Formosa Baptist Church
2026-04-05
      • Bible Trivia
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      • Matthew 28:1–7ESV

  • Amazing Love
  • Low In The Grave He Lay Hymn 160
  • O Praise The Name
  • Great Are You Lord
  • Intro:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZb2mqId0A&t=149s
    On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon during NASA's Apollo 11 mission. Stepping onto the surface at 10:56 p.m. Eastern time, he famously said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". He and his astronaut partner Buzz Aldrin explored the moon’s surface for over two hours, skipping around and acting like kids like pretty much any one of us would do.
    A few days ago, the Artemis II rocket launched with a mission to take astronauts to orbit the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended in 1972--54 years ago. This launch is essentially a test launch to prepare the way for a future launch in 2028, in which NASA plans to land on the moon again and begin building a permanent lunar space station.
    As I watched the launch, I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the feats of engineering that this launch exhibited. This has been an incredible accomplishment. These astronauts will travel further from Earth than any humans ever have--over 250,000 miles away from the earth--and they will see portions of the dark side of the moon that humans have never seen. Just a few moments after the launch, the rocket had broken free of the Earth’s atmosphere into the great abyss of space. A few moments later, the rocket had reached a speed of over 17,000 mph and was already hundreds of miles from Earth. In its 10-day trip, it will cover over 685,000 miles as the astronauts orbit the earth and then go around the moon and back.
    I sat and watched the stream in awe and amazement. It was emotional, even for me, as someone who really has very little connection to the event. There’s something about space travel that is just universally fascinating. People of all nations, ethnicities, and backgrounds can appreciate and marvel at it. It captures the imaginations of humanity in a way that few things do. And I think I know why.
    For us as humans, the one thing that is usually constant for us is the ground. We’re bound to it. Gravity constantly pulls us and holds us to the earth. But, rockets and space travel seems to defy the limits of humanity and the laws of physics. In space travel, humans don’t just stand on earth and wonder what the moon and space are like—they can actually see it with their own eyes. They can defy gravity, transcend limitations, and see the earth from a perspective that only a handful of people in history have ever been able to do--a perspective that usually only God himself can enjoy. Here in a day or so, the astronauts will round the backside of the moon and—just as you and I might watch the sun rise—they will watch the earth rise over the horizon of the moon. It’s a bizarre and amazing thought that we can only imagine.
    The rocket seems to defy the limits of humanity and the laws of physics—and yet, it doesn’t really. As amazing as a rocket launch is, it is still bound to the laws of physics and the limitations of humanity. In fact, they use these very laws of physics to propel themselves to space. And it’s the law of gravity that allows them to slingshot around the moon and return back to earth. And these laws or physics and human limitations cause delays and cancellations of rocket launches all the time. And, the astronauts themselves have not, despite appearances, broken the laws of physics and nature. They’re still human. While in space, they have to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. They’re incredible people, to be sure, but they’re still human. They’re still bound by the same limitations that you and I are. They still get sick, and they will still all, one day, die.

    [Replace with Title Slide]

    But something happened 2,000 years ago that truly DID defy the laws of nature and the limitations of humanity. As a handful of men and women mourned the death of a beloved friend, they gazed in wonder and awe as the Son rose. Death itself was broken and defeated. Something had transcended the very laws of nature and thrown off the limitations of humanity.
    And so, just as days ago, the world watched in wonder as a rocket screamed into space, today, billions around the world are reminded that an even greater miracle than this has taken place. Jesus Christ has risen! And if he has risen, then the implications for you and I ought to leave us in wonder and awe and propel us into action as we reflect on what happened that day and what is coming for those of us who put our faith in him.
    Romans 6:1–14 ESV
    1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
    Prayer
    But, maybe you’re sitting there today and you’re thinking, “I don’t really want a new life—I kind of like the life I have. Why should I want a “new life?””
    Well, in short, because of sin and it’s penalty.

    Jesus died to set us free from sin and its penalty.

