This Easter Sunday morning I found myself with that same hardness of heart again.
It's funny how sometimes we can get so caught up in the tradition of Christianity sometimes that it really can harden our hearts. We find ourselves going through the motions. Even in service this morning I found myself struggling with that. You know, sometimes I really tend to focus too much on the blood, guts and gore of the crucifixion. The whole method of it is very intriguing, I'm not going to lie. And it was really an extremely brutal death that Christ faced for us, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ is what makes the Christian faith totally worth it.
What was even more amazing than the crucifixion was Jesus' resurrection because He didn't have to come back, but He did. It showed that God is a God who keeps His promises. Jesus said He would die a brutal death and then rise again and He did just that. It also was the exclamation point on Jesus' sacrifice. He didn't just die, but He beat death!
So what does that mean for us? In 1 Corinthians 15:16-19, Paul writes to these people on the value of the resurrection from the dead: "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."
Whoa, did you read that? Maybe you should read it again. The resurrection of Christ brings faith in Him to a whole new level because according to that verse, it doesn't just give us hope for this life, but for the life to come. It shows that eventually we who are in Christ will also have brand new glorious bodies like Christ. That is amazing!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a reason to live. It gives us a reason to lay our lives down for Christ and live for something greater. We don't just "get by" by "pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps", but we abundantly live the life that God desires for us to live. This is, of course, when we decide to lay our lives down before Him saying, "I'm yours."
Will that be you? I hope so....
God bless and Happy Easter,
Steve
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