The Passage
Today is Easter, the day that we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. So let’s read Luke 24:1-12, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.”
Foundation for Faith
Today is Easter, the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, and the last day of passion week. Maybe you clicked on this because it is Easter and you may not have clicked on this at any other time. I want to welcome you, if that is you. You may know the story of Easter, that Jesus rose from the grave. Maybe you believe in the resurrection or maybe you do not. Whether you do or do not believe, I will tell you why Jesus dying and rising again two thousand years ago matters in your life today. You might think that Christianity is not for you, but Christianity is for anyone, no matter who you are or where you are in your life. If you doubt Christianity, it may be because of the creation account or maybe it is Jesus rising from the dead, which makes you doubt it as a whole. If it is hard for you to believe in creation, check out www.answersingenesis.org, they have some of the best scientific resources for your questions about creation. Believing in the creation account is not something that can save you, it can help build a foundation for your trust in Jesus. It is however necessary for a strong foundation in your faith (Ephesians 2:10, 20-22, Matthew 7:24, 1 Corinthians 3:11). But what is vital to having faith in God, is faith in the resurrection (John 11:25-26, 1 Thessalonians 4:14). The death and resurrection of Jesus are the best attested to historical events ever and if you are reading or listening to this then you are still feeling the wakes of the resurrection. It was so groundbreaking that it did not only literally break the ground, but also sent wakes in both directions of History. Through prophecy in the Old Testament, which by the way, did not change over thousands of years of being hand-copied, every Old Testament book had prophecies that clearly pointed to Jesus, and today through Christians all over the world. It is estimated that Jesus fulfilled over three hundred prophecies and He fulfilled many by rising from the dead.
New Eternal Race
Let me tell you that because Jesus rose from the grave, that proves that you too can be raised at Jesus’ second coming, if you trust in Him as Lord and Savior of your life. Because Jesus was the first of a new race of human beings, who will live forever in God’s presence (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Jesus is fully God and fully man and we are sanctified through Him. This new race of humans are graphed into God’s forever family. The beautiful thing is that it is not something to separate, but something that unifies everyone no matter who you are, you can be part of this new race (Galatians 3:28). We are all part of the human race and we all came from Adam and Eve. Anyone who accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior will never die and will be part of the second Adam’s {Jesus’} new race. Now, does that mean that if you accept Jesus that you will never die, well yes and no, you will likely die the first death which is the temporary separation of your soul from your body. But, you will never feel the sting of the second death, which is to be separated from God forever in a place that was not designed for you, but for the fallen angels who had seen God’s glory and yet tried to become that powerful and glorious (Matthew 25:41, Jude 1:6). I heard it once said, that the gift of only being able to die the first death was like only getting hit by the shadow of a semi-truck, whereas dying the second death is like being hit by the semi-truck. It is like the apostle Paul said, “O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55), because for Christian the first death is not the end, in fact, the Bible often compares it to sleeping. The grave is not your soul or your body’s ultimate destination. Jesus is the first One and our example of what the power of the cross did, it took the power of sin and death from the prince and principalities of this world. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and because we all have sinned, we all need to be redeemed. In the Old Testament, this was done by sacrificing a lamb and also by trusting that one day God would send a Messiah. In the New Testament and the Church Age, it is done by trusting that Jesus died and rose on the third day, taking our sins and casting them as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12). If you would like to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, all you have to do is to admit that you are a sinner, repent of your sins (repent means turn away), believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and God raised Him from the dead on the third day, then confess Him as Lord and Savior of your life (Romans 10:9).
Greatest Movement of All Time
As Christians, we should know that when we accept Jesus, it is not an invitation for biding our time and doing nothing while we wait to be with Jesus. No, it was an invitation to be a part of the world’s biggest mission, sharing the gospel with the entire world. But on top of that, it is also an invitation into discipleship, which only comes from a Biblically-based community of Christians living on mission. This is the most powerful force in the world and that is what you are invited to be part of. Because, if Christianity was only about being with Jesus when we died, we would all die the second we accepted Him. No, it is also about sharing the gospel and discipleship, where you are or where He is calling you to be. If you are not connected with a church or you are, but only attend once or twice a year I encourage you to start or to attend more often and watch your faith grow. If you do not know where there is a church in your community or do not know which one to go to, I recommend using www.churchfinder.com to find one.