Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Wednesday, 07 April 2021 12:07

I Serve A Risen Savior
by Terry Broome

It’s difficult to imagine what must have gone on in the mind of Jesus, the Son of God as he hung on Calvary’s tree. He had the power of choice and was all-powerful so that He could have stopped it all. Thousands of angels could have set Him free. He was totally capable of getting off that cross, but He did not because He knew He was on a mission from God to save the world from their sins and bring freedom to men and women cursed by the Fall.
Our Savior decided to take the sins of the world on His shoulders so that we might gain forgiveness for our sins and a new and righteous relationship with the One True God through Jesus Christ our Savior. Jesus was so in tune with God that despite His divine power and authority, He submitted His very life to God the Father. The death of Jesus Christ was the ultimate in humility, the ultimate in love, the ultimate in doing what was right no matter what the cost. (Philippians 2:5-9).
The wonder of it all is that death could not hold Him. He lives!!! I serve a risen Savior, not a dead one!! Christ had made a clear promise. He foretold His death on the cross. But He went beyond the cross in His declaration of His purpose and work. He had said that He would rise again on the third day. This was the prophecy which worried the religious leaders. It was this prophecy that led them to have the guard placed at his tomb. They wanted to be sure Jesus would stay where they had put Him. They wanted Him to stay in the tomb.

If you visit Jerusalem you can go to two or more separate tombs of Jesus, or so they say. The reason it’s hard to determine His exact tomb is simple. None of those tombs had a body in it. We cannot say where Jesus was buried because He did not stay there. For us, this is good news. Paul simply put it this way, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” The resurrection is the confirmation of everything Jesus claimed for Himself. On the cross He paid the penalty for our sins, but the assurance of that transaction is the resurrection. We could say of any dead person “He died for our sins.” But how would we know it was true. It is only in the risen Lord that we have assurance that He indeed has power over sin and death.

It is important to our whole faith, to our very standing before God that Jesus is risen.
Paul tells us of the many people who saw Jesus after his resurrection. He appeared to Peter. He appeared to the 12. At one time he appeared to a group of over 500 disciples. He appeared to his brother James and to other apostles. He also appeared to Paul himself. When Paul says, “Christ is risen,” he is speaking not of something he was told by another. He is giving eyewitness testimony. But, if his readers are not ready to accept his witness, he tells of others, still alive, who also saw the risen Lord.

Friends, Jesus is Risen! Historical testimony confirms this joyful message. The good news is, Christ has won the victory over sin and death. Even as we come to face our own deaths, we need not fear for Christ has gone before us. This is the good news. Christ is Risen! And He is not unique in his resurrection. As He is risen so also shall we be raised from the dead. As He lives, so we shall live forever with him. “Even death’s cold wave I need not fear, since God through Jordan leadeth me.”
Jesus is risen. In this He kept his word. He is trustworthy. When He promises eternal life to all who believe, we can trust that promise. When He promises forgiveness of sin through His death on the cross we can trust that promise. We say, “Where He leads me I will follow” because He leads us into life.

The author can be reached for comments at 256-574-2489.