Holy Thoughts

It is said that that the way to the open tomb is a blood-stained cross. In order to get to the angelic message of the resurrected Savior, there must be a beating and crucifixion. So what is it about the story of this weekend that captivates you?  Spend a few minutes thinking about that question.

Pastor Hower made two illustrations in chapel that refer to the sacrifice Jesus made for our sins:

• "In order to get something clean, something has to get dirty"
• "In order for something to be free, something has to be paid"

In order for you to be right with God, a perfect sacrifice had to be made to purchase you back from the guilty judgment for your sins. Notice the plural form of that noun.  Shame is erased. Forgiveness is real - yet at an expensive price.

Isaiah 53 describes the purpose of Jesus sacrifice 1000 years before His birth: "He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

John the Baptist, upon seeing Jesus stated "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"    

There is no greater statement than "I know that my Redeemer lives! What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He Lives, He Lives who once was dead! He lives my ever-living Head!" Jesus is the prime character in the story of this weekend! He suffered, He died, but HE LIVES! - all for YOU!