Easter 2025
Man of sorrows (last vs & chorus)
OT:
Pastor bobby owens
Genesis 3.15
NT:
pastor zack mcguire
1 Corinthians 15.12-26
song:
Christ the Lord is risen today
Historical reading:
dr. brett eckel
song:
Christ is risen (come awake)
Confession & Pardon:
pastor Mike champoux
song:
Something Greater
Sermon:
Dr. Alex loginow
Easter 2025 {Al}
Introduction
What a special day! Easter always feels special here at church, doesn’t it? Then you add baptisms and new members; baptizing my own daughter, Anastasia. It makes me think about when we found out Bethany was pregnant with Anabelle – she’s our only child we weren't trying for. Anabelle was our surprise baby and she continues to surprise us every day.
We thought we were done having kids after Sophia. We had our three boys and then finally a girl and Bethany specifically said she was done, but God had other plans, and those plans go by the name Anastasia Belle Loginow. And, of course, God blessed us again with Evangeline Grace. But everything changed for us when we learned Bethany was pregnant with Anabelle; God’s plans were not our plans.
We all have those moments in our lives – moments where plans change. We have a plan, but God’s plan is different. We anticipate ours lives heading in a specific direction and the Lord completely alters the course. We don’t often think about Easter as one of those moments, but it is. Easter, Resurrection Sunday, the third day, is the day everything changed.
We’ve been preaching through Genesis here at Christ Community Church so we know that ever since the garden God’s people had faith and hope that God would reverse the curse of sin and death through the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent (Gen 3.15). That’s the great protoevangelium, the first gospel promise that Pastor Bobby read in our Call to Worship, but as time and history unfolded God’s old covenant people developed an idea and expectation of how God’s plan would be accomplished. By the 1st century, as Israel was subjected to the Roman Empire, they were anticipating a Messiah who would conquer the Roman regime and reestablish Jerusalem as the world superpower. But that’s not what happened. What happened instead was Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Responding to the Death of Christ
And we find ourselves now at this scene of Mary weeping at the empty tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. Mary isn’t weeping simply because the tomb is empty. She’s weeping because she believed Jesus was dead and that His corpse was stolen or removed. Mary’s weeping because she believed Jesus failed in His mission and now He’s really gone – there’s not even a carcass to honor. It’s as if the last three years of her life were for nothing. Not only that but all of the faith and hope of God’s people since the garden – the Genesis 3.15 promise – she believed Jesus was the one, but He’s dead and now even His corpse is gone.
While we know Mary was wrong about the status of Jesus, she was not wrong to weep. We too must weep at the death of Jesus; not only because the crucifixion was so graphically violent, though it was. Remember when the film The Passion of the Christ was released? People were shocked at the violence and as violent as the movie is, it was tame compared to an actual historic Roman crucifixion, but the grotesque violence Jesus endured only scratches the surface of why we must weep at the death of Jesus. We must weep because our sin is the reason Jesus died.
The eternal 2nd person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God became incarnate – conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a truly human life without sin for the purpose of dying in the place of sinners. Many scholars note that the Gospels read like Passion narratives with extended introductions. When you read the Gospels the birth narratives, early life, and even the ministry of Jesus feels like a montage scene, but everything slows down when we arrive at Holy Week. Because this is the reason the Son of God became incarnate – Pastor Brett led us earlier in the Nicene Creed, which says Jesus came “for us and for our salvation.”
Sin is a problem as old as time. In the beginning God created Adam as our federal head and God gave Adam His Law (Gen 2.17). But Adam rebelled against God by breaking God’s Law. The result is we all inherit Adam’s original sin and guilt.
Psalm 51.5 says we are brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin. Romans 5.12 says, sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Because we’re born in sin and guilt, we practice sin in thought, word, deed – we confessed that earlier too when Pastor Mike led us in our weekly Confession and Pardon. Because we’re all sinners, we all die and we all deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell
This is why Jesus came to die. Even though Jesus knew no sin, He became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2nd Cor 5.21); Jesus is the penal substitutionary atonement for sinners. By His death Jesus paid the penalty to atone for sin as the substitute for His church. On the cross Jesus endured the wrath of God and experienced the hell we justly deserve.
John makes this point when he reminds us that when Mary looked in the empty tomb she found two angels – one sitting where Jesus’ head had been laid and one at his feet. We might not catch this right away, but any 1st century Jew reading this account would have recognized right away that this scene is a reenactment of the cherubim in the holy of holies. At the center of the Temple in Jerusalem there was the Holy of Holies. At the center of the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant that had two cherubim, or angels on top. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement to make sacrifice for the sins of God’s people.
The presence of these two angels declares that the Holy of Holies, the place where sin is atoned for, has been fulfilled. Jesus is true and final High Priest. Jesus is the true and final Holy of Holies where our sins have been fully and finally atoned for. This is why, before He died on the cross, Jesus declared, “it is finished.”
