Acts 10:34-43 (or Jeremiah 31:1-6 - Year A; Isaiah 25:6-9 - Year B; Isaiah 65:17-25 - Year C); Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4 (Year A); 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (Year B); 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 (Year C); John 20:1-18 (or Matthew 28:1-10 - Year A; Mark 16:1-8 - Year B; Luke 24:1-12 - Year C)
God’s Love, God’s Son, God’s Command, God’s Purpose
‘When the Holy Spirit comes on you... you will be My witnesses... to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8). This great advance of the Gospel - Salvation reaches ‘the Gentiles’ (Acts 10:45; Acts 11:1, 18) - is a movement of ‘the Spirit’ (Acts 11:12). The Spirit speaks through the Word (Acts 10:44; Acts 11:15). In God’s Word, we read of (a) God’s love for the whole world (John 3:16); (b) God’s Son who died for ‘the sins of the whole world’ (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2); (c) God’s command that ‘the Good News’should be preached to ‘everyone’ (Mark 16:15); (d) God’s purpose that there should be disciples of Christ in every nation (Matthew 28:19). ‘Every person in every nation, in each succeeding generation, has the right to hear the News that Christ can save... Here am I, send me’ (Youth Praise,128). ‘Go forth and tell!’ (Mission Praise, 178).
God’s love is an everlasting love.
‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’ (Jeremiah 31:3).
So often, we have been like ‘the prodigal son’ (Luke -24). We have walked away from our Father’s House. We have wandered off into ‘the far country’. We feel that we are far from God, yet still He draws near to us. The Lord is at work in our hearts. He is bringing us ‘to our senses’. He is reminding us of His love. He is drawing us back to Himself. In love, He is calling us home again. He is speaking to our hearts. He is saying to us, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love’. As His love reaches our hearts, ‘the prodigal son’ becomes ‘the returning son’: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’. ‘Bring me back, let me come back, for you are the Lord my God!’ (Jeremiah 31:18).
Worship: Receiving God’s Love, Exalting God’s Son
‘O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your Name... You have done marvellous things’ (Isaiah 25:1). We remember what God has done for us. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour. We rejoice in Jesus Christ who died for us. We rejoice in Jesus Christ who rose again for us. We look forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to the Day when ‘He will swallow up death for ever’. On that Day, ‘the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces’. On that Day, we will look back and say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us’. On that Day, we will ‘rejoice and be glad in His salvation’ (Isaiah 25:8-9). Here and now, let us learn to ‘trust in the Lord’. We can trust in Him ‘for ever’. He is ‘the everlasting Rock’- ‘the Rock of our salvation’ (Isaiah 26:4; Psalm 95:1).
Make sure that you belong to Christ. Put your faith in Him
What a contrast there is between those who belong to Christ - ‘My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts’ - and those who have refused to come to Christ for salvation - ‘You will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit’ (Isaiah 65:14)! God is preparing a great future ‘for those who love Him’ - ‘I will create a new heaven and a new earth’. He is calling us away from our sins - ‘Past things will not be remembered. They will not come to mind’. He is calling us to His ‘holy mountain’. How can we enter into our full enjoyment of God’s eternal salvation? God’s Word tells us: ‘I will pay attention to those who are humble and sorry for their sins and who tremble at My Word’ (Isaiah 65:17,25; Isaiah 66:2; 1 Corinthians 2:9). Make sure that you belong to Christ. Put your faith in Him (John 3:18,36).
Witness: Obeying God’s Command, Fulfilling God’s Purpose
‘The Lord is my Strength and my Song. He is my Saviour’ (Psalm 118:14). Knowing that Jesus Christ is our Saviour gives us a song to sing: ‘Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine... This is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long’. Knowing that Jesus Christ is our Saviour, we sing His song with strength, committing ourselves to His service, earnestly seeking to win others for Him: ‘We’ve a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right ... We’ve a song to be sung to the nations, that shall lift their hearts to the Lord...We’ve a message to give to the nations, that the Lord, who reigneth above, hath sent us His Son to save us... We’ve a Saviour to show to the nations...’ (Mission Praise, 59, 744). Don’t keep your Saviour to yourself. Share Him with others. Win others for Him.
God’s command: Build your life on Jesus Christ.
Be what you already are. Be what God has made you in Christ. This is what God is saying to us here. ‘You have been raised with Christ... You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:1, 3).
Paul is describing the new birth. Christ has made His home in us. New life has begun. Now that Christ lives in us - what are we to do about it? How are we to live? - ‘Set your hearts and minds on things above’ (Colossians 3:1-2). This is how we are to live. We are to live out the life which God has put into our hearts.