    Romans 6:1–2 ESV
    1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
    We all have a sin problem. Now, I need to explain what I mean by sin. If you’re sitting there and you’re thinking that sin is just the really serious stuff like murder or adultery, it’s not. Sure, those things are sin, but sin is anything that is against God’s law.
    1 John 3:4 ESV
    4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
    Sin, simply put, is breaking the law—but we’re not talking about breaking the laws of America or Arkansas; sin is when we break God’s law. Now, it’s at this point that a lot of people will say, “Well, I’m a good person so I think God will be ok with me.”
    Well, you better take a good look at God’s law-book. You’re not going to be judged based upon what you think right and wrong is, you’re going to be judged according to God’s standards and laws.
    Jesus said that if you even look at someone and lust after them that you’ve committed adultery in your heart.
    Matthew 5:28 ESV
    28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
    If you hold a grudge against someone instead of forgiving them, Jesus says that’s sin.
    Matthew 6:14–15 ESV
    14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
    James says that simply failing to do what you know is right is sin.
    James 4:17 ESV
    17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
    And so here is the problem: all of us have sinned. Every single person in this room is guilty before God of sin.
    Romans 3:23 ESV
    23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...
    Now, you might say, “Ok, I guess I’ve sinned, but everyone has, and my sins aren’t as bad as other people’s sins, so I should be fine.” But, the problem is that God has a different scale than you and I have. If I asked you what the worst sin imaginable is, you’d probably say something like murder. But, when people asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, the most important commandment, this is what he said:
    Matthew 22:37–39 ESV
    37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
    Now, notice the order here. Loving your neighbor as yourself certainly would include not murdering them. So, murder is a serious sin because it breaks the second most important commandment. But, that’s the second commandment. The first is to love God with all that your are, your entire being.
    So, you who think that you’re a good person and that God will judge you good and righteous and let you into heaven, you who think that your life is good and that you don’t need new life—do you, in fact, Matthew 22:37 “...love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”?
    If not, then you have broken a commandment that is more serious in God’s eyes than murder. And the problem is that if we are honest with ourselves, none of us have truly loved God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.
    And I’ll prove it to you. If you’re sitting there and you’re thinking to yourself that the idea of loving God with all your being sounds a little weird, it’s because you don’t love him that way. If I asked you this morning if you love me “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” pretty much everyone in this room except maybe my wife is going to start to get a little uncomfortable. Some of you will say, “Man, I hardly even know you, how would I love you like that!?!?”
    And that’s precisely the point. See, the only way you can love someone like that—with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind—is if you know them intimately. The only human relationships that we would even be comfortable using that kind of language to describe our affections would be our spouse or our children, because that kind of love is an all-consuming, deep, intimate kind of love that we don’t just give to anyone and everyone.
    You can’t love God this way unless you know him intimately. And if you don’t know him intimately, then all this talk about loving God this way is going to sound really strange to you and a little weird.
    And the problem is that he is our Creator, and he created us for the very purpose of loving him and knowing him. And so when we reject him and instead place our affections on other things and we pursue other relationships and money and cars and houses and sex and drugs and alcohol and all the other things that the world has to offer, this is the greatest sin in God’s eyes. We don’t seek after God, we seek after everything but God. And all of us, by nature, do this.
    Romans 3:10–11 ESV
    10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
    So, all of us are sinners, because we don’t love God the way we ought to.
    Romans 3:23 ESV
    23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
    And the problem is that our sin has a penalty. Lawbreaking has consequences, as it says in our passage this morning:
    Romans 6:23 ESV
    23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    And that death is not just physical death, it’s eternal death—eternal separation from God in a place called Hell.
    Now, you say, “Wait a minute—you’re telling me that because I don’t love God with everything that I am, that God’s going to send me to Hell?!?!”
    No—I’m telling you that God will give you what you want. Those who have no interest in him, he will not force to spend eternity with him. If you do not love him, he will not force you to be with him.
    “Ok, but why does not being with God mean I have to suffer eternally in Hell?”
    Because, what you don’t realize is that God is the source of everything that is good in this world. Without him, there would be nothing good. If you take away all that is good in the universe—peace, love, joy, comfort, goodness, happiness—what you are left with is the absence of those things—torment, hatred, misery, discomfort, evil, and sorrow. What you’re left with when you remove yourself from the presence of God is Hell.
    You say, “Ok, but what kind of God would send people there?!?! Why would he not warn us and save us from that place?!?!”
    Well, in short, that is why you are here this morning. It is not a coincidence that you are here. God has arranged it so that you would be here this morning so that you could hear this message. He has given you his word, and it tells you all of this plain as day.
    “Why would God not come and tell us himself!?!?” Well, he did, in the person of Jesus Christ!
    “Why would God not make a way for me to be saved from that!?!?” He has, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
    The God who would allow you to choose Hell is the God who has given you every opportunity NOT to go there. The God who literally came down in the flesh, bore the penalty for every sin that you have ever committed, and then rose again conquering sin and death.
    And he offers you salvation as a gift, he offers you new life. And that is why you need new life.

