The
day that Jesus was crucified upon the cross, and
the day the He was raised from the dead by the power of God, was the
greatest
day that the world has ever known. Because it was on that glorious
Easter
morning that salvation became available to all of mankind, the
redemption of
mankind hinged upon the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In other
words,
Jesus’ resurrection was the final evidence that He paid the price for
our
redemption, and that His sacrifice for us was accepted by God the
Father, and
that we could have eternal life and be forever reconciled to God as a
result of
Christ’s resurrection.
“that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection.” – Philippians 3:10
The
Word of God teaches us that mankind died spiritually.
Spiritual death is simply separation from God, and man became separated
from
God and His presence.
“Therefore, just as through
one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death
spread to all men, because all sinned.” – Romans 5:12
This is why Jesus
came, to save mankind from their sins, and
to restore to man access to God and His presence. He did this by
becoming the
sacrifice for our sins (See Isaiah 53:4, 5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).
“Now when the Sabbath was
past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought
spices, that
they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first
day of
the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said
among
themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb
for us?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away
–for it
was very large.” – Mark 16:1-4
That
stone represents the obstacle that kept man from God.
That stone represents the sin of man that has separated man from God
from the
time of Adam till the day that Jesus rose from the dead.
Notice
what they saw when they
got to the tomb. The problem of that separation was solved for them.
The stone
was not moved by man through works or by human intellect or
human
ingenuity. It was moved by the power of God Almighty Himself. God
Himself has
moved that stone of separation for you and me.
“On that Sunday morning, the first thing that impressed
those women who approached the tomb was the unusual position of that
one and a
half to two ton stone that had been lodged in front of the doorway of
the tomb.
That stone was so far up a slope that John (chapter 20) used a Greek
verb,
(airo), which means “to pick something up and carry it away.” - (Taken
from pages 67 and 68 of the book – “The Resurrection Factor” – by Josh
McDowell)
Only God could solve
the sin problem. This salvation was
initiated by God the Father, through His Son Jesus Christ, and worked
by the
power of the Holy Spirit for every man, woman and child. All we need to
do is
to believe and accept this great sacrifice for our lives.
“that if you confess with your
mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him
from the
dead, you will be saved. For it is with the heart one believes unto
righteousness (right standing with God), and with the mouth confession
is made
unto salvation . . . For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall
be
saved.” - Romans 10:9, 10, 13
Who will roll away the
stone? God already has. There is
nothing in our lives that can separate us from His love. All you and I
have to do now is to confess with our mouths and believe in our heart
in the
truth of what He has already done for us, and then call on the name of
Jesus
and live our lives in the presence of the Father as we were created by
Him to
do.
Remember what Jesus
said of Himself, I am
the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). The Father has provided the way of life
with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. Allow this Easter season be a
time of resurrection life for you through the Son of God - Jesus the
risen Lord! CLC
*All Scripture References where
taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville,
Tennessee:
Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982. Electronic Spirit - Filled Life Library
CD-ROM
*All
quotes used in
this article,
are used only by permission. Copyright ©2001, 2002 -
Christian Life Church All Rights Reserved
