Christ Has Opened Paradise

 

'I passed on to you what was most important and what had been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.' 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NLT) 

My Lord! What a Morning! Every Easter every Christian should wake up with this exclamation and just soak up the irrefutable fact that the resurrection of Jesus Christ validates our faith, our confidence, our joy.

Google 'Resurrection' or 'Easter' and you will come across many articles trying to prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his death as a historical fact. But the early believers believed the resurrection needing no apologetics or proofs; they lived the fact of the resurrection, Jesus being among them and appearing before their very eyes. They were the eyewitnesses of the resurrection as St Paul wrote

'He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I have been born at the wrong time, I also saw Him.' 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 (NLT) 

The very drastic change in the behaviour of the apostles from fearful and despondent followers to confident, brave and committed disciples indicated that something extraordinarily miraculous occurred. Christ had informed them that despite the horrendous nature of his death by crucifixion, on the third day, He will be raised again from the grave. Indeed, they saw first hand, Jesus Christ's triumph over death and they were no longer afraid.

A drastic paradigm shift occurred. Because Jesus Christ lives, Christianity grew from a small motley band of believers in the backwater of the Judean hills to the global religion it is today with millions of Christians from every country and every part of the world.

St Paul put it bluntly,

'And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God - for we have said that God raised Christ from the dead.' 1 Corinthians 15:14-15

What does the fact of Christ's resurrection mean to us personally? We can take reference from a hymn composed by Charles Wesley in 1739, 'Christ The Lord Is Risen Today!' Originally written in 11 stanzas, now condensed to 6 stanzas as in the United Methodist Hymnal, the hymn is replete with all that Easter, the Resurrection, mean to individual Christians today, the good news of the Gospel

• All heaven and all earth now sing for joy, triumphantly at this irrefutable resurrection.
• Christ's redeeming work is complete.
• The fight against evil proved victorious,
• Paradise was opened, eternal life ushered.
• There is no more fear of death, no victory of the grave.
• We now look forward to the day of our own resurrection to everlasting life.

At that first Easter as the three ladies, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome entered Jesus' tomb, the angel told them,

'Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look this is where they laid His body.' Mark 16:6 (NLT)

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!

Sons of men and angels say,Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high,Alleluia!

Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply,Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done,Alleluia!

Fought the fight, the battle won,Alleluia!

Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!

Christ hath opened paradise,Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!

Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!

Dying once He now doth save, Alleluia!

Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!

Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!

Made like Him, like Him we rise,Alleluia!

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!

Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!

Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! 

Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory and soul of bliss, Alleluia!

Everlasting Life is this, Alleluia!

Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!

Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia

On that Easter morning, the prophecies of the Old Testament (Isaiah and Hosea) were fulfilled and the era of the New Testament declared.

'Death is swallowed up in victory, O death, where is your victory, O death where is your sting?' 1 Corinthians 15:54b-55

Happy Easter!

Lionel 

Was It A Morning Like This?

 

The Three Marys At the Sepulcher by
Giovanni Francesco Romanelli. The National Gallery of Victoria

The sunrise on an Easter morning is not like any other morning sunrise. There is an air of anticipation, of excitement and exhilaration during an Easter sunrise. We declare, "Christ is risen" and all others will respond "He is risen indeed." 

Not so the first Easter morning in Jerusalem when Mary Magdalene went with some women, with some trepidation, to anoint some spices over what she expected to be a dead body.

'On the first day of the week, very early in the morning the women* took the spices and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" Luke 24:1-6a

Thus was declared the Easter message that has resonated for centuries, "He has risen." 

Perhaps the three women may not have recognised it but that morning was not like any other morning. The resurrection of Jesus Christ did not happen furtively; there were several extraordinary events surrounding the resurrection according to Matthew 28:1-4

• There was a violent earthquake. 
• An angel whose appearance dazzled like lightning, came down from heaven.
• The stone covering the entrance to the tomb rolled away.
• The guards were paralysed.
• The tomb was empty.
• Jesus Christ rose from the grave!

This song  'Was It A  Morning Like This' presents Heaven and Nature declaring the Easter morning news 'He Is Risen!' 

Was it a morning like this

When the Son still hid from Jerusalem?

And Mary rose from her bed

To tend the Lord she thought was dead

Was it a morning like this

When Mary walked down from Jerusalem?

And two angels stood at the tomb

Bearers of news she would hear soon

Did the grass sing?

Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Was it a morning like this

When Peter and John ran from Jerusalem?