    Christ’s resurrection gives us a new life.

    Romans 6:4 ESV
    4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
    But before we can have new life, a part of us has to die.

    Baptism is a picture of death.

    Romans 6:3 ESV
    3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
    Romans 6:6 ESV
    6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
    When we are saved and baptized, we show the world that the old ‘me’ is dead. That person has been crucified just like Jesus. The old self dies. The self that desired sin and didn’t love God—that person dies, and a new self takes his place.
    When we say that, what we mean is that when you are truly saved—when the Holy Spirit truly comes and resides within you—you become a different person. The old desires that you used to have are changed; you suddenly have new desires, desires to follow Christ and do what he commands.
    Do you remember how I said that the kind of love God expects us to have for him is like the kind of love a husband has for his wife, and a wife for her husband? Maybe you can’t imagine how you would love God like that. Well, in our own natural strength, we can’t—we don’t naturally love God like that. But, when God saves us, he gives us a new heart and new desires.
    Long before Jesus came, God sent a prophet named Jeremiah to tell of a day when God would do this:
    Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV
    31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
    When Jesus died and rose again, this is what he did. He made it possible for us to know God and love him the way that we’re supposed to. When we accept Christ and believe in him, we are united to him:
    Romans 6:5 ESV
    5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

    When we are saved, we are set free from sin.

    Romans 6:7 ESV
    7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
    It’s not that saved people don’t sin—they do! But, there’s a new tug of war that happens. There’s a new part of them that doesn’t want to sin anymore, a part of them that feels convicted whenever they sin now—even when no one else knows about it.
    And there’s a new part of them that now desires to go to church, desires to read their Bible, desires to be around other Christians. The biggest change is in your heart—you now desire new things that you previously had no desire for.
    Something happens in the heart of some people when they watch astronauts launch into space. Some people, like my wife, say “Nope! I’ll keep my feet firmly planted on the ground, thank you very much.” They are not interested in trying to defy gravity. They like the ground, and they want to stay right where they are.
    But others watch as those astronauts climb into a giant missile with hundreds of thousands of pounds of highly explosive liquid underneath them and blast into outer space at unimaginable speeds and they say, “I want to do THAT someday! I want to know what it feels like to float in space, free from gravity’s grip.” And from that moment on, they have a newfound desire and they begin to orient their life towards pursuing that freedom.
    It’s not a perfect analogy, but that’s kind of what it’s like when someone gives their life to Christ. They behold the resurrection of Jesus as he breaks the chains of death itself and their heart wells up inside of them and they say, “I want that!” Others may be content to remain in the chains of their sin, but you can’t anymore, because you’ve seen something so wonderful that it’s worth giving your life for.
    Romans 6:11–14 ESV
    11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
    See, we live in a world that likes sin. And the truth is, sin is fun for a time. Breaking the rules is fun. It even feels like freedom at the time. But it always ends in misery. It leads to death. Later on in Romans 6, Paul says:
    Romans 6:20–23 ESV
    20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    Some of you, right now, are slaves to sin. You’re stuck. Maybe you’re stuck in addiction, or you are just enjoying what feels like freedom, breaking all the rules. But the end of all that is death. If you push God away, he will give you what you ask for. But trust me, you don’t want that.
    But, because of what Jesus did on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, that doesn’t have to be the outcome for you. You can be saved, you can be set free from sin and receive—instead of death and Hell—eternal life in heaven with God.

