Jesus Christ - The First Born Of The Dead [Revelation 1]

I think every day is a good day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Every day is a good day to celebrate that Jesus is alive. What's the alternative?

That Jesus remains dead? We might find his bones someday in a crypt in a dusty Palestine tomb, but Jesus is alive.

Did you know that no other religious or philosophical leader of any of the world's religions has ever proclaimed a risen

Savior? Yet, in fact, that's exactly what the Bible teaches, that Jesus is alive.

And it teaches it in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts. The song is going through my mind.

If I do all the New Testament books, I have to sing a song. It's in Romans, 1

Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians. Throughout the epistles, it's everywhere that Jesus is alive.

But there's one particular book that we don't often go to to celebrate and to be reminded of the fact that Jesus died, was really dead, and came to life.

And that is the book of Revelation. So please take your Bibles and turn to the last book in your

Bible, the book of Revelation. And we are going to see today Jesus, the risen

Savior. I have two purposes, really. The first purpose is for Christians to be reminded that Jesus is the

King of kings and Lord of lords. And He is the one in whom we hope, not only for our salvation initially, but also at the end times that Jesus will come back to rescue us and the world and make every wrong right.

If Jesus is dead, that can't happen. But my other purpose is for you who are here today that don't trust in the finished work of Christ, who are not born again, who aren't

Christians. Maybe you're trusting in your baptism or your good works or your confirmation or something like that.

I want you to see Jesus for who He is and then trust completely in Him. Because after all, did you know that Satan believes in the resurrection?

Demons believe in the resurrection. It's a fact that they assent to, that they intellectually agree with, but of course they're not trusting in, they're not hoping in, they're not relying upon with confidence, are they, that this is the real

Christ? So when we look at the passage today, I think you're going to say, wow, the way Revelation starts and the way it proclaims

Jesus as the risen Savior, He is worthy of my worship. He is worthy of my adoration and I want to trust in Him and keep trusting in Him.

Now when you look at the book of Revelation, it starts off with the proverbial bang. It just goes right from the very beginning, the revelation of Jesus the

Messiah. And then throughout the rest of the book, this uncovering, this unveiling, this demonstration of Jesus as God continues.

He's called in this book not only Jesus Christ, but He's called the Son of God. Jesus is called the faithful witness.

He's called the ruler over the kings of the earth. Jesus is called the Alpha and the

Omega. He's called the First and the Last. He's called the

Son of Man, the one who is holy, the one who is true. He's called the

Amen, the faithful witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

He's called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He's called the Lamb standing as if slain.

He's called the Messiah that will reign forever. He's called the Word of God. He's called the

King of Kings. He's called the Lord of Lords. He's called the Root and Offspring of David.

And He's called the Bright and Morning Star. But early on, Jesus as proclaimed as the one who's been raised from the dead.

I love the book of Revelation and you probably do too. Maybe even when you were an unbeliever you thought,

I've got to know what's going to happen at the end. Let's figure out what's going on and the book of Revelation does tell us.

And most people love the book of Revelation, but not everybody. George Bernard Shaw called

Revelation a curious record of a drug addict's visions. I think there was just some

TV show on recently about the passion, but in the old days when I was growing up, remember

Godspell? Some of you do. Those with gray hair and glasses do.

In Godspell, which was showing Jesus in the book of Revelation, Christ was presented as a buffoon, a clown, frolicking around, wearing a

Superman sweatshirt with a red nose and on his forehead he had a little heart painted.

When you see this book and you see Jesus in this book, you are not going to think

George Bernard Shaw, nor will you think Godspell. You'll think, if this is the God that allows me to worship

Him, I'm very thankful. And if this is not the God I worship, I should be afraid.

So much so that I run from my sins and to the saving work of Jesus on the cross.

I don't think you have them, but if you have a pew belt, strap it on. I feel like I'm on a flight.

Here's the one buckle, here's the other one, here's the demonstration. The person and work of Jesus Christ and everything in the book of Revelation hinges upon the fact that Jesus is alive.

