~Luke 24:1-3
What would you think if you went to the cemetery to lay flowers on a grave and found a hole in the ground with an empty coffin? I imagine the emotions would be varied and instant. Shock, anger, confusion, panic, to name a few. But would you think the person had just gotten out of the coffin alive and well? Probably not. Jesus did. He come back from the dead and hung around for well over a month continuing to teach. He appeared to His disiples, He performed miracles, and He gave the Great Commission.
"Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age' (Matthew 28:18-20)."
This statement is the basis for preaching the gospel of the Good News. What is that Good News? Jesus Christ left the glory of Heaven to become just like us here on Earth. He came here knowing He had just thirty-three years to live and do everything He had to do. He came knowing the horrible and painful death He would endure. But most of all, He came knowing that His life, death, and resurrection would be the most important events to ever happen. He came so that you and I would have everlasting life. His sacrifice for us cannot be overstated.
"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:1-3)."
Even though God provided a sacrificial Lamb to be slaughtered so that you and I would not have to endure eternal damnation for our sins, He still left the choice up to us. For me, it wasn't a difficult choice because experience showed me I was adept at making bad choices but not so great with good choices. Even when I determined to do what was right, I still made a lot of messes. Living my life in the fullness of Christ is the only choice for me.
"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin (Romans 7:19-25)."
In these verses, Paul discusses this very thing: doing what is right is an internal conflict but because of Jesus' life, death and resurrection we can rely on Him to help us win the battle. When Christ stepped out of that tomb, He gave us the right to step into eternal life with Him.
"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3)."
Read Joshua 13-15
A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018
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