Posted on Fri, Apr 17, 2009
The 'Empty' Promises of Easter
Speaker - Elder Ayodeji Adesina (Lay Pastor, BHSDAC, London)(message summarised by Sis. Ayobola Akwarandu)
Key Text: I Corinthians 15: 55 - 57
The society today is full of empty promises which make people very wary of each other. Adverts tell us that we can be beautiful, healthy or strong if we use certain products but soon it is realised that the promises are only empty. This message may very well be the most unusual Easter message you have ever heard, it brings you chronicles of death and the promises of Easter. Let me share with you three ‘empty’ promises of Easter - the empty Cross; the empty Tomb; and empty burial clothes, all of which could not hold my Jesus down. They all are empty but full of God’s promises.
- The empty Cross – because the Cross is empty we have the promise of forgiven sins. Let’s use our sanctified imagination to picture the first Easter morning. It was Sunday morning, the previous day being a Sabbath Day – Saturday, thus the women could not go to the tomb then. Therefore, first thing on Sunday morning, they made their way to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. The women were sad and hardly spoke a word as they hurried to the tomb of Jesus, however they suddenly stopped in their tracks, why? They saw the three empty Crosses but focussed on the middle one and it all came back to their minds as fresh as it happened the previous Friday - the horror of seeing Jesus being nailed, the pain and agony, the blood… He had managed to say ‘it is finished’ and He had died but now the Cross was empty, full though of God’s promises. Jesus had paid the penalty for our sins. Sin? A word that we hardly hear nowadays, some say it is politically incorrect but the truth is that we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory and according to God’s word, the soul that sin will die. The wages of sin is death but the empty Cross tells us that the penalty of our sins has been paid. God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. No other one has declared our penalty paid by dying for us but Jesus Christ. No longer do we have the excuse to live in sin but because of the empty Cross we can hold on to God’s promise of our sins being forgiven.
- The empty Tomb - going back to the ladies on the way to the tomb, one of them wondered aloud, who will move the stone in front of the tomb? In those days, the stones used to seal the tombs used to be massive, heavy stones so that no one can gain access to the body laid therein. As they walked and wondered, suddenly the earth moved under their feet, they were surprised and stopped, but soon they got going again. On getting nearer the tomb, they saw that the soldiers guarding the tomb had fallen unconscious! As they gasped in wonder, they saw an angel illuminated with bright light who spoke to them and informed them that Jesus had risen from the dead. They peered into the tomb and yes it was empty but full of God’s promises. The empty tomb is the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has shown us that death has been put to shame as he could not hold down my Jesus. Oh, death where is thy sting?
Allow me to quickly share with you Death’s biography. For you to understand this, you need to view death as though it were a person:
Death was conceived from Adam and Eve’s temptation. The parent of death is sin and the grandparent is the devil. Before death’s birth, there were no pains, travails, labour, sorrow etc. The human body was designed to last forever but when death was born, he became active and the first person to be struck down was Abel. Death then became the strongest predator on earth. Seen by day and night lurking in shadows, he was the terror of the night, he had no favourite - black or white, red or yellow, young or old alike. Death pushed David to slaughter Bathsheba’s husband, he pushed the three Hebrew boys into the fire, but he then saw a fourth man standing with them in the fire. This fourth man was the same one who had conquered him ages ago! Death said to Himself that he would be patient for soon he intends to conquer this fourth Man in the fire.
At the mention of death’s name, men would tremble. Only two men had ever escaped his grasp - Enoch and Elijah. Death was sure he would conquer the Son of God. Thus, death was there in the garden as Jesus was mobbed by the murderous crowd but Jesus looks him in the eye without any fear. Death flinched, wondering if he had truly encountered his Master, but he refused to accept the fact. So, he goes to Pilate whispering ‘kill him’, he goes to the crowd and made them to cry out to Pilate, ‘kill him and let his blood be upon us and our children’. Death was desperate, thinking that if he can destroy Jesus at the hands of the people, then Jesus would not make it to the Cross and God’s Plan of Salvation would hence be thwarted. With every lash of the whip, death lunged at the body of Jesus, hoping that Jesus would not get to the old rugged Cross but once again he failed. The Roman soldiers drilled the nails in the hands and feet of Jesus, tearing the flesh apart and cracking His bones. Yet, in the midst of this agony, Christ asked for forgiveness for them and then declared, ‘it is finished’, then he bowed His head and died.
That day, the sun refused to shine, the birds hushed their songs. There was demonic celebration on that Friday. The next day, it was Sabbath and quiet but on Sunday, death thought to himself, ‘I AM DEATH AND CANNOT BE CONQUERED’! But the stone covering the tomb was rolled away at the touch of an angel. And up from the grave Jesus arose! Death was defeated, Christ arose. Rev 1: 8 says, “I AM THE ALPHA AND OMEGA”. Jesus made a open show of death and asked Death. ‘where is your sting?’ On Easter Sunday, God showed death He was still in control. Death no longer has to terrorise your life. Christ triumphed that first Easter morning. That was the day death died.
If we believe in God’s Son, Jesus, death does not have power over us. The promise of the empty tomb is that Jesus is alive and death no longer is a foe to be feared. The death that we go through now is what the Bible calls ‘sleep’. The eternal death that we deserved was what Christ experienced for us.
- Empty burial clothes – after the angel had spoken to the women, they went to the rest of the disciples to share the good news. Then came Peter and John rushing to the tomb to see for themselves what they had been told, and whilst John tarried outside the tomb, Peter ran inside and saw the empty clothes for real! Peter rationalised that if someone had stolen the body they wouldn’t have left the burial clothes behind. It meant truly Jesus had resurrected!! Beloved, Jesus left his ‘dead man’ clothes and is now clothed in His priestly garment, a robe of righteousness. The tomb could not contain Him nor could the Cross, nor the burial clothes. Jesus now lives to have communion with you. He wants to be your friend and your Lord. The promise of the empty burial clothes is that you have a living Saviour who wants to have a relationship with you.
At Easter, more than any other time of the year, God has given us the promise of forgiven sin, eternal life and a personal relationship with Him. Would you take Jesus at His words? Jesus is waiting for you and wants you to be part of God’s family. Easter tells us that the promises of God are real and made for us. And so, you can boldly say, ‘because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone…’
Hallelujah!
(If you will like to obtain a DVD of the full message, please call ++447748 807550 or ++447853 121918, or email bhsdacpastors@aol.com. Within UK, the price is £3 but if you enquire, we may even be able to send you a free copy)
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