Because I Live, You also Will Live

4/17/2022

“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)

The Cross leads us to repentance but the empty tomb guarantees us victory.

Pastor Jeff Marshall

If there was a day in human history that altered the dynamic of man’s future, Easter was that day. Although without the Crucifixion on Friday, there would not have been an Easter and the Resurrection on Sunday. These two days changed how man is able to relate to God forever. They accomplished what man is powerless to do on his own. A decisive victory won where death was conquered, and the power of sin vanquished.

As Jesus Christ breathed His last on the cross, the earth shook, graves opened and the temple veil split. But death could not hold Him!!  “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:44-57 (NIV)

Easter Sunday is the day to celebrate the Resurrection and Christ’s victory over death, but it is also a day where dread and fear of death were overcome by a living hope that is eternal. Without the Resurrection of Christ, death has us in its clutches and we are just dried up bones in the earth with no hope. But we who know Christ now have a promise of an irrevocable hope that is alive.  

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)

The Crucifixion and the Resurrection occurred in history at “God’s appointed time”. There is a Day on the horizon appointed when that same Jesus shall appear as Conqueror, Judge and King to take possession of His inheritance. On that Day, we shall see the Lord Jesus Christ in His victorious appearing and we will share in the glory of the Resurrection.

His enduring promise to those who love Him is: “Because I live, you also will live.”  John 14:19 (NIV)