He is alive!!!!! What a morning this was two thousand years ago when one minute those who had followed Jesus were in hiding, and the next they were racing down the road to see an empty tomb. What a morning this is today! The amazing fact is that Jesus rose from the grave, and just as amazing is the fact that HE IS ALIVE today. Jesus defeated death and continues to defeat death in the lives of people today.

     As a Christian you are a walking miracle. One minute your heart was a tomb full of death and the next a throne room of the King. JESUS!!! Life now as then can be full of so much drama, pain, confusion, sorrow, and a hundreds other words describing the challenges of life. But because of the resurrection of Jesus, we need not focus upon those challenges, but rather we can focus upon our hope. Jesus!!! The days following the ascension of Jesus were challenging, and the early church was scattered because of persecution. His disciples (less Judas) and countless others died martyr’s deaths for proclaiming this fact: that Jesus had risen from the dead and was the hope for the world. If Jesus was truly dead as some tried to convince people, it would be insanity to suffer the way many did in order to just perpetuate a lie. A man might be willing to live for a lie, but to die for a lie would be a whole different thing. Around the world today there are many who are still suffering and being put to death for their trust in Jesus as the Savior of the world. The reason for this…….

He Is Alive… He Is Not Here:
     You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where
they laid him. Mark 16:6 ESV
     People today still make pilgrimages to see the empty tomb. Pilgrimages to be in the place where the events of that day still affect the events of this day. These events continue to affect every generation until Jesus returns to takes home His followers. Those who are willing to follow Him for who He is and believe the message of hope that He alone gives to a dying world. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6 ESV

He is Alive…And We Are Blessed:
     Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believe.” John 20:29 ESV A little over a year ago I stood in a tomb they said was used for the burial of Jesus. I did not hear angels telling me “He is not here.” Nor did Jesus, in His risen body, speak to me outside the tomb. At no time when I was in the Holy Land of Israel did I see Jesus in the flesh. Yet I, as a Christian, believe as other Christians that He died, was buried, and rose from the grave. I believe that He is alive today and is coming back to take believers home to live with Him forever. I believe this by faith, not in what I can see, but what I can know by the Holy Spirit. We have what the believers of that day did not have until after Jesus ascended to His Father. That is the Holy Spirit which was sent to enable us to do and experience all that He is and has promised. We may not have seen, but we are blessed by the Holy Spirit who enables us to see what otherwise we would never see. That He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

He is Alive…. And Is Coming Again:
     Jesus said these words, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up , and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you onto heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:8-11 ESV
He is alive, and as Christians we are forgiven and have received the Holy Spirit with a message for all who will hear and listen. His sacrifice upon the cross for our sin, His death, burial, and resurrection make possible life everlasting to all who will believe. This belief is not with just a head knowledge, but a heart knowledge by loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:30 Luke 10: 27) It is living with the anticipation of seeing Jesus the Savior of the the world appear one day to take us home to live with Him forever.

May I encourage every Christian who reads these words to faint not in well doing, for we will one day be with Him forever. If you loose sight of this, you will loose sight of the importance of the message that Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came to restore what was lost in the the garden because of sin- that is our relationship with God the Father. He accomplished all that God sent him to do, and HE IS ALIVE!!!!

Because of His Grace & Praising His Holy Name ~ Pastor David