04/14/2022
We serve a living God, and His Son Jesus is alive too, He is no longer in the grave, but has risen!!! He has defeated death by His resurrection just as He defeated sin by His dying. Easter Morning is so near, and like that first glorious Easter His tomb remains empty! Hallelujah, shout Hallelujah!! This is the day of the Lamb; the Prince of Peace is alive, and He is preparing to come for our bodies, and to bring us, fully resurrected, before the Father! Are we celebrating His resurrected life every day? Do we know that He lives? Are we living our lives in daily anticipation as we await the trumpet’s sound, or are we blind to what has happened, what was promised, and find ourselves mourning, and perplexed, outside an empty tomb? No, God forbid, because “HE IS RISEN!”, and our Savior is coming again! “HALLELUJAH!! Will you say HALLELUJAH!!! with me? JESUS IS ALIVE!!!
“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?”
Luke 24:2-5 ESV
Before the blood of a sacrificial lamb could be sprinkled on the mercy seat it had to die, and was then offered up to God. Before the blood of Jesus could be offered for us it was the same,
“And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Matthew 26:27-28 KJV
and yet His body did not remain without life, it was resurrected, and in this way a new blood covenant was finalized with the world. We live now in the age of the New Testament, the New Covenant, and the time of promise. We are awaiting the triumphant second coming of the Risen Christ; our living Lord!
“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.”
Galatians 4:28-29 ESV
As followers of Christ we continue to be persecuted today. We are martyred, and slaughtered every day by those who live according to the flesh, but they cannot destroy our spirits, nor our souls. We remain alive as Jesus is alive, and their persecution is for naught because not even the grave can hold us down, and sin has fallen from us like scales, replaced by grace. We are eternal in Christ Jesus… living to die, and dying to live… made righteous in Him.
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-10 KJV
So this Sabbath we celebrate Easter joyfully, living in the New Covenant, and alive as Jesus is alive! We aren’t meant to mourn, or await His second coming in desperation, but with great happiness, and anticipation. Our burial shroud has already fallen away from us, and the cloth that once covered our eyes has been removed! Our tomb stands empty, and we are glowing with the glory of God; looking into the morning sky! Heaven isn’t coming, it is here, and the promise we have in Jesus isn’t just our hope… it abides in us.
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Philippians 3:20-21 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who was born, suffered, died, and was resurrected so that we would be free of sin and death. Thank you for our spirit that remains alive in Him, and for the anticipation we have that He will return and quicken our bodies as well. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose promise was once hope, but has become real in Jesus our Redeemer. Praised be your name for the empty tomb of Christ, and for taking away our sins, then removing the death cloth from our faces. Merciful are you, and your grace knows no bounds. In us abides your Son Jesus, life, and eternity with you. Though we were once saddened by His suffering, lift our spirits now, and give us amazing joy as we celebrate Easter, and the return of life to Him who was once dead. Quicken us through Him, and give us eternal life as He is eternal.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”
John 5:24-26 ESV
Rich Forbes