The new life begins when Christ comes to live in us. It does not end there. That is only the beginning. We are to go on, ‘being renewed in knowledge after the image of our Creator’ (Colossians 3:10).
Christ wants to reign in us. He wants to enrich our lives (Colossians 3:15-16).
In Him, there is so much blessing. Let’s enjoy it!
In Our Worship, Let’s Be Resurrection People Living In Resurrection Power.
Here, we learn of Christ’s resurrection: the fact - ‘Christ has been raised from the dead’ - and the meaning - ‘the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep’ (1 Corinthians 15:20). We look back to His resurrection. We ‘remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead’ (2 Timothy 2:8). We look forward to our own resurrection. We will be ‘raised’- ‘imperishable… in glory… in power… a spiritual body’ (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). Looking back to His resurrection and looking forward to our own resurrection, we are to live, here and now, in ‘the power of His resurrection’ (Philippians 3:10). We believe the fact of the resurrection. We live in the power of the resurrection. We rejoice in the hope of the resurrection. With ‘resurrection’ faith in the ‘resurrection’ God, let us live the ‘resurrection’ life as a ‘resurrection’ people!
In Our Witness, Let’s Pray That God Will Be At Work In Resurrection Power.
There is no need for fear: ‘He has risen’- His ‘perfect love casts out fear’ (Matthew 28:5-6; 1 John 4:18).
There has to be a new beginning in faith.
First, there was a new beginning ‘in fact- Christ has been raised from the dead’(1 Corinthians 15:20).
Christ has won the victory over the grave. Christ has taken the sting out of death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Between the new beginning in faith - making disciples (Matthew 28:19) - and the new beginning in fact - Christ’s resurrection - , there is worship (Matthew 28:9).
The fact is not dependent on our feelings. ‘He has risen’ (Matthew 28:6-7) - the fact stands, even when many doubt and few worship (Matthew 28:17).
As we worship, we are strengthened in faith, strengthened for our task. We are to invite people to come to the place where ‘they will see’ Jesus (Matthew 28:10). We are to ‘make disciples’ (Matthew 28:19). Run and tell - with great joy (Matthew 28:8)!
Dead and buried (Mark 15:44-46) - ‘The End’? No! There is more. An ‘Appendix’? No! A whole new beginning - For Jesus, for us! He is ‘the first fruits’ (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23). The full glory is still to come (1 Corinthians 15:24). He has risen (Mark 16:6). ‘At His coming, those who belong to Christ’ will be raised - with Him and by Him - to everlasting life (1 Corinthians 15:23). This is the glory of the resurrection. It is not simply a thing of the past. It is our glorious future - we ‘will be raised imperishable’ (1 Corinthians 15:52). There is a Gospel to be preached - the Gospel of salvation (Mark 16:15-16). May God help us to preach the Gospel ‘everywhere’ - This will involve all of us, not just a few of us! May He give us the joy of seeing Him at work, confirming the message by the signs that attend it (Mark 16:20).
In Our Worship and Witness, Let’s Proclaim The Triumph Of Christ’s Victory.
‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). These are not words of despair. They are words of triumph. At an early stage in His public ministry, Jesus said, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me to finish His work’ (John 4:34). Even then, He was looking ahead to the Cross, to the completion of the work of redemption. In one sense, ‘it is finished’ - on the Cross. In another sense, there is more to be done - by the Father. The Cross is followed by the resurrection - ‘God raised Him from the dead’ (Acts 2:24; Romans 10:9). To come to the words, ‘It is finished’ is not to reach the end of the story. Jesus was laid in the tomb (John 19:42). Still, this was not the end of the story. Something else had to happen - ‘Jesus had to rise from the dead’ (20:9). For our salvation, Jesus died ‘and was raised to life’ (Romans 4:25).
Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus is the Son of God.
Jesus was ‘delivered into the hands of sinful men’. Jesus was ‘crucified’. This was not, for Him, the end. He rose from the dead (Luke 24:7). At the Cross, ‘the centurion’ described Jesus as ‘a righteous man’ (Luke 23:47). In the resurrection, God declared Him to be much more than a righteous man – He is ‘the Son of God’ (Romans 1:4). Don’t be like those who do ‘not believe’, those who consider Christ’s resurrection to be ‘an idle tale’ (Luke 24:11). Something has ‘happened’, something very wonderful – Jesus has risen from the dead:… ‘believe… be saved’ (Luke 24:12; Romans 10:9).
0 comments:
Post a Comment