Everything in this book is dependent upon the fact that Jesus is alive because how can there be a revelation of Jesus about Jesus, an uncovering of Jesus at the end time for Him to take victory over everyone if He is still dead?

Verse 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place.

He made it known by sending His angel to His servant, John. The word revelation is where we get our word apocalypse.

It means an uncovering, it means a revealing, it means something's behind a curtain and I take the curtain and I pull it back so you can see what's behind the curtain.

This is a revelation about Jesus Christ, who He is in glory. Some books of the

Bible like Daniel talks about are sealed. They're hidden. You're not to know what's inside of these books.

But here we are to know. It says later in Revelation, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near.

You're to know. God wants you to see. God wants you to understand what's going on in the book of Revelation when

Jesus comes back. It's something that we're to anticipate the return of Christ.

The New Testament epistles would have, especially Paul, a desire, Lord, I want you to come back.

2 Thessalonians, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.

And isn't this verse fascinating? This revelation is, do you notice, from God to Christ to the angels to John to us.

And this is going to happen very quickly. Once it starts it's going to go fast.

The time is near. It's going to happen quickly. Do you notice verse 1? It must soon take place.

Once it starts, hold on. You can kind of feel when you're going up that roller coaster and you're getting to the top and at the moment you're just kind of with anticipation what's it going to be like on the initial descent.

And those click click click clicks are making you think, once it starts, there's no way

I can back out of this. And that's the idea in Revelation chapter 1. Once we begin, it's going to be quickly happening.

Verse 2, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ even to all that He saw.

And do you notice we have the blessing right up front? In this book of tragedy, in this book of victory, in this book of execution, in this book of everything in between, there's a blessing at the beginning.

A beatitude. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. I say amen to that by the way.

And blessed are those who hear you say amen to that. And who keep what is written in it for the time is near.

As far as I know, this is the only book that starts off like this in the Bible. There's a blessing for the one who reads it.

There's a blessing to those who hear it. You can imagine this book read aloud in churches back in Israel.

Back in Gentile areas. Blessings everywhere you go in the book of Revelation.

Chapter 14, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Revelation 16, blessed is the one who stays awake keeping his garments on that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed.

Chapter 19, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Chapter 20, blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection.

Chapter 22, blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

And also in chapter 22, blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.

Do you notice verse 4? There's a wonderful Trinitarian salutation from the

Father, from the Spirit, from the Son. And you're going to see tucked in this little salutation our first dramatic explanation of Jesus is alive.

John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, verse 4, grace to you. There's the greeting and peace from him.

There's the Jewish blessing and greeting who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before the throne.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, and here's the first one, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings on earth.

The writer, John, is trying to encourage his readers. There's all kinds of persecution going on.

There will be persecution in the end times. How do you encourage persecuted believers? Tell them about who

Jesus is. And Jesus is going to waver. He's faithful. He doesn't change in the light of persecution.

And once he starts talking about Jesus, he just begins to praise. He can't help himself. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.

Psalm 89 talks about the moon. It comes up every night and then goes back home, as it were.

The faithfulness of the moon, up, rising every single night. And as the moon is faithful, how much more is the

Lord Jesus faithful? And he's not only faithful, do you see the text? He's the firstborn of the dead.

Pilate might want him to stay in the grave. Herod might want him to stay in the grave. The scribes wanted him to stay in the grave.

The Sadducees wanted him in the grave. The centurions wanted him in the grave. But he has raised himself from the dead.

And he is the ruler, notice, of the kings of the earth. He can't help himself.

Now John can't. And now he just says to him who loves us. It's just a burst of praise.

I just love you for doing this for me and for others. To him who loves us and has freed us from his sins by his blood.

Oh, he loved me back at Calvary, but now it's present tense. He's loving me right now. He continues to love me right now, especially these poor people back in those days getting persecuted.

Is God loving me through the trials? Yes, he's loving me right now. He's released us from our sins.

When Jesus said, it is finished, it's true. And then he was raised from the dead. What are we going to see in the book of Revelation?

