WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.480 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.560 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:20.879 So good to be together this morning, and especially good to celebrate all that Christ has accomplished. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:22.879 The grave is empty. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.559 Hope is alive in Jesus Christ. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:32.320 And we have life in his name because he had life after death. 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:33.439 We praise his name. 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.039 It is so good to be together. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:37.520 We're going to be in Galatians chapter 1 this morning. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:45.119 If you don't have a Bible in front of you, our ushers are making their way down the aisle, and you can just flag them down, and they're going to put a copy of God's word into your hands. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:50.079 And we would love for you to keep this as a gift from us to you. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.280 It's good to sing of the victory of Jesus Christ, isn't it? 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:59.759 I don't know if there's a morning I love more than Easter morning. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:07.840 And I find myself longing on a morning like this to experience this sort of celebration. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:10.079 The battle is won, the victory is ours. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:19.920 I want to experience it this week, and not only this week, this year, and not only this year for my life, because the reality is what we celebrate this morning is certainly true, isn't it? 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:28.879 That Christ is risen, and because he's risen, we have victory over our greatest enemy, death itself. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:48.079 It's an amazing thing to celebrate, and yet we know that the reality is true, that you can win a battle, celebrate a finished battle, and act like the war is still on. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:50.239 You ever done that? 00:01:50.640 --> 00:02:00.319 You ever had like prepare yourself for sort of like uh you know confrontation with someone, you know, a verbal battle you're gonna have, and so you sort of rehearse all the arguments in your mind. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:05.120 You can be honest with me, you know, you've you are a pretty great lawyer in the shower, aren't you? 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.520 You go over the argument, you go over their rebuttals, how you're gonna totally smash them. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:21.680 And I had this experience, you know, just recently, and I got to the person, and as soon as I was, you know, sat down, ready for the you know, confrontation, my blood, my heart rate is pumping. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.400 They they told me, you know, I already agree with you. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:27.680 And I was not ready for that at all. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:36.159 I had built up this you know amazing argument that I now I need to rehearse it in front of you because you know I somebody needed to hear it. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:38.639 We know what that's like. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:52.080 None of us know what it's like to win a battle or at least have a battle be finished, but live as though it's not finished, like one Japanese soldier did. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:09.680 He was a soldier during World War II, and he was placed on an island in the Philippines, and in 1945, when the war was declared finished, they forgot about this man, and nobody told him. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:16.000 And as the story goes, for 29 years this man lived as though he was still in war. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:21.439 Peace had been accomplished, and yet he was ready to battle. 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:23.520 He didn't know. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.560 Freedom on paper, but bound in life. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:36.560 And loved one, what I want you to understand is that what happens on Good Friday is that we get freedom on paper. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:54.159 We get to celebrate the reality that our sin is canceled, that the judge's gavel has come down, and our verdict, if your faith is in Jesus Christ, has been that we have been declared innocent in him. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:56.159 Praise God. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:06.319 But the reality is that even though that verdict can come down, it is possible to live as though you are not free. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:23.600 It's possible that even though the verdict has come down, you have not heard yet the clanging sound of the prison door opening wide, that you haven't walked out of the imprisonment of your slavery to sin and breathed in the fresh air of freedom. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.000 Maybe you're still living in a jungle of shame. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:36.399 Maybe you are still acting like there is righteousness for you to win, like you need to prove your standing before the Lord. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:43.839 And what Easter Sunday then comes and does is it shows us not only our release, but our pardon. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:49.279 That we are now free in Jesus Christ because death is defeated. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.839 Good Friday is your release on paper. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:08.560 Easter Sunday is hearing the clang of the prison doors wide open and stepping outside and breathing in the fresh air of life and freedom in Jesus Christ. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:16.560 And what we find in Galatians chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, are that sound itself. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:30.800 The sound of freedom, the sound of the prison door opening up, inviting us to walk out because sin has been canceled, so that we can now live knowing that sin can be conquered in us. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:34.959 Let's read this together. