1 st Corinthians 15:1-8 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you— unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as

1 st Corinthians 15:1-8 the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.

1 st Corinthians 15:14, 17, 19, 32 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless… And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins… And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world… And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

1.The Plan of Redemption/Atonement 2.The Power of Redemption/Atonement 3.The Proof of Redemption/Atonement “Redeem”- To buy back something/someone lost. “Atonement”- To make amend for a wrong or injury done.

1.The Plan of Redemption/Atonement 2.The Power of Redemption/Atonement 3.The Proof of Redemption/Atonement Christmas > Good Friday > Easter Sunday

All human beings have rejected God as their Creator, Father, and King. We “replaced” Him with ourselves or other false gods. We committed sin against His righteous laws. We made a mess of our lives and became guilty, broken, and empty. But God in His love for us sent Jesus to come and bring us back to Himself. To bring forgiveness, healing, and satisfaction! (Jesus did not just show us the way, or made a way, but He became the way!)

1 st Peter 1:20, 2:25 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. The redemption plan was not God’s “plan B”, but “plan A”!

Luke 24:44-47 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’

The death of Jesus brought us forgiveness, The resurrection of Jesus brought us new life! Jesus had to die to pay for our sins, Jesus had to live again to show God’s acceptance, confirm Jesus’ Identity, and to give us new life! We are forgiven, freed, and fortified!

“You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics; in physical laws every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace Bono from U2

defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff… I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep s---. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend Bono from U2

on my own religiosity… love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: ‘Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions.’ The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did Bono from U2

not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled. It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.” Bono from U2

“Trying my best to do the best I can” is not good enough before the perfect righteous standard of God…

Colossians 2:13-14 You were dead because of your sins… Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop

Romans 5:1-5 endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Historical Evidences of the resurrection of Jesus: 1.The empty tomb (one agreed on fact, many theories) 2.The eyewitnesses 3.The devotion of the Apostles 4.The timing of the growth of the church 5.The positively transformed lives

1 st Corinthians 15:19-22 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. Will you chose to place your faith in the risen Lord Jesus?