Here's a sneak preview. Here's a sneak peek. Like any good drama, there's an inkling of what's going to happen in the book of Revelation found in verse 7.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds. And every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.

And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him, even so.

Amen. It wasn't just the four soldiers, the Roman soldiers that pierced

Jesus. It's the Jewish nation. And in a sense, it's all of us, as we would say to him, as we would extol ourselves before we were saved.

This man, we don't want to have rain over us. It's kind of a bittersweet moment because there's going to be judgment.

There's going to be a lot of judgment. Verse 8, isn't this fascinating?

I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the

Almighty. Alpha, it's like our A. It's the first letter of the Greek alphabet.

Omega is like our Z, our Zed. It's the last letter of the alphabet. And do you know if you take

A and Z or Alpha and Omega, you can make, and if you take those letters and every other letter in between, you can make every word known to man.

If you take those 26 letters of the English alphabet and you arrange them different ways, you come up with every word that we have in English.

And what is trying to be conveyed here is God is sovereign. One writer says Christ is the sovereign, supreme alphabet.

There's nothing outside of His knowledge. So as there are no unknown factors that can sabotage

His second coming. It means He knows everything, the full revelation of Jesus.

He's not only Alpha and Omega, but He's, what does it say at the very end of verse 8? The Almighty. He's the

Almighty. Boy, that is such a refrain in the book of Revelation. Jesus isn't some kind of wimpy

Savior, emaciated Savior. He's the Almighty One, it says in Revelation 4.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come. Revelation 11, we give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was.

Revelation 15, O Lord God the Almighty, just and true are

Your ways, King of nations. Revelation 16, yes, Lord God the

Almighty, true and just are Your judgments. Revelation 16 goes on to say the great day of God the

Almighty. Revelation 19, hallelujah for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

And then at the end of the book, Revelation 21, and I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the

Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. God unaffected by sin,

God unaffected by all history, God unaffected by kings and presidents and world systems, transcendent truly.

John gets a vision, verse 9. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called

Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. John now is the last apostle.

He's alive and instead of getting crucified upside down like we think Peter was, instead of dying for his faith like James was, he gets sent off to a little island off of Turkey in the

Aegean Sea. It's called Patmos. It's kind of shaped like a little crescent. Small little island and he was imprisoned there.

And this is where God gives him the vision. We as a church, some of us were there just a few short years ago on the island of Patmos.

And it happened to be a Sunday and God gives him a vision, verse 10. I was in the

Spirit, capital S, on the Lord's day and I heard behind me, I mean this is happening on this kind of like deserted island out in the middle of nowhere where he's been banished.

And all of a sudden God appears and something like a loud voice, like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches.

This is a postal route by the way. To Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Latticea.

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. You would too. And on turning I saw seven golden lamp stands.

And in the midst of the lamp stands, in the midst of these seven churches we will learn about in Revelation 120, was one like a son of man.

This is Daniel language. This is language of the Messiah. There's one like a son of man. He's clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

This is a flicker of Hebrews. That's high priest garb. That's high priest clothing.

Why did the word haberdashery come into my mind right there? I don't know. He's a high priest and what does a high priest do?

He stands between holy God and sinful man as a mediator, as an intermediate one.

A representative, an advocate, turns around to see the voice and there's something like a son of man.

Who is this son of man? Who is this son of God who's head of all the churches? Not just those seven.

Not just ours, but every church. What does he look like? How would you describe him? I'd like to know more about him.

John says in verse 14, the hairs of his head were white.

By the way, this isn't just kind of a dull white. The Greek is, it's brilliant white, flashing white, bright light, holy light, shekinah light.

The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

When you meet someone and they have gray hair, what do you typically think of or what could you think of?

That person is not a fool. That person is what? Wise. On a side note, when it says here his hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow, we had a sign out front.

It's our Bethlehem Bible church sign and it said whiter than snow because I've been preaching through Hebrews chapter 1 about the great high priest

Jesus and he makes purification for our sins as we repent of our sins and trust in him. We're granted forgiveness.

