It's the 5th of October 1974 in Guildford in England.
Five people died, 65 were injured in two IRA bombings.
The public was outraged and the British police were pretty desperate to get an arrest
and they quickly arrested a small-time Belfast criminal by the name of Gerry Conlon.
He was one of four people arrested for the bombings
and they became known as the Guildford Four.
The police also arrested Gerry Conlon's father, a guy named Giuseppe,
for conspiring in the bombings.
And with all the investigations, the police actually had no evidence to prove
that Gerry Conlon and especially Giuseppe Conlon were guilty of the crimes.
In fact, the evidence was the exact opposite for Giuseppe.
He was clearly innocent.
And in spite of that, Giuseppe Conlon was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment,
even though the authorities knew he was innocent.
His son Gerry was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Gerry was released after 15 years and went on to write a book about his innocence and vindication.
And Giuseppe, however, died in prison in an innocent man.
It's another one of those stories of an innocent person being condemned for crimes that they didn't commit.
It's a miscarriage of justice, not unlike the innocent death of Jesus,
as we saw a couple of days ago on Friday.
Of course, there's some significant detailed differences,
but the death of Jesus would be nothing more than that if it wasn't for his resurrection.
That is, without Jesus' Easter day,
his Good Friday would be nothing more than one of those travesty of justice stories.
Without the resurrection of Jesus,
the death of Jesus would be not much more than a one-line mention in the history books.
Potentially a paragraph, but not much more.
His resurrection is the thing that changes everything.
And so on this Easter day, there are three changes that I want us to see.
I want Easter to do for us as well.
Firstly, for Easter day to change your mind and reshape your worldview.
Secondly, if you allow that to happen, to change the way you respond to Jesus.
And thirdly, if you allow that to happen, to change your future and give you hope.
So firstly, change your mind, reshape your worldview.
Secondly, change the way you respond to Jesus.
And thirdly, change your future and give you hope.
So firstly, for Easter day changes our minds and reshapes our worldview.
My hope today is the direction of Jesus will change us.
That is, we're to walk out of here,
there'll be hearts that are filled with joy and hope
and purpose and love.
And to do that, we must, first of all,
allow our minds to be changed.
We have to allow our minds to be challenged by truth
and our worldview to be reshaped.
Our social commentator, Hugh Mackay,
he's my favourite social commentator in this country,
captured how many people view the resurrection.
He wrote an article for the Sydney Morning Herald
back in 2005 on Good Friday, and he wrote this.
He said,
Christians celebrate new life at Easter,
but in the religious sense.
The focus of the festival is the belief that tragedy and grief,
which is symbolised by the crucifixion,
can give way to life,
which is symbolised by the resurrection,
and that pain and loss are essential steps
on the journey towards enlightenment.
His point is that the resurrection of Jesus is symbolic.
Whether it happened or not is almost irrelevant to him.
Not unlike a church service I went to a number of years ago
where the minister stood up and said that.
He said, you know,
people have all sorts of different religious experiences,
and for some of us, it's looking at a great sunset.
For some of us, it's looking at great artwork.
And for the disciples,
it was to imagine that Jesus rose from the dead.
It doesn't matter what your religious experience is.
Whatever you get out of it is the most important thing.
So Easter Day is all about having a religious experience,
whatever that might be for you.
What that minister failed to understand
and what Mackay failed to understand is,
although his view is connecting with popular opinion,
is that in the first century,
it was never viewed symbolically.
Resurrection was never viewed symbolically.
And that's not the essence of it
that we get from 1 Corinthians 15
that Sam just read out to us.
I'll pick it up in verse 3.
What I received, I passed on to you,
is of first importance,
that Christ died for our sins,
according to the Scriptures,
that He was buried,
that He was raised on the third day,
according to the Scriptures,
that He appeared to Cephas, that's Peter,
then to the 12, they're the disciples.
After that, He appeared to more than 500
of the brothers and sisters at the same time,
most of whom are still living,
though some have fallen asleep.
That's some are dead.
And then He appeared to James,
then to all the apostles,
and last of all,
He appeared to me also as one abnormally born.
You see, Mackay failed to grasp
the resurrection was never viewed symbolically
in the first century.
This is the challenge to our minds.
Jesus came back to life after His execution.
And the fact that Jesus was executed,
the fact that He was crucified,
is not unusual.
