Easter - How Will You Respond? (Part 5 of 5)

…“Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,  saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”   Luke 24:5-7

Many people are still looking for Jesus among the dead.  I think of scholars who study the words of Jesus and the gospel manuscripts but do not believe in Christ’s resurrection.  I think of the archaeologists who two thousand years later are still trying to find Jesus’ body and bones in the tomb but keep coming up empty.  I think of people who finger the body of Christ on their crucifixes but do not know the reality of the living Christ.  I think of those who attend church on Christmas and Easter (C.E.O’s).  These people all have one thing in common.  They are all looking for Jesus among the dead. And if you are looking for Jesus among the dead, you will not find him. He is not there.

Frank Morison was a man who went looking for Jesus among the dead.  Morison was a British journalist who lived early in the twentieth century.  He was not a Christian. Although he admired the figure of Jesus, Morison was a skeptic at heart who felt that these stories about Jesus were nothing more than myth or legend, especially the story of the resurrection.

So, Morison had a brilliant idea.  Why not prove that the resurrection never happened? Why not use his research skills as a journalist to dig into history and prove that Jesus never rose from the dead?  He would do his research and then write a book presenting the historical facts about Christ and the events surrounding his death.  So Frank Morison went looking for Jesus among the dead.

Guess what? He never found him. What he did find is exactly what Luke said in verses 2-3: He found the stone rolled away, but he did not find the body of Jesus. Instead he found the risen Christ and put his faith in him as Lord and savior.

Frank Morison set out to write a book disproving the resurrection of Christ. Instead, he ended up writing what has become a Christian classic presenting the evidence for the resurrection of Christ  (Who Moved the Stone?).  Morison went looking for Jesus among the dead.  But he did not find him there. You will not find him there either.  If you want to find Jesus this morning, you must look among the living. And that brings us to the good news of Easter.

Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death and the grave. He rose from the dead on Easter morning. He is alive and well today.  You will not find him among the dead, for he is among the living. And he offers new life to you.  The Bible tells us that those who trust in Christ will share in his resurrection.  The fear of death and judgment is taken away. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

That is the good news of Easter.  Only one question remains.  

 How will you respond?

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Easter - The Truth (part 1 of 5)

Okay it is time to put aside all of the other issues, all of the other ideas, thoughts and concerns and address the single most important event in the history of mankind.  This begins the first of a five part series on “Easter the Truth”. each will have a short video to help reach your soul.  The truth of Easter is a story of hope, the promise that people had waited thousands of years for the fulfillment of, and that we today shake our heads in wonder at the terrible, beautiful truth of what God did just so that we might have the choice to be reconciled with Him.  It is a story that God wrote into the heavens at the beginning of time, (and we will look at that in this small series) Odds are that if you are reading this you are not a CEO Christian (Christmas -Easter Only) but if by chance you are, or if you know someone who is, this is the time to stop and take stock of how you are living your life and evaluate it against this one all important fact. 

In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.   God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.  The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.   John 1:1-11

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ Luke 24:5-7

Really think about the above verses, let it sink into you; let them pull at your heart and your soul.  If you choose not to internalize them, to live your life in gratitude of them, then in your heart and life, Easter is just a day that children believe a rabbit bounces all over the world hiding hard-boiled chicken eggs (really??), and you celebrate it by going out and gorging yourself on more food then most people in the world eat in two weeks time.  If however you believe the truth, but are choosing your way, and not following and doing as He instructed, then the question must be asked “How can you continue in your sins and trespasses (they are not the same, there is a significant difference between them and we will look at the difference another day)?  Is the life you are choosing to live worth the price that Jesus paid for it?  

Go back and read those verses again and again… This Easter are you going to celebrate and worship our Lord (A job description not a name) and Savior for the amazing grace and love that he pours out into the world,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 

 Or are you going to go hunting for chicken eggs, left by a rabbit? 

It all begins with waiting, waiting for Him. 

Next Post - Easter (Part 2 of 5)