Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Jesus Christ - Our Messiah - Has Risen!




As Spring approaches, creation begins to show us how to cry "Hallelujah!" to our Creator! The flowers bloom, the birds sing, the breezes turn warmer and the sun shines a little more often.  It is a glorious time! How divine that God set it up that His Son would show all His glory at that same time of year.

Jesus Christ died a horrific death on the cross as a final sacrifice for our sins. His death, His blood on that cross, paid our debt so that we could live in Heaven forever with Him. As Christ shared the Passover meal with His disciples, He paints an amazing picture of salvation through blood and freedom for the captives. Just as the Israelites were prisoners in Egypt, we are prisoners held captive by our sin. Just as God provided Israel protection from the Spirit of Death on Passover through the spilling of a spotless, unbroken lamb's blood; so we are provided that same gift- death has no sting- because of Christ's blood shed for us. No bone was broken, no sin ever committed- He was/is the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. What an incredible gift! A mind blowing free gift!

Who is this amazing Savior? This Redeemer who loves His people even when they rebel and reject The One who created them? This is OUR God! This is our Passover Lamb. He is our Messiah! He is risen from the dead and He is LORD!

This Easter, this Resurrection Sunday, we are able to celebrate the fulfillment of the Passover through Christ's death and resurrection. We get to share with all those hungry, Spirit-starved people about the freedom that Christ has given each one of us! By His power and His Holy Spirit we can show His passion for His people through our love for His people! We have been given an incredible undeserved gift! We have the Holy Spirit residing in us - a power that defeats ALL sin, ALL pain, ALL bondage! How can we not share that freedom with this enslaved world? It is selfish, self-absorbed and disobedient to keep this miracle to ourselves.

This Passover and Resurrection Sunday we have the opportunity to share the Good News to the lost (they are dying to hear about and experience this Furious Love). These are special days where we can encourage the Believer to keep the faith and continue to follow where the Holy Spirit leads. Yes, all days should be used for this- it is our job as Believers to share Messiah and His love with the world- but on these days, during this season, people expect it. The Enemy will do anything to stop us from praying to, sharing about, loving through and obeying our King but we are more than overcomers and we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. We can because Christ did it all on the cross and rose from the dead to prove it to us.

I'm feeling a serious "Hallelujah!" coming on. Knowing that I serve THE Risen Lord, that I am redeemed in spite of my failures, knowing that He loves me more than I will ever comprehend on this planet. Wow! Now, guess what? He feels the same way about you too! Say Hallelujah with me and go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ, The Messiah, has risen from the dead for you and me!