Around Jesus' time,
and around His place as well,
there were dozens of these little movements
where the leader would declare themselves
to be the Messiah of the world,
the Saviour of the world,
and as Jesus Himself did.
And in almost every case,
the leader of those groups was killed.
They were executed for this little thing,
that little gathering that they had formed.
And immediately upon the execution of the leader,
the movement collapsed.
Everyone went home.
That was it.
When the leader's dead,
except the one that was led by Jesus.
Only one movement didn't collapse
after the death of the leader.
In fact, it exploded.
Within 200 years,
it was the dominant religion in the Roman Empire
and is today the largest and most widespread
culturally and geographically
of all the religious faiths.
So what made the difference there?
The Bible says,
the Christian churches maintained for 20 centuries,
that after Jesus was killed,
He came back to life
and appeared to His followers.
And that is what changed everything.
Changed everything.
The Bible says,
that is why Jesus' followers didn't go home,
and that's the reason why Christianity exploded.
But this is Chatswood in,
you know,
2017.
And we are one of the major centers
in a secular city of Sydney,
and most people around us don't believe that.
And I get it.
I understand that.
This is a challenge to our minds
and our worldview after all.
But it was for the first disciples too.
You see,
the assumption that we make 20 centuries later
is that these early people
who said that they saw Jesus
were just gullible fools.
They just don't understand life
like we understand life nowadays.
But as you read the account of Mark's,
or Mark's account of Jesus' resurrection,
as Sam just did at the beginning of the service,
for us,
you notice that Jesus tells His disciples
quite clearly in Mark's Gospel
that He's going to die
and He's going to come back.
He does it in chapter 8.
He does it again in chapter 10.
And the weird thing is
that on the third day,
when Jesus said He was going to come back,
it seems that no one's expecting it.
His first disciples weren't expecting it.
The blokes aren't around.
The women had bought the spices
for the dead body.
That's what they were going to do
when they were on the way to the tomb.
They, you know,
Easter Saturday,
you know,
it's not a public holiday.
And so they're wheeling their trolleys
through Woolies
and they come to the spice section
and go,
well,
they're going to need,
we're going to need them tomorrow.
They purchased the spices.
You see,
they were expecting
to anoint His body for burial.
And the disciples on the third day
were sitting there
eating their Weet-Bix
and they thought,
they didn't think,
it's the third day, guys.
Maybe we should just wander on down
and have a look.
See if He's there or not.
Didn't even think of it.
And what's more,
the women who did go,
you know,
all the blokes
are eating their Weet-Bix,
were wondering,
who's going to open the tomb for us
when we get there
so we can oint His dead body?
They prepared for everything
except who's going to
roll the stone away.
And their first thought
upon seeing
that the stone had been rolled away,
their first thought
was that someone's taken His body.
their very first thought
was that someone has come in
and stolen His body.
Fair assumption back in those days
because grave robbing
was a pretty common practice.
The point is,
the resurrection took them by surprise.
It was just as impossible
for them to believe
in the first century
as what it is for us now.
And so if you have doubts
about the resurrection,
so did they.
They're the ones who walked
with Jesus for three years,
so did they.
But,
they let the evidence
challenge their worldview.
And so in challenging
our minds
and our thinking
and our worldview,
it's so important for us
20 centuries later
not to be intellectually lazy.
If you want to jettison
the resurrection,
you have to come up
with an alternative
explanation
as to how this one little movement
exploded like it did.
That's not an easy explanation.
That's not an easy thing
to come up with historically.
Why it exploded
when every other movement didn't.
Easter is the celebration,
the physical resurrection
of Jesus from the dead.
He's alive.
You see,
Christians believe
that the 27 books
of the New Testament,
what they record about Jesus
is true.
And these books
uniformly teach
and assume
at other points
that Jesus lived in history,
that He died
as a substitute
for the sins of the world
and that He rose again
on the third day
that He ascended to heaven
and He rules the world
as the God
of all the universe.
And these 27 books
are riddled
with references
to the physical resurrection
of Jesus
from the dead
such as the 1 Corinthians 15
passage
that was read out.
These accounts
of what happened
in the life of Jesus
are totally different
than the way
that myth
was written
in the first century
like Greek
or Roman mythology
which is shrouded
in distant past
that doesn't connect
with real history.
And the New Testament books
are talking about
real history.
