Road to Calvary (VII)

He has risen! Hallelujah! Christ has risen and has defeated the grave! All praise and glory to God now and forevermore!

Today during the sermon, the speaker started with clips from the movie Passion of The Christ. She reminded us that it isn't just a movie, but reality. I started watching, but within the first minute, I had to look away. It was just too much, and i couldn't take it. The blood. The pain. The scars. The beating. The whipping. All for me. All for you. Seeing the nine-tail whip lash onto his flesh and rip it away when taken back. Watching the nails being pounded into his wrist and his feet. Seeing how rough they were, even trying to think of how severe that pain was is unbearable. It took that clip for me to really and fully realize the degree of pain Christ went through for us. How much he took on, the sin of MANKIND on his shoulders, dying for all of us. That's true love. We can't and should not sugar coat it anymore.

But, although he was crucified and had died, his promise reigned, and he rose from the grave three days later.

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

John 20:1-10

The third day, Mary and Simon Peter went to visit the tomb, and to their surprise, Jesus wasn't there. There's isn't much to say about this passage. Its all facts. But knowing that Christ has risen brings us true and eternal hope.

Christ has risen, he has conquered death. Something us humans have been trying to do for centuries. He has overcome the greatest thing. From temptations, to death, he is victorious! And because of this, we should be so thankful knowing that someone so powerful and perfect is right next to us. If he can overcome something as great as death, with God by our side, we can be victorious over whatever sin we are dealing with.

We sang a newer song at service today. Christ is Risen by Matt Maher. The lyrics are so powerful, especially in the bridge, and singing it today, i can really sing it, not with the words but with my heart. It was like singing and saying to the devil that we are victorious, you cannot win, we cannot lose, and that God is greater than anything in this world.

"O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory? O church, come stand in the light! Our God is not dead, He's Alive, He's Alive!"

What powerful lyrics. But that wasn't the only song that impacted me today.

During the baptism today, we sang the song Because He Lives. The past while i've just been down in the dumps, wanting to give up, to give in, and just to stop. It wasn't worth it, but the lyrics again here pushed me forward.

"Because he lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because he lives, All fear is gone.

Because I know, He holds the future,

And life is worth the living, just because He lives."

It is because of God's love, Christ's resurrection that I live. That I continue to fight each and every day. He is protecting me in his loving arms, there is nothing to fear because he has a perfect plan for me. The part that struck me most was "and life is worth the living, JUST because He lives". JUST because. He's the reason why life is worth living, JUST GOD. JUST CHRIST. Nothing else.

Praise God.

He works in such magical, mysterious ways.

I cannot do anything by exalt his almighty name.

verse of the day: Galatians 2:20

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.