Let Me Convince You How Much God Loves You - Bill Johnson Easter Sunday Sermon | Bethel Church

0:00 For God, my heavenly father, was so in love with me that he was willing to go through the pain of the loss of his own son, his only beloved son. He was willing to do that because of the hope he had for me. And he laid down the life of his own son knowing that he would in fact raise him from the dead. This wonderful father did all of that so that I could do one simple thing, believe. Happy Easter. Resurrection Sunday, my goodness. Paul kind of summarized this whole thing about resurrection. He said, if there's no resurrection, then we're still in our sins. If there's no resurrection, he went on to say, we are the people that are most to be pitied. Literally, everything about our life, everything about our hope, everything about eternity, everything is represented and dealt with in the death and resurrection of Christ. And I want to talk to you today out of the book of Romans, maybe a little different portion concerning Easter, but then again, it isn't. Romans chapter 8 is where I want to go. We're going to end the message today with communion. So if you haven't already got the bread and the wine or the juice, do so quickly because I want to end with this. I believe that many people are going to come to Jesus today. We have found that tens of thousands of people are watching this gathering. And I really do pray that Jesus would bring life to people. And that's really why we're here.

1:41 Jesus is called, in fact, the scripture declares that Jesus was crucified before the foundations of the world. Think about this. Jesus Christ was crucified before the foundations of the world. So just think with me. Jesus Christ was crucified. He was so committed to this thing called the cross that he was all in before time was made, before all of creation that we know was made, before people were created, which means before there was sin, Jesus had already given himself to be the solution. God created us and he gave people this priceless, priceless gift called a free will. and when he did so, he did so taking risk knowing that there would be a point in time when people, humanity, would choose not to serve him. But it was worth the risk because he was willing to give his son to restore those who would believe in his son, to restore them to the family, to a place of faith, and that in that relationship it was literally worth the suffering. It was worth the pain, no pain, no gain. If anybody could say that, it would be the Heavenly Father. The Father of life, the one who spoke all things into being, the one who is the Father of our faith, determined that before sin ever entered the world, He was willing to give the sacrifice that was necessary to restore us. Such an extraordinary father, such a great father. And the verse that is so well known that even people who don't know the Lord may can quote this verse because it is, it stands out for this reason. It is the absolute cornerstone of our faith. And it's John 3, 16. For God so loved the

3:48 world that he gave his only begotten son, his only beloved son, that whoever would believe on him would not perish, but have everlasting life, eternal life. And that is the gift. That is the reason for the season, so to speak. That is the reason for this gathering that we do today, and really for the celebration that we have all across the world of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus gave himself to die in my place so that I could receive the life that he deserves. Jesus became a man. Interesting thing. He took on flesh. He became a human being. One of the great mysteries in scriptures is he is 100% God while at the same time being 100% man. And in his humanity, he gave himself to live life with absolute purity. And he did so.

4:43 The Bible says he faced every temptation, the same as we are, except he was without sin, which qualified him then to be a lamb that was spotless. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were to sacrifice a sheep, a sacrifice, a lamb that had no spot or blemish. And it would postpone the penalty of sin for one more year, but it never dealt with the reality of sin. Only the blood of the Son of God could take care of that. If there were another way, believe me, God would have chosen another way. But the only possible way was we were lost in sin. And so he sent his son to be one of us and to endure what we endure, except no sin, which qualifies him to be the offering in our place. So as we like to say it, he died as us. He died in our place, taking on himself what he deserved so that we could receive what he deserved, which is eternal life. In Romans chapter 8, there's this most, really most astonishing portion of scripture. Many of you will recognize Romans 8 because of verse 28. And it says, we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. This is something that we hold onto every time we're in difficulty. The only reason a verse like this needs to be stated is because not everything is going to go perfect the first time we address a problem or position ourselves for victory. We have to have an assurance that takes us into, creates in us a willingness to endure because God is going to reverse the effects of something into a place of personal victory. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. If everything worked perfect the first time we tried something,

6:48 we wouldn't need a promise like this. But we need it because we need to know that endurance is worth it because it always ends for his glory and for our benefit, for our strength. But I want you to start with me actually in verse 31. We're going to read quite a few verses. So if you would follow along, please. It's such a declaration about the resurrection of Christ. And there's a couple of things that I want to make sure that we pick up from this portion of scripture that can help us. All right. So verse 31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, so that even at the right hand, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, for your sake, we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

8:45 an extraordinary portion of scripture. I want us to walk through these verses, but I want to first just declare something over you. All of this is about the love of God. All of this, all, all of this, the resurrection, the fact that he made us members of one another, that he gave us the promise of eternity. All of this is about the demonstration, the experience, the realization of the love of God in our lives. We sing songs and make declarations like, it's all about you and it's right. We talk about worshiping for the audience of one. It's an appropriate response. But it might be interesting to know that he says, it's all about you. he was so completely enthralled captivated focused on saving the individual he didn't just do a group project he didn't just buy us by the dozen what he did was so intimate and so personal that you can see him face to face with you saying you're worth dying for and that's the reality of the cross and the reality of the resurrection.