We too should weep at the death of Christ. Jesus’ death reveals how seriously God takes His holiness and our sin. God does not wink at sin; He does not ignore sin like a lazy parent. God is holy and He will not compromise Himself so much so that He took the penalty for sin, death, on Himself. But the death of Jesus also reveals how much God loves us – He was willing to take the penalty on Himself! How can this not humble us, break us, cause us to weep?
Responding to the Resurrection of Christ
And it is there, in our brokenness, in our humility, in our weeping, that Jesus calls us by name. Isn’t it interesting that Mary didn’t recognize Jesus at first? She assumed He was the gardener. Can you imagine being with someone, like all the time for 3 years and then after 3 days you don’t recognize him? This gives us a glimpse into the nature of resurrection and new creation – it is the same but different. Jesus was the same, but He was different and so shall we be when we’re raised on the last day and so shall the new earth be, same but different.
Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus initially but she does recognize Jesus when He calls her by name. Oh how specific is the grace of God! How particular our redemption! God does not merely hope for a random group of people to choose Him; no God chooses specific individuals – He calls us by name.
Before the creation of the world the Father elected every single saint. When Jesus died on the cross He was not paying for general sin; No He died for every single member of the church catholic, every single Christian who calls on the name of the Lord. When Jesus endured God’s wrath against sin it was not generic, no if you’re a believer, Jesus paid for every single one of your sins – past, present, and future. The Holy Spirit regenerates and indwells specific individuals who have been elected by the Father and redeemed by the Son. How foolish to charge Reformed theology with a cold unloving God. The God of Reformed theology, which is the God of the Bible, by the way, is not the God who is hoping for a generic crowd; no He is the God who loves His people so specifically, so particularly that He calls us by name!
And it is to these elected ones, these ones Jesus specifically died for, these ones regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that God gives the gift of faith. And is there any better day for you to evaluate whether you have faith than today? Faith begins with knowledge – do you know that God is holy, you’re a sinner, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for sinners? If you’ve been paying attention, you know this. But faith is not mere knowledge; faith moves from knowledge to assent – do you assent to this good news; do you confess it and not deny it? And the key and final element of faith is trust – do you trust Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sin and the hope of eternal life?
The Bible teaches that if God has given you the gift of faith the result is you repent. You humble yourself, crucify your pride, confess your sin, you do not deny it, and then, by God’s grace you turn from your sin to Jesus. You turn away from anything and everything else to be declared righteous before God and you confess Jesus alone for your justification. If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raise Him from the dead you will be saved…everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom 10.9-10, 13).
And after God saves us He gives us the gift of the sacraments as a means of grace. Today is one of those special days where we observe both sacraments – Holy Baptism and the Eucharist. We witnessed 3 sisters and a brother identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus in baptism. In a few moments we will all gather around the Lord’s Supper to remember and proclaim that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again! It is through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments that we cling to Jesus through the sin and suffering of this life.
Responding to the Ascension of Christ
That’s what Mary wanted to do after she recognizes the risen Lord; Mary wanted to cling to Jesus, but He must ascend to His Father. Jesus tells her the story is not over. He must ascend to His Father. In 6 weeks we’ll celebrate Ascension together wherein Christ ascended to His throne where He sits in session ruling the world and the church for the last 2 millennia.
The story is not over for Jesus and it’s not over for His people either. Jesus doesn’t just leave Mary to wait; Jesus tells Mary to go tell the disciples He is risen. I’m guessing Jesus missed the church marketing vision strategy meeting about how to make His gospel most palatable to the biggest crowd because I tell you what, if you wanted to convince as many people as possible of the resurrection in 1st century Middle East, you wouldn’t send a woman. They don’t even like women much over there now in 2025 let alone 2,000 years ago. But Jesus teaches us of the dignity of women and He calls this woman to be the 1st apostle to the apostles.
This good news of Jesus spread from Mary to the Apostles to the world even to today in Sterling Heights, MI. And like Mary our response to the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus is to tell others the good news. This is why we preach the gospel from every passage of Scripture every week here at church. This is why we administer the sacraments – Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. This is why we catechize our children. This is why we evangelize the lost because Jesus died and rose again and ascended to heaven where He rules the world with truth and grace and He’s coming again to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new and our only hope for the forgiveness of sin and eternal life is faith and repentance.
Conclusion
And that’s what makes today so special. Today is a special day not because we get dressed up, take pictures, and feast with family and friends, though that is appropriate. It’s not only special because new brothers and sister were baptized and joined our church, though that is super special. Mike, Olivia, Brenda, Anastasia I pray you always remember your baptism. But today is special because it’s the day everything changed. Easter is the day God revealed how much better His plan is than anything we can think of – salvation through death and resurrection. Today is special because He is risen.