GOD’S WORD FOR MARCH 31 ~ ~ Matthew 28:6 ~ ~ “He is not here. For He has risen, just as He said.”
Today, we start with a book called “Incomparable”, written by Nancy DeMoss Wohlgemuth, of “Revive Our Hearts” ministries.
HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!!!!
While no one ever lived quite as Jesus did, other people HAVE lived. And while no one ever died quite as Jesus did, other people HAVE died.
But no one—-no one!!!!—has ever been raised from the dead, never to die again, as Jesus was.
So the resurrection makes all the difference. As you read the New Testament, you realize that it matters supremely. Apart from Jesus’ resurrection, you and I have no hope of eternal life.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3.
The cross without the empty tomb is simply not enough. But Jesus, our unparalleled Jesus, is always enough.
So, on this momentous day, let’s spend a few moments to meditate on some of the implications of the resurrection. What difference does the empty tomb make for those who have placed their faith in Christ – not just today, but next week, and the next? What difference does it make when we are facing pain or tears or failure or fears? Let’s look.
THE RESURRECTION MEANS THERE IS HOPE IN THE MOST DESPERATE CIRCUMSTANCE
It means God is all-powerful and can make a way out where there appears to be no way out. It means that one day all tears will be wiped away and all sorrow will be turned to joy.
Easter reminds us that God has defeated death by walking through it and that no matter how many enemies seek to take Him down, He can never die again. So when we walk through natural or relational disasters, the collapse of our health or of the economy, we can take a deep breath and know that He is alive and seated on His throne, in charge, no matter how dark it gets.
No situation, no matter how desperate, is beyond God’s ability to control its outcome the God who on that day turned death into life is the One who EVERY day “makes the dawn out of darkness.,” (Amos 4:13).
THE RESURRECTION MEANS GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES.
The resurrection was only a surprise because people didn’t believe what they were told. How many prophecies had spelled out what would happen when the Messiah came? And how many times had Jesus alerted His disciples to the fact that He would ”suffer”, and “be rejected” and “be killed” —-and “BE RAISED” (Luke 9:22). He said it again and again, but they just didn’t hear and believe it. And the result was unnecessary stress, anxiety and fear.
How different would our lives be if we really laid hold of the promises of God, if we believed He means what He says? The resurrection is the resounding AMEN to every promise God made.
THE RESURRECTION MEANS DEATH IS NO LONGER TO BE FEARED.
No one looks forward to dying. And no one is happy when death separates us from those we love. But as Jesus compassionately assured a grieving friend, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live.” (John 11:25-26). So although death on this earth is inevitable – and painful – it need not terrify us, because the resurrection reminds us that death is not the end, that our separations and losses are temporary.
THE RESURRECTION ASSURES US OF OUR OWN BODILY RESURRECTION,
Nineteenth-century pastor Phillips Brooks once wrote, “Let us say not merely, ‘Christ has risen,’ but ‘I SHALL RISE.’” You and I are active participants in the resurrection story. The apostle Paul wrote, “God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” (1 Corinthians 6:14). Christ’s physical resurrection is a pledge of our own future resurrection when God “will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body.” (Philippians 3;21).
THE RESURRECTION MEANS GOD, IN ACCEPTING CHRIST’S WORK ACCEPTS US AS WELL
“It is finished,” remember? The resurrection was proof that God had accepted the payment Christ made for sin on the cross, that His righteous anger against sinners had been completely satisfied, and that He fully approved of Christ’s death. Since we have been united with Christ in His death (Romans 6:3) and since God has ‘raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavens” (Ephes 2:6), we are assured that we are now wholly acceptable to Him. Our guilt has been completely removed, Jesus’ righteousness has been credited to our account, and God accepts and approves of us as He approves of Christ, because of Christ’s sacrifice.