We're like white like snow and I guess we had somebody come after the service and was rebuking some of you in the parking lot because I'm a false prophet because it said whiter than snow on the sign and it didn't snow that day.

And so this particular person was yelling all kinds of things and was taken away.

So when I see white like snow now, I wasn't trying to predict it was going to snow that day. I was saying when

God does His work, you're clean. You're cleansed. You're purified. Here when you hear this voice,

John, and you look over there and see, what do you see? I see Shekinah. I see wisdom.

His eyes were like a flame of fire. I see omniscient laser -like eyes.

I see x -ray eyes. He knows everything because He's the omniscient One. His feet, verse 15, were like burnished bronze.

The brazen altar, judgment, burnished bronze. He's one who judges.

If you've got feet like burnished bronze, you can stomp on things. You can pulverize things.

You can judge things. That's the idea. And His voice was like the roar of many.

There's authority to His voice. Someone's talking to John on this desert island.

Not quite desert, but certainly deserted. And he turns around to look, and he sees the brilliance of God.

He sees the wisdom of God. He sees the judgment of God. He sees the omnipotence of God. He sees the authority of God.

And in His right hand, verse 16, He held seven stars. From His mouth came a sharp, two -edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Everything in His right hand sovereignly possessing everything, owning everything. And when

I saw Him, verse 17, I wonder what you would do. I wonder what I would do. I know what

John did, the text tells us. And when I saw Him...

By the way, we are going to see in the book of Revelation, if you would read it, that when John falls down before angels, the angels say what?

Get up! I'm a creature. Don't worship me. I don't accept worship. Only God accepts worship.

And watch this. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.

You ask me if I believe in people getting slain in the Spirit? I guess I do now. But when

His right... But He laid His right hand on me. He's not just a

God who judges. He's John's Savior. He's a sinner's Savior. Fear not.

I'm the first and the last. And the Living One, here we go, I died, and behold,

I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and Hades.

This is compassionate encouragement for John. Don't be afraid because I might be the judge.

I might be the jury. I might be the executioner. My feet might be like burnished bronze.

But I'm your Savior, John. Get up. I love you. I died to save sinners like you.

And I've been raised from the dead. I'm the Living One. By the way, if you study the

Old Testament and New Testament, the phrase, the Living One, that description is found of God because that's

His nature. Everything else around us dies. Our loved ones die. Plants die.

Animals die. Everything dies. Everything dies. Everything dies.

Except there's one who's died and made victory over the grave, and so He is called the

Living One. Because that's His nature. And the

Living One means death has lost its terror because if you know the One who's got power over death, and He's your friend, and He's your advocate, and He's your mediator,

He's your Savior, then when Hardy asks the question, has anyone cheated death and proved it?

He then asks the other question, does Hardy, is it available to me? Has anybody cheated death and proved it, and is it available to me?

Those two questions found in the Living One are yes and yes.

Someone has conquered death, and is it available to me? Problem is with the resurrection, it's downplayed because Satan hates the doctrine.

When I was growing up, it was a day of cover -ups. We had Watergate, Whitewatergate, Billygate, Nannygate, and there's a real sense now where 2

Corinthians 3 says there's a veil over people's hearts to the truth of God, and then in chapter 4,

Satan blinds people's eyes. I mean, there are people that are smart, they go to Harvard, they go to Yale.

Maybe you're here today and you think, yes, I know intellectually about the resurrection, that's why

I'm here. It's Easter, it's Resurrection Sunday. I would give a cent to it, but I don't trust in it.

I'm not trusting in this risen Savior. I'm not following Jesus. I haven't repented of my sins. To me, that's falling straight into the trap of Satan.

Just know a little bit and know enough to be inoculated to think you're good, and then you're fine.

But friends, Satan believes in the resurrection. There's a faith that doesn't save.

I needed to hear messages when I sat in a Lutheran church. Mike, just because you believe in the resurrection, and I did, by the way, we would have a

Good Friday service. The cross behind the pulpit was covered with black. We would all walk out with sorrowful faces, and then on Sunday, the pastor would come over.

