Yesterday I was reading in John 19. My normal daily pattern is to read Scripture for a while and then spend time in prayer and meditation. However I had just read Jesus cry from the cross, "It is finished" when I was interrupted. My reading stopped abruptly with Jesus still on the cross.
Still on the cross or still in the grave - what a vast difference if the Christ story, our story stopped there. It stops there for every other human story. Of course there are medical miracles where a heart that has stopped beating is shocked into starting again; where a person officially declared dead is revived or brought back to life. And there are (most often in developing countries) many accounts of dead people miraculously rising to life (like Lazarus) in answer to passionate, believing prayer. But all of these people eventually die and stay dead. Memory of them lives on but their story ends there.
Jesus, still on the cross or in the tomb. Dying like any other human - end of His life, His story. Sadly there are some who attend churches and some churches led by pastors who do not believe that Jesus "on the third day rose again". Rose physically, to appear to dozens of disciples over a period of several weeks. Rose to new life as the "first fruits" of all who believe in Jesus. Their "faith" is devoid of the miracle so factually reported in the Gospels and asserted as so fundamental to Christian faith in I Corinthians 15. Sadly of course churches like that are mostly small and growing smaller. They seldom send people across culture to declare the Good News because what they believe lacks the core of the Good News.
But today I celebrate the Resurrection with renewed appreciation. When I hit "publish" on this blog, I will pick up my Bible and keep reading, starting at John 19:31. My reading today moves on from the Cross to the Resurrection. Those devastated early disciples during some very long hours thought their story had stopped at the Cross. But then came Resurrection morning! I know, we know that the Cross was not, is not the end of the story. Don't ever let the Resurrection become just another "ho hum" part of your Christian knowledge.
Jesus is alive! We serve a risen Saviour! We live with the certain hope of life beyond the grave in the eternal presence of our living Lord! Every day brings renewed joy to a believer - Jesus is alive and we too will live, with Him, forever!
Still on the cross or still in the grave - what a vast difference if the Christ story, our story stopped there. It stops there for every other human story. Of course there are medical miracles where a heart that has stopped beating is shocked into starting again; where a person officially declared dead is revived or brought back to life. And there are (most often in developing countries) many accounts of dead people miraculously rising to life (like Lazarus) in answer to passionate, believing prayer. But all of these people eventually die and stay dead. Memory of them lives on but their story ends there.
Jesus, still on the cross or in the tomb. Dying like any other human - end of His life, His story. Sadly there are some who attend churches and some churches led by pastors who do not believe that Jesus "on the third day rose again". Rose physically, to appear to dozens of disciples over a period of several weeks. Rose to new life as the "first fruits" of all who believe in Jesus. Their "faith" is devoid of the miracle so factually reported in the Gospels and asserted as so fundamental to Christian faith in I Corinthians 15. Sadly of course churches like that are mostly small and growing smaller. They seldom send people across culture to declare the Good News because what they believe lacks the core of the Good News.
But today I celebrate the Resurrection with renewed appreciation. When I hit "publish" on this blog, I will pick up my Bible and keep reading, starting at John 19:31. My reading today moves on from the Cross to the Resurrection. Those devastated early disciples during some very long hours thought their story had stopped at the Cross. But then came Resurrection morning! I know, we know that the Cross was not, is not the end of the story. Don't ever let the Resurrection become just another "ho hum" part of your Christian knowledge.
Jesus is alive! We serve a risen Saviour! We live with the certain hope of life beyond the grave in the eternal presence of our living Lord! Every day brings renewed joy to a believer - Jesus is alive and we too will live, with Him, forever!
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