10:10 It says here, if God can be for us, who can be against us in verse 31? He's not saying nobody can be against us. He's just saying anyone who's against us doesn't get to vote. They don't have a say in the outcome of things. If God is for us, who can be against us? Think about this with me. Anyone who sees you the way the Father sees you would never be against you.

10:43 Anyone who is in opposition to you, anyone who for whatever reason has picked you out as a target to insult or to reject or hurt or whatever, none of them see you the way the Father does. because everyone who sees you through the eyes of the Father is for you. So he says, if God is for us, who can be against us? No one, no one. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? I'll be honest with you. That verse is the reason I felt I was to bring this portion of scripture to us today. That verse, if God went to such an extreme by giving us his son, how could we ever question him to not delightfully, willingly, joyfully provide everything else we will ever need, not only now in this life, but throughout all of eternity. He set the extreme standard in the sacrifice of his son, then everything else is automatically included.

11:57 It's important that you and I think that way. It's important that we realize that in this love of God that you could never exhaust, you could never explore in its entirety, it will be continuously opened up to us in new levels throughout all eternity, and never will be exhausted. That love of God is 100% focused on you, on your family, on your situation, on me right now. He goes on, he says, who will bring a charge against God's elect? Do you understand? There was no one who has authority to stand before the father to accuse you. The devil is called the accuser of the brethren, but he doesn't have a hall pass there. He doesn't have the legal right to bring any kind of accusation against you. And the reason is your lawyer is Jesus. And he himself has already taken care of every legitimate indictment against you. God's forgiveness is so complete. It's so complete. We'll look at it a little bit further in this chapter, but it is so absolute and so complete that he actually changes how he sees us. The blood of Jesus has made me clean. The blood of Jesus not only deals with the record of sin, the blood of Jesus goes to the root and changes the nature that that sin grew out of. It is that complete. So when the Father looks at you, every one of you who have surrendered your life to Jesus. You have put your faith in Christ and have declared him to be your absolute Lord and master. Every one of you, the father looks at you and he sees his son, Jesus.

13:48 No one can accuse Jesus. Therefore, no one has the right to accuse you. Verse 34, who is he who condemns? It's Christ who died and furthermore is risen, who's at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. I had a conversation with my uncle who's now at home in heaven. He was such a wonderful man, wonderful man of God, David Morkin. And I had a conversation with him quite a few years ago. And he was talking to me about this chapter. He would memorize entire books of the Bible. And so when we had conversation, he had such depth of understanding of these portions of Scripture. But we were talking about Romans 8 once, and he said, I found out why verse 28 is real. What does it say? It says, all things work together for good. Why can we say all things work together for good? Well, take a quick look at the last part of verse 26. It says, the Holy Spirit himself makes intercession for us. And then jump over here to the end of verse 34. It says Jesus also makes intercession for us. So here we have the Holy Spirit and we have the Son of God interceding before the Father on our behalf. Sandwiched between these two realities, these two great intercessors is the promise. Everything works together for good. Our confidence in God resolving every situation for his glory has nothing to do with our, you know, great faith or skill or gifts or ministry or whatever you want to add to it.

15:33 It has to do with the Holy Spirit intercedes, Jesus intercedes. No wonder all things work together for good. I sometimes will half-jokingly talk about praying in the Spirit, praying in tongues, which is such a wonderful privilege. All the gifts of the Spirit are to enable us to serve others except for that one. That one particular gift brings edification to us. But I half-jokingly talk about praying to God. And I say, oh God, I need a 700 horsepower Corvette. That's really what I need. And then I follow that prayer by praying in tongues. And the Holy Spirit prays to him and says, man, don't give him that Corvette. He'll kill himself if he has a car like that. And the Holy Spirit always prays with such precision and such accuracy that it's a glorious thing to join our faith in the praying in the Holy Spirit. He intercedes for us. And here Jesus also intercedes for us. And then from that place of those two interceding for us, he moves into these decrees of what is there in existence that can separate us from the love of God.