I went up and looked to see what it was because I was so fascinated by it. I think it was about an 8 -pound test line, clear, a fishing line, and he would come over and snip the test line, and the whole black sheet would fall off the cross, and he would say, it's risen.

I mean, he is risen. We would say, he's risen indeed. One time, though, it didn't quite work with the snipping things.

We had to yank it down. And I would believe it all. I would say, yes, I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and now that I've got that kind of taken care of,

I could live my own life. But friends, when you say, I want to live my own life, it tells me you've never truly bowed your knee to the

Lord Jesus Christ. What do people do with the resurrection?

They know the resurrection means I've got to follow Jesus. I've got to trust Him as Lord. I have to say no to self.

I have to live for another. They, people will do anything to get around this truth of Jesus the

Living One. So they're not accountable, so they can live for themselves. I'll give you one illustration.

Some people say that Jesus really wasn't raised. There was a lot of telepathy going on.

And that God sent mental images into the minds of Christ's followers. That would make

God who cannot lie a liar. I don't know what that meant on the Emmaus Road where there's a discussion to an image, kind of like a little hologram.

Jesus, the hologram. Some people think Jesus wasn't really raised from the dead.

And they think there was a seance going on. And some medium was conjured up by some of the people around the cross of Jesus.

And the spirit of the dead Jesus through some occult power would show up into the minds of the believers.

Try that on for size. Reminds me of one apologist who said,

I believe that many of the people who came up with these theories, like seance theory, telepathy theory,

I believe that many of the people who came up with these theories must have had two brains. One lost, and the other one out looking for it.

I did not say that. Do not protest out in the parking lot after. And probably most everybody here wouldn't deny it, but they just say, fine, it's just a fact, and now, you know,

I'm off and doing my own thing. Can you imagine John on the island of Patmos?

He knew his sinful background. He knew the sweet mercies of God and forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation to God, and now

God is a friend, and Jesus is a brother. And John would say, you know what? Okay, fine,

I just don't want to go to hell, but now let me go do my own thing. That was evident early on when Jesus says to John and others, you're done fishing, today you follow me.

They didn't say, what about the gear? What about my tackle box? What about the fish on the stringer? What about the bait box?

What about my dad? He's a fisherman. When the call of God comes and you really believe in the resurrection, you follow

Jesus. And that's a good question to ask yourself. Do I believe in Jesus enough to follow

Him? Because, friends, if you don't, you're not really a Christian. There's a faith that doesn't save.

John chapter 11, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me shall live even if he dies. And everyone who believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this? That's my question.

Let me phrase it a little bit differently. Do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus enough to follow

Him? Many will say to me, Jesus said on Judgment Day, Lord, Lord, I did all kinds of things in your name.

And Jesus said, I never knew you. Turn your Bibles, please, to Acts chapter 17.

When there's a truth in the Bible, that means there's an implication of that truth. Truth matters. Truth determines all kinds of things.

And when you understand the resurrection, you will realize there are implications. And here is a big implication of the resurrection.

A big implication of the resurrection is we know there will be future judgment because Jesus has been raised from the dead.

We'll get to the good news in a second, but right now if you celebrate Resurrection Sunday, you have to say to yourself, this confirms, this affirms, this grants certainty to the fact there's going to be judgment.

Acts chapter 17, Paul is in Athens, and he is preaching there.

And it says, let's just pick it up from verse 29. Acts 17, verse 29, being then

God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by art and imagination of man.

The times of ignorance God overlooked. But now He commands all people everywhere to repent.

And if you haven't repented, this is a call to you. Because why? Why do you have to change your mind?

Why do you have to change your life? Why do you have to repent? Because He's fixed a day. What day is that?

Judgment Day, on which He will judge the world in righteousness. No bad judges, no hung juries, in righteousness by a man whom

He has appointed. And of this He has given assurance to all by raising

Him from the dead. How do you know there's going to be a Judgment Day?

How do you know Jesus is going to be the judge? Because He said He was God and He raised

Himself from the dead. That's how we know. Verse 32, isn't this interesting?

