NT Overview Lecture 4 The Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension

[music] [music] Welcome to lecture 4. In this session, we will be looking at the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Now, we've been looking at the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and then John.

But today, we are looking at the gospel, the message of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. Not referring just to those books, but a theme that throws through flows throughout scripture, especially as we see in the New Testament. We have the central redemptive history [snorts] of what Jesus Christ did for us by suffering, dying, being buried, and resurrecting, as well as ascending to his rightful place on the throne.

So, let's get started by looking at the first of our sections today. Christianity as gospel, not as advice. Christianity is not just a tale or a wonderful thing like the Esop's fables.

These are not optional stories. They are not add-ons. They are the core gospel themselves.

Without the crucifixion and the resurrection and the ascension, Christianity has no merit. It has no weight. It is not something that we can place our trust in.

It just becomes moralistic attributes that we can use or discard. But instead, scripture makes it clear that the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are something that everyone must accept or reject. Their eternity depends upon it.

One easy mistake for even Christians is to turn Christianity into advice almost like a self-help. Let's look at scripture and and scripture will give us a way to live our lives better instead of seeing it for what it truly is. The saving transforming power of Jesus as sent by the father and as empowered in us through the Holy Spirit.

Christianity is not just advice. It's not just an optional thing to look at, but it is the truth and we must accept or reject that truth and our eternity is dependent upon it. Advice says here's what you should do.

You should look at this and you should live your life in such a way. But the gospel's focus, even though it teaches us how to live, the gospel's focus isn't on what you should do. The gospel's focus is here's what God has done.

It has already been accomplished. Look at 1 Corinthians 15 beginning in verse three. says, "For I pass on to you as most important what I also receive, 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, and that he appeared to Cphus, then to the 12.

" Now, look at this passage. It's talking about what Jesus did. It's talking about Christ, what he did, not what you can do to earn your salvation, but about what Jesus himself has done.

Notice the verbs that are put here. Christ died, Christ was buried, Christ was raised, and Christ appeared. All these are actions that he took, not anything that we did to earn our place or to please God.

If these claims are false, then Christianity is false. If the resurrection didn't really happen, there is no value to Christianity. But if they're true, everything changes.

Everything for all time, for all history is changed by what Jesus did and being resurrected from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:12 and following says, "Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? " If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and so is your faith. Everything about Christianity hinges on the death, burial, resurrection, appearance, and the ascension of Jesus Christ. Without it, there is no faith.

Without it, there is no Christianity. You can't say, "I'm a Christian, but I don't really know if I believe that Jesus came back from the dead. " Without that happening, Christianity doesn't exist.

But because it did happen, Christianity is true. Michael Horton, theologian, puts this way. The gospel is not about what we have done or are called to do, but the announcement of God's saving work in Jesus Christ.

Tim Keller puts it another way. He says, "Religion says, I obey, therefore, I'm accepted. The gospel says, "I'm accepted, therefore, I obey.

" What do we mean by that? Religions are all about man trying to get to God. What you have to do to appease God, to please God.

What do you have to do not to be smoked by God? Uh the gospel says Jesus died for you. And because of what Jesus did, you in believing are accepted.

And because you're accepted now, you choose to obey. You don't obey out of fear, trying to escape God's wrath. You obey out of gratitude because the gospel is true.

So here's the key question that for this first section, what has God done in Christ that you or I could never do for yourself or myself? What what have you done? What has God done for you in Jesus that you can't do?

And think about that for a minute. Can you save yourself? The answer is no.

Can you will yourself to be healed? No. Can you insist upon being accepted into God's presence?

No. Think about the gospel and just take a moment and think about all the things that God has accomplished through the gift of his son on the cross. Our second section, the cross gives us divine justice and redeeming love.

These seem to be conflicting ideas, but the reality is they work beautifully together because of the cross. Let's start with the where the gospel starts at the cross. The good news is that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and for mine.

The cross confronts us with the seriousness of sin. In Jesus' time, there was no more horrific, painful, humiliating way to die than through crucifixion. To be hung on a cross was extremely painful.

You couldn't breathe. You would drown in your own fluids that you couldn't lift yourself up to breathe. It was just a horrible, horrible way to die.

And Jesus who was perfect and sinless never on his own accord should have had to face the cross. But because of the seriousness of sin, your sin and my sin, somebody had to pay the price. And that's where Jesus stepped in.

Romans 3:10-12 says, "There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away, all alike, having become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. Romans 3:23 puts it this way, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

We are sinful creatures. We fail God all the time. And God is holy and perfect and cannot tolerate sin in his presence.

So something has to be done. And sin in his presence doesn't just mean that we messed up. We made mistakes.

We you can't accidentally be doing all the sinning that you're doing or all the sinning that I'm doing. Sin is a choice. It is rebellion against a holy God.

It is rebellion against his ways and his choices and his plan for us. Sin is intentional and sin has a price. So this is where the tension comes in that the cross solves and resolves.

God is holy. God is pure. God cannot have sin in his presence.

Sin therefore must be judged. Somebody has to pay the price. the price of that.

But God is also a loving God. He's not just a just God, but he's a loving God. And he wants sinners to be saved.

He wants the best for us. He loves us. But somebody has to pay the price.

So the cross comes in and solves that tension. Romans 3:21- 24, including the passage we just saw, but it's the greater passage. Let's look at that together.

Beginning in verse 21, he says, "But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the law and the prophets. The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. " God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. Because in his restraint, God passed over the sins previously committed.

God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time so that he who would be just can justify the one who has faith in Jesus. Now, this is a long passage, but what is it saying here? Let's look at a few of these key terms.

First of all, it's saying that because of what Jesus did, we are justified. It said there's no distinction among us. We all don't measure up.

We all fail. We all have sinned. And we are not righteous.

Yet to be in God's presence, we have to be righteous. Well, Jesus by his death justified us by declaring us righteous. Justification or justifying something is like a financial term.

Think of the books being out of balance. They don't add up. But because of what Jesus did, they now are justified.

Things have been taken care of. And we have had our debt wiped clean. So we are now declared righteous and can be in the presence of a holy God.

Not because of us, but because of what Jesus did. The second thing we see is that there's redemption taking place here. Redemption is when you buy something back.

Liberation by payment. Think of a save a slave who is who is sold off into slavery. And someone comes and pays the price for them to redeem back their life to buy back their life and to give them their freedom.

We are liberated by the payment of Jesus perfect sinless life on the cross that gives us our freedom. And then Jesus is the mercy seat. The Old Testament was a precursor, a foreshadowing of Jesus where animals were sacrificed to pay for the sins that people had committed.

But those animals were never completely satisfying in the way that Jesus could be. Jesus being the mercy seat where his sacrifice atoned for our sins, paid for our sins. Jesus is the only way that can be done.

There is no other way. There is no other option. So you might have a question then.

So why can't God just forgive us? Why did Jesus have to die? Why can't he just say, "Well, I forgive you.

" Well, something has to wipe the s slate clean. In this case, the truth is someone must do that. Forgiveness is never costless.

It costs something. You could say, "Somebody's offended me and I choose to forgive them. " Well, that costs you something.

It costs you not being justified, not not having things right in your life. It it takes something from you. It can even hurt a little bit to have to give that forgiveness.

Well, that's you, a finite sinful being. Think about a sinless God that can only have pure and holy in his presence because he is pure and holy meaning set apart. Somebody had to pay the debt so that you and I could be in his presence so that forgiveness is obtained by the sacrifice of Jesus.

Isaiah 53 puts it this way. Yet he himself bore our sickness and he carried our pain. But we in turn regard him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crush crushed because of our iniquities. Punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep.

We all have turned to our own way, and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. Jesus paid the price by having our sin put on him, having all this crushing and beating him. He was our substitution because we should have received that.

We deserve that. He did not. But he chose to take it on him the weight of the sin of the world.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. So that having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. We now live righteous because of what he's done.

We now live righteous because of his sacrifice. He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. If you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you have asked for his forgiveness of your sin and you have placed your trust in him, you are made the righteousness of God.

You are able because of Jesus sacrifice to be in his presence. That does not happen without the cross. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law be becoming a curse for us because it is written cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

Think back to what we heard in the previous lesson where Jesus cried out and he said my God my God why have you forsaken me? It's because Jesus when he took all the sin of the world on himself he was sin. He had He had received that and God it turned away.

God looked away because he had taken all that sin in that moment. But by dying on the cross, that sin was purged for all time. That sin was cleansed, was taken away because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross.

Now, you may be thinking that that just seems really harsh. Why would God require that of his son? Why would he do that?

Isn't that some kind of divine child abuse, spiritual child abuse to for God the Father to have his son have to suffer this? Well, you have to remember this was not forced on Jesus. He did it willingly.

No one takes it from me. Speaking of his life, he says, "But I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down and I have the right to take it up again.

" Jesus willingly laid down his life for you and for me. Nobody forced him to do that. He chose to pay the penalty of sin because he knew he was the only one who could.

John Sto puts it this way. The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. When we sin, we are sinning against God, thinking our ways are better than his ways.

We are turning against what he wants for us because we think we know better. But the essence of salvation is God in the form of Jesus substituting himself for us. God's way clearly better than our way.

Jesus was the payment for all. The cross is not merely an example. Don't belittle it by just saying, "Well, we need to we need to live out the example of Christ.

" Yes, we do. We need to take up our cross daily as Jesus told his disciples, meaning we need to sacrifice. But it's more than just an example.

It is atonement. It is the literal payment for your sin and for mine. So the cross accomplishes many things and we'll go through these kind of quickly.

The first thing is that the cross is propitiation. Propitiation means he's satisfied. Propitiation means that God has justifiable wrath against us, judgment against us.

And by what Jesus did on the cross, he appeased that necessary wrath of God. It's the dichotomy that was there. Judgment is what we needed and what we were due because of what Jesus did.

There is no longer that anger for those who are in Christ Jesus. The ex next thing is it's expeation. Expeation is the idea of taking something away.

Jesus Christ removes our guilt. The cross does that. We are not just forgiven.

We are no longer guilty. We are righteous and holy in the presence of God. Redemption.

Thinking again of payment. Christ's redemption redeeming us. He liberates us by the payment he made on the cross.

We are set free. Reconciliation. Christ brings us from enemy to friend.

We've been on the wrong side of this thing. on the wrong side of the books. But because of what Jesus did, we are now brought into a relationship with God as friend and adoption.

Christ opens the way to sunship and daughterhood that nothing else can. We are now God's children. When we receive the gift that Jesus gives us on the cross, we become part of the family of God.

Romans 5:10 says, "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? " He does what needs to be done so that the judgment against us is cleared and we can live. Think about it this way.

Think that you go into a courtroom and you did something horrible and you are on trial for that horrific crime and the judge is sitting there and the judge says guilty. Here is your punish your punishment. Here is your sentence.

This is what's going to happen to you. But then the judge gets out of his seat, comes down from the bench, takes off his robe and says, "I will pay your penalty myself. you are free to go.

How would we respond in that situation? A judge just gave us our life back, gave us our freedom back, and he is going to suffer what we had coming to us. What would be our level of gratitude?

Yet in the case of Jesus Christ, it's far more than any human judge could ever do. all the things, all the sin, all the thoughts, all the actions that we have done wrong, all the rebellion against him. Yes, he has judged us and we've been found guilty except for the fact that Jesus came and took our punishment.

He paid for our sentence with his own life. So, let's think for just a minute. If the cross satisfies God's justice, why do believers still try to justify themselves?

We still feel like we have to earn our way to God. Yes, we need to live a life that is righteous and holy. Yes, we need to by the Holy Spirit do better each day.

But it's out of love and obedience. It's not in order to pay our way or earn our way into heaven. We could never do it.

We can never earn our place in the kingdom of God. Rest in Christ's finished work and stop trying to be your own savior. You cannot save yourself.

Only Jesus Christ can save you. Romans 8:1 says, "There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. " You are no longer condemned if you're God's child.

It's already been paid for. So stop living a life of guilt. Stop beating yourself up over and over for the things that you've done and saying, "God could never f forgive me.

He just he doesn't understand. I've done such horrific things. " Think about the Apostle Paul when he was Saul who was persecuting the people of God.

He was having them thrown in jail. He stood there at the stoning of Stephen and held their cloaks and affirming of what people were doing and killing one of God's spiritual leaders of the early church. Yet God specifically redeemed and called Paul and used him to give us much of the New Testament.

Why? Not because of Paul, but because Paul received what Jesus Christ had done in redeeming him and and allowing him to live for Jesus. Who can bring an accusation against God God's elect?

God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more has been raised.

He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can bring an accusation against you or me if we're God's child? Not saying we should just go on sinning.

Scripture makes it very clear we shouldn't sin so that grace may abound. God forbid. That's not what's supposed to happen.

Tells us that in Romans 6. But we cannot be accused of being unrighteous because God has made us clean. Not saying no, no one can ever tell you've done something wrong.

You can do still do things wrong, but you are not condemned if you are in Jesus. Your sin is forgiven. So, how does that apply to how we live out our lives?

If you're a pastor, a ministry leader, or you're a leader in your church, if you are living in such a way that you feel like you've got to earn God's salvation, earn God's favor, you are worshiping or living in a false doctrine. Instead, you need to be gospel rooted. You need to understand that Jesus saved you once and for all, and you can lead from a place of confidence and security, not in you, but in him.

Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of stressed out sheep following you in the church. But instead, let's have confidence in who Jesus made us to be. Our third section is about the resurrection, victory, vindication, and new creation.

If the cross is the payment, the resurrection is God's public yes. God's public yes. He was handed over because of our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Justification saying things are back in balance. Yes, you can go on. Yes, you can go forward.

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. But ye has been raised.

So you have confidence that you are no longer bound by that sin. Christianity therefore rests on an empty tomb. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, Christianity is in vain.

But because of the empty tomb, we can live a life that is fulfilled in what he has done for us. This a long passage looking in Luke 24. Let's look at this together.

As they were saying these things, he himself, meaning Jesus, stood in their midst. He said to them, "Peace to you. " But they were startled and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost.

Now, let's pause for a moment. This passage is talking about after Jesus resurrection, he appeared to some of his followers. And that's what we're seeing here.

So, they're thinking they're seeing a ghost. Why are you troubled? He asked them.

And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet that it is I myself. Touch me and see because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.

Having said this, he showed him his hands and feet. But while they were still amazed and in disbelief because of their joy, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat? " So they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence.

John goes on to talk about another encounter with Thomas. He's often referred to as doubting to as doubting Thomas. But listen to the whole story here.

He says Jesus says to Thomas, "Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don't be faithless, but believe.

" Without even saying that he did those things, look what Thomas says. Thomas responded to him, "My Lord and my God. " Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet believe. These people were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They recognized that the tomb was empty.

Now, this recognition gives us some things. It gives us victory, vindication, and a new creation. 1 Corinthians 15 says, "Death has been swallowed up in victory.

where death is your victory, where death is your sting. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have victory because we know that death has been defeated.

Jesus had victory over death. And because of our relationship and acceptance of him, we too have victory over death. There's vindication.

This is God's public yes to Jesus finished work. Vindicating is when someone says, "You have been proven right. You have been proven true.

" Look at First Timothy 3. What it says in verse 16. And most certainly the mystery of godliness is great.

He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. Because of the resurrection, Jesus has been vindicated, and the spirit gives testimony to that fact. He is alive and we know that to be true.

We also see that because of the resurrection that there's a new creation. The resurrection gives us hope that things are to be made new. Resurrection is the beginning of the world made new.

Let's look at 1 Corinthians 15 20. As it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus being raised from the dead is a promise that there's more to come.

That we too will be raised with him into glory, that we too will live with him forever, and that eternal life, as we heard last time, has already begun. The theologian Entr Wright says, "This generation needs to wake up, smell the coffee, and realize serious Christianity begins when Jesus comes out of the tomb on Easter morning. That is not this is not a nice optional extra for those who like believing in funny things.

If your faith does not include a resurrected Jesus, you are worshiping the wrong Jesus. You are not worshiping the God that he truly is. Jesus is alive and the tomb is empty.

The resurrection and union with Christ. It tells us in Romans 6 beginning in verse three, "Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, so we too may walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. We are united with Christ for all time. Not because of something we've done, but because of what he has done.

He has brought us to him by making the payment paid in full. Remember on the cross those that word he said to Telsty which is it is finished which literally means it is paid in full. The resurrection is the completion of that.

Not only did he die on the cross but as he came back to life he paid and we now too can be alive in Jesus. So, how does he how does belief in bodily resurrection reshape how we view things such as suffering, illness, and death? Think about that for a moment.

What difference does his bodily resurrection mean to you? It gives us hope that the things that we are facing are temporary. It gives us conviction that the best is yet to come.

Think about some other things that may speak to you. How does belief in the bodily resurrection reshape the way that you think? For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.

So we do not focus on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. The suffering that we face, the death that we face, these things are just a passing temporary thing.

We know that the truth eternal is with him. First Peter 3:4 says, "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfailing, kept in heaven for you.

We have a promise that is secure and that is for all time. So how we need to look at this is we need to place our trust in these promises and the presence of Jesus in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit and the things that he's telling us in his word which we just looked at several scripture that tell us without fail of these promises. We don't need to turn Christianity into a bunch of self-help cliches.

How we can best be pleasing to God and worship him is to trust in those promises and lift him up. John Piper says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. " Have you been around somebody that you're like, man, they are just a spiritual giant.

They are a strong believer. It's not because they're Superman or Superwoman. It's because their faith in God is absolute.

They lift him up and they glorify him because they are so satisfied in him. He is all they need to be content in this life and beyond. In this next section, the ascension, Christ is enthroned and reigning now.

We often neglect this part of the ascension. We talk about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But it didn't stop there.

It says that he ascended in Acts 1:9. After he done all these things, it says, "And he had he had said this. He was taken up as they were watching and a cloud took him out of their sight.

He ascended to heaven. " Now, ascension does not mean that he just all of a sudden he was gone. That's it.

He's gone. It's over. There's some people that that look at God and they think, "Well, you know, God lived in the New Testament.

Right now, he's taken a nap. He's not really involved in our lives. He just kind of set things in motion and set back.

" Well, that's not what scripture tells us. Scripture lets us know that God is very much present and very much alive. What Jesus ascended to was a throne.

Jesus ascended to reign on high, but to reign in our lives. His throne does not make him separate from us, but he is omnipresent. He is here and impacting our lives.

Jesus ascension was to his throne in glory. He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seing him at the right hand in the heavens, far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. Jesus was raised to the throne.

God has raised this Jesus. We are all witnesses of this. This is in Acts two, the next chapter after he ascended.

Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. It's saying he has ascended and he has sent the Holy Spirit and he is pouring out what you both see and hear. That is active.

That is present even as he ascended. And God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiah. Lord and Messiah are active integral parts of life.

He is the Lord, meaning the boss, the guide, the one that directs our lives. He is the Messiah, the one who actively delivers us from ourselves and from our own sin and from the hands of Satan. These are not passive somewhere else.

These are active in us. So how all this works the chain of events there was the death and burial we talked about but then there's the resur res resurrection the exaltation lifting up and then the holy spirit sent and then from that we as the church are on mission to tell others the gospel of Jesus the good news of Jesus Jesus continues to have a ministry in that he is present interceding with us through the father. He is saying these are the ones that I gave my life for.

These are the ones I died for and these by that action we are made clean. We are made holy. Hebrews 4 says, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest, meaning Jesus, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Remember, he lived here and lived on earth as a human, but one who has been tempted in every way we as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Therefore, he is able to save completely those who have come to God through him since he always lives to intercede for them. Jesus has been through what we've been through. Yet, he did not give in to sin.

And so, because of that, because of all these actions we've been learning about, he is there to intercede for us. When we think of Jesus, we have to picture the empty tomb and the occupied throne. And that occupied throne sends us out as his people to be on mission for him.

Mission doesn't start with geography, but with identity. That identity is our identity in Christ. We are his people.

We are his servants. We have the privilege of serving him on mission because of who he's called us to be. So how does Christ reign reshape daily disciplehip and mission?

If we understand Jesus Christ to be alive and well and sitting on his throne, an active throne, how does that impact how you should live your life? How does it impact how you want to know more about him and learn more about him. How does it impact your mission as you tell others about him?

Your motivation, your drive to be on mission for him. Disciplehip is allegiance. It's saying we want to be more like Jesus.

Mission is participation. Saying we want to be a part of his plan. I have often said when I talk about Jesus and what's coming, we know who wins.

Scripture tells us Jesus wins. My question, my fear is never is he going to win. My only concern is whether or not I'm going to be a part of that.

I'm going to be a part of spreading the good news of Jesus. I'm not worried about losing my salvation. I just don't want to be a passive spectator when the mission of God is happening.

I want to be a participant and I hope you do too. Matthew 28:18-20 is the great commission. It's the great things putting us in that mission.

And Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.

In our fifth section, we look at one gospel. It's not separate parts that don't interplay, but it's one gospel. The cross, resurrection, and ascension all together.

It's important that we have them all. Not that they are disconnected theology or topics, but they are one unified gospel. If you believe part, but remove another part, you have a problem.

You have a gospel that collapses. And here's how that looks. Without the cross, there's no atonement.

There's no payment for your sin. Without the resurrection, we have no victory. We don't have victory over death.

We don't have a hope for the future. This is it. And then we're done.

We have no victory without the resurrection. And without the ascension, we don't have the present reign of Jesus who is interceding for us and guiding us. We need all three.

So some simple phrases to help you remember this. The cross is payment. The resurrection is the receipt and the ascension is the enthronement.

All these are one gospel working together. Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the miracles of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true worship.

Because of this great gospel, we present ourselves to God for his purposes. " Colossians 3 beginning in verse one says, "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.

For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Our mind should be on the things of God, not on the pleasures of this world or how much money we can make or how much stature we can get.

It should be for heavenly purposes. So which truth do you most often neglect out of these three? The cross, the cross, the resurrection, or ascension?

Think about there. And you may believe, yeah, I know they're all true. But as you live their life, is there something that you're not living as if it's true?

Do you fail to live them out? Identify the missing center. What you neglect will distort your disciplehip.

So if you're neglecting the cross, then you will have either pride or despair. If you neglect the cross, you may be living like, I don't really need the cross. I'm a good person.

I can do all this stuff. And you get puffed up. Or maybe it's the opposite where you you don't believe the cross is true.

So you're despairing like this life is all there is or I'm defeated or I I just can't overcome because we don't recognize that Jesus has already come forth overcome for us. If you're neglecting the resurrection, you live a life of fear. You're living a life going, "Man, this is it.

I have no hope. There's nothing after this. There's nothing no beyond.

" If you're neglecting to believe in the resurrection or you become cynical, you become jaded. You question everything and you challenge everything. I'm not saying that you can't ever have questions, but you choose to have faith and you ask the Holy Spirit to empower you with that faith.

It's by his action that we believe. We ask him to help us overcome any unbelief so we don't become cynical. And if you neglect the ex the ascension, you have anxiety and you have confusion because you don't have somebody to guide you.

You don't have somebody who is advocating for us. And we can easily lose our way if we're not trusting in Jesus who's on his throne. Which part of the gospel do I act like is not enough?

We may say we know it's true, but which part do you actually live like it's not there? Is it one? Is it all three?

Why do we neglect in how we live our lives and the way you choose to live in light of the gospel? What are you not living out? How does Christ's reign reshape daily disciplehip and mission?

If he is alive and on the throne, how does that affect how you should live today and what you will do tomorrow? Live as citizens of the kingdom, confident, obedient, outward facing, focusing on sharing the good news with everyone where God gives you opportunity. And because the cross is finished, we live forgiven because Jesus did it on the cross.

We are forgiven. We don't need to do something else to earn that forgiveness if we're in him because the tomb is empty. We live transformed.

We live a life that's different. If you have a life that you know is going to end in a few years or even 40 years, you live differently than if you have a life that you know is transformed for all time. Because the throne is occupied.

We live under Christ's lord lordship. It's not oppressive. It's actually empowering to know that you are subject and children of the king.

The cross is finished. The tomb is empty. The throne is occupied.

Remember these things. Now, next time we get together, we're going to be on the Acts of the Apostles. The risen Christ continues his work.

So, I want to encourage you, go ahead and read ahead in the book of Acts and learn about the early church and we'll study that together. Thank you and I'll see you next time.