16:48 And look at it here in verse 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, perhaps we could call pandemic peril? A sword? As it is written, for your sake we're killed all day long. We're counted as sleep sheep for slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors. Do you remember in Joel it says, let the weak say, I am strong. It's really important that we manage what comes out of our mouth. It's important that we don't talk out of the flimsiness of our emotional life, which is up and down. It's important that we don't craft our conversation according to circumstances that one day are extraordinary and the next day are very challenging and difficult. It's important that we design our decree out of what God says. Let the weak say I'm strong. So in in our greatest point of frustration or difficulty or weakness, we make this bold confession.

17:57 I am strong. I am strong because I am in Christ. I am strong because Christ is in me. And we make these confessions. Here's another one. We are more than conquerors. I am more than a conqueror. I'm not just victorious. I'm a happy, victorious person. I am more. I'm above and beyond a conqueror. Why? Because we are riding alone on the absolute victory of Christ in his death and in his resurrection. His resurrection becomes my resurrection. No wonder I'm more than a conqueror. I would encourage you to say that even over yourself, even right now, I'm more than a conqueror. I'm a conqueror beyond. I'm above and beyond what a conqueror looks like. I'm a victor in the victory of Christ. For I'm persuaded, verse 38, neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ, from the love of Jesus our Lord.

19:06 Two things I want to talk about here before we wrap this up and share in communion. First is the very end of verse 38. It says, things present and things to come. There's another place in 1 Corinthians 3, I believe it is, where he talks about things present and things to come.

19:29 There's an intentional omission by God in those two verses. Things present and things to come. what didn't he mention? He didn't mention the past. Why? Because the past has been purchased, it's covered in blood, and we have no legal access to it apart from the blood of Jesus. Think about that. I have no legal right to yesterday because it's been bought. I have a right for tomorrow, to pray into tomorrow, what I expect, what I believe for. I own today, the Bible talks about us as being very present and timely and stewards of this moment. I believe in that. But yesterday has been purchased and it is under the blood of Jesus.

20:24 Atonement means to cover. It is under, it is out of reach. It is out of reach. so for me to dwell on difficulties failures of yesterday for me to do that apart from the blood of Jesus if there's anything in the past that I have truly repented for given over to Jesus it then becomes out of my reach with the exception of and yet here is another testimony of the grace of God he forgave me for this he delivered me from this he caused me to triumph even as a result of failure. He turned it into success, into breakthrough. I want to encourage you, the present and the past, you own. He owns, excuse me, the present and the future, you own, we own. He owns the past. Don't touch it. Don't touch it. Trust him with your past. And then we come down to this last part, neither height nor depth, nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God. This entire story is about this concluding statement.

21:37 The whole dialogue here is about our awareness and our experience in the love of God. There's a passage here that has been very, very important for me, personal importance, for a lot of years. And it's actually found in the book of Jude. And I want you to hear this verse. it says keep yourself in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Keep yourself in the love of God. Three verses later it says now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Keep yourself in the love of God now to him who is able to keep you, me, from stumbling. There is a connection there. Keep yourself in the love of God.

22:33 everything that the enemy throws at us, whether it's a job loss, it's any kind of difficulty, a conflict in the home, doesn't matter what it is, somebody who doesn't like you anymore or whatever, all these things that come our way, every single one of them are attempts to disengage us from the love of God. To somehow shut off our awareness of this one who loves us so completely, so fully, so 100% the Father. The enemy works through difficulty, through accusation, through temptation, through all kinds of stuff to disengage us from the love of God. And so here he says, keep yourself in the love of God. Listen to this. The greatest reality in your life, usually I say us, but let's just pretend you and I are in my office and I'm talking head to head here, nose to nose. I want to get something across. The greatest reality in your life is the love of God. And if you're not aware of it, you're aware of too many other things.

23:55 The single greatest reality in every single person's life, the greatest reality in every person's life is this unimaginable, uncomprehendable, extreme expression of the love of God that is reserved just for you. And to not live aware of it is to live aware of the inferior in its place. Everything in life is to be measured by the most important thing. What did he say earlier? He says, if he gave his son, if he went to that kind of an extreme, certainly he would provide everything else for you that is less than that. If you went that far, well, here we are. If the love of God is that extreme and it's just for you and it's just for me, then that greatest reality of everything in existence needs to be dwelt on. Otherwise, I will fall for things that are inferior. The greatest things redefine everything else.