How do people respond to the resurrection? Now when some, excuse me, now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.

Didn't we just hear when Pradeep read Mark chapter 15 about how they were mocking Jesus on the cross?

It should not surprise us that they're mocking now when Paul is talking about resurrection from the dead.

But others said, you know what? We'll hear you again about this. We like to talk about it.

It's good philosophy. We'll see you next Easter. So Paul went out of their midst.

But some men joined him and believed. Among them also were Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named

Damaris, and others with them. Jesus is God. He's going to come back and judge you.

What's your response? Their responses were, nah. Lies.

Who cares? We don't care. Get religion out of my face. The other response is, yeah, maybe.

We'll talk about it later. Or the other response was, it's true. It's true because the proof has been furnished by Jesus' raise from the dead.

And for Christians we say to ourselves, we are glad that on that judgment day Luther said,

I have two days in my calendar. If Luther had iCal, he'd have two days.

Forget Outlook or whatever you use. I have two days on my calendar. Today and that day.

What was he talking about? What's that day? Judgment day! Those are the two days on my calendar.

Today and that day. That day's coming for you. That day's coming for everyone.

It's getting closer. So on judgment day for the Christian, here's the thing.

The Christian, I will say if I'm able to talk, and God would say tell me about you,

I would have to say I'm sinful, I'm rebellious, I'm foolish, I'm wicked, I'm envious,

I'm lustful, I lie, I deceive, I have pride, I have arrogance. And the list goes on.

And the intentions of my heart were only evil continually as Genesis says.

And I don't deserve heaven. But there's one, the Son of God, the Son of Man who took every one of my sins and He died for those sins and now the

Father is not going to say Mike is going to be punished and the sons are going to be punished. Double jeopardy is what we do.

No, He's holy. He's just. He's faithful. And on judgment day for me, for you the Christian is going to be...

We have an advocate. We have a lawyer. We have a defense lawyer. 1 John chapter 2.

We have the righteous one who can stand in our place on our behalf and on judgment day the

Son will say, Father, you don't need to judge Mike even though that's true about him. I've already paid for all his sins.

That will be judgment day. Judgment has already been done for the Christian. But for the unbeliever standing before God not today, although it might be today on that day when you stand before the

Jesus who has the wisdom, who has the Shekinah who has the burnished bronze feet, who has the laser beam eyes

Friends, that's why when we talk about the resurrection, we talk about judgment and then we talk about God isn't just a just judge.

He's a loving Savior and so the appeal to you today is why aren't you believing?

Why don't you believe? The exhortation is you must believe.

But then if I do believe then all these other things are going to happen. I know. But you still must believe because there's today and there's that day.

Judgment day. Turn with me if you would to Romans chapter 4.

Let me just give you another implication or two and then we will close. The paradigm in the

Bible is this. The wages of sin is death. If you have ever sinned you're going to die physically and you'll die eternally as well because your sin is treason against God.

God made you to do what He wants you to do, to love Him with all your heart to love your neighbor as yourself and then in rebellion every single sinner, of course

Jesus wasn't a sinner, but every single sinner has rebelled against God. We're not going to have you tell me what to do.

So there needs to be a substitute. Whether it was an animal for Adam, an animal for Eve, a lamb for the

Passover family, a goat for the nation of Israel back in Yom Kippur or Jesus who is called by John the

Baptist the Lamb of God as a substitute. You need a substitute. So Jesus is going to have to be my substitute and yours for you to get to heaven.

I wonder if God accepted that sacrifice. There are some sacrifices that are unacceptable. Maybe there's a broken leg on the lamb.

Maybe the lamb has some kind of problem with its eye. And so that lamb would not be a sacrifice because the sacrifice has to be holy and pure and complete.

So I wonder when Jesus died on the cross for sinners like us, did the Father accept the sacrifice?

Was there something wrong with Jesus we just didn't know? I mean after all before people

Jesus certainly seemed to obey the Father but maybe there was one time He didn't. Maybe He didn't respect the

Father. Maybe He didn't respect His mother. Maybe He didn't respect His Father. Maybe He didn't tell the truth. Maybe He was tempted and gave in to His temptation.

