And now, in the words of Paul Harvey, the rest of the story…
Easter would be a sad tale if it ended with Christ’s disciples laying his body in a borrowed tomb.
We know the story does not end there.
We celebrate today because He left that tomb. He walked away from death, defeating sin and the grave. He rose again…just as He said.
It was no accident. It was part of the plan…the plan to redeem us from our sins. To bring us–hopeless sinners–into a relationship with Himself–a holy God.
Again, the story does not end there…
“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“
God did not simply save us from something; He also saved us to something.
He saved us to eternal life with Him.
He saved us to abundant life in Him.
Today we make special pause to celebrate God’s amazing gift of grace. We realize again the price that was paid so we could live eternally with, and abundantly for, Him. We rejoice in the fact that we serve a risen Savior.
Are you celebrating today? Do you rejoice in the fact that you have eternal life with Christ? Are you living abundant life in Him?