Easter 2021 - Ephesians 1:22 & 23

Pastor Marchitell's Easter message. From April 4th 2021

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Today is Resurrection Sunday.

Easter

The day that Jesus Christ rose from the grave and defeated death for all who will believe

The day that the Son of God was seated at the right hand of His Father

The day that bound Satan from deceiving the Nations

The day that all of recorded history revolves around

All of human history is ordered and arranged and categorized around today.

The very moment that Jesus Christ intercepted the flow of time that He created, and defeated death for all who believe……

Is the same moment that all of humanity uses as a fixed standard to measure time.

Jesus Christ is the King of all Creation

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Today is not only Easter, it is the first Sunday of the month, which is when we at Christ Community partake of Holy Communion together. Because of COVID we have asked that you bring your own, but if you didn't, we have some in the back for you.

We have a few announcements this morning before we take Communion and dismiss the children to Sunday School

We will be having a Chicken BBQ fundraiser in late May, and were still working on a specific date, but we’ll make sure to announce it and publish it and get the word out.

Tithe

Flyers

Doxology

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Communion

What we are doing today----

This morning---

Gathered here in the House of God---

Sitting side by side with His children---

Is profound.

Different.

Outside of the cultural norm.

We gather together every Sunday to pray, worship, fellowship with one another, read the Spirit-birthed words of the living God

And reorient our lives from the chaos of the week before and prepare for the week to come.

And today, we take Communion.

Not because we are holy

But because Jesus Christ is holy

We aren't eating this bread and drinking this wine because we think it gains us favor with God

We don't do it because its tradition

We don't do it because its what we have always done

We take Communion because everytime we do, we are proclaiming what Easter Sunday is a celebration of.

And that is is that Jesus Christ is God

He came to Earth and lived a perfect sinless life

He was crucified on a Cross and took the full wrath of God for all who repent of their sins and believe in Him

And upon that cross, under the weight of the fury of the most high God that we deserved ------ Jesus Christ died.

But he did not remain dead

After 3 days He rose again

He defeated death and gave access to His Father for all who repent and turn from their wickedness.

When we repent of our sins and believe in Him, our old self is nailed to the cross and dies with Him.

Jesus Christ is the King of the World, He died and rose again, defeating death for all who will believe.

That is why we take Communion together

We examine our hearts, acknowledge where we stand before a holy God, and repent of our sins, and proclaim with these actions that Jesus is Lord of our life.

1 Corinthians 11:23 says this:

the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Let us partake of the Body of King together

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.

Let us partake of the Blood of our King together

( Dismiss the kids to Sunday School)

The past few months, we have been working our way through Chapter 1 of Ephesians, and we are finally at the last few verses!

If you have your Bibles you can turn with me to Ephesians 1:22

Ephesians 1:22–23

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

( → → Opening Prayer ← ← )

These may not seem like the stereotypical Easter Bible verses, however, when we read the Bible…. we can see that every single verse in the Bible ------ is an Easter Verse.

All of Scripture points to Jesus Christ

Everything before Him, points forward ----- and everything after Him points backward.

He is referenced and seen in every single Book

From Genesis to Revelation

Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection is not only the culmination of human history, it is the center point of all Scripture, and every verse, chapter, and book, revolves around His gravitational pull.

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If we were to look back a few verses, we could see that Saint Paul is saying a prayer for the Christians in Ephesus.

He’s praying that they grow and that their faith grows and they get more mature and strong and have a deeper relationship with God.

Then He talks about how when God saves His children, He does so with the same power that He used to raise Jesus from the dead.

When the children of God ask for His help, He responds with the same power He used to raise Christ from the dead.

When you cry out to God for His help, brothers and sisters, He responds with the same power He used to raise His Son from the dead on this day 2000yrs ago.

And we can see that Paul wants us to understand this, because there are demonic and dark forces at work in our world, and Christ is the authority over all of them.

Every demon that torments you in the dark of your night, no matter how long that night may last, be it a moment …. Or be it a lifetime, Jesus Christ is the authority over every demon, every spirit, and every force of darkness in the heavenly places.

The devil himself, bows before our King.

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Then Paul moves on to say that not only is Jesus the authority over every supernatural entity

Every demon

Every false god

Pretend and fictitious religion

And even Satan himself

He tells us that Jesus is their authority in this age and the next.

Meaning before His return, and the next age, after His return.

Then we get into our verses today.

And that is, that all things are under His feet.

Not just spiritual, up in the clouds, religious stuff ------ are under the feet of Jesus Christ.

But ALL things are under His feet.

Everything in all of reality, is under the feet of our King Jesus Christ.

He is the God of the living and of the dead

He is the King over Heaven

He is the King over Earth

And He is the King over Hell

Every square inch of the entire universe belongs to Him -------- and He is the King of all that live within it.

Every super massive galaxy that swirls and spins its way across the darkness of space, is but a ring upon the finger of our God.

Every Solar System is a jewel in His crown

Every sun and every planet ….is His

Isaiah 66 says that the heavens are His throne and the Earth itself is His footstool

The very fabric of space itself, the dark matter that all celestial bodies sit upon ----- is but a robe adorning the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ is the God over all of space and time.

“”””He’s got the whole world...in His hands

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All things are under the feet of Jesus Christ

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He is the Sovereign Monarch King of every Nation that has ever existed.

Every Senate in His

Every Congress belongs to Him

Every Throne of every earthy King

He is the Commander in Chief over every military

He is the Governor of every state

The mayor of every city

The chief of every Tribe

The president and ruler and Prime Minister of every Country

The Constitution of the United States of America, is but scrap paper and refuse, when compared to His Word.

All things are under the feet of Jesus Christ

He is the CEO of every business

The Chairman of every Board

The controller of every financial market

The head of every Family

The Head of every individual Church // And the head of the universal Church

All things are under the feet of Jesus Christ

Every bacteria

Every cell

Every atom

Every proton and neutron and electron are His rightful property

Every virus belongs to Him and He employs them as He sees fit.

Every molecule of every strand of DNA …. was intentionally spun upon His heavenly spindle and they all belong to Him.

Every human emotion is under His authority

Every feeling

Every memory

Every action

Every inaction

Every ounce of our free will belongs to Him

When the Bible says that ALL things are under His feet----

it doesn't mean:

MOST things,

it doesn't mean A LOT of things.

It doesn't mean A MAJORITY of things

It doesn't mean all the stuff that we are willing to surrender after careful thought and study and these things and aspects of my life are my own…..and this stuff over here….this is God’s territory in our world and in my life.

NO

The Bible says that ALL things are under His feet, and that is what it means.

All things are under the feet of Jesus Christ

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All things are under His feet because He is God, and there is none like Him

He is God, and there is no other.

Jesus Christ is God, clothed in Human Flesh.

He was born as a weak and frail human child

And lived a life down here among His people.

Our God didn't sit in the clouds and hope that humanity made it out alive, He put on Human flesh and descended down here to walk and live and laugh and love alongside us.

He stooped and lowered Himself to be here, even to the level of a servant.

But though He was a human, He never sinned.

He lived a perfect life

Never lying

Never stealing

Never lusting

Never betraying the people He said He loved

Never deceiving them

Never going back on His words

Never abandoning or leaving the people He loved or that loved Him

He followed every law, perfectly and completely

Jesus Christ is God, and He came to Earth and lived a perfect sinless life.

Not only did God come to Earth and lived a perfect life, He died.

He died, because He was subject to illness and disease

Pain

Hurt

Suffering

Trauma

Loss

Heartbreak

So much so, that He died a violent, degrading, public death.

And that death He died, though it was planned in advance before the world even existed, was the punishment for our sins.

Though He was innocent, He died

Though He never committed any sins….He accepted the punishment for our sins.

You see, all of our sins are before God, and they stoke His wrath.

They are deserving of punishment

Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin are DEATH

They are crimes punishable by the death penalty and we and we alone are soley responsible.

We all will one day face the Judge of the world, and we will have to plead our case before an all-knowing holy God.

But when we repent of them, and say:

God forgive me

Ive sinned ------ im guilty ------ please forgive

Im sorry God, please forgive me

Make me new

I hate my sin

It hurts me

It changes me

It controls me

Ive sinned God please forgive me

He does. Not just because He’s a nice happy grandpa in the sky, but because He pours out that punishment like bitter wine upon the back of His Son Jesus Christ.

Every lash of whip and every drop of blood, that His Son experienced ------ up to an including his death ------ was the punishment for the crimes that we have committed

IF------

Repent and turn away from your sins

And if you do-------

You will be forgiven--

Made new--

Your dead and evil soul will be pulled from its grave and God will live within you

Never leaving you

Never betraying you

Never hurting you

Never lying or misleading you

Repent of your sins and be saved from the punishment that Christ is willing to accept on your behalf.

