By: Dale Weckbacher
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may
die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives
and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
NKJV
Most organizations and even churches today are encouraged to
develop mission statements. The purpose
of these mission statements is to keep the organization focused on its goal or
mission. The above passage from the
Gospel of John represents the mission of Jesus, the Son of God who became flesh
and came as the Lamb of God to die for the sins of mankind. However, he did not come just to die but to
resurrect from the dead thus declaring victory over death, life’s worst enemy.
As Christians around the world from all denominations
celebrate Easter, or as I like to call it Resurrection Sunday this Sunday, let
us reflect on what the day means for us.
When we do, I am sure we will agree that the event that occurred on that
Sunday morning almost 2000 years ago when Jesus victoriously rose from the dead
is the greatest even to ever occur in history.
It is a fact that Jesus had to suffer death in order to
fulfill the penalty for sin declared by God in the Garden of Eden. God warned Adam and Eve of the consequences
of disobedience to God in Genesis 2:16-17 where God said,
16 And the LORD God
commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely
eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
NKJV
This single act of disobedience by one man Adam caused the
pronouncement of a death penalty on all future men and women born after
them. Had God left things as they were,
all men and women born would have had no hope of ever having a relationship
with their creator. However, God loved
mankind and even after pronouncing his curse on mankind, gave them a promise of
a future savior that would take away the sins of mankind in Genesis 3:15,
Gen 3:15
15 And I will put
enmity
Between you and the
woman,
And between your seed
and her Seed;
He shall bruise your
head,
And you shall bruise
His heel."
NKJV
Since men and not women have the seed, this passage is
telling us that the birth of the savior of mankind will be a special birth, a
virgin birth. Christians all over the
world believe that Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, is the one promised
in Genesis 3:15. Satan, the serpent,
bruised the heel of Christ when Jesus died on the cross but Jesus bruised his
head when he arose victoriously on the third day, Resurrection Sunday.
Anyone choosing to believe that Jesus is the promised
Messiah that came to die for our sins and most importantly resurrect from the
dead can enjoy eternity with Christ. So,
if you are reading this and have not done so already, take a moment to pray
this prayer with me.
Dear Lord Jesus. I
know I have sinned. I ask you now to
forgive me of my sins. I invite you to
come into my heart and become Lord of my life.
I believe you came to die for my sins and were buried in the grave for
three days. You then resurrected from
the dead on the third day.
If you have prayed this prayer, your sins are now totally
forgiven and you have eternal life with our Lord. I now encourage you to share your new founded
faith with someone so they too can enjoy eternal life.
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