6^th April

 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance…”

1 Peter 1:3-4a 

Hallelujah, Jesus is risen. I often think what it would be like in Heaven on that 3^rd day when Jesus resurrected from the dead, conquering death and sin and taking back the authority of this world from the enemy. I am sure that there was a huge party, the angels rejoiced in a victorious chorus and all the heavenly hosts praised the Father for His great act of mercy and love.

Yet that is all well and good but what is our reaction to His resurrection? In John chapter 3, Jesus instructs Nicodemus what to do to see and experience the Kingdom of Heaven. He exclaims that one must be spiritually born again to experience the gift of salvation. He then goes on to say that in the greatest act of love, God sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue and save the world from their sin. On that glorious 3^rd day, Jesus rose from the dead and fulfilled that promise. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we too can have new life and be born again.

If Jesus stayed dead, we would have no means to live a resurrected life, but because He was raised from the dead, because He no longer lives in the grave, we can experience new life with Christ. Our old selves are crucified with Christ on the cross, buried with Him in the tomb and we now live a resurrected life with Christ!!

Yet Peter encourages us further. That after this mortal life finishes we have a glorious inheritance awaiting us, were we can live eternally in the very presence of our Saviour, where there is no more pain and suffering, no more tears and sorrow, but only peace, joy and love.

“So be truly glad. There is a wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a while” (verse 6). So don’t give up. Rejoice that our King is resurrected and we can be part of that resurrection too!