Jesus’ victory gives me freedom from sin!
Sometimes, however, this freedom is gradual. As I seek Christ and know Him more each day, I learn to walk in line with His victorious nature. I have begun to make choices that align with His heart instead of my old habits. As I do, I find more and more freedom in the resurrection of Christ.
I accepted Christ as my personal saviour many years ago. On the day I made the commitment I was invited to choose a song for the congregation to sing. I chose one of my all time favourite hymns Because He Lives.
We asked some of our MCAC members what Jesus’ resurrection means to them – here are their answers! Feel free to add your answers below.
"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14
As the Lunar New Year festivities draw to a close my mind is led back to the book of John, which I mentioned some time ago on this very blog.
I still cannot claim to fully understand the Jewish lunisolar calendar with its shorter lunar year, compensatory 19 year Metonic cycle and extra month thrown in every two or three years. But I do know that John referenced many festivals in his gospel.
One mentioned is the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’. And, as John so often does, there is a direct parallel drawn between this feast and the words in John 1:14(a) which are “And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us”. This festival originated in Moses’ time and was commanded by God as a commemoration of liberation from Egypt (Leviticus 23:40-43). So it is fitting that John would introduce us to Jesus as he comes to dwell among us.
Another festival highlighted in the Book of John is that of Passover. This commemoration too originates in Moses’ time. This festival reminds the Israelites of the tenth, and worst, plague of Egypt in which all of the first born died unless a sacrificial lamb had been slaughtered and its blood put upon the doorpost to ensure God’s protection.
It becomes clear through reading John that Jesus himself becomes the sacrificial lamb to save us from death.
Again you can read into this so deeply and draw parallels between the bread associated with the passover and Jesus being the bread from heaven.
Nowadays we don’t always follow these old festivals but as Easter draws near (if you don’t believe me just check out the seasonal section of the supermarket!) it is a good to remember the real significance of festivals that roll around year on year.
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” (1 Cor 5:7 NKJV)
As I was browsing the news headlines recently, I came across the story of Steve Stephens, a man who streamed live Facebook footage of him randomly shooting an elderly gentleman in Cleveland, Ohio. Steve walked up to the gentleman and said “Found me somebody to kill… this guy right here.” He proceeded to shoot the man in the head, killing him instantly.
The son of the murder victim gave an interview to a television network about how his dad was a good man who would not hesitate to give someone else the shirt off his back. During the same interview, the man’s sister was hugging him while resting her head on his chest. She managed to squeeze out a few words, saying, “I feel like my heart is gonna stop…” That was all she could repeat.
My heart broke seeing the elderly gentleman helplessly raise his hand to shield himself from the gunshot. It broke again when I saw the grief his family was going through. My eyes started to get teary and, before I knew it, I began to sob like a baby (I haven’t cried like that in years). How disgraceful it is that we have diverted so far from the original plan of the Creator. How far humanity has fallen.
This Easter season, we commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus through His death on the cross. We know He didn’t have to die. We know that as sinners, the human race could have been left to the doom we collectively chose. But through the physical anguish and crushing weight of all our sins, He proceeded to give His life for us all. He must have had the elderly gentleman who was shot in cold blood in mind when He made the choice to submit to the cross and eradicate sin once and for all. He must have had the Syrian children who were gassed in mind. He must have had victims of genocide, victims of slavery… victims of all sin in mind as He executed the plan of salvation despite feeling so separated from His Father to the extent that He cried out “Why have You forsaken Me?”
Later in the day, I came across a clip one of my friends shared on Facebook. It was a video of a group of youth singing in front of Jesus’ empty tomb. The words go “Hallelujah! You have won the victory. Death could not hold you down. You are the risen King. Seated in majesty. You are the risen King.” I began sobbing like a baby again. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we can all confidently look forward to the resurrection day when we’ll be able to say, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthian 15:55 NLT). When we see the King enthroned in majesty, we’ll finally witness the realisation of that great and comforting prophecy which reads, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (Revelation 21:4 NLT)
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Our church now has a subscription to RightNow Media library, which means we now have access to a digital library of sermons, podcasts, children’s entertainment and other digital resources (check the church newsletter for details, or chat to Jinha if you haven’t got your invite yet!).
As we’re about to celebrate Easter this weekend, I thought I’d check out what resources RightNow Media had relating to this, and while I was doing so I found this series: The Easter Experience, presented by Kyle Ideleman. It’s a six-part series examining the story of Easter (so if you start tonight, you can finish on Easter Sunday!).
I always find it fascinating to see the stories from the Bible brought to life and reimagined. It helps me to visualise what it might have looked like, to imagine how it might have been. How confusing what we now know as the Easter story would have been at the time to the disciples, as they experienced the highs and the lows (and the highs again). It’s got all the hallmarks of an incredible story – and yet the good news is that the Good News is real – and just as true for us today.
And while it’s wonderful to see this acted out before our eyes, or read about it on the page, what’s most important of all is that it also becomes more to us than merely a story.
In Luke 24, the disciples are still reeling from the events that had transpired that weekend. The women go to the tomb to anoint what they thought was going to be a dead body – and yet what they found instead was an empty tomb. When they are told that Jesus has risen. “Then they remembered his words.” (Luke 24:8) Imagine what it would have been like for them as what they had seen slotted into place, and they began to fully understand the message Jesus had been communicating throughout his ministry. How easy it is for us to now take that for granted, when we feel like we already know the story. But it’s our story too, and we each still have to “remember the words” and decide what we do next.
Whatever your experience this Easter, I hope you are able to spend some time reflecting on the moment that the Good News was given to us through Jesus, and that you can “remember his words” and enjoy the abundant life that is freely offered to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
by: Sharyn