25:09 this says keep yourself in the love of God let me tell you it is possible for you to keep yourself in the love of God as much as it is possible for you to keep yourself in the kitchen or keep yourself in the bedroom or keep yourself in the living room it truly is a choice why because this word is living we're not looking at just ink on paper we're looking at something that flowed from the heart of a father, a loving father, who gave us the gift of scriptures that come alive and feed our soul. One only needs to prioritize the things that are more true than every other problem. The accusations, they mean nothing because there's no one who has the right to accuse me. There is no one who has the right to steal from me. No one. And so everything else becomes subject to this one primary truth.

26:11 And so we keep ourself in the bedroom or keep ourself in this case, in the love of God. What does it mean? It means I stop and I ponder and I think for God. my heavenly father, the father of life, the father of all creation, was so in love with me, so infatuated with me, was so hopeful in what I could become. He was so caught up in his imagination, his planning for me, that he was willing to go through the pain of the loss of his own son, his own beloved son, his only beloved son. He was willing to do that because of the hope he had for me.

27:07 And he laid down the life of his own son knowing that he would in fact raise him from the dead also for our benefit. This wonderful father did all of that so that I could do one simple thing, believe. So that everyone, I would believe in him. And in the moment I believe, I'm given eternity, everlasting life. And you take moments in your day, you just stop. You just stop. Sometimes we go so fast, it's hard for the love of God to catch up with us. We've got to stop being anxious. We've got to stop being divided. We've got to stop being distracted. Reduce things. This is a reset that God is gifting us with. A reset. I remember Brian wrote, my son Brian wrote in this book that never feel bad. In fact, he put it this way, consider it a gift when all you have, when your only option is God. And many of you are in that point right now where you're face to face with the realization the only one that can turn this situation around for you is God. That's not a bad thing. That's a gift. Consider it a gift. So here we are in this moment that God has chosen to use for His glory and for our benefit, to position us for the true advancement of the gospel, the advancement of the strength of every single household that is watching. Those of you that have lost jobs, we pray and decree a better one would come along. Those of you that have lost various things throughout this process, businesses or whatever, that it would be even better as the economy is restored. The resurrection power would actually hit the economy of the nations of the world.

28:58 We pray this for the glory of God, that we can be even better suited, this time not driven, this time not anxious to perform, this time not driven by the need to succeed, but instead driven by the love of God, the infatuation of keeping ourselves in the love of God because he keeps us in a place of continual victory and triumph. I pray that for you. I prophesy that to you. Keep yourself in the love of God now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, with hilarity and absolute extreme delight to our God and Savior who alone is wise be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and forever. Wow.

29:53 This entire day is about this one thought. the resurrection of Jesus was for you. it was for you. Had there been only one human being on the planet that sinned, and that one person was you, everything Jesus went through, he would have gone through for you, for me, every one of us. We're going to share in communion, which is becoming more important to me all the time. So if you could grab the elements, please. I know that in various traditions, the elements are to be passed out by certain qualified leaders.

30:50 But join with us anyway. This time we'll ask Jesus to bless this in your hands. Jesus Jesus. on that Passover night, he took bread and he broke it. He took the loaf and he broke it. And he made this statement. I don't understand this, but I love the stuff I don't understand. I don't want to too quickly explain it away because I know I'll get it wrong. He said, he broke the bread and he gave peace to his disciples. And he said, take, eat. This is my body. He didn't say this represents my body. Now, a lot of people are trying to figure out what that looks like. I don't know what it looks like. All I know is he said, take this. It's my body. Later, he says, a number gets sick, die, have all kinds of weakness, struggles, because they don't discern the body correctly. So what if we did this? If we took that bread and we held it. Some of you, your own tradition has taught you well in this, and you already approached the bread and the cup as the body and blood of Jesus. But many of us have come out of a tradition that says it represents. I'll let the theologians figure it out. I just want to run with what Jesus said. He said, take, eat, this is my body. So what does it mean to judge the body correctly? Well, it can mean one of two things. I personally think it means both.

32:22 One is that I come to this moment with the same respect as though this were the body of Jesus that I hold in my hand. Number two, I come to you as members of the body of Christ with the same respect as I would the bread that is the broken body of Jesus. there's a divine health in that equation now when I take the bread and Benny and I do it often many times throughout the week and when I take the bread this little wafer I like to break it because I remind myself that his flesh was torn his body was broken we sang it today his body was broken I like to take the bread and I break it and I make this confession over my life, over Benny, over my immediate family, over people that I know and care for that are really struggling. And this is what I do.