    Christ’s resurrection gives us hope of resurrection.

    Romans 6:5 ESV
    5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
    Unless Christ returns first, all of us will one day die. But, those who have trusted Christ, instead of being separated from him for eternity, we will be united with him.
    Now, a lot of people think that we’re going to spend eternity in Heaven, as disembodied spirits floating around strumming on harps like little cupids. And, if that’s what Heaven is like, well that’s a lot better than the alternative!
    But, that isn’t what it’s going to be like. Notice what the verse says—it says we will be united with him “in a resurrection like his.”
    Jesus, when he was resurrected, didn’t just float around as a spirit. He ate fish, he drank wine.
    See, heaven is temporary. Scripture tells us in Luke 24:36-43 that Jesus had a physical body when he was raised:
    Luke 24:36–43 ESV
    36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.
    Now, I for one hope that there is no broiled fish in heaven—I’d prefer a ribeye, thanks. But the point is that Jesus’ resurrected body was a physical body that could eat and drink.
    Scripture also talks about a new heaven AND a NEW EARTH in Revelation
    Revelation 21:1–4 ESV
    1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more...
    That tells me that there’s going to be a new Earth one day, and all the things about this earth that are bad—mosquitos, wasps, tornadoes, and winter—are going to be gone. It will be Earth, but it will be Earth like you and I have never seen it.
    Revelation 21:1–4 ESV
    3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
    In our resurrected bodies in the New Earth, we will be with God and we will love him the way that we were meant to. And there won’t be any more death or pain or sorrow.
    Just as it says that death no longer has dominion or power over Jesus, it won’t have any power over us either.
    Romans 6:8–10 ESV
    8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
    I don’t know exactly what heaven and the New Earth are going to be like. But I know this—the wonder and awe and amazement that I feel when I watch a rocket blast off into space will pale in comparison with the wonder and awe and amazement I will feel when I stand in the presence of the one who rose from the dead on Easter Sunday; I know that the love that I feel for my wife and my kids will pale in comparison with the love I will have for and from my Savior. I know that the joy that I feel when I witness a baby receive life in this world will pale in comparison to knowing that in heaven, life will never again be marred by death.
    And that is why we celebrate Easter. Because when Jesus rose, he gave us hope. Hope that we could have new life here, and hope that we will have eternal life there.
    Romans 6:4–5 ESV
    4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
    Musicians come up.
    Conclusion:
    Have you experienced the resurrection of Christ in your own life? Has the old ‘you’ been put to death and have you received new life?
    Have you demonstrated that new life to the world by following Christ in baptism? Do you need to be baptized?
    Are you living in new life, in freedom from sin? Are you living your life for God? Are you putting your hope in this life, or in eternity?

      • Romans 6:1–14ESV

      • Romans 6:1–2ESV

      • 1 John 3:4ESV

      • Matthew 5:28ESV

      • Matthew 6:14–15ESV

      • James 4:17ESV

      • Romans 3:23ESV

      • Matthew 22:37–39ESV

      • Romans 3:10–11ESV

      • Romans 3:23ESV

      • Romans 6:23ESV

      • Romans 6:4ESV

      • Romans 6:3ESV

      • Romans 6:6ESV

      • Jeremiah 31:31–34ESV

      • Romans 6:5ESV

      • Romans 6:7ESV

      • Romans 6:11–14ESV

      • Romans 6:20–23ESV

      • Romans 6:5ESV

      • Luke 24:36–43ESV

      • Revelation 21:1–4ESV

      • Revelation 21:1–4ESV

      • Romans 6:8–10ESV

      • Romans 6:4–5ESV

  • O Praise The Name
Formosa Baptist Church
jason_hill@formosabaptist.com
https://www.formosabaptist.com/
8 members