Apr 05, 2024 He Is Risen Still – Words of Grace – April 5, 2024
The thing about holidays is that when they are over, whatever it was that we celebrated tends to diminish in our minds until the next year when its day comes back around.
But we rose from the bed on Monday morning to the reality that Jesus who rose from the dead is still alive and lives to intercede for us. Jesus did not retreat to the back of the closet with the Easter decorations. He is not now counting the days until his special day next year. His day never ends. Today is his day because Jesus is Lord.
The Monday after the Sunday resurrection was a new day because Jesus was still alive.
Jesus revealed himself as alive and well to his followers who thought he was dead and gone. He opened their eyes to see that all of God’s previous revelations of grace pointed to him and were fulfilled in him. They believed.
A new people was created by the Spirit of Jesus who came into them and was with them to be his witnesses. They had new lives in union with Christ, living like what they had become in him. They started putting to death the deeds of the sinful self because they had indeed died with Christ. They put on the new self and lived lives of spiritual renewal. They were not perfect, but the process of being perfected began in them. All because Jesus was still alive.
They lived together as a new people. Those who trusted in Christ were gathered into one new man called the church of the living God. They gave testimony that Jesus had been raised and was ready to forgive and make new anyone who would repent and believe. Their suffering for his sake was as real as their joy in his salvation. They were sustained by the reality of his resurrection and future return to receive them into his glory. All because Jesus was still alive.
They lived by faith, hope, and love. Their faith grew as they remembered the great and precious promises of God. Their hope was built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Their love expanded as the love of God was shed abroad in their hearts by the Spirit who was given to them. All because Jesus was still alive.
They lived and died by faith, and new generations came after them. Each generation declared the glory of Christ’s grace to another, and here we are. We live because he lives. We believe because he opened our minds to see and our hearts to believe. We love because he loved us. We give because he gave his life for us. We serve because he showed us how to wash feet. We proclaim the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation for all who believe. We wait because he will return. All because Jesus is still alive.
Sunday, we will attend church with brothers and sisters in Christ because on the first day of the week he left the tomb empty of all but his linen burial cloth, stood before his disciples alive, and said, “Peace be with you.” I look forward to seeing you then.
-Scott