Notes
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death…
Romans 6:23a
Sin takes its toll on all of us. It is the reason bad things happen. The reality is that we have all missed the mark, the bullseye, of God’s perfect standard. It causes pain, destruction, and death. Sin and its wages are the bad news, but on Easter, we celebrate the good news.
...but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23b
We have hope through the crucifixion. If the pain of sin is our focus, we will remain hopeless. But when we repent of our sin - turn away from that way of thinking and turn to God - He renews our spirit and restores our soul. The story of Easter gives us hope. When Jesus died for us, He paid the debt of sin we owed.
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God.
Romans 6:5-10
Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?”
Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.
Matthew 19:27-30
The power of sin has been broken. Jesus overcame the sin of the world on the cross; it didn’t control Him. And His resurrection was the beginning of what is still yet to come. You may feel like you are giving up a lot to live out God’s mission for your life, but remember that the future we have with God will be better than our best day here! He will renew and restore the earth.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
Revelation 21:3-7
Easter is about hope. Through Jesus, we are forgiven, we are empowered, and we are given a future. This is the Good News!
Group Questions
- What effects do sin have on the world as a whole and on us personally?
- How do we escape the hopelessness of sin?
- What did Jesus’ death and resurrection show about His power?
- What is the Good News?
Prayer
Thank you for taking our brokenness and restoring our souls. Sin takes its toll on us but through you we can have new life with a purpose.