Risen For You
Matthew 28:6 “He is not here, for he is risen.” Are you offended by the cross and the word faith? Are you afraid of your true place in this world? What have you been seeking all this time? Whether it be pain, suffering, or depression, hate and resentment slowly creep into our hearts. Could you imagine being whipped and beaten to an inch of your life? Flesh torn from your skin, whip after whip, and can you imagine being blinded in the red of blood spilt down your face from a crown of thorns? Can you imagine your arms being stretched out nearly pulled from the sockets, while your body weight pulls you down while your grasping for air as you suffocate slowly under your own weight? Our works here on earth are like filthy rags to God. We cannot earn our way in good works. All we can do is sacrifice our old self, let it die away and what’s left is the heart loving God. When we give all of ourselves to follow Christ we are forever changed. A sinless man died on the cross. Our salvation wasn’t free but our totality of sin was washed away. We watched over 2000 years ago as the blood stained the ground, stained the cross and the flowing of blood out of the righteous man who took the beating, he took the thorns, he took the nails, he took the hell we all deserve. We must repent, to change, to run from our sinful ways. As our savior is not a dead man, but risen through God. God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son.
We worship not a dead martyr but a risen savior in which even the grave, death could not hold him. The temple broken, the stone ropes cut, the seal broken and the resting place of Christ empty, lest the facial napkin folded as a symbol of a mortal life ending. Christ though would live on, showing his risen self to the masses. Even Thomas doubted till he could put his fingers into the wounds. Jesus said to him, ‘You doubt yet you see with your own eyes. Imagine those who will never see with their own eyes.’ Rome wanted to prove the conspiracy yet failed to do so. Rome would hunt and eventually kill nearly all the Apostils, but despite torture not one recanted their eye witness account of the risen Christ.
2000 years later the Holy Spirit moves our hearts and we still remember the sacrifice made on that day. Will we allow our saviors sacrifice to be in vein? How can we deny you my Lord? My God you gave up your own son for me, a willing sacrifice and yet we cannot let go of our own sins. We cannot, we will not soften our hearts to you. We are so lost, but the light shines brightly down on us. We are not saved on one day a year but in your holy decree we not live each and every day. Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We have the cross, no longer a symbol of torture and punishment, but one of hope and eternal life. How then will we live? Will we remain hateful and bitter in our hearts, or will we learn to forgive and love? Will we hold onto the grudge of those who’ve trespassed against us? Our own grudges will seal our own fate. Scripture is clear, judge not yet you will be judged. Forgive not and you will not be forgiven. We must find the balance and the balance we seek is Jesus, the life, love and grace and mercy of God, God who washes away our transgressions when we accept and repent.
Jesus Christ is alive and will live forever and so can I. That cold dark grave could not hold the power of the Holy Spirit and that gift betwoed on you and me if you j ust believe. Let the Holy Spirit flow through you and death will one day come for you, but will not hold you. The empty tomb, cold, but the day Jesus would go to heaven the bright sun shown down. If you are to cry, cry only tears of joy. Do not be afraid for the King lives and so shall you. If you cannot feel Jesus with you, I dare say you don’t want to. I’ve heard the voice as I neared my own death, and the jolt of the Holy Spirit flowed over me restoring my soul, my life.
Where are you and are you grounded in your faith? My Lord is the truth, the life the way. I rise today comforted in the love of Christ. I proclaim I am a sinner, a man of many faults, of many mistakes, but for every sin I make I am forgiven in pure love. My faith is strong because I’ve seen with my own eyes, my own ears, the senses of my body tell me the truth. God so loves me that each and every day I wake with a new chance to live my life in Christ. I have the chance to do God’s work. As I stand as just a man, the words I speak aloud as I stand are truth. I will one day great death with open arms as my corporeal body will wither away, but my spirit will go on and I will see the King who loves me.
The Arrow Preacher 