Without question this is the most sacred month of the year for all Evangelical Christians. Why, you might ask? It is because the crux of our faith is celebrated in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. The Bible tells us that if in this life we have hope in a Christ who is not raised from the dead then we are the most pitiable men in all the world. “But now CHRIST IS RISEN from the dead, and has become the first fruits of those who are dead…for as in Adam we (all humanity) die, even so in Jesus Christ all shall be made alive; Christ the firstfruits and afterwards, those who are His!” 1 Corinthians 15:20-22
Jesus is indeed ALIVE, and therein affords great news of hope that you and I might also defeat death and be resurrected to eternal life with God the Father in heaven. Jesus has given us the means of being saved, but what I would like to focus on for a few minutes is the fact that He also showed us ‘The Way.” Have you ever thought about Jesus’ faith? What did He believe to be true with regard to God His Father? What did He do about it? These are great questions that will help us to be confident with our own faith in God’s promises. We can follow Jesus’ example.
The prophet Moses in Gen. 3:15 and Isaiah in Isaiah 53:4,10 give us the fact that it was all part of God’s master plan for His Son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross. Jesus took our place and died and was buried on our behalf. You see God is a holy God which means that sin cannot dwell in His presence. Therefore, if you and I as sinners were ever going to have a restored relationship with God, then someone would have to take away our sin. Enter Jesus, God’s only Son, who not only agreed to take our sin voluntarily allowing it to put Him to death on the cross and be buried, but Jesus also had to have faith that God would not leave Him in that state but raise Him back to life. Jesus had to have tremendous faith!
I’m sure they had talked about it many times in His short 33 years of life. I know that Jesus agonized over it in the garden on the night He was arrested. The gospel of Mark describes that scene as he says that Jesus was troubled and distressed saying, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death…Father, will you take this cup from Me if it is possible, nevertheless, not My will, but Your will!” On the cross Jesus cried out again, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me,” as He was within His final breaths of dying. Nevertheless, even in the darkest moments of His entire life on earth Jesus had faith in God His Father!
Now, the question of the hour becomes not what would Jesus do, but would you have done what Jesus did? Have you ever placed your life in God’s hands by faith completely trusting Him with your life? If not today should be the day. If he raised His Son from the dead and He did, now Jesus is the firstfruits of the harvest meaning that others are to follow. Will you be part of the rest of the fruit metaphorically speaking? The meaning is clear. Will you ask Jesus to forgive your sin by faith believing that HE died on the cross to take your sin from you and by faith believe that God will also raise you from the fate of an earthly physical death one day just as He raised Jesus? Without FAITH it is impossible to please God, to have a restored relationship with Him!
