Today is Easter! He is risen! This has been a very interesting Easter season for me and I’m not sure why. I’m attending a new church, I’m doing a very in-depth bible study and generally, life is different this year. It’s all giving me a different perspective on Jesus’ sacrifice and what that means for me. Obviously the cross is about salvation, the way God provided for us to overcome sin and death and spend eternity with Him. As a human, we start our eternity with God at the cross, accepting Jesus as our savior…but what next? What does the cross tell those of us who are already saved? How does Easter affect us now?
Pastor Zach has started a Revelation sermon series recently and has been talking about how it’s a book of comfort. Personally, I’ve always viewed the book of Revelation as the crazy bits that I skip over to get to the concordance. I’ve listened to a few sermons on it, but never with an open mind. But I’ve been making an effort (and toning down my sarcasm is hard!) and I’ve been surprised about what God has been showing me through the sermons and my personal study. I think the most important thing is that God is relating a lot of what I’m learning on Sunday mornings to my current bible study on sanctification. Things like turning to the old testament for knowledge, learning about all aspects of God-not just the parts that make me feel comfortable, and understanding that the truths in the bible are applicable to my life are all things that are mirroring each other in the sermon and the study.
One of the things that’s struck me is that Easter is about victory. Jesus died and rose again. He provided a living sacrifice so that our sins are paid for and we can spend eternity in heaven. Those who crucified Him wanted to put an end to His ministry and the complete opposite happened. Easter is all about victories, and that’s definitely something that I can take away from the story today. Victory in Jesus is one of my favorite hymns, but I think that I forget that victory didn’t stop at the cross. There was victory as the disciples began the early church, there was victory as the gospel was spread and taught, victory as more people learned and accepted Jesus as their savior. I think it’s important for me to realize and recognize all the victories that keep happening in the world, in my life and in my relationship with God.
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