April 2003 Meditation
"The Lord is risen indeed!" (Luke 24:34b)
In these words, the eleven apostles expressed their exuberant joy about the resurrection of their beloved Master, the Lord Jesus Christ words which constitute the foundation of the Christian faith and of the hope of the individual believer. Paul articulates this in 1 Corinthians 15 when he writes, "If Christ be not risen, your faith is vain....but now is Christ risen!" (1 Cor. 15:17,20).
Why is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ of such momentous importance? It is nothing less than the vindication of His death on the cross! It is the confirmation that the wages of sin were paid in full and that the Father is well pleased with the sacrifice of His well beloved Son. Had Christ not risen, all the dreadful suffering He endured on the cross would have been utterly in vain.
But thanks be to God, the cross was not in vain! Christ is risen indeed, and we may know therefore with certainty that God and sinners have been reconciled! Christ's resurrection is the divine warranty of that blessed reality. It is God's stamp of approval on His finished work on the cross.
What a comfort this is for all who, by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, have believed on a Jesus who not only died on the cross, but who is also risen again! For them the resurrection of Christ is nothing less than the warranty that their sins are fully and freely pardoned.
Dear believer, rejoice, for the Lord is risen indeed! Believe the record of God's Word that you are therefore reconciled with God and have become an heir of eternal life that "He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification!" (Rom. 4:25).
This blessed gospel truth so filled the heart of Paul with joy that, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he cried out, "If God be for us, who can be against us?...Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again" (Rom 8:31 34). Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift!
Dear reader, as we commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ this month, ask yourself the urgent question, "Have I already repented and believed on this Christ who died and arose?" For then alone and only then! shall you be the beneficiary of the blessed benefits of His death and resurrection. If not, then "Be it known unto you therefore...that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all that believe are justified from all things!" (Acts 13:38 39).
Pastor B. Elshout