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.920 Notice what Paul says in Galatians chapter 1. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:40.879 I'm gonna start at verse 3, reading to verse 5. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:50.240 It says, Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins. 00:05:50.319 --> 00:06:03.839 Now, hear this loved one, where we'll be spending our time this morning, to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:05.279 Amen. 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:15.600 And what I want you to take away from this this morning is that your story doesn't end with canceled sin, that really your story begins with conquered sin. 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:26.000 Your story begins when you walk out and breathe in the fresh air of freedom, the freedom of eternal life that Jesus Christ has bought you. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.199 And this morning is an especially special. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:30.959 Can I say that? 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:32.160 Especially special? 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:33.439 That's okay, right? 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:47.759 Sunday, as we get to celebrate baptism with six individuals who have turned to the Lord and want to publicly profess their faith in Him. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:49.439 And this is exactly what baptism is. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:56.319 Baptism is about a story, it's about the beginning of a story that will go on for all of eternity. 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:28.560 Testimony is really a song of praise that you sing to the Lord that rings on for all of eternity, that sin has not only been canceled in the lives of these believers, that's what the dunking symbolizes, that's what being buried with Christ symbolizes, but also that sin has been conquered in the lives of these individuals, so that they are raised to new life with Jesus Christ, united with him, living a life that has been given to them of Jesus Christ's righteousness that will endure throughout all of eternity. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:31.439 It is the beginning of a story. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:38.800 And it's a story that we celebrate as those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and been baptized as well. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:40.639 It's our story. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:42.560 But we need proof. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:49.360 We need proof, and here in a sentence, Paul gives us so simply, it's what we need when things are important. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:50.959 We need simplicity. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:53.199 We need simplicity. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:58.560 And this is what Paul gives to us Easter Sunday in a sentence. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:10.959 That it was the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:12.160 Amen. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:14.399 Jesus rose. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:15.600 It's all the proof we need. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:19.680 It shows us what he did and why he did it and what it means for us. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:26.639 And this is the first thing I want you to understand that when Jesus rose, he rose to pull you from the world's grip. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.160 You see what Paul says there? 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:34.399 He says that Jesus gave himself to deliver us, to deliver us. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:49.200 A loved one, isn't that astounding that when Jesus Christ was raised from the grave, he did not just do that for himself, he did it for us. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.799 It would be remarkable if he did it for himself. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:09:01.039 And I and in fact, if he had just done it for himself, I still think that we should gather together this morning and we should still praise him because it is a remarkable thing. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.320 No one has ever defeated death before. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:10.320 And when things are remarkable, it is right for us to gather around them and point to them and applaud. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:13.039 That's what we're to do. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:18.960 Think about how Canada celebrates Terry Fox, and rightly so. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:23.039 He inspired in a nation by what he did courage. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:32.240 And it's right that we honor him for that, but the reality is that it's very likely that it hasn't really changed your life that much, has it? 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.679 I mean, certainly we can say it's remarkable, right? 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:46.000 The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just remarkable, it is representative. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:51.840 It's representative in that Jesus is raised for us. 00:09:52.720 --> 00:10:00.320 And loved one, if your faith is in Jesus Christ, I can look at you this morning and say this: that Jesus was raised for you. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:18.080 That the freedom that he won over the grave by his resurrection is that a it's a freedom that he offers you by faith, and it is a freedom that you you now receive and live in if your faith is in him and you've made the confession of him. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:19.919 It's a freedom. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:27.440 You know, as a Canadian, you and I, we we live with a certain freedom that we expect because of a constitution that we have, don't we? 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:29.279 And it's right that we do that. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:34.960 This constitution, it's representative of the freedom that we have in this nation. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:47.120 And I want you to understand that what the resurrection is, is heaven's constitution, which wins for all those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and eternal freedom in him. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:51.600 It's representative. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:11:01.600 It changes you, it secures you a freedom, it declares a liberty to you this morning if you belong in him. