RESURRECTION POWER

Isn’t the Easter season the most beautiful, powerful time of the year when we really celebrate the centrality of our faith?

Yes, even a little more special than Christmas when we celebrate Jesus’ birth on this earth as a human.

Easter is where the center of our faith resonates!

The days of Lent prepare us and our hearts to then commemorate Jesus’ final days on earth before fulfilling God’s ultimate plan of sacrifice and obedience to death…death on a cross.

Thankfully, that is not the end of the story! The next part of the story, the most important part really, is Jesus’ resurrection which is what we celebrate and rejoice in at Easter.

Have you considered what power there is for YOU personally in Jesus’ resurrection that we celebrate Easter morning…when we say “He is Risen! Alleluia!” ?

I was challenged to think deeper about this from a sermon I heard Easter Sunday so these thoughts are credited to that inspiring talk.

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First, let us step back and look at some amazing miracles that happened when Jesus died on that Good Friday since there was also great power in Jesus’ death as well as His resurrection.

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His Spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The earth shook and the rocks split.

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. –Matthew 27:50-53 (NIV)

 

Photo credit by Leonard J Matthews under Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 2.0)

 

From the Old Testament, we know that the temple had a curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place is where the Ark of the Testimony was which represented God’s throne room. Once a year, only the High Priest was permitted to pass into the Most Holy Place to enter God’s presence and seek atonement for Israel’s sins.

You are to hang the curtain from the clasps and bring the Ark of the Testimony there inside the curtain. The curtain is to separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. –Exodus 26:33 (ISV)

Each year Aaron is to make atonement on its horns with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. He is to make atonement on it each year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.” –Exodus 30:10 (ISV)

When Jesus died and the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, it signified that Jesus made it possible for ALL believers, even the Gentiles, to enter into God’s presence at any time!

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. –Hebrews 9:11-12 (NIV)

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Can you image the earth shaking and rocks splitting right before your eyes? Wow….what a sight that must have been! When have you ever heard of this happening with the death of any other person you know?

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Tombs breaking open with the bodies of the holy people who came before Jesus being raised to life! Another incredible miracle occurring when Jesus died.

These same people appeared to others AFTER Jesus’ resurrection!

 

 

Photo credit by Martin LaBar under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 2.0)

 

Fast forward to three days later:

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him. Now I have told you.” –Matthew 28:5-7 (NIV)

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In looking at both Jesus’ dying on the cross and His resurrection on the third day, let’s look at my original question….

Have you considered what power there is for YOU personally in Jesus’ resurrection that we celebrate Easter morning…when we say “He is Risen! Alleluia!” ?

Jesus’ resurrection is not just a one time historical event that we celebrate each year. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available in our lives.

Every day we experience Jesus’ resurrection power in our lives!

Some ways that come to mind for me personally are:

***God forgives my sins because of Christ’s sacrifice of death on the cross; Jesus paid the price for my sins!

***I can ask God to forgive me for my sins, no longer needing to offer Him sacrifices.

***I will never see death since I will spend eternity with God and Jesus in heaven.

***I can love others unconditionally like God loves me.

***Even through the struggles and storms of life, I am assured that God is working everything out for my good.

***Suffering and crosses are a part of life and I know God is always with me through them.

***I can “die” to myself knowing Jesus did that for me!

***I can replace fear with faith.

***The fruits of the Spirit are a part of my life….love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

 

Photo courtesy of BK under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 

Can you think of ways you experience Jesus’ resurrection power in your life and share in the comment section below? It will be great to hear from you!

 

My prayer for you is taken from some thoughts from The Forgotten Way, by Ted Dekker, which is as follows:

“Our chief aim now is to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, which is to know ourselves in Christ, resurrected in Him. To know Christ and the power of OUR (capitals added) resurrection.

… As a reality that empowers us to love ourselves and others as Christ loves us all.

And in that resurrection we can “fly.” We can truly love. In that resurrection, there is no fear, because there is no fear in love.”

 

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. –Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)