life can have to give us strength and give us resurrection power, in all of our relationships, in all of our situations, in all of our circumstances. God, help us to have the resurrection be a reality in our life, so that every where we go, we are breathing life into people around us. That's what this is all about God. It's all about becoming more and more like your son, Jesus. And I know there are some people out there who may have not put their faith or their trust in him. But God, I know that in this moment, you are drawing them near. It's not the words I've been saying today. It's not the worship we sang, no, it is you working on their heart. And so, God, in this moment help them to see their need for you that they would declare God, I'm a sinner, I know that I've sinned against you. But today, I am deciding to repent and to turn course, I am turning back towards you. And like Mario said, I know I won't get it perfect. I know I'm a Christian under construction. But that's what I want. I want you to work on me and to construct in me a new heart and a new mind and a new way of living. So I can look like you Jesus. So I cannot just have resurrection in my own life, but I can be a source of resurrection for other people. I want that Father, so I commit myself to you today.
You've just got to surrender. You've just got to surrender. You've just got to say to Jesus, hey, I'm tired trying to walk this path alone. I'm handing this over to you. And I'm just day by day gonna take it a step at a time just trying to follow you and your new law not not all these complex, complicated laws and rulebook. Jesus, I'm just gonna look at your example. I'm trying to live that out. That's all you have to do. And he will accept you and He will welcome you. And I promise you, I promise you it doesn't even have to be in tangible ways. I'm not up here saying and you'll get a new house and you'll get a new car and everything. But I am telling you, if you start following the law of Jesus, life will get better and you will get better at life. It will happen, it will happen. Your relationships will get better. You'll feel more guilt free in life, you will start living with a supernatural power that you didn't even know you had. You will have calm and peace in moments that transcends all understanding. And it only comes through Jesus and through his power. And if you have not experienced that yet, or you are someone who you feel like man, I feel like I was there but man I have not been walking with Jesus for a long time. I want to take this moment. I want to pray for you specifically So wherever you are, if you're in here, or if you're online, all of us, Let's bow our heads together. And let's pray.
God, I also pray for us as your church, that anyone who is making those commitments today that we would be a source of strength, and a source of challenge for them to continue pushing them forward in their life, pushing them forward into living out the law of Christ, that we would come alongside them and that we would ecourage them one another. That we would be iron sharpening iron, so that all of us, your church would look so much like your son Jesus, that we would change our world in radical ways. And it's all possible through the power of the resurrection. Thank you for robbing the grave. And thank you for robbing our graves and we will give you all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise that no one else deserves but you. It's in your name, the powerful name of Jesus that we pray and everybody said in agreement. Amen. Amen.
Has God robbed a grave out here today? Has he robbed graves in your life? We're about to celebrate that grave robbing God. So I want to let you know wherever you're at. If you're in here, go ahead and stand on up. If you're watching online, I don't care where you're at stand up. Because we're not the words of today. Our God who is robbing graves, let's worship Him.
This is the way of life that we can step into, a God who robs our graves who takes their power away and calls us into new life. Isn't that amazing? Isn't our God good? Let's lift up some praise to him. Absolutely. This is the reality you can live in. And I'm telling you if you don't have a home church, this is the reality Cornerstone is living in. There are tons of great churches out there. If you don't have a home church, man, get involved in one but I can just speak for my church. Cornerstone lives in resurrection reality. And if you need that, if you need that in your life, man, be back here next week. And the week after that, if you're watching online, set a reminder to worship with us again next week. Because this is just what we do. This is what we do, this the reality we live in. This is who we are, we believe that the resurrection wasn't just then in there, but it's here and now. And we are living that out as best as we can. Not perfect, but as best as we can. So man be back here next week, we're starting a brand new series called "Follow Your Heart and Other Awful Advice." All the the self-help slogans that sound real good. And as soon as you dive into them, you see that they're lacking and they're left wanting. Be back here for that, it's going to be a powerful one.
Are you happy we're here today? Worshiping at Cornerstone, man, such an amazing day you can now receive the blessing of the Lord. May Jesus Christ our risen God and King forever be with you this day and every day. Amen.
