Sunday, April 12, 2020

He Came, He Died, He Has Risen


The Resurrection represents the eternal and absolute triumph of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the total defeat of his adversaries, and the prevailing contretemps of our faith. The Apostle Paul said that, if Christ had not resurrected, our faith would be vain. Is not the whole structure of our beliefs established on the mystic or supernatural reality of the Resurrection? Indeed, it is. Because of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the tomb we have the promise of eternal life. The only condition is based on our acceptance of that fact and belief in the Son of Man, the Christ. If we have fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith, we are a new creation. It is then that we receive the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to all who have longed for his appearing.
Though we live in tumultuous times, wade in the toxic waters of apostasy, antitheism, and secularism, and witness the abomination of government-sanctioned abortion, let us as believers reveal not in this or that power, man, or ideological current but in Divine Providence, which will once again force the sea to open wide, move mountains and cause the whole earth to tremble if necessary to fulfill the divine promise: The gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her.  Did not Jesus the Christ originate His Church upon himself?  Are we as children of God not his Church? Jesus is the stone upon which, He built His Church.
One faithful witness is worth a thousand reticent professors of Christian theology. Our faith grows by expression. If we desire to grow in our faith, we must share it. By our words and actions, we are called to be a witness to a lost and dying world. It is every believer’s obligation to proclaim that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. By doing so, we in spirit were there when they crucified our Lord. We were there when the stone was rolled away.
Because He lives is reason enough to share God's message. If reinforcement is needed as to ‘the why’ of sharing God's word, allow me to simplify the message by using select lyrics from a Bill and Gloria Gaither Gospel song: He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives... Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know who holds the future. And life is worth the living, just because He lives... And then one day, I'll cross the river. I'll fight life's final war with pain. And then, as death gives way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives... 






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