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Four Simple Steps to Move from Death to Life
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Welcome to this Easter service. I want to speak to you as a man speaks to his friend—this is a heart-to-heart conversation.
Listen, 33 years ago this year I gave my life to Christ. Easter means transformation to me. There is a huge difference in my life before meeting Christ and now. Jesus made all the difference. The fact that He resurrected and gave His life just for me changed everything.
Today, this Easter morning, I want to look at a passage in Scripture and minister to you. If you are here and have never given your life to Christ, I pray you use this Easter Sunday as an opportunity to try out a deeper relationship with Christ.
Let's look at Matthew chapter 28, verses 1 to 10:
Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you."
So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!" So they came and held Him by His feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."
Easter is all about transformation—from death to life. In this chapter, we see God turning everything upside down. Just as God rearranged my life 33 years ago when I gave my life to Jesus, God turned the grave from a place of mourning into a place of life and hope. Jesus transformed the grave into a place of resurrection.
I pray for you today that the same relationship with Christ that has given me light and hope for over three decades will find you. I invite you to believe in Jesus and make that transition from death to life.
In this Scripture, we see four simple steps that we can follow to move from death to life.
The first step is to face whatever area represents death in your life—whether spiritual, emotional, financial, relational, or otherwise. We must confront the places of death.
Verse 1 tells us: "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb." They went to confront the place of death. Three decades ago, my life was empty and shallow. I was looking for meaning and fulfillment. It was not until I met Christ and gave my life to Him that I understood what it really means to live a fulfilled life.
You must confront the place of death in your life. Whatever represents a tomb—you must go back, you must see it, you must face it. Most people don't like to do this. We don't like to confront the areas of our lives where we perceive death reigns. We would rather ignore them, push them under the carpet, or hope they go away. But you've got to confront anything you perceive is dying or dead in your life.
We have all kinds of coping strategies that keep us from actually confronting the places of death in our lives. But there's no shortcut. There's no quick fix. There's no bypass route. You and I must confront the dying areas of our lives.
I want to encourage you to look inward. Where are you now? Where are you going? Why are you here? Are you happy? Are you fulfilled? Are you living the will of God for your life? Is this the perfect will of God for you?
I'm talking about spiritual death—rebellion against God. If you have never given your life to Christ, I want to use this service as an opportunity to reconsider your spiritual health.
I'm talking about character death—where you are not what you say you are. Are you who you say you are? What exactly are you when no one is watching?
I'm talking about emotional death—where you have no compassion for lost souls. You're not concerned about what happens to people around you. Everything is about you, what you want, what you can get.
I'm talking about financial death—where all you earn is yours to keep. You don't care about people around you. You're driven by ambition, by your goals, by your desires for material prosperity.
I'm talking about marital death—where the fire in your marriage has gone out.
I'm talking about a carnal lifestyle—where your body and emotions rule and dominate your spirit, resulting in sinful desires, bad habits, and activities that keep you distant from God.
We must confront these things that are dead or dying in our lives. The passage shows us that these women went at the first opportunity. Very early in the morning, they got up and went straight to the tomb. They didn't care about the guards. They went without delay.
We should be like that. We should confront the dying areas of our lives quickly and early. If we do not confront them quickly, they will only catch up with us. The moment we recognize that something in our life is not the way God intends it to be, we should confront it. The very first moment you feel that something is wrong, the first moment you feel that pain—you need to confront it.
The second step is to let God deal with the barriers.
Verse 2 says: "And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it."
If you look at Mark's account, he tells us that on the way to the tomb, the women were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" But here's what's critical: they didn't let the possibility of the stone stop them. They were already on their way to the tomb before they even asked the question.
Listen, we may come up with millions of barriers, millions of reasons why we should not address the areas in our life that we perceive as dead or dying. We make excuses:
Listen carefully: the Bible makes clear that these excuses are just that—excuses. There was no barrier that could stop these women from approaching the tomb, not even the stone itself. But here's the truth: none of these barriers can stop the life of Christ from reaching you.
God is waiting for you to approach Him so He can do something about that challenge. God is waiting for you to approach Him so He can do something about your spiritual life. By the time they got to the tomb, they didn't have to worry about the stone—an angel came from heaven to remove it.
