RESURRECTION WAKE-UP CALL
He
is not here; he has risen. (Matthew 28:6)
During the season of Lent we
focus our thoughts and our worship remembering and re-living the death and
resurrection of Jesus.
God raised Jesus back to life from the dead. This is almost unfathomable—so beyond normal that some just cannot accept it. But if we do accept it, if we have faith in the God who promises salvation and brings resurrection - then amazing power unfolds before us!
The story of Lazarus is a foreshadowing preview of the
resurrection of Jesus and what it means for us. Lazarus had been dead for
several days. Nonetheless, the commanding voice of Jesus pulls him back from
death’s grasp and restores him to life.
Jesus
called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands
and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. (John 11: 43-44)
The voice that spoke
creation into existence now calls him out of the darkness of death and into the
light of life again. Lazarus’
resurrection is meant to point us to deeper truths, namely, the hope of
resurrection and new life that we have in Christ. What Jesus did for Lazarus is
also a promised for all of us who believe.
Amid all the chaos of the world around us, we cannot always see or
understand how God is at work in our world. When we have times in which we are
struggling, anxious, or afraid, we can look to Jesus and remember his promises
of life forever with him. Nothing is too big, and no problem is too difficult
for Jesus to overcome. Not even death itself.
The
goal for each of us at CENTAL during Lent is, like Lazarus, is to hear his
voice and be resurrected and restored and then go forward with a witness of
God’s powerful grace in our life. The Apostle Paul had his own very personal
wake-up call and witness and put it this way I want to know him and the
power of his resurrection. (Philippians 3:10)
1 ➤ |
||
2 |
||
3 |
Mark 16 |