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:14.799 And so listen, we need to just pause here and ask this incredibly important question of what is happening right now inside of you. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:24.159 And in the heart of your hearts and in your soul and your mind as you think about this morning, what is happening inside of you? 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:35.519 Listen, I just I just do not care that you would only leave this place understanding the resurrection. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:39.200 I don't care about that at all. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:54.399 My question for you is like, is your heart this morning being stirred with an affection, a delight, a glory in the reality of what Jesus Christ has accomplished by being resurrected from the grave? 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:11.200 Listen, millions of people find themselves in a church this morning, and they will leave unchanged because they are not there to celebrate something that is representative for them. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:16.559 They are there just to celebrate something that happened in history, something that truly is remarkable. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:27.120 And so you may leave this place and you have this intellect intellectual understanding that yes, Jesus was resurrected from the grave, but you leave and you're still in shackles because it's not representative for you. 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:37.120 And listen, if all that Jesus was was a remarkable man who who maybe did some miracles and even was resurrected from death, then it's nothing. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:42.480 Nothing more than a remarkable day in history, but but loved one. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.279 Is this history for you or is this reality for you? 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.159 This is not a glory we see from a distance, one weekend a year. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:58.159 It is a freedom that we experience up close, that we taste, that we live in. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.159 This is what Jesus offers us. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:15.759 As you look back on your life then, do you see the chains of sin slavery that have been broken because Jesus was resurrected and defeated death? 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:26.559 Do you look back on your story and see that you have been freed from a sin, a slavery to sin that you were once captivated by? 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:28.240 Do you see the chains? 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:37.279 Do you see the chains of lust that once gripped you, now broken in the freedom that Jesus Christ offers? 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:50.159 Do you see the chains of shame that whispered lies constantly into your ears, that you aren't good enough, that you aren't worthy enough, that you could never do enough, that you'll never be appreciated or liked? 00:13:50.240 --> 00:14:01.279 Do you see the chains of shame broken by the gospel of Jesus Christ who says that you are loved and accepted even though you are not enough? 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:22.799 Do you see the chains of bitterness, a bitterness that once gripped your life like shackles of iron, a bitterness that made you jealous of everybody else, that made you look at other people filled with envy and even hate, and though that bitterness has been broken by the gospel of Jesus Christ because you have been forgiven much by him. 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.679 Therefore, you can forgive much. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:35.120 You see chains broken, lying, rusting behind you, chains of fear, chains of people pleasing, chains of control. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:37.200 You see it, loved one. 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:49.360 All these chains broken by the one who did not only walk out of prison himself, but he led a triumphant procession of all the redeemed with him. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:51.200 And that is why we sing this morning. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:58.000 Because Jesus is our captain, Jesus is our leader, and he leads the way. 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:12.080 It's not just watching what's happening this morning, it's worshiping someone who accomplished it. 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:14.639 He rose to pull us out of the world's grip. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:19.200 Second thing I want you to see this morning, though, is that he rose to prove the heart of the Father. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:27.120 Notice what Paul says here, that he gave himself to deliver us according to the will of our God and Father. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:35.039 And what Paul really wants to do here is correct some misconceptions we have about the Father. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:42.480 You see, many of us live with this sort of understanding that the Father is in heaven and that he's just a, you know, he is like a grumpy person. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.679 Do not cross God before he's had his coffee. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:56.720 That he's never happy with us, that he's always disappointed with us, that we could never please him, and that Jesus coming is sort of like a you know a surprise mission. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:02.639 Like Jesus sneaks out of the window of heaven because certainly the father would never want to save someone like us. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.759 And Jesus comes down to earth and God doesn't know what's going on. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:11.039 But once Jesus gives himself, then he's like, okay, well, I guess I have to, I guess I have to accept them. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:19.840 But what Paul is telling us here is that Jesus doesn't change the father's mind. 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:21.279 Jesus isn't like Abraham. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:31.600 You remember when Abraham was outside Sodom and God said, I'm gonna destroy Sodom, and Abraham kind of got in this argument, you know, well, well, what if there's 50 righteous people, you know, and he and he just kept bargaining with him? 