33:24 The torn flesh of Jesus represents the stripes that he bore. And the scripture says, by his stripes, we were healed. By his stripes. The payment was made then for what I get to experience now. In the same way my sin was atoned for 2,000 years ago, today I get to experience the liberty and the freedom of forgiveness today. So when I take this cup, this bread, and I encourage you to do so, just make this confession with me. By the stripes of Jesus, I was healed. This is a divine moment. Take the bread and declare over your own body, over your own flesh, by the stripes of Jesus I was healed. And then just put on your lips the name of a friend, someone that you know that you care for.

34:19 For me, Kathy Vallotton, Alan Ray, divine healing into their bodies, restoration of what the enemy has stolen. Mark Cooper, by the stripes of Jesus, Mark Cooper, you are healed. And I take this bread and make that proclamation. Do it yourself just for a moment. Take the bread and say, Jesus, I know that the price you paid was more than enough. I declare healing right now. In Jesus' name. And I mention your name. now let's receive this bread with the same majesty and honor and respect and revering that we would if we were holding in our hands the body of Jesus And now the cup of the blood. I know that Eric earlier encouraged people to write on the chat that you want to receive Christ. If there's anyone in this moment that you've never surrendered your life to Jesus, do it right now. Do it now.

35:43 This moment is for you. Today is the beginning of eternity for you. A life of forgiveness, a life of freedom, a life of learning to walk with Jesus for His honor, for His glory. you hold in your hand a cup that Jesus looked at and said this is my blood. Here's the deal without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin no forgiveness. It required this this covers sin.

36:17 So I like to make several confessions as I pray over my household my family. I like to just make the decree the blood of Jesus sets me free. I like to make that just throughout the day at any given time just walking around my property the blood of Jesus sets me free. It's important that we say these truths it's important that we hear ourselves saying it but it's also important that we speak it into the cities, the neighborhoods that we live in the blood of Jesus sets me free. But here's what I also like to do I like to plead the blood of Jesus see the blood of Jesus poured out over every single family member of mine. I pray for my children, their amazing spouses, their children, my grandchildren. I bring them all before the Lord by name, and I pray that God would protect them inside and out, the spirit, soul, and body, they would be safe, that they would have deep encounters with him, that God would give them a hunger to know Him. That that gift would be given. It's mentioned in Jeremiah 24 that God would give them a heart to know Him.

37:31 I pray for every single family member that way. I want to ask you to do that right now. Just take the cup, hold it before the Lord and just declare over your family, the blood of Jesus sets us free. Bring their names before the Lord. I just plead the blood of Jesus over my life. Some of you have children who have wandered away from the Lord. some of you have children, parents maybe who have never walked with the Lord but today is your day, today is the day I want you to make the decree I just join the name of John with the Lord Jesus Christ and I say, Father bring him home, bring him to faith hold that cup before the Lord I give you just a few seconds mention the names of your family members and make that decree I plead the blood of Jesus over them the blood of Jesus over them. thank you father so this is my my big confession that i make when i hold the cup before the lord as for me and my house we will serve the lord that's my decree i prophesy i prophesy in my house in my bedroom in my kitchen wherever i'm at i prophesy if i'm out on the property Sometimes I'll take communion as I walk on our land.

38:55 And I just prophesy, declare, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Every single family member has been set aside by the grace of God to serve him well. I want you to do that right now. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

39:19 Amen. Amen. let's receive the blood of Jesus now Wow. It's the meal of absolute victory. It's the meal of absolute triumph. I pray that today would be a day where God initiates a series of encounters. Some of you have been tormented by stuff. You've given place to fear. And that fear has been robbing you. And I believe Jesus wants to set you free from that fear. It was talked about in Romans 8. All these things that are trying to separate us from the love of God, they don't have the authority to unless you and I agree with them in fear. And we just say no to that right now. There are some of you watching that have hidden addictions.

40:15 and you have this harsh desire to be free, listen, just take it, bring it before the Lord and say, I want liberty. I want to be free from this. Bring it before the Lord. I believe there's going to be a mighty, mighty deliverance for you. Let me pray for you, and then we'll end this. All right. Father, I thank you for the power of deliverance, the power of salvation. I thank you for the blood of Jesus, the broken body of Jesus. We just give you thanks. And I ask right now that liberty and freedom would be the testimony of the day. And we celebrate together the resurrection.