It is Saturday night before Easter Sunday morning and I am scrolling through iTunes looking for a christian radio station, I have found a few and before I know it I am reflecting on today and what it means to me. The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is a day of hope...a day of waiting....a day of belief or unbelief. On Good Friday God's Son Jesus was put to death for us, on Saturday there was grieving and disbelief but on Sunday just as God's word promised on the third day Jesus arose from the dead. He has beaten death!! Today yes today Jesus is still alive and will never die!!
Yesterday there was a Vernon church ministrial joint Good Friday service at the Wesbild Centre. For the second time I was part of the worship team and that experience in itself was awesome! From my vantage point the service appeared to be well attended. Of course there are always people who complain...it was too cold (people it is a hockey arena...dress for it!), the sound was too loud or not loud enough, it was too dark, we could not see the words, the service was too long or too short, it wasn't traditional enough, different people need to lead the service...and the list goes on. Are people really so self centred that they missed the whole reason as to why we gathered together united as one local church body?!
Pastor Eric Reimer delivered the message and in his opening prayer he thanked God for sending His one and only son for us. Eric and his wife just had a baby boy 10 days earlier and you could hear his voice crack as he realized he could never give his son for anyone and yet God have his ONE AND ONLY son for us, for you and for me. Do we really understand what God did for us....do I really understand what God did for me? It is easier to give a life for someone in kingship or someone who is looked upon highly and yet God gave His son for us, we are sinners; we are not kings or queens, we are not leadership, in fact we are barely known even by our own neighbours and yet He still sent His son!
You know the homeless person you pass on the street begging for food or money, God sent His son for that person too. Some of you gasp thinking you are better then that person and yet really you are not...I am not. There are only two types of people; believers in Christ and non-believers of Christ. If the homeless person is a believer in Christ I am his equal, we are both joint heirs with Jesus, we both have been given the gift of eternal salvation, we both have our sins forgiven and we both will one day be face to face with Jesus! Oh there is so much more that God has for us when we believe in Him, much more then most can comprehend.
So what about the non-believers of Christ? I know there is only one way to have eternal life...one way to have a passport to heaven and that is to surrender completely to God realizing you need Him as your personal saviour, asking Him to be Lord in your life and accepting Him into your heart. Jesus is the only way for us to have eternal life and salvation. In John 14:6 the Bible says Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Yet so many people refuse to believe there is a God or that they have to surrender and repent. They think they can do life on their own terms, their own rules and be accountable to no one. These people are generally very proud self providing and often successful individuals. They don't need anyone else; they can do it all, until their world falls apart around them. Some will turn very quickly to remedies that have worked for them previously and others having tryng those previous remedies for awhile will cry out to God and He will hear their cry. The ones that never cry out are locked into a vicious cycle that they may never get out of.
Then there is the generally "good" people, ones who live healthly lives, hold down great jobs, raised their children to be good citizens of their community. You've seen them...the soccer mom's, the family that is always at the park together laughing and having a blast. The ones with the nice house who invite you over for coffee or sometimes a BBQ. You never hear them swear and you never see them drink alcohol either so on the outside they appear to have it all together. But what about the inside? What about the condition of their heart with their creator? If they were to die tomorrow would they go to heaven or hell? Both places are very real, heaven will be a glourious place to live, hell will be torture. Do "good" people need Jesus? YES!!!
And the total opposite side of the coin are people who don't think they are good enough for God and Jesus. Oh how they are being lied to by the enemy of this world! You know people like this you see them everyday. Sometimes they look a lot like the ones who are "good" people but all too often they wear their shame and guilt like ratty old clothes. Sometimes life has just handed them one bad deal after the other and they feel as through they brought it on themselves. They are constantly beaten down by lies of being told you will never grow up, you can't do this, you are not good enough, you will never be anything, why were you born? These people don't know what unconditional love feels like, most of their lives love has had strings attached or hoops to have jumped through. Do these people need Jesus? YES!!!
Do you know that Jesus died a criminals death? In fact there were two criminals crucified with Jesus when He died. God's son hung NAILED to a cross between two other crosses that had criminals NAILED to them. Jesus a man who knew no sin, who was born innocent and sinless died like an everyday ordinary criminal. He was sentanced to death and yet commmitted no punishable crime!
As for believers there are many types of them too unfortunately. Some believe they only have to read and obey parts of the bible, usually the parts that already fit nicely into their lives without having to make a whole lot of changes in their lives. Often you will hear them say "oh God won't judge me after all He knows my heart". If you are that type of beleiver becareful as God cleary says in the Bible if you are lukewarm He will spit you out!
Some believe that because they accepted Jesus into their heart as a child or even a young adult they think they are ok, that God won't forget them when He takes His children home to heaven. If that is you how can you be sure God won't forget you? Unless the bible backs up your thinking or belief you too must becareful.
I realize some of my family will read this and I know we are not all on the same page when it comes to God. We are a blended combination of everything I have mentioned above and even things not mentioned. I pray for my family often and my heart aches at times for them. I know I cannot force them to make a decision just as I can't force any of you who are reading this. I do know that God's word will not return empty and I know my family has heard His word spoken over the years. I love my family...each and every one of them!!
It is now dark outside much like the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I know tomorrow when my eyes open that I will be going to church to celebrate, praise, worship and adore my saviour who IS risen from the dead!
So as the title of this post is 'I will Rise'...I will one day rise with Him!
Amen.