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:36.799 Jesus doesn't do that with the father because salvation is the father's plan. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:42.559 The resurrection happened because of the will of the Father. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:45.919 It's his idea. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.960 And so I asked you this morning, do you know what it's like to be chosen? 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.919 Do you know what it's like to be wanted? 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:59.360 Do you know what it's like for someone to will to have you? 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:07.839 You know, I'm the youngest of three siblings, two older brothers, and I know what it's like to not be chosen. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.839 In fact, I see it in my youngest daughter every day. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:27.440 You know, the older two, they play together and they love playing together, and they don't do it purposefully, but the youngest one, she doesn't understand, and so she's kind of constantly got this pain of rejection, and you know, and I know it's not intentional at all, but it happens. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.720 And it's hard. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:32.000 Like you want to be chosen, you want to be appreciated. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.839 But but I, as a youngest, also know what it's like to be chosen. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:47.440 I I remember the day that I was married, and looking down the aisle and seeing the corner that my bride would eventually walk out and thinking beforehand, you know, like there's no way this is gonna happen. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.279 Like, there's gotta be a trick. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:18:08.079 But then eventually, you know, my bride turning the corner with her father, and and you know, this shock that washes over me that I just pulled off the greatest dupe in human history, and that her father even allowed it and is walking her now down. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:14.799 But the eye contact the whole time of like this reality, yes, I have chosen you. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:19.680 I've chosen you to be my bride. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:28.880 I know what it's like to be a chosen loved one, but do you know that the resurrection is the father's proof? 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:44.400 The father's proof that it was his will that you would be his, that he would not stop at any length, even that he would overcome death so that you could taste eternal life. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:47.359 The father chose you. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:19:07.119 Now listen, if if we if if the first primary mover in our salvation is us, if it's us that loves the Father first before he loves us, one of the realities of our life is that we never can really be sure that God won't eventually abandon us once he figures out what we're all about. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.599 You know, if you know me, you you know that I love to pretend like I a golf. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:13.440 I love to pretend to be a golfer. 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:23.680 And I have found myself at times, you know, not being a very good golfer, driving up to courses, and you know, you can tell right away if it's a nice course or, you know, the kind of course that I should be at. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:38.160 And I drive up to these courses and I I see the greens and I see, you know, on the practice range the golf swings of these like seemingly professional people, and I find myself asking myself at times, like, should I even be here? 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:41.039 I don't know if this is the course for me. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:44.720 And I am probably right, I probably shouldn't be there. 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:48.960 But it is totally different when you receive an invitation, isn't it? 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:55.920 It's totally different when you show up somewhere, not on your own accord, but because you have received an invitation. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:09.680 And it's interesting that time after time Jesus tells this parable to his disciples of this feast that he is putting on, and he has invited the wealthy, he's invited the good looking, he's invited the people who have their life together, but they do not come. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.680 And so you know who he wants at the feast? 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:13.200 He wants the broken. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:20.640 He wants the ones that are filled with shame, the ones that have nothing to offer, the ones that are lame. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:22.960 And he looks and he says, Bring me those people. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:33.920 And listen, loved one, if you find yourself in this place where you just feel unworthy, like you just feel like you could never qualify for the Father's love, Jesus looks at you and he says, I want that one. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:43.440 I want that one to be mine, and I'm even willing to die and not only die, be resurrected to new life in order that I might prove it. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:45.519 This is what the resurrection is. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.839 It is the Father's proof. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:52.799 It is his will proven that you would receive eternal life. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:21:00.480 And so listen, what's happening this morning is, I think, probably more significant than any of us realize. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:05.599 We are not just here to celebrate an Easter Sunday. 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:15.519 You know, maybe some of you guys are just here because it's it's baptism Sunday, and you're kind of even annoyed that the person being baptized asked you, and you're like, okay, great, here we are, another baptism. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:20.240 Yeah, I mean, you don't have to say it, but I'm just trying to, you know, connecting with you honestly here, maybe. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:26.640 Maybe you're here because you know that neighbor has been inviting you out over and over and over again, and you're like, finally, okay, whatever, I'll come. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:27.680 I hope it's a quick service. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:29.359 I checked on YouTube pretty quick, okay. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.440 Let's not make it long this time, Pastor. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:42.720 But I want you to understand this morning that there is more going on here, that heaven is making a beckoning call to you. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:59.519 A beckoning call to you, asking that you would consider just for a moment the reality of the resurrection, the reality that Jesus came to this world in. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:10.319 Time and space as a historical man, flesh as real as the flesh that is before you right now, a voice that is real as the voice that is echoing in this room right now. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:15.759 Jesus came and he died, but he was raised to new life. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:25.200 And that that resurrection is not just something that happened in history, it is something that this morning is being pressed into your face, pressed into your life. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:46.799 It is demanding something from you that you would by faith trust in Jesus Christ and find eternal life so that you too may be raised to new life, that you might die a death that all of us will certainly die, but that through faith, when Jesus returns and by his voice he says, rise, get up from the grave, you too would do it. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:51.440 Loved one, it is so much more than what you thought you came for. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:59.839 It is that your eternal destiny might be changed by a simple moment right now where in your heart of hearts, you don't even have to say a word. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:02.799 You confess, uh, there is no other way I could do it. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:06.160 It is only by the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:13.680 And if you do that in this moment, the scriptures say, today is the day of salvation. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:21.759 And on that day when Jesus returns, and you are nothing but dust in the grave. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:23.680 And he says, Rise, get up. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:30.079 You will experience what he experienced the resurrection from the dead to eternal life. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:34.880 God is drawing you right now. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.359 You know, one of the things I love about Baptism Sunday is my position. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:43.599 I get to see all the testimonies come in before they're read to you this morning. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:58.480 And I gotta tell you, like, if you don't believe that God is sovereignly in control of the universe, then I think these testimonies are going to be absurd to you because they are all from just wildly different individuals, and you're gonna see that. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:07.839 Who just met, you know, they met each other this morning, many of them, and yet their story is so similar in so many ways. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:38.240 And the resounding note through all of them is that even though you know most of them can't pinpoint a time when they trusted in Jesus Christ, they can pinpoint this process of God drawing them in, undoubtedly, without a question, drawing them in through conversations, through people, through experiences, drawing them into himself, almost like this spiritual magnetic pull of God saying this that there is life in Jesus Christ. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:42.640 And I wonder, loved one, if God is doing the same thing for you, and I truly believe he is. 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.759 And what is important in this moment is how you respond. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.839 It's how you respond. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.039 It's Galatians 1:4. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:56.720 It was the will of the Father that delivered us from the grip of the world. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.559 It's because he loved us first. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.960 Before we cleaned up, before we figured it out, Jesus was resurrected. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:10.480 The third thing I want you to see about the resurrection of Christ is this that he rose to proclaim his glory through your life. 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:18.799 Paul says this that we were delivered according to the will of our God and Father. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:23.680 Look at verse 5, to whom be glory forever and ever. 00:25:24.400 --> 00:25:26.240 You know why God delivers you? 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:31.839 Because he wants the glory that comes from a story of a redeemed life. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:33.759 That's what God's after. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:39.359 And it's an eternal glory, it's a glory that rings through the ages forever and ever. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.480 The cross is not the end of the story. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:44.799 The resurrection is the beginning. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:50.240 It is the beginning of a story that brings glory to God for all of eternity. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:52.240 That's what baptism is. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:58.319 These baptisms are not just words, although there are amazing testimonies. 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:04.480 It's not just water, although water is an incredibly important part of the symbolism. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:18.480 These are the beginning of stories of conquered, of lives that have conquered sin in Jesus Christ, whose song will now ring for all of eternity. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:23.440 Because Jesus not only canceled sin, he conquered sin. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:26.400 He pulled us from the grip of the world. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:36.480 And he proved his love, the love of the Father, so that he might proclaim through our life a glory for all of eternity.