Personalized Easter

After going through the remembrance that is Easter, we should be renewed in our understanding and enthusiasm for the Fearless and Extraordinary lives we should be living as redeemed children of God. If that’s not where we find ourselves this morning, we need to review the process to see where we might have missed out. We know that He has not missed out. He accomplished his assignment perfectly. If things are not as they should be, we missed it somewhere.

Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples . . . . ’Stay here and watch with Me’ —Matthew 26:36, 38. His call to his disciples to stay and watch with Him is His call to us. We need to see and understand, to the full extent we are capable; what He saw and understood that night. As God and as man, He saw and understood the enormity of sin. It was a personalization of what He was called to do. We must personalize as well. We like to say that if we were the only person on earth; He would have died for just us. That’s a wonderful truth. But what we really need to fully understand is that if we were the only person for whom He would die; that the death would be as horrible as it was. Our  personal sin is that enormous.and our personal salvation is that incredible. If we are to personalize the resurrection; we need to personalize the death.  We can not have resurrection without death, new life hanging on to old life,  sanctification with sin,  salvation without repentance or power without surrender.

As to Friday, our old lives must be crucified as He was. If the old is not dead, it will come back to us. We will return to living it. Like Israel in the dessert, we will long to return to Egypt, the memory of life in slavery forgotten.

As to Sunday, we must rise with Him. For some the process stops on Friday. They live a life of continual crucifixion, unable to get pass all they have done, they can’t grasp the enormity o what He did. 

If the Monday after Easter isn’t all it should be, personalize it. It’s my sin that made it necessary. His death was for me. My old self is dead. I must leave it in the tomb and with it all the old concerns and attractions and distractions.  His resurrection is mine. His new life is mine to share with new purposes and priorities and powers.

He’s alive and

I am blessed.

Nick