He is Risen!

He is Risen!!!!!

  “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’’ And they remembered His words.” (Luke 24:1-8)

     All four gospels record this event and it is one event in history that can be believed with certainty!

CHRIST AROSE FROM THE DEAD ON EASTER MORNING!

   He demonstrated once and for all time that He was who He claimed to be: The Son of God, the Messiah, that had been prophesied about for a thousand years!

   He had died on a cross and taken the sins of the world upon His shoulders on Good Friday, just as Isaiah the prophet had said he would over 500 year earlier:

  “Surely, He has borne out griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned everyone to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

   Now on Easter morning He had risen from the dead just as he had prophesied on numerous occasions. (Matthew 20:18-19, 17:22-23, 16:21) As we read further in the gospel accounts and the book of Acts, we know that he spent forty days on earth after the resurrection and then ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives.

    So the question for you now is this: Do you believe that Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead on the third day and sits at the right hand of God today and that He is coming again as He promised to take all believers to heaven to live with Him for eternity? That is what the Bible teaches us. That is what the Apostle Paul is telling us in the book of Romans when he says:

   “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10: 9-10)

    “You will be saved!” And if you are already a believer, then you are already saved! What a glorious message for us today as we rejoice in what our Savior had done for us on Calvary and has demonstrated that He has power over death and hell!

Hallelujah, what a Savior we have! As Jesus stated on the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19:30) He has paid the price for our sins. We have only to believe and give our lives over to Him and allow Him to be our Master and King. Let today be a day of celebration and joy as we celebrate what He did for us 2000 years ago and be comforted in the fact that He is coming back to establish His kingdom someday and we will be his beloved sons and daughters in the kingdom.

PRAY:

1.     Lord help me to take time today to celebrate what You did for me on the cross and to rejoice over your resurrection from the dead.

2.     Lord, thank you for paying the penalty for my sin and for adopting me to be your son or daughter.

3.     Fill me with Your Holy Spirit everyday and help me to be a faithful disciple  and witness for you in my family, my workplace, neighborhood, school, and to the uttermost parts of the world.

4.     Help me to love those around me with a love that can only come from You that I might see people as You see them Lord.