Weekend Words (Easter)

 From Beside the Still Waters...

Good Friday - Read: Hebrews 7

"For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." - Hebrews 7:26

This is a day to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus.  It is the historic date of His crucifixion and death.  We do well to remember this event.  But why did Jesus need to die?  Genesis 3 gives the account of Adam and Eve's sin.  They disobeyed God's command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The result of disobedience would be death.  Ezekiel 18:20 states something similar: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."  Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death."

So as humans we have something we don't want (sinfulness), and we need something we don't have (righteousness).  How can we get rid of our sin and become righteous before God?  Hebrews 9:22 says that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.  Jesus shed His blood on the cross, and Revelation 1:5 says that He has "washed us from our sins in his own blood."

On the cross Jesus cried, "It is finished!"  In Greek this expression is the single word tetelestai - a verb in the present perfect tense.  This word was used to indicate various things, of which three are significant here: that a task has been completed, that a debt has been paid in full, and that a sacrificial lamb has been found.

What must we do to be redeemed, justified, and saved?  If we put our faith in Christ, we are justified by faith; that is, our faith is counted as righteousness.  Then we are reconciled to God, and the death penalty for our sin is canceled.  "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience" (Hebrews 10:22).

John Ropp - Dannebrog, NE

Easter and the Resurrection - Read: Romans 6 

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." - 1 Corinthians 15:19

In an earthly kingdom, a king is ruler.  His law is upheld, enforced, obeyed.  When he dies, the next in succession takes his place.  As Christians we follow Christ our King.  His laws are upheld, honored, and obeyed.  One day our King was killed.  Who was His successor?  There was none.  He died, He was buried, and His tomb was sealed.  The evil forces rejoiced.  They thought God's plan for man's redemption was thwarted.  But wait, there is more to the story.

Praise God, Christ arose in triumph over the forces of evil!  That is the reason for rejoicing at Easter.  Christ is the perfect Lamb, slain as a sacrifice for our sins.  He had to suffer death so that He could defeat death by rising again.  By His resurrection power we can rise and walk in newness of life.  

So as the household of faith, let us draw near to God in assurance of eternal life, having our sins forgiven and being reconciled to God.  Our garments are no longer stained with sin, but washed white in the blood of the Lamb.  We know that Christ is sitting at God's right hand, interceding for us.

Being reconciled to God makes us love everybody.  "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:11).  Words of instruction abound: walk circumspectly, redeem the time, speak to yourselves with songs, give thanks for all things, and submit to one another.  "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).  "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1)

John Ropp - Dannebrog, NE