TOGETHER:
Jesus' resurrection extends
hope to people everywhere
___In the simple, yet elegant, language of the Apostle Paul, Jesus Christ "died for our sins according to the Scriptures ... he was buried ... he was raised on the third day according to
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CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
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the Scriptures ... he appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve."
___Paul made the case for the resurrection of Jesus Christ by reminding his readers Jesus had appeared not only to the 12, but to as many as 500 believers at the same time. This talk of resurrection could not have grown out of an occasional individual sighting or hallucination. You might hypnotize one or two, but not a crowd. Furthermore, most of the 500 were still living and could give their own testimony.
___For Paul, though, the most amazing appearance was the one where Jesus had appeared to him personally, in a manner he could never deny or forget. As Paul walked toward Damascus, where he was intent on persecuting the Christians, Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks. The blinding light of the presence of the risen Christ got Paul's everlasting attention.
___Thanks be to God! He never got over it.
___But Paul's inspired argument was not simply that Jesus arose from the dead, but that Christ's resurrection made everything different. If Jesus is raised from the dead, then his promise to give us eternal life is not empty; it is full of hope and power. If Jesus has conquered death, then "death has been swallowed up in victory."
___Many Christians who believe in the resurrection of Jesus are not living in the power of the resurrection. Paul's concern mirrors the concern of every sincere pastor, "Are the people entrusted to my care living in the victory of the resurrection?"
___What does that mean?
___It means when things die around you, you don't give up or give in. You keep marching forward.
___It means when bad news bludgeons your ears, you don't quit believing good news can come in the morning.
___It means when a loved one approaches death, you still have hope. You can pray for healing knowing if death comes anyway there is still the deepest healing of all in the open-arms welcome Jesus gives to his children as they come all the way home.
___It means sin does not have the last word. The power of sin to destroy and separate is overcome in the grace and forgiveness of our risen Lord Jesus.
___The Christian word that expresses this confidence in God is "hope."
___When you go to church, you proclaim the power of the resurrection. You declare the colors you wear and the banner you fly are about Jesus. He is your hero.
___When you face failure and disillusionment without giving in to cynicism, you are helping people see that the risen Lord Jesus lives in your life, that he continues to have power to shape and save a life.
___When darkness overtakes you, but the light of the Son of God shines on your path so that you do not stumble or lose your way, people believe in the resurrection because they see the power of the risen Christ in your life.
___There is no word for "hope" in the Japanese language. Would it surprise you to know that the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the German Lutheran church organist, is being used of God to convert members of the traditionally anti-Christian Japanese elite to Christ? Who would have thought the great music of Bach would be an evangelistic instrument?
___Maestro Maasaki Suzuki reports that after his Bach Collegium performances people crowd the podium to talk about "any number of taboo subjects in Japanese society, such as death. And then ... they inevitably ask me to explain to them what 'hope' means to Christians." Suzuki is convinced tens of thousands of Japanese have been baptized because of Bach.
___Bach may not be your music of choice just now. These things apparently run in cycles. But aren't you glad for all the ways God has given us to praise him, to express our faith, to sing our joy, to draw people to the great hope we have in him?
___We are loved.
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