Pilate,
Roman governor,
Herod the king
of Galilee,
Caiaphas,
the high priest,
these are not
mythical figures.
These people
are known
from history
outside of the Bible.
And both Roman scholars
and historians
and Jewish scholars
and historians
who don't believe
in Jesus
and want to see
Jesus dead
both record
something happened
with Jesus' body.
The accounts
of the New Testament,
the 27 books
are all written
while our witnesses
were still alive
Paul's letters
were written
15 to 30 years
after the death
of Jesus
and as we just read
he mentions the fact
that 500 people
had seen Jesus
risen at one time
and most of them
were still alive
when he put pen to paper.
Most of the books
maybe all of them
written
were before AD 70
40 years
after the death
of Jesus.
This is not mythology.
This is history.
This is eyewitness history.
And add to this
all the enemies
of Jesus
the Jews
and the Romans
all they had to do
to squash
the whole thing
was to get
the body of Jesus
stick it in a wheelbarrow
and take it in the middle
of Jerusalem
and dump it
and say there you go
there's your God.
That's all they had to do
and they couldn't do it.
And they put
their own soldiers
at station
in front of the tomb.
and the thought
that these scared
little disciples
who abandoned Jesus
at his crucifixion
for fear of their lives
that they would suddenly
the day after
get together
let's come up with a plan
let's come up with a story
and then somehow
we're going to get in
we're going to steal his body
get rid of it somehow
so it'll never be found again
that they would come up
with that sort of a hoax
and then give their lives
for that sort of a hoax
that's idiotic
it's crazy.
The point of all this
is simply to say
that when Christians
speak about Jesus
as risen from the dead
we're not speaking
mythologically
it's not mythology
we're not speaking blindly
we're not speaking symbolically
we're not even speaking
merely spiritually
we're not even speaking
emotionally
we're speaking historically
and that
challenges your world view
but if you're allowed
to challenge your world view
then it will change
the way you see Jesus
Philippians 3 20, 21
if you've got one of the church Bibles
in front of you
then it's on page 1140
I'm going to kind of spend
most of my time there
so if you've got one of those
page 1140
let me read it
but our citizenship is in heaven
and we eagerly await
a savor from there
the Lord Jesus Christ
by the power that enabled him
to bring everything
under his control
will transform our lowly bodies
so that they will be
like his glorious body
now when
when Paul writes that
he's making an assumption
in these verses
and what is assumed
is that Jesus was raised
from the dead
and that Jesus is
extremely powerful
that's the assumption
and the reason he
assumes it
in Philippians 3
is because he clearly
states it
in Philippians 2
one page over
so turn over to
you know 1139
if you've got the church Bible
but Philippians chapter 2
and let me tell you
that you will never read
anything anywhere
in any literature
more sweeping
more important
and true than this
verse 6 chapter 2
this is talking about Jesus
it says
who being in very nature God
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped
but made himself nothing
taking the very nature of a servant
being made in human likeness
and being found
in appearance as a man
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death
even death
on a cross
therefore
God exalted him
to the highest place
and gave him the name
that is above every name
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow
in heaven
and on earth
and under the earth
and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord
to the glory of God the Father
that is
Jesus was
and is equal
with God
he is God
he became a human being
he obediently suffered
he died
and that means
that the death
that he died
was not some sort of
freak accident
it was not just a mistake
it was a plan
of history
for him to die
and the point of that plan
was that Christ
would be a substitute
for the sins
of humanity
that he would be
a substitute
for everyone
who puts their trust
in him
and this was
God's loving plan
for the salvation
of sinners
like you and me
and then it says
therefore God exalted him
to the highest place
in other words
because of his obedient
life
his successful life
and his successful death
God raised him
from the dead
and gave him
great glory
as the Lord
of the universe
that's the assumption
that's lying behind
Philippians 3
when he says
but our citizenship
is in heaven
and we eagerly await
a save from there
the Lord Jesus Christ
who by the power
that enables him
to bring everything
under his control
will transform
our lowly bodies
so that they'll be
like his glorious body
so when you put
Philippians 2
and 3 together
we see that
because of the death
and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus
he has astonishing power
to subject
all things
to himself
he is in control
that is the impact
of Jesus' resurrection
that is relevant
for us now
Jesus rules
all things
we see it in verse 21
by the power
that enables him
to bring everything
under his control
in one sense
Jesus has the right
to rule the universe
as the creator
of the universe
because he's God
you know
he didn't have to die
and rise again
in order
to be who he is
what he is
from all of eternity
is God
and this gives him
the right to exercise
his authority
over all things
but in another sense
God decreed
that the one
who would rule
in power
would be the one
who redeemed
he would be the one
who suffered for us
the one who died
for us
the one who
gave himself
for us
so it's not just
in power
but rules
in love
the Lord
and Judge
and Saviour
over all the universe
was tested
and found perfect
through human suffering
and so now
he is doubly suited
to be Lord
of the universe
he is the God
with natural rights
and he is the God
and Saviour
with purchased rights
and the impact
of Easter Sunday
is that there is
no higher authority
there is no higher authority
there is no place
or sphere
or reality
or dimension
of existence
anywhere in the universe
that is not
under the absolute
authority
of the Lord Jesus
and when the world
doesn't look to us
as if it's under
the authority
of a merciful Lord Jesus
it would be wiser
for us to marvel
at the mystery
of his ways
than to question
the scope
of his power
Christ's power
pervades the universe
from the largest
to the smallest
elements of reality
no galaxy
no Adam
would stay in being
without the authority
of Jesus
that's
big implication
of how we see Jesus
be astonished
at his power
to subject all things
to himself
Easter Sunday
is no mere symbolism
of how
to endure hard things
in life
Easter Sunday
means that Jesus
rules the universe
as the name
that is above
every other name
and he calls
all people
to surrender
to his loving
authority
to hand over
control of your lives
and put into his hands
and so if we allow
the Easter Day events
of the resurrection
of Jesus
to firstly change
our mind
and reshape
our worldview
secondly
to change the way
we respond to Jesus
and see who he is
then thirdly
it will change
the whole course
of our lives
and give us hope
notice that there
are two incredible
implications for us
of the power
of the resurrected
Lord Jesus
they are staggering
and they are filled
with hope
and joy
and life
verse 20
our citizenship
is in heaven
you see the power
of the Lord Jesus
guarantees
our citizenship
of heaven
if you're a believer
of the Lord Jesus
you do not have to wait
for him to come back again
to know where your home is
you see when you trust
in Jesus
your name is sealed
on the citizen roles
of heaven
because your king
is there
your name is plastered
all through heaven
more than Donald Trump's
got his names
plastered on stuff
where he is
there you have
the privilege to be
and so you will be
with him forever
and your amazement
will never cease
it will only increase
forever and ever
which leads to the
second implication
Jesus will use
his power
to transform
your body
into a resurrected
body alive
like his
Philippians 3 21
have a look at it with me
the Lord Jesus Christ
who by the power
that enables him
to bring everything
under his control
will transform
our lowly bodies
so that they will be
like his glorious body
all the power
that Jesus has
will be used
to take our
dead bodies
and raise them
from the dead
and fit them out
for eternity
in his presence
the resurrection
is the answer
to the deepest longing
that we have
in our hearts
and that is
to live forever
last night
I was sitting
on the bed
of one of my girls
my youngest girl
reading Bible story
about resurrection
of Jesus
talked about
Good Friday
death of Jesus
and she said
Daddy
I don't want to die
she said
I want to live
for a thousand years
and I'm not sure
the world could cope
with that actually
let alone
her superannuation plan
and I said
trusting in Jesus
you don't ever
have to die
see that's
even as a
as a
how old was she
five
even as
even as a
five year old
the longing
is to live
forever
I don't ever
want to die
she's happy
for me too
she said
when you die
I want your car
and that is
why the
beauty industry
booms
that's why
baby boomers
still wear jeans
because you still
want to be a
teenager
that's
you know
want to be
back in the days
when we're young
and we're vibrant
and we're healthy
because those
were the days
before crippling
emotional pain
and burden
of responsibility
and frailty
we want to live
and we want to
live forever
one of the reasons
why it's so hard
for us to suffer
is that we think
that this physical
world is it
and when you
lose it
you lose the best
and the most
precious thing
and the resurrection
means this is not it
there's so much more
there is so much
more to come
the resurrection
means that God
