"Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn't here, He is risen" Luke 24:6-7
Death is one of humanity's enigma and greatest fear. There is no remedy for death from modern science, medicine or from the religions of today. The statistics on death is one hundred percent unanimous - it is going to happen!
However, every Christian has a hope that through Jesus' resurrection, death is not the end for us. Our relationship with God through Christ, attests to Christ's defeat of death when he came out of the tomb alive on the third day. This means that we also have victory over death. We have life eternal and this promise of eternity for the believer on this side of life, starts the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Saviour and desire to walk with him daily.
So, the Resurrection is not merely a history lesson or an amazing fact. You may be saying to yourself; OK! He is risen, so what? What does that have to do with me today? Why is it important in my life right now? Let me encourage you that the same Power that brought Jesus back to life, The Holy Spirit, is still available for us today to transform our lives for the better. Because Jesus is risen, our aren't futile. 1 Corinthians 16:56-57 says: 'The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.'
The Good News is that each and everyone of us can receive the assurance of hope and the benefit of the Resurrection. We can experience the joy and peace that comes with knowing Jesus. The bible tells us in John 3:16 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' The cross is the bridge into relationship with God when we accept God's free gift of salvation. When we put our trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, we come into a Father-Child relationship with God; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). God loves us and He has demonstrated His love for us through the death burial and Resurrection of His beloved Son, to purchase a relationship with us through the Risen Saviour. But we first have to admit that we have sinned and that we
need God's forgiveness. We must then be willing to turn away from living independent of God and from sin. As we respond by asking Jesus to come into our hearts, the Holy Spirit will begin to change our heart so that the sin nature no longer defines us. In exchange, we receive and live a new identity in Christ.
God loves you and doesn’t condemn you. Make a decision to walk with Jesus and through His Resurrection power in you, you will pass from death to life, and in the here and now, also live a full and abundant life through Him.
Afua Richardson-Parry 31/03/24
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