As we all celebrate this wonderful day and enjoy ourselves with friends and family we are reminded that mankind's redemption was sealed forever around 2,000 years ago on this day. The Word of God gives an account of how Jesus' grave was found on the dawn of the first day of the week when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at it.
The account in Matthew 28 tells of how they encounter an angel and then Jesus himself. In Luke 24:46,47 Jesus explains to the disciples that it was written that "The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and repentance and forgiveness sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem".
Jesus here points back to the scriptures, in this case he had mentioned the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms as pointing towards what He had to accomplish and how it was to be accomplished. In order for there to be redemption for mankind by the forgiveness of sins and repentance, which is the act of turning away from doing what is wrong in God's sight, the Messiah needed to suffer and die so as to rise from the dead on the third day.
Isiaiah 53 tells of the work of the Messiah, being despised and rejected by men, but taking up our infirmities and carrying our sorrows! Isiaiah 53:3 tells of how he was 'pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities' and that His punishment is the one that brought us peace!
Surely now we can sing with confidence that 'there is power, power, wonder working power in the blood!'. In verse twelve of Isaiah 53 we are told that 'he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors'. So though we were all cursed by one mans disobedience (Adam), we are all blessed by one mans obedience-Jesus!. Verse 10 of the same chapter in Isaiah tells of how it was 'the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer'. Jesus, while praying in the garden and struggling with the pending tribulation He was about to go through, eventually declares: 'Not my will, but yours, be done' (Luke 22:42). What an act of obedience!
The resurrection power of God was only able to function when Jesus obeyed the Father's will to lay His life down and suffer for us. By going through with this act of obedience, He reveals God's plan for mankind's redemption by first proving that God has the ultimate power over life and death and that all who believe in Him can experience the same benefits of the purpose and power of the resurrection.
The promise of redemption from sin and it's ultimate power, death, is what makes this day special. By redeeming us, we have now become sons through faith in Him (Galatians 3:26, 4:5,6, 2 Cor 6:18, Eph 1:5) and have the full right to display His power and glory and have dominion restored to us.
When you read of all the accounts leading up to His death and the eventual resurrection, you realise that all other miracles pale in comparison! If God raises the dead, then surely He can heal us and deliver us from the evil one! 'For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the POWER of God' (1 Cor 1:18).
Have a power filled day as you remember the work of the cross!
Be blessed! Be filled with power! Be a good witness of the resurrection!
By John Kagaruki
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