RESURRECTION DAY?

RESURRECTION DAY?

Sunday, April 16, 2017

1Peter MKJV 1:1-9  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect sojourners of the Dispersion of Pontus, of Galatia, of Cappadocia, of Asia, and of Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time; in which you greatly rejoice, yet a little while, if need be, grieving in manifold temptations; so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love; in whom not yet seeing, but believing in Him you exult with unspeakable joy, and having been glorified, obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

  Of lately, the gloomy cold rainy weather fit Jack’s mood perfectly as he, head down, countenance sour, dejectedly trudged to work in the morning shadows.

  Jack noticed a man walking his way, recognizing an always happy fellow that attended the same church as he and his family. Hunching his shoulders and pulling the brim of his cap lower, Jack accelerated his pