Two Reasons the Resurrection is a Necessity

On April 21, 2014July 29, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical6 Comments

Yesterday was Easter Sunday – the day Christians all over the world celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.

But why? Why celebrate the resurrection? Why was it necessary? There are at least two reasons the resurrection is a necessity.

Two Reasons the Resurrection is a Necessity

(1) The resurrection was necessary to prove Jesus’ death actually satisfied God’s wrath.

In Philippians 2, we learn that Jesus is glorified. He is highly exalted and made to be our king because He humbled himself on the cross.

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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.” (Php 2:8–11)

Jesus wouldn’t have been resurrected and made our King, He wouldn’t be exalted, if His sacrifice wasn’t sufficient and satisfied God’s wrath.

So Jesus’ resurrection was a necessity because it proves His sacrifice was sufficient to pay for our sins. Without it we are all still damned to hell.

(2) The resurrection was necessary because without it we couldn’t experience eternal life.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians,

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:20-22).

If Christ had not raised from the dead, then we wouldn’t either. Death is the end. Eternal life doesn’t exist. Heaven doesn’t exist.

Thankfully that isn’t true. Thankfully the resurrection happened, which means this world isn’t the end for us. Eternal life is to come. Life in a perfect world, ruled by a perfect King is to come. There is hope. There is something for us to look forward to.

Question for Reflection

What reasons would you give for the necessity of the resurrection?

Resources

Post adapted from my sermon: The Seriousness of Sin and the Necessity of the Cross and Resurrection

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Learning to Teach from the Master Himself

On April 16, 2014July 29, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Leadership, Pastoral, PreachingLeave a comment

If there is one person who can teach us to teach others, it’s Jesus. He is a master teacher. A teacher whose teaching impacted and connected with the 1000’s who followed Him.

His teaching connected because He knew how to relate to His listeners. His parables weren’t chosen at random. Rather, they were purposefully selected for their teaching and relatability.

We Should Relate to Others with Our Teaching

Likewise, we should use scenarios that relate well to those we are teaching. While that statement is easy for me to write, it’s not easy to do. More and more I find, in our mobile society, many of us come from different background, grow up in different parts of the country, and are influenced by differing world views. All of which make it difficult to relate to others.

Even though that is true, we shouldn’t give up. Instead, we must ratchet up our efforts in getting to know those we are teaching. We must work to understand their background, their cultural customs, and their worldview.

Parents and Grandparents are Teachers Too

While we primarily think of Pastors, Sunday School Teachers, and Bible Study Leaders as teachers, as those who need to heed this advice, I also have another group in mind – Parents and Grandparents. You guys are teachers too. You teach your kids and grandkids on a daily basis.

As you all know and have experienced, even though you live in the same house, it’s not easy to relate to one another. That, however, doesn’t mean we give up in frustration. God has commanded us to teach our children and grandchildren. So instead of giving up, we have to work to relate to them.

The best way to get to know others is to hangout with them, ask questions, and listen. If you do that, you’ll be in a better position to not only understand their struggles and temptations, but you will know how you might relate biblical truth in a way that will impact them.

Question for Reflection

Other than the ones I listed above, what are ways for parents to learn how to relate to their children.

Resources

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Sermon adapted from my sermon Those who Embrace Jesus Produce Fruit

5 Motivations to Call Others to Repent

On April 14, 2014July 28, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Evangelism, Pastoral, Practical1 Comment

I spent last week in Louisville, Kentucky visiting friends and attending Together for the Gospel. The time with friends and the conference was a blessing.

This years conference was subtitled Unashamed. It’s focus was evangelism. While it is a common tactic to make evangelicals feel guilty for not evangelizing the lost, I appreciated that that was not their tactic. Instead of focusing on guilt, they focused on the power of the gospel to make men alive in Christ.

Some motivations that stuck out to me where the ones Thabiti Anyabwile gave. He specifically provided five of which I have highlighted below.

5 Motivations to Call Others to Repent

(1) Repentance is for the joy of heaven, the church and Christ.

(2) Repentance is calling someone to see worth in God’s sight.

(3) Repentance is a call to gain heaven’s greatest pleasures.

(4) Repentance isn’t emphasis on do’s and don’t’s, but on seeing God as He really is.

(5) Repentance is a call to what God calls beautiful.

Question for Reflection

What other gospel-centered motivations would you add to the list above?

Resource

If you would like to hear Thabiti flesh these points out, you can watch his message here.

It’s Necessary to Confront Others Who Are in Sin

On April 4, 2014July 28, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Pastoral4 Comments

It is necessary to confront others in sin. Most people wouldn’t agree with my statement. Approaching others in sin is messy, difficult, and unpopular. Even so, it’s necessary for us to do it.

Jesus as Our Example

In Matthew 21, Jesus approaches the Chief Priests and Elders about their sin after He escaped their trap. Jesus could have let the Chief Priests and Elders walk away, but He doesn’t. Instead, He immediately goes on the offensive to point out their sin.

Now, Jesus doesn’t do that because He is mean or for some reason wants to inflate His own pride. No, Jesus does it in hope that they would see the error of their ways and repent. As well as He does it so the watching crowd would be protected from the lies and bad example of the Chief Priests and Elders.

Why We Should Point Out Others Sin

We should point out others’ sin for the same reason Jesus did.

(1) So they would repent and begin to actually follow Jesus.

As well as we should point out others sin:

(2) To protect the church.

You see, if we allow people to continue in sin without addressing it, those in the church might believe that lifestyle is acceptable. After all, so and so has: A live in girlfriend, is involved in an adulterous affair, abuses their spouse, does’t lead their family to attend church, is a crooked business man, is addicted to pornography, or whatever they might be involved in, and the church hasn’t addressed it, so it must be okay for me to live that way.

You see, if we don’t confront sin, if we don’t call people to repent, we not only hinder our witness to the community, but we also hinder the spiritual growth in our own church. So we must follow Jesus’ example. We must confront others in their sin.

Confront in Love With Great Care and Wisdom

Of course, we have to do this in love, with great care and wisdom, but we must do it. It is not only good for them and their spiritual growth, but it also protects the church.

Not Popular

I know confronting others in their sin is not popular. We live in a culture that likes to sweep things under the rug. We live in a culture that doesn’t like to deal with others’ sins. We live in a culture where if we start pointing out things in others’ lives, we are now meddling in their business.

Here, however, is the thing, while we all have a personal relationship with Jesus – meaning that we are saved individually – our relationship with Jesus is not a private one. When we become believers, we are born into a community. A community we refer to as the church.

The reason Christians are born into a community is so that we can help one another grow in Christ. Part of the way we help others grow is by lovingly exposing their sin. We can’t stop there though. After we expose another’s sin, we must also help them work through the process of repentance and growth.

Wrap Up

So while it’s not popular for us to confront others about their sin, it is necessary and something we are called to do.

Question for Reflection

What are your thoughts about confronting others in sin?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon: Talk is Cheap, Walk the Walk

Walk the Walk, Don’t Talk the Talk

On March 31, 2014July 27, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals4 Comments

If you were to read the “hobbies” section on my Facebook, you would notice I am into reading, blogging, and running. I do all those things almost every week. If you keep reading, however, you will notice it also says that I like to work out, rock climb, and surf. While those things are listed, if I am honest, I haven’t done any of those activities in quite a while.

Now, I can talk to you for hours about each of them, I know the lingo, but I don’t actually climb, surf or workout anymore. So while I can talk the talk, I am not walking the walk.

The Bible Belt

Often times this is what I believe a lot of people in the Bible Belt do. They can talk all about the Bible and “churchy things” because they have been around it for most of their lives. However, when it comes to actually living according to the Bible’s commands, they don’t do it. They aren’t then walking the walk. Instead they are just talking the talk.

True Followers

True followers of Jesus, however, not only talk about the Bible, but they also allow it to guide their lives. They live according to God’s will. In other words, they walk the walk.

You see, being a believer means more than posting spiritual quotes or Bible verses to Facebook. Being a believer is more than just knowing the lingo. Being a believer is more than just a claim. Being a believer means we do the will of the Father.

We aren’t a Christian just because we claim to be. No, Christians are those who actually live according to God’s will, who follow Jesus. So it doesn’t matter what you say. What matters is what you do.

Change Through the Gospel

Now, I am not trying to frustrate you by telling you you have to work harder or that you have to produce change on your own. Following God’s will and change doesn’t occur through our work, it occurs through the gospel. When we believe in Jesus our hearts should change. Our will, desires, and wants change.

The change we see at the beginning of our Christian walk should continue as the Holy Spirit works on us, and as we learn more about God’s will through hearing the preached word and reading the Bible.

So we don’t change by our own power, effort, or will, which means it’s not impossible for us to change. As well as it means we will all change to live according to God’s will, if we are truly Christians.

Question for Reflection

Are you just talking the talk or are you walking the walk?

Resources

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Post adapted from my sermon: Talk is Cheap, Walk the Walk

What is Jesus’ Mission and How Does it Affect Us?

On March 26, 2014July 31, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn PracticalLeave a comment

What is Jesus’ mission? How does it affect us? A good summary of Jesus’ mission and how it affects us is found in Ephesians chapter 1. In verses 3-10 we learn three things:

(1) Jesus’ mission was given and prepared before the world was created (3-4; 9-10a)

Everything that has happened in this world is no mystery to God. He knew Adam and Eve would eat the fruit in the garden, that they would rebel against Him. He knew the world would turn out the way it is today.

God was prepared. He had a plan to save His people, so they could experience life with Him. His plan involved Jesus, His Son.

Ephesians 1:3-4 says,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Eph 1:3–4)

And Ephesians 1:9-10a says,

“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time,” (Eph 1:9–10a)

So Jesus’ mission was God given. It was a plan that He and the Father came up with before this world was even created.

(2) Jesus’ mission was to take our punishment for us (7)

As sinners we are separated from God and we deserve His punishment, but Jesus came to die in our place, to take God’s wrath on Himself.

Ephesians 1:7 says,

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,” (Eph 1:7)

The way we experience redemption is by Jesus shedding His blood. The way Jesus shed His blood was by being nailed to a cross. While He hung on that cross, the Father’s wrath was poured out on Him. The wrath that we deserve was poured out on Jesus as He hung in our place.

So Jesus’ mission was to take our punishment for us.

(3) Jesus’ mission was to unite us to God for all eternity (10b)

We know this because the second half of Ephesians 10 tells us the plan that was revealed in the fullness of time was,

“to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph 1:10b)

So Jesus’ mission then is designed to restore all creation back to God. To restore shalom or peace first between us and the Father. Second between us and each other. Third between the Father and creation. Fourth between us and creation.

So Jesus came to unite us to God for all eternity through His shed blood on the cross and this was a mission that started before time even existed.

The Good News

The good news is that all those who would repent of their sin, who would turn from living how they want, admit Jesus is their Savior – that He came to die in their place, and follow Jesus will experience salvation.

So have you done that? Have you turned from your sins to follow Jesus? Have you given your life over to Him? Do you recognize Jesus’ mission was to come and die in your place so that your relationship with the Father could restored?

Or do you deny Jesus’ mission? Do you refuse to repent? Do you refuse to recognize Jesus as the Messiah? The Savior? Do you try to come against Jesus and destroy Him?