Some secret side of Jesus. Did the Father accept the Son's sacrifice? Was it appropriate?

Did Jesus sin? And here Romans chapter 4 gives the answer. Romans 4 .23

But the words it was counted to Him were not reckoned for His sake alone in the context of Abraham but for ours also.

It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead

Jesus our Lord. And here's the key verse 25. Did the

Father accept the Son's sacrifice who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification, our vindication?

The Father looks at the work of the Son and says, sinless, perfect work.

And you don't die for your own sins, Jesus. If Jesus stayed in the grave, we'd know He was a sinner. If Jesus stayed in the grave, we would know the

Father would say, that sacrifice isn't good. But Jesus, remember the one who says, is told by the

Father, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is Jesus who said to people,

I always do what the Father wants me to do. We know Jesus' life, His sinless life,

His uncorrupted life perfectly met other people's sacrificial needs and not

His own because He didn't have to die for His own sin. Jesus Christ died for our sins in accordance with the

Scriptures. Okay, and lastly, 1 Peter chapter 1, the third implication of the resurrection.

The first implication, there's going to be judgment. Make sure you're having trust in Jesus so He's judged for you.

Secondly, the Father accepted that sacrifice, raised Him from the dead. And here thirdly is the hope for every

Christian of heaven. What is our hope of life beyond the tombstone?

It has to be that Jesus is alive. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3.

How do you encourage people that are running around, scurrying around via persecution? You tell them about Jesus, the living and true one.

Maybe verses 3 through 9 would be better sung than read because it's got that joyful, exuberant sound to it.

Nothing in a minor key here at all. Verse 3, Blessed be the

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, exclamation point, according to His great mercy.

We didn't deserve it. He's caused us to be born again. He did it all. To a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Because of the resurrection, look at our inheritance, verse 4. Christian, take heart. It's imperishable.

It's undefiled and unfading. It's kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this, Christian, you rejoice though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not see

Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Friends, the hope that you have to go to heaven is linked directly to Jesus Christ is alive.

And I know you know that. I know you affirm that. The opposite would be though you do not see

Him now but believe in Him, there's going to be no joy. There's going to be sorrow only.

We're to be pitied, 1 Corinthians 15 would say. But for us, for the Christian, joy inexpressible filled with glory.

And that is our hope for everyone here who has not bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. That you would submit to the

Father by submitting to the Son, by believing and repenting and you can ask yourself the question, do

I believe in the risen Savior enough to follow Him? Maybe the best thing you could do is say,

God, I've tried to do this on my own. I can't seem to do it. Would you help me? God, would you have mercy on me?

Would you have grace upon me? Would you help me? Would you save me? I think that would be a kind of prayer that God would certainly hear.

For me, I'd like to go home and read Revelation 2 through 22 but we have company.

Let's pray. Father, I thank You for Your Word. Jesus Christ, Alpha Omega, First and Last.

I have been blessed as I have read these words aloud and I know the congregation has been blessed as they have heard

Revelation chapter 1. I pray for every

Christian here. Father, it's a difficult world. We lose loved ones.

There are trials with our bodies, trials with a family member. It's hard and we haven't even experienced real persecution yet but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

There is one who said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And we know our

Lord and Savior Jesus, the Risen One, if He will die for us, He'll give us everything else we need.

We thank You for that. Thank You for the joy that we can have. Not only on this earth, the fruit of the

Spirit is joy but also looking forward to that great day of joy. To think the awe that's in heaven.

I think about the first time I saw those children of mine. Just the awe of God thinking, birth.

The awe when we see Niagara Falls. And then we don't have awe for a long time but to get into heaven we won't just have joy, we'll have awe.

What a great God. And Father, for those that are here today, trusting in their own works, trusting they're better than someone else, trusting that I'll get right with you later

God. I just pray that You would devastate them. I pray that You would so work on their consciences that they can neither sleep nor rest until they rest in You, the gentle Savior.