Bible Ballistics: BBs #549   HE Is Not Dead—He Has Risen!!!

As we approach the celebration this weekend of the resurrection of Jesus Christ my Lord, I thought it would be a good time to remind us all of what we are celebrating!  I love to celebrate Jesus—and that, my friends, is what this season is all about; whether you call it “Resurrection Sunday” or “Easter” we need to keep our focus on Jesus—not eggs, and bunnies, and candy, and egg hunts—for it is Jesus who gave HIS life for our salvation! (And it is each person’s choice of what practices they will incorporate into the seasonal celebration—that is a subject for another time.)

Let’s simply rehearse the wonder of what Jesus has done for all who will receive HIM!

“I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd giveth his life

for the sheep.

12 But he that is an hireling,

and not the shepherd,

whose own the sheep are not,

seeth the wolf coming,

and leaveth the sheep,

and fleeth:

and the wolf catcheth them,

and scattereth the sheep.

13 The hireling fleeth,

because he is an hireling,

and careth not for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd,

and know my sheep,

and am known of mine.

15 As the Father knoweth me,

even so know I the Father:

and I lay down my life

for the sheep.

16 And other sheep I have,

which are not of this fold:

them also I must bring,

and they shall hear my voice;

and there shall be one fold,

and one shepherd.

17 Therefore doth my Father love me,

because I lay down my life,

that I might take it again.

18 No man taketh it from me,

but I lay it down

of myself.

I have power to lay it down,

and I have power to take it again.

This commandment have I received

of my Father.”  John 10:11-18

I love this beautiful picture that Jesus paints of His love for us—the sheep; He loved us then, He loves us now, and He laid down His life that we might have life “in HIM”!   Jesus makes it clear that HE gave HIS life for us because He loves us—not because He had to—not because anyone took His life from Him, but because “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” And as Jesus said in this same chapter, He gave His life because He IS the “good shepherd” and not a “thief”!  Have you given your heart to The One who loves you or have you given your heart to a thief?

“I am the door:

by me if any man enter in,

he shall be saved,

and shall go in and out,

and find pasture.

10 The thief cometh not,

but for to steal,

and to kill,

and to destroy:

I am come that they might have life,

 and that they might have it

more abundantly.”  John 10:9-10

That enemy is real, and we must be sure that we are listening to the right voices and making the right choices—for there is a consequence to each choice!  We are ever free to choose, but we are not free to set the consequences of our choices! Jesus gave His all that we might have life “more abundantly”!  And Jesus can deliver on that truth, because He didn’t stay dead!  HE arose to conquer sin, death and hell for you and me!

“And the angel answered and said unto the women,

Fear not ye:

for I know that ye seek Jesus,

which was crucified.

6 He is not here:

for he is risen,

as he said.

Come, see the place

where the Lord lay.

7 And go quickly,

and tell his disciples

that he is risen

from the dead;

 and, behold, he goeth before you

into Galilee;

there shall ye see him:

lo, I have told you.”  Matthew 28:5-7

The most wonderful words of life:

 “He is not here:

for he is risen,

as he said”!

Amen and Amen!

This same Jesus rose victorious and has offered that same victory to us through repentance from our sin, and faith in what He accomplished on the cross—and also at the tomb!  HE arose!  We can walk in victory—each day that we choose to trust HIM with it all.  All by the work of His substitutionary, atoning sacrifice for my sin and yours—for He had no sin of His own.  He died to pay a debt that you and I owed and could never pay apart from hell!  That’s how much HE loves YOU!

“For this corruptible

must put on incorruption,

and this mortal

must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible

shall have put on incorruption,

 and this mortal

shall have put on immortality,

 then shall be brought to pass the saying

that is written,

Death is swallowed up in victory.

55 O death,

where is thy sting?

O grave,

where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin;

and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God,

which giveth us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren,

be ye stedfast,

unmoveable,

always abounding

in the work of the Lord,

forasmuch as ye know

that your labour

is not in vain

 in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 15:53-57

All this because we have a “risen” savior!  A Savior who loved you then—and He loves you now.

“This is my commandment,

 That ye love one another,

as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this,

that a man lay down his life

for his friends.”   John 15:12-13

And while I have had and still have many wonderful, precious and faithful friends, Jesus is the best friend I have ever had.  He loves me, He bought my salvation, and He supplies my every need!  What have you done with Him?  And if you know Him, have you shared that love and faithfulness with others?

“Hereby perceive we the love of God,

because he laid down his life

for us:

 and we ought to lay down our lives

for the brethren.”  1 John 3:16

He laid down His life for me, and if I belong to Him and have been redeemed by the “blood of the Lamb”, how could I do less than pursue Him, His Word and His will for every area of my life?  I leave you with Paul’s challenge to us to be yielding to His Spirit’s work in us.  Let’s “work out” our salvation in our everyday life, and take some time during this time of holy remembrance to “consider our ways”! (Not working for but letting what God has put ‘in’to us be “worked out” in our daily walk with Jesus!)

“Let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God,

thought it not robbery

to be equal with God:

7 But made himself

of no reputation,

and took upon him

the form of a servant,

and was made

in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man,

he humbled himself,

and became obedient

unto death,

even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also

hath highly exalted him,

and given him a name

which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

of things in heaven,

and things in earth,

and things under the earth;

11 And that

every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ

is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

12 Wherefore, my beloved,

as ye have always obeyed,

 not as in my presence only,

but now much more in my absence,

work out your own salvation

with fear

and trembling.”   Philippians 2:5-12

Amen and Amen.  He IS Alive!!!  So let us live what we profess to believe!!!  May His presence pervade our celebrations and His life be seen in us in all our ways!!!