Not only that, but if you already believe, if you are already a Christian and have the Holy Spirit living inside of you ------- but you still sin

You still mess up

You still fall on your face in shame and wonder how you can ever approach God again, knowing that you have messed up in ways you swore you never would again….

Take heart! Because of what Hebrews 4:14-16 says:

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

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Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He died the death that we deserve and rose again on the 3rd day. He saves His children, and intercedes for them on their behalf.

That is what Easter is.

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Paul has been telling us, all through Chapter 1 of Ephesians, that God is sovereign over all of reality, and then here at the end of the Chapter, He tells us that we as Christians, we the Church, are the body of Christ.

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We talked a few months ago about how when God saves you, its an adoption.

God adopted His children.

And when a parent adopts someone, they are placed into their family.

We as believers of Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit living within us, are the family of God.

There are no Second Class citizens in His kingdom

There is no lower caste system

We are all equally important and vital to the body of God.

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You see, Paul uses the analogy here of a Body.

Christ is the head, and we the family, are the body.

We all have duties and functions

We all act in different ways that support the whole

Doing things that other parts cant do

All of us working together under the headship of Jesus Christ.

But the most important thing we as the body of Christ do, is display Him to the world.

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In closing, that is why Paul says that we are the body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

You see, when Jesus works in the lives of His children, there is a purpose.

An end goal

He is doing something beyond and bigger than the immediate effects of our day to day life.

So we need to ask ourselves, fellow Christians, what are we doing to display the glory of God in our life?

Are we living how we should?

Are we selfless?

Loving

Kind?

Compassionate?

Uncompromising on the truth?

Are we gentle?

Are we bold?

Are we firm?

Do you have problems being gentle and bold at the same time?

Are you living your faith, outloud and in front of everyone in your life?

If you were put on trial, for being a Christian, is there enough evidence in your life to find you guilty?

Or could you squirm your way out of it?

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You see, when Paul says that the body of Christ is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all”

He is saying that when God saves someone, He fills everything in their life, so that His body, The Church, functions exactly how it should.

When you are adopted into the family of God, there will be no areas of your life where He is not King

Your past

Your childhood

The hurts you experienced and buried deep within your heart

Your present

Your job

Your hobbies

Your choice of entertainment

Your clothes

Your habits

How you interact with friends and family

How you interact with strangers and enemies

The stresses of daily life

The stress of whatever the heck seems to be going on in the world around us

Your future is in God’s hands

No matter if you have been struck with a disease or misfortune

No matter what is going on in the world or the culture

No matter what is going on in the individual Church you may belong to

If you are a child of God, then He will fill every area of your life and nothing can stop Him.

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He is doing this, because his body, the Church, has been given a divine instruction.

Are not to stay within our walls and sing our songs and be a happy little nice Christian club where Christians go to feel more Christian.

We go out in to the world

We proclaim the good news

We dredge the sewers of this society and proclaim to them the good news of Jesus Christ

We warn people about their destiny outside of Christ

We warn people about the punishment of their sins and the free offer of Salvation

The world is in a bad place when Christians remain quiet, or speak too loudly about anything other than repentance and belief.

Do you want to see change in this world?

Do you want to see change in your family?

Do you want to represent God everywhere you go in everything you do?

Are you content, with sitting on the sidelines?

Are you content, with shallow end Christianity?

Or do you want more?

Has life broken you?

Has your past haunted you your entire life?

Does the future terrify you?

Does the present terrify you?

Do you recognize your guilt before a holy God?

Do you want to live beyond the limits of this world?

Then repent of your sins and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He will fill all in all in your life, and because of that, His Church-----His body, will fill all of reality.

There will be no area of this world, absent of His body

And the lost and broken masses of this world will have a clearer picture of Him

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Id like to close with Hebrews chapter 1:1-12. It’s a little bit of a longer section, but it is beautiful and perfectly fitting for Easter Sunday.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father,

and he will be my Son”?

6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits,

and his servants flames of fire.”

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions

by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

10 He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

11 They will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

12 You will roll them up like a robe;

like a garment they will be changed.

But you remain the same,

and your years will never end.”

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Jesus Christ is the God of all Reality --------- He died and Rose again on the 3rd day

And if you repent of your sins and believe in Him, then He will fill every area of your life and stand in your place under the wrath of His Father.

( → → Doxology ← ← )

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him all creatures here below;

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

( → → Closing Prayer ← ← )