Under Angel Wings

  

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Meaning Of Easter, by Billy Graham


We worship a risen, living Savior who has promised to give immortality to all who believe on His Name. No longer do men and women need to stumble in the fog and darkness of hopelessness. A light shines brighter than the noonday sun, offering hope to everyone who has been born again.

Jesus promised, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in  Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." (John 11:25-26).

Long ago Job asked the great question of the ages: "If a man dies, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). Death carries with it a certain dread. It has always been the enemy, the great, mysterious monster that makes people quake with fear.

Death stalks the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated. Death is no respecter of race, color or creed. Its shadow haunts us day and night. We never know when the moment of death will come for us.

Is there any hope?

I take you to an empty tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea. Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Salome had come to anoint the body of the crucified Christ, and they had been startled to find the tomb empty. An angel sat on the stone by the door of the tomb and said, "I know that you seek Jesus...He is not here; for He is risen." (Matthew 28:5-6). 


The greatest news that mortal ear has ever heard is the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, as he had promised. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the chief proof of the Christian faith. It is the truth that lies at the very foundation of the Gospel. Without a belief in the resurrection there can be no personal salvation. The Bible says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9).

In the resurrection of Jesus Christ we have the answer to Job's question. The Bible teaches that because Christ lives, we also shall live. The greatest truth that you can ever hear is that Jesus Christ died but rose again, and that you, too, will die but can rise again into newness of life.

The resurrected Christ still lives today. Though Jesus is in His glorified body in heaven, through the Holy Spirit He dwells in the heart of every Christian. The Scripture speaks of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27). Christ, in whom "dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9), lives within the hearts of people. This is a mystery that is beyond comprehension and yet is gloriously true.

The Scripture says that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead on the first Easter will raise us from the dead if the Spirit lives in us. Call upon His resources. His grace is more than sufficient; He will cause you to triumph over the world, the flesh and the devil.

From PRAYER FOCUS, by Billy Graham
Thank you to my dear sister in Christ, Carol, for sharing!

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