And as they raced toward the tomb

Beneath their feet was there a tune?

Did the grass sing?

Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Over and over like a trumpet underground

Did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Over and over in a never-ending round

"He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!"

When my Lord looked out on Jerusalem?

He is risen!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

What is the central message of Easter? It is certainly not about Easter eggs or Easter bunnies. 

Tim Keller tried to put the message across when he wrote, "If you believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and you put your hope in that, then death is now a gardener, meaning it plants us. It puts us into the ground like a tulip bulb, which becomes a lovely flower, or an acorn, which becomes a beautiful oak tree. All it can do now is make us better."

St Paul was even more emphatic and succinct when he wrote, 

'Where, O death, is your victory? Where O death, is your sting?' 1 Corinthians 15:55

That is what Easter means to me; a message to be declared for all generations since that first Easter morning.

Lionel

* According to Mark 16:1 Three women visited the tomb that morning, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus and Salome or Mary Salome the mother of James and John 

Jesus Is Alive!

The Double Rainbow-A symbol of Transformation

'The Lord your God is with you. He will take great delight in you; he will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.' Zephaniah 3:17

Hallelujah! Jesus is Alive. Today is Easter 2021 and we are all celebrating the Miracle of the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb of Jesus only to find it empty. The empty tomb and the appearances of the resurrected Christ fired up, encouraged the early believers and started a movement that has not ended since - the growth of Christianity.

What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to us?

The resurrection validates our faith. Consistently and unabashedly the early Christians cited the resurrection of Jesus Christ as proof of their claims and beliefs. It confirmed all that Jesus taught and sealed His work in the redemption and salvation of all believers. 

'With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all.' Acts 4:33

The resurrection signifies victory over death. We now preach that Christ has triumphed over death, good over evil and hope over despair. Death is not something to be feared and the grave lost its power over us. 

'Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life....Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him.' Romans 6:4,8,9

The resurrection releases the stranglehold of Satan and sin in our lives; ushers in a new life in Jesus. We have just enacted the events of a holy weekend, contemplating through Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, His torture and crucifixion on the cross, His lying in state in the garden tomb and finally His glorious resurrection on Easter morning. Paul in the book of Romans posited that this is the symbolism in every baptism of Christians. As a consequence, sin should have no influence in our new lives and Satan loses his hold over us.

'Shall we go on sinning?..... By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? For if we are united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly be united in a resurrection like His....we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.' Romans 6:2,5,7

The resurrection provides the certainty of eternal life for all of God's people. It gives Christians an entirely new perspective; no longer of time and space, no longer of the temporal nature of our existence but of everlasting life and eternal values. 

'But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Romans 6:22-33

This eternity perspective is a very special gift for Christians. We focus not on the temporary but the long lasting and eternal. We see the world less selfishly and more patiently when we no longer have to measure our lives and achievements in time and the immediate circumstances.  

'For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.' 2 Cor 4:8,9

The resurrection ushers in an era of hope. Emil Brunner said, “What oxygen is for the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of human life.” This new life we receive is one full of hope for the future; a better tomorrow. In the midst of the uncertainties of the spread and waves of the Covid-19 pandemic we  can still pray and hope that life will be better, Auspicium Melioris Aevi!  This hope is not in our ability nor in our goodness. It is a hope enabled by the optimism that the resurrection of Christ brings. 

 

'Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.' 1 Peter 3:3-4

The resurrection indicates that God is with us. Immanuel is one of the names for Jesus. This messianic concept: 'God With Us' was introduced by the Prophet Isaiah, 'Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.' This prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. It became real in the lives of all Christians in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them. They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' Revelation 21:3-4

There is much for us to reflect on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the cornerstone of all of God's prophecies and promises. It is the reason we celebrate Easter, a celebration of Jesus Christ; Celebrate Jesus, Hallelujah Jesus is Alive

Celebrate Jesus Celebrate

Celebrate Jesus Celebrate

He is risen! He is risen!

And he lives forever more

He is risen! He is risen!

Come on and celebrate

The resurrection of our Lord 

Hallelujah, Jesus is alive

Death has lost it's victory

And the grave has been denied

Jesus lives forever

He's alive! He's alive!

He's the Alpha and Omega

The first and last is He

The curse of sin is broken

And we have perfect liberty

The Lamb of God is risen

He's alive! He's alive

Lionel

Double Rainbow photo taken by John Gifford from Marlborough, UK