So how is this new week going? What is on your mind for the coming days?
Perhaps you are relieved to be getting a long weekend coming up, as there is a public holiday next Monday here in the Netherlands? Well, if you do have that day off- enjoy! Hope it is refreshing for you.
Yet where does Easter feature in your thinking? Has it really crossed your mind about it?
May be you are reading and you would say you are not a Christian or perhaps you are not sure. Have you ever really thought about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? It is at the core of the Christian message. If Christ is still dead then so is so much of what He claimed. Then either He lied or was totally deceived or delusional.
As one early follower of Christ wrote, “and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that we are false witnesses about God..” Quite some words – you can read these in 1 Corinthians 15.
Christians believe that Christ died to deal with the root problem of wrong-doing in mankind (the Bible uses the word ‘sin’ – the English word was used of an arrow missing the target, it was said to have sinned). Yet if Christ was fundamentally wrong that He would be resurrected, how then can we believe His sacrifice brings the possibility of forgiveness and being made right with God?
If He was wrong about the resurrection, then why should we believe He was right about anything else?
In the letter above from which I already quoted, the author goes onto declare, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead…” The writer was Paul – a very educated and insightful man. A man in fact who persecuted Christians at first but then had his own life turned around by Christ.
Easter…. remembers the incredible sacrifice of Christ and the amazing victory of Christ over sin and death. He is alive and changing lives still. That possibility includes you.
Have you come to experience such good news? Public holidays will come and go. Most of us will be back at work on Tuesday next week. But the good news can impact and transform us every day.
It cost Christ his life to make it possible.
And if you are a Christian reading this…. well perhaps like me, you need a fresh encounter with the risen Christ too? Why not take time to re-read one of the Gospel account of His death and resurrection and see what the Lord might want to show you?
Plus is there someone that you could express something of the life to Christ to over this coming Easter weekend? May be in some practical way or giving a gift and seeking to share something of the good news of Jesus Christ?
I’ll leave it at that.
Happy Easter!
Andy