is going to
perfectly remake
this world
you see right now
a headache
just totally
messes with my day
but with a resurrected
body not even
holes in the hands
or holes in the feet
or holes in the side
like Jesus
messed with the quality
of his day
resurrection changes
everything
there is hope
for the wheelchair
bound
of the person
with crippling
emotional pain
no religion
in the world
except biblical
Christianity
promises us
new minds
new and perfect
minds
new and perfect
hearts
and new and
perfect bodies
forever
only in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus
do people find
such a magnificent
hope
and so when people
in an attempt
to try and
be helpful
and maybe win
people over
and when they
turn the resurrection
of Jesus
into a metaphor
a symbol
for new life
and growth
through suffering
you rip the guts
at Easter
you rip the guts
out of all
the hope
of Easter
can you imagine
the first
you know
like the apostle
Paul
first priest
of the resurrection
going the poor
and the slaves
and the outcasts
of society
in the first century
and saying
let me tell you
about the resurrection
of Jesus
you know
it didn't actually
happen
but it's a great
symbol
of how good
triumphs
over evil
so go and
be nice
to one another
and can you
imagine the crippled
there
and the poverty
stricken
the tormented
and the outcast
that's just
what I needed
to hear
that's just
you know
that is what
I need
day by day
in my crippling
pain
and my loneliness
and my starvation
a symbol
of something
the resurrection
is a nice
symbol
has no power
to change
anything
doesn't offer
any hope
at all
but the actual
historical
physical resurrection
of Jesus
changes everything
if you know
that this
is not
the openly
tangible
concrete life
and in fact
the next one
is going to be
better
who cares
what people
do to you
the resurrection
makes you
free from this
life enough
to be brave
and courageous
and joyful
and sacrificial
and patient
resurrection
means you can
face the worst
things in this
life with joy
and with hope
there's a great
clip circulating
around at the
moment about the
bombings which
happened in Egypt
you know the
security guard
who turned the
bomber away
and the security
guard at the
church in Egypt
got blown up
his wife
is being
interviewed
and she's
distraught
but she talks
about hope
and she talks
about the
resurrection
hope of her
husband
and she talks
about forgiveness
for those
who perpetrated
such an evil
against her
husband
and against
all those
people who
were killed
and the
face on the
Muslim
interviewer
he says
we have
persecuted
these Christians
in this country
for centuries
and they're
made of
steel
they're made
of steel
to offer
forgiveness
to someone
who did
that
you see
that's what
the resurrection
does for you
gives you
hope beyond
the resurrection
means you can
give yourself
to serving God
in this world
that he loves
and that he is
redeeming and
remaking through
the Lord Jesus
so if you allow
the resurrection
of Jesus
the Easter day
event to change
your world view
and change the
way you see
Jesus
then in turn
it will allow
you to embrace
the hope
of Easter
now I don't
want you to
leave here
for this to be
a mere take it
or leave it
symbolism
where you respond
well thanks Steve
stimulating sermon
let's get off
to the Easter egg
hunt
this is news
it's meant to
rally you to your
core
the difference is
this suppose you
hear that last
year ten kids
you read it
in the
North Shore
Times
ten kids in
Chatswood
were hit by
cars while
they were
playing
and you
read that
news and
you're
whinge and
you say
what a
tragedy
it must
be awful
for those
parents
then you
turn over
the next
news item
on the
page
then suddenly
as you're
reading the
next page
your front
door bursts
open and
your 12
year old
daughter comes
screaming into
the house
with the
news that
your 9
year old
son has
just been
hit by
a car
in the
front
yard
now that
piece of
news is
different
the first
piece of
news was
true
you didn't
doubt it
there was a
good evidence
for it
but now
there's a
piece of
news that
goes to
the core
of your
being
it shakes
you
it changes
everything
for you
everything in
you comes
alive to
this reality
that it's
your son
touches
your existence
it will
change
everything
in your
life
it will
break
your heart
it will
shatter
things
in you
more deeply
than has
ever been
touched
before
that's
the impact
of the
resurrection
here again
the impact
Jesus died
in your
place for
your sins
against
God
he
Jesus
is risen
from the
dead
Jesus
will never
die again
he has been
appointed as
the ruler
of the
universe
and all
who put
their trust
in him
will be
raised
with him
and live
forever
with him
I long
for you
to hear
that news
today
not just
to hear
it as
merely
provable
reports
of some
religious
claims
but as
the cry
of your
child
bursting
through
the door
this has
to do
with you
Easter
is your
death
it is
your life
it is
your hope
father