Easter Offers Us A Fresh Start

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Easter offers us a fresh start by Rick Warren

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life, and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4 MSG). "Jesus is in the business of giving people a fresh start. " Once I typed the phrase 'fresh start' into Google on the Internet. It brought up 485,000 links! Evidently, a lot of people would like to have a fresh start in life. They think, "I've blown it, I've messed up, I've really made a mess of things in my life. I'd like a fresh start." Jesus is in the business of giving people a fresh start. The apostle Peter says, "Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life, and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4 MSG). Several things happen once you give your life to Christ: You open up your life to God and get to know him. You're given a brand new life, which gives you everything to live for. You get a future in heaven. You can say it this way: You get your past forgiven, you get a purpose for livin', and you get a home in heaven. What a deal! You're past, present, and future are taken care of as you put your trust in Jesus. A fresh start! "Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:30 MSG).

Easter Means We're Released From Judgment

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Easter means we're released from judgment by Rick Warren

"Those who . . . believe in him . . . will not be judged" (John 5:24 GNT). "If you put your trust in the love of Jesus Christ, your sins are wiped out, 'There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ.'" (Romans 8:1 NLT) Jesus' death and resurrection releases us from judgment. You may imagine a day of judgment where you're standing outside the gates of heaven in a really, really long line, and you're slowly moving forward, one step at a time. As you get closer, you start to sweat and wonder, "Am I going to get in? Am I going to make it? Is God going to use a giant TV screen to show every dumb or evil thing I've ever done? Will my every sin be exposed?" I have good news for you; it's a promise of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that those who believe in Jesus—his death and resurrection—will not be judged (John 3:18). So, here's the real picture: You're standing in line waiting for the judgment. Jesus sees you and he says, "I know you. We've been friends for years. You put your trust in me back at Easter 2009. Come with me. You come get in the express lane. You get the fast track. You get to bypass the judgment." Is that good news? Oh, yeah! I've got a friend named Buddy who says, when he was a little kid, his Sunday school teacher taught him that God was sitting in heaven writing down every bad thing that Buddy ever did. Writing it down! She actually made the class sing a song every week that went: "My Lord is writing all the time. Writing, writing, writing all the time." Buddy says, "It scared me. I just thought, 'I'm never going to make it to heaven. My list is getting longer and longer.'" Is that the way God treats us when we come and put our faith in Christ? No! In fact, God is erasing, erasing, erasing all the time. Forgiving, forgiving, forgiving all the time. He's sitting in heaven hitting the delete button. Why? Because the Bible says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8); and "Love . . . keeps no record of wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV). If you put your trust in the love of Jesus Christ, your sins are wiped out, "There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ" (Romans 8:1 NLT).

Easter Means We're Acceptable To God

Tuesday, April 06, 2010 Easter means we're acceptable to God by Rick Warren God gave Jesus to die for our sins, and he raised him to life, so that we would be made acceptable to God (Romans 4:25 CEV). " It is Christ's goodness in you that makes you acceptable. You're not perfect, but he is. " Jesus' death and resurrection make us acceptable to God. Would you be surprised to know that most people do not accept themselves? I've been a pastor now for over 30 years and I've talked to tens of thousands of people, and I've found that most people really don't like themselves inside. They wish they were different. They wish they looked different. They wish they acted different. We don't accept ourselves and so we spend our lives trying to find acceptance among other people; but even more important than being accepted by other people is being accepted by God. That's a problem. Why? Because God is perfect and you're not. And neither am I. God lives in a perfect place called heaven, so God has a problem. How does he get imperfect people into a perfect place where he is perfect? (Because, obviously, if he allowed imperfect people in a perfect place it wouldn't be perfect anymore.) God has to come up with a plan for imperfect people to be able to live in a perfect place. God's plan is what I call "The Great Exchange." The Bible says, "God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!" (2 Corinthians 5:21 LB). I don't know how to make it any clearer than to say it like this: You're never going to be good enough to get into heaven because it's perfect and you stopped being perfect a long time ago. It is Christ's goodness in you that makes you acceptable. You're not perfect, but he is. So God says, "We'll do an exchange here. Jesus will take your sins and you get my goodness in your life." That's quite a deal! A lot of people feel trapped by their past. They say, "If you knew what I've done, you'd know I'd never be acceptable to God." I don't know what you've done, but God does and he still accepts you: "God says he will accept us and acquit us—declare us 'not guilty'—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like" (Romans 3:22 LB).