I'm telling you, my brother and sister, God is waiting for you to approach Him. There's nothing that can stop God from reaching out to you, and nothing can stop the love of God from flowing out to you.
There is no excuse on earth not to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Do not worry about the stone. Allow God to take care of the barrier.
The third step is to look and believe.
Verse 5 says: "And the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.'"
Notice that the women were not told to just take the angel's word for it. The angel invited them to come and see.
Here's the critical point: our faith must never be second-hand. Each of us on our journey to life must decide for ourselves what to do with Jesus. We receive the same invitation: come and look.
I received that same invitation over 30 years ago. July 4th, 1988, at 6 p.m., I received Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. From then on, my life has never been the same. I offer you this same invitation today: come and see. Do not take second-hand information. Come and see. Ask questions. Search for answers.
Every two years, I take people with me on pilgrimage to the holy nation of Israel. One of the highlights of our visit is that we go to the empty tomb. I tell people, "Come and see. Let's look into the tomb. Come and see that it is empty."
Let your faith not be based on second-hand information. Come and see the empty tomb. Allow God to walk in your life. Allow the resurrection power of God to work in your life. Allow the place of death to come alive. Allow the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into that problem area. Hand that problem over to Christ, just as I did over three decades ago. Hand your life over to Christ. Hand your entire future over to Christ.
I did that 33 years ago at an altar call, and I have never looked back since.
I pray for the grace for you to take that step forward. If you are here today for the first time, or if you are already a Christian, I want to challenge you to take your relationship one step higher. What are you doing about those who are not saved? What are you doing about your world? What are you doing on earth for the sake of heaven? What are you doing about that Great Commission? Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations." Are you doing that? How are you measuring that?
The final step is one word: obey.
Verse 7 says: "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him."
One simple instruction: go. Go quickly. Go and tell. Now this is still the case today. We are only called to do one thing: obey. We are only called to obey the Scriptures, obey the word of God.
If you are here and you are a Christian, are you obeying the word of God to the full? Are you maximizing your relationship with Jesus Christ? If you are here and you are not a Christian, I want to invite you to take a look and join us.
Here is a misconception we are sometimes told in life: the ultimate is for you to be your own boss. We are told that you should live your life, call the shots, take care of number one, be the head at all costs, win at all costs, plan your way through life.
But I will say this with all humility: it's a lie. It doesn't work. You know why? Because you have no control over what's going to happen next. You have no control over what's around the corner. It's very difficult for you to plan ahead and depend on your plan when you leave divinity out of it.
One incident, one bad diagnosis, one betrayal of a trusted friend—and our lives become completely shattered. You need Jesus. He resurrected just for you.
I want you to look at the dying areas of your life—from spiritual to material to financial to your marriage to your entire lifestyle. I want you to confront any area that you perceive is not what it should be in Christ, any area that is below God's standard for you. Address it, and address it quickly.
Walking in obedience to God is the road to life. I chose this road over three decades ago. It's a road to fulfillment. It's a road to satisfaction. Why? Because God is in control. God is sovereign. He is the author of life. He's the beginning and the end. He's timeless. He speaks about eternity.
Our problem is that we want the life in Christ. We want to be fulfilled. But at the same time, we want to be in control and do it on our own terms. That's not how it works. You cannot live life on your own terms and be submitted to Christ at the same time.
Today I want to challenge you with that same question: What are you going to do with the person of Jesus?
He was crucified. He died for us. He died for me. He died for you. He defeated death. He resurrected today just for you.
At the end of the day, you have two options: you either accept or you reject. You cannot sit on the fence on this one.
Today I want to encourage you to accept. I want to encourage you to invite Jesus into your life and live the same life I'm living right now—totally submitted, totally yielded to Christ. I'm telling you, I am better off for it.
If you are here and you have never given your life to Christ, I want you to stretch your hands towards me right now and pray this prayer with me:
Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, I come to you today. I give my life to you, Lord Jesus. Come into my life. Be my Lord and Savior. In your name I pray, Amen.
If you're already a Christian, I want to challenge you to take one step further. I want you to take on the mandate of Jesus Christ of making disciples of all nations.
