04/16/2017
Easter morning has arrived, and the tomb of Jesus stands empty; the sorrow of Good Friday, and the solemn silence of yesterday is over... Jesus Has Risen! This moment is the pinnacle of our faith. Can we carry it with us always; even into the valley?
“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.”
John 12:36 ESV
So often we find ourselves on a spiritual mountaintop where all is good and we feel the close communion with the Lord, only to return to our past lives and their mundane hopes when we descend, but on this day Jesus rose and we have been offered a place as the sons of light! Once accepted, how can we ever be less again?
This morning I read the following words of Oswald Chambers and they thrilled me. He is speaking of our decision to follow Jesus and our faith that this hour of his resurrection is our "high hour" in Him.
"Don't cave in because you have been baffled once, get at it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by your own act. Never revise your decisions, but see that you make your decisions in the light of the high hour." - Oswald Chambers
Paul writes of this "high hour" in his letter to the Ephesians. As we read his words, we must ask ourselves... how can we possibly realize that Jesus is risen and ever return to the mundane life we lived before we accepted that knowledge as truth?
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
Ephesians 2:4-6 ESV
We read in the Holy Word of the miracles and deeds of Jesus, and if on no other account we believed in Him through our faith that these things are true... that would be enough, but on this morning the stone is rolled away, and He is risen. On this morning His actions and suffering have been transformed by grace and He has given Himself as the Lamb of God to redeem us.
“Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
John 14:11 ESV
So why is it that we can leave unfinished those things that we have been asked to do? How can we justify our living for anything other than Him? If His life is truth, and his redemption is fact, then our dedication to Him should be unshakeable... and yet we wander. Our human shortcomings need to be overcome and in the face of weakness we need to turn once again toward the cross; we need to gaze into the empty tomb, and place our fingers into His wounds. In this our faith will be invigorated and our lax dedication to Him shored up.
Jesus Christ has risen and We are saved, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. By grace We are redeemed, in love a sacrifice has been made.
Prayer:
Father, on this day of grace, and victory, I thank you. I praise you and lift up the name of Jesus; my savior; your Son. Without blemish He offered Himself for me, and on this day those years ago, He arose from death to seal the victory over the sins of the world. I have wept for His suffering, but today I shout His name towards the east and feel the joy of the Spirit welling up in me. His love for me is unmatched, and yet I try. All I have to offer falls short, my greatest possession is love, and standing here before the empty tomb, I lay it at His feet. Holy is the name of Jesus, and praised always is your grace and mercy. This day will be remembered forever as my "high hour" of faith, and in it I resolve myself to serve you always. Christ's words have now been realized, and eternal life stands before me.
Rich Forbes
“"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV