Easter

 

He is risen, He is risen indeed.

Today’s post prefaces with the reading of the book:  You Are Special by Max Lucado.

Today we celebrate one of the most important remembrances in a Christian’s life.   It’s a bit of an upside-down week for us, as we remember the pain and agony that Christ willingly went through for our sakes.  Talk about a rollercoaster ride, Jesus went from the Hosannas of Palm Sunday to the crucifixion on Friday.  When the people laid coats, blankets, and palm branches in the streets, prophecy was fulfilled as Jesus miraculously rode on an untamed colt.  Praise, adoration and worship filled the air within Jerusalem.  The King has come, hosanna in the highest.  Then Jesus was anointed for burial by Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus as they dined in Simon’s home.  A vial of such perfume cost a year’s wages, let’s say roughly $40,000. Jesus went from being praised, anointed and then angry when He saw the money changers in the temple, making a profit out of what was to be holy to the Lord.  In a rare display of righteous anger, He turned over the money tables and scattered the greedy merchants that had been profaning what was Holy.   Finally, there was the last supper, where Jesus took a towel, and washed His disciple’s feet, giving them an example of how we are to minister to others, with humility and servanthood.  He proceeded to give us communion, for us to follow in remembrance of Him, of the new covenant which was about to be provided for all those who would come to Him, a significance of His body and blood, bruised, broken and shed for us.

After that Jesus went to the Garden to pray – seeking help from the Father to continue this assignment that He had given Him.  Then the hard part.  He was betrayed by one of His own.  With a kiss, no less.  What was a praising crowd on Sunday, turned into a raging horde, eager to annihilate Him out of existence.  They had to get rid of this man who contradicted all the lies their religion had carefully built up throughout the centuries.  He was evidence of the Truth, and had to be silenced at all costs.  To fulfill scripture foretold hundreds of years before, they beat Him, cast Him down, scourged Him, mocked Him and sentenced Him to death.   Which as Hebrews 12   says:  For the Joy set before Him, He suffered the cross.

We are that joy.  You, me, every one of us who have been designated to come to Him.  It was for us that He willingly suffered and died, so that He could be with His chosen ones throughout all eternity.

That brings us to Today.  The day that Christ arose from the dead to be seated at the right hand of the Father.  With His resurrection He made a way for us to enter the Holy of Holies and become one with the Father.   Up until this time in the tabernacle, only a priest could enter the Holy of Holies, once a year to plead for the forgiveness of sins for God’s people.   As Jesus breathed His last breath – the veil of the temple was torn in two.  Now this veil was about 30 feet high and 30 feet wide, and the fabric was about four inches thick.  It was said that not even two horses tied opposite with the veil in between them could have pulled it apart.  This is the veil that the Lord Almighty rent in half with a word and the death of Jesus.   Now all who believed in Christ as the Messiah could have free access to the face of God, at any time or any place.  Forgiveness of sins could take place at any time of the year, multiple times a year, and every time it was requested in earnestness.  No longer does sin take dominance, but we now have the gift of forgiveness, each time we sincerely seek it.

With Christ’s death, Satan was defeated.  No longer could Satan claim our unworthiness to the Almighty.  For if we have come under Christ’s shed blood for our cleansing of sins, then we are found righteous and sanctified.  A lot of times we forget that part, because Satan is good at accusing us of things that no longer are a part of us. Just like those gray dots that Punchinello was wearing – sin has NO HOLD on us, unless we allow it to.  That’s why we need to be in a gospel preaching church, seeking fellowship with true believers and be in a homegroup where we can hold each other up when the way of life gets too rough.  We need to be with people who can be the Father’s voice to our listening ear, and drown out the accusations of the enemy.  But first you need to come to Christ.

My daughter first brought the story of Pun-chinello to me about 15 years ago and I quickly identified with the poor little puppet with all the gray dots. It seemed like no matter how hard I tried as a Christian, I could never do anything right.  I was doomed to be a failure for all my days.  Little by little, as it says in the story, by spending time with the Father I began to realize how much He personally loved me.  Turn to Isa. 45 1-5 “But now says the Lord who created you, and He who formed you: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”    Jer 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you;”  John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”   Isa 43:1 “He who created you, . . . He who formed you, – fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are Mine.

Father God has clearly spoken His love for us, that – as Eli also proclaimed – He formed us, He gave us our names, He watches us from afar and hopes for the day when we each decide to willingly walk up the hill as Pun-chinello did, to visit and talk with Him.   When we take those first steps, it’s kind of scary, we don’t really know what will happen.  Pun-chinello was about to leave, when Eli stopped him.   If you can set your heart to find the Lord, you will be surprised to find Him right there eagerly waiting for you with outstretched arms.

Many times we think we’re not good enough, or that we have to get our act together first – and then come to God, but that is not true at all.  Remember the parable of the Prodigal Son?  There were two sons, the older one was obedient and the ‘good son’ while the younger son left everything to go sow his wild oats.  And boy – did he ever!  Finally when he was at his very worst in life, dirty, smelly – by the way, have you ever raised pigs? I have and they are one of the worst smelling creatures in existence, and you can bet your bottom dollar no one wanted to hug me after I had to clean their pen., — this son was starving, had on raggedy clothes and was at the bottom of the pit of despair, then he thought about going home.    He didn’t feel worthy enough to go back as a beloved son, yet he readily admitted his sins, he took full blame for his own actions – and asking forgiveness he took the chance to be a hired hand on his father’s farm.

I Want you to see something clearly here

1. He took responsibility for his own actions – he owned it, was fully accountable and confessed his wrongs.   There is no room for blame shifting here.
2. And then: He turned his back on that sin filled way of life.

That is the key in coming to the Father – to admit our sins and ask His forgiveness.

Scripture tells us over and over again when we confess our sins, that God is faithful to forgive us our sins.  Each and every time, because of Jesus’ shed blood on the cross.   See — all throughout creation, since the days of Adam and Eve, shed blood was the only way God would forgive sins.  When Adam and Eve sinned, God had to shed the blood of a beast to make clothes to cover their nakedness.  Later once a year a high priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the temple to offer shed blood as an atonement for the sins of the people.  The Christ was the final sacrificial Lamb whose shed blood was the beginning of a new covenant with God’s people for the forgiveness of sins for all of eternity.

Which again brings us to today with the celebration of Jesus’s death and Glorious resurrection.  No more do we have to live in a dark and sad world. Yes – we will still have trials and troubles – but now our confidence rests in Christ Almighty who defeated Satan once and for all. We now have the ability to be washed clean, to be pure and white as the fresh new blossoms on an apple tree in spring.    All we need to do is realize we can’t do it by our own efforts and strength and with that knowledge turn around and head to the Father.

By the way – remember how the father reacted in the parable?  He didn’t stand around tapping his foot with a begrudging look on his face, or condemnation in his eyes.  But what he did do was stop his work instantly, hitch up his tunic and ran pell-mell with arms wide open to greet his son.  Then he threw him the biggest welcome home party you ever saw.

That my friends is exactly what the Father in heaven wants to do for you this very day.  Whether you are just now seeking Him, or have been walking with Him for decades.

Acts 13:39  (AMP) says this:  “And through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him] is justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses.”

Today He is waiting for you with open arms – ready to engulf you with His tender mercy, forgiveness and love.

Let’s pray together,

Father, we all have sins in our life that stalk us, follow us wherever we go.  Those sins keep us dirty and apart from You.  But Your word says if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that through the blood of Christ, we may be eternally forgiven.  Our sins and filthy stains are erased and forgotten by You.   When You look at us, all you see is us covered in the righteousness of Christ.   Yes, we still sin and need daily to come to you for renewed cleansing, but the closer we come to You the more we want to be like You.  Our hearts crave that intimate holiness that comes when we spend time with you.  Our sorrows are turned to joy, because we know that You have all things under control.  Our weariness fades as we lean on You for support and strength, and we rise up on eagle’s wings to accomplish what we thought we could not do.  We have peace in the middle of battering storms as we hold onto Your steadying hand that keeps us on our feet and moving forward, and we sleep in peace at night knowing it’s not by our own human strength that we deal with life, but it’s through Your Almighty power that keeps us afloat.  Lord, we give our hearts to You today, trading in our filthy rags to put on the glory of Christ.  As old-time Christians, we declare a new level of deeper dedication to You and Your word, and for those seeking You, we take our hearts and lay them before you and yield all of us into Your perfect will for our lives.  We believe in our hearts that Christ and only Christ is the way of eternal salvation and today that is what we choose.  In Jesus’ name we pray.