HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN !!!!!

The crucified Christ is alive! God’s plan of salvation has been executed flawlessly, victoriously and miraculously! The Resurrection is our proof of Christ as the God-sent Messiah and Savior of the world. We can accept as Truth every word He said about Himself including “I am come that you might have life…”

And that is the meaning of the Resurrection – LIFE! Yes, Jesus rose from the dead, but what does it mean to us, apart from the fact that He is now our living Savior? There is a second miracle involved here. St. Paul writes: “…Knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also through Jesus…” (2Cor.4:14) We too shall rise! Also in 1 Corinthians (6:14) we are told: “God has both raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by His own power” You and I were foremost in God’s mind and in His plan even though the cost of it all was beyond the comprehension of any of our finite minds.

But there is even more! There is another miraculous component to the Resurrection of Christ. We learn from St. Paul: “Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through faith in the work of God who has raised Him from the dead.” At this point we feel like repeating Mary’s question “How can these things be….?” And we can respond like Mary too – “Be it unto me according to Thy Word….”

At Easter we think of the Resurrection of Christ and the fact that through it we have salvation, but apart from that we sometimes forget the full, glorious impact of the Resurrection and what happened to us at the same time. We too were raised! St. Paul tells us of our responsibility to respond to such a mystery: “If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits at the right Hand of God….. Set your affections on things above, not on earthly things.”(Col.3:1-2)

This Easter, let us focus on the impact of the Resurrection in its entirety, and then let us respond with our whole hearts and lives. Al Jones