Christianity was a powerful religion that swept through the country of Israel during the time of Christ. Jesus was a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, the way his opponents dealt with him was to extinguish him. What they did not know was that they were part of the Father’s plan. The extinguishing of Jesus unleashed something upon the world that had never been seen before.
Three days after they executed the Savior, he exploded out of the grave and the world has not been the same. If you believe the Gospel and have been affected by the Gospel, through regeneration, then you have been radically changed as well. The power that overcame death on that day is living within you.
Are you living in the good of the Gospel today? Though the Easter flowers are fading and the candy is mostly eaten, is the news of the resurrection still just as fresh today as it was yesterday? Though Easter is the best celebration of the year for the Christian, it is not the only day that we experience and enjoy the best news of all: Jesus died for your sins.
Every day every Christian has not only the wonderful privilege of living in the good of the Gospel, but also demonstrating the inexpressible joy of being affected by the Gospel. Are you affected by the Gospel right now? Do you realize that your greatest problem in life was resolved at the Cross and the Tomb and that there is nothing that can ultimately overtake and defeat you?
How is your joy today, even in the midst of what seems to be unchanging, unalterable, and negative circumstances? Does the fact that God is for you, according to Romans 8:31, make a substantive and practical difference in your life?
We celebrated the resurrection yesterday. But the real good news is that we can celebrate the resurrection today too.
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This weekend there is a heightened awareness of the Gospel. The Gospel is the “person and work of Jesus Christ.” The Gospel is not a thing, but a person. The “good news” is Christ. And this weekend Christians around the world are celebrating what is considered by many to be the centerpiece of the Savior’s work: his death & resurrection.
Of course the person and work of Christ is more than a cross and a tomb. It is eternal. The good news has always been and the good news will always be. The Gospel is unending and inexhaustible. There will never be a time when the Gospel will cease to be.
This is part of what makes the death of the Gospel and the resurrection of the Gospel so profound. In the wisdom of the Father, he chose to execute the Good News and then raise Him from the grave three days later.
This is a profound undertaking on behalf of the Father. To think that the Gospel has never NOT existed and that the Father willfully chose to extinguish the Gospel, only to bring Him back to life three days later is beyond human comprehension. Truly, I am stunned by the Gospel and I know you are also.
What does it really mean?
When Paul was talking about the cross of Christ he said it was the weakness of God that was stronger than man. (1 Cor. 1:18ff) This is an amazing statement. Man, at his greatest, strongest and wisest stops short or ends before the weakness and foolishness of God begins. The power of God is incomprehensible.
If God, in his weakness, is stronger than our strength, imagine how much more profound the power of God is over our weaknesses. This begs the question: How is the power of God’s strength actively working in you today?
- In what specific ways are you profoundly affected by the death and resurrection of Christ?
- How is the resurrected Savior affecting your family members, as they observe this power through you?
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Posted on 13 April 2009
Easter is over. The new clothes are hung up, the candy has been eaten, and choir directors and pastors everywhere–not to mention ushers–are enjoying the quiet routines of a Monday. For the diehard Reformed, you know who you are, this Monday is like every other Monday because Easter Sunday is like every other Sunday: Resurrection Sunday comes every seven days for you, not once a year. From Stephen Nichols. Read more here.
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This past Friday night we had some friends over and I was sharing with the husband about the time God regenerated me as a 25-year old kid. I was recalling some of my sinfulness prior to salvation and how merciful God was to me in that he didn’t drop me off in hell.
As we continued to talk I shared with him how God’s kindness to me prior to salvation seems to pale in comparison to the stunning reality that God has continuously forgiven me more times than I can remember after he saved me.
As I approach my fiftieth birthday it appears to me that I have sinned more since God saved me than before. I’m stunned by his mercy.
Most people who have known me for three months or more have experienced my sin. Additionally, I have sinned against all my friends that I’ve had the joy to serve in small groups over the years. And I have sinned the most against my wife. It would be impossible to recount how many times I have broken her heart, let her down or disappointed her in some way because of my self-centeredness.
But the one who has been the recipient of all my sin is my heavenly Father. All my sin is an attack on the Divine. All my sin is my devious way of saying I know better than You and I will do it my way in this moment.
Here are some of the amazing things about his role in my sin:
- He forgives.
- He releases me from the guilt.
- He does not bring it up after he forgives.
- He caresses my soul.
- He calls me his friend.
I am stunned. And to top it off, Easter is a profound reminder of the length he went to in order to give me these benefits and to secure my place in heaven where I can adore and worship him forever.
Easter is mind boggling to me.
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Posted on 05 November 2008
Nothing has changed in the mind of God. He still rules and reigns. Heaven has not been shaken and God is not despairing. God is in control of all things in heaven and in earth.
The Christian worldview is an interpretative grid that fills us with hope. We are resting and trusting in one who is greater than whoever is sitting in the Oval Office. Our King lifts rulers up and puts rulers down. He is the decision-maker at the bottom of it all.
Praise God that in uncertain times our Savior is the same on Tuesday and Wednesday and Forevermore!
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. -1Co 15:19
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. -Heb 13:8
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Indeed, it may be safely asserted that the resurrection of Christ is the most important fact in the history of the world. –Hodge, p. 415 Systematic Theology
It is all very easy for infidels to say that these [disciples] were deceived, but it is equally foolish, for these persons could not every one of them have been so positively deceived as to say that they had seen this man, whom they knew to have been dead, afterwards alive; they could not all, surely, have agreed together to help on this [masquerade]: if they did, it is the most marvelous thing we have on record, that not one of them ever broke faith with the others, but that the whole mass of them remained firm. We believe it to be quite impossible that so many rogues should have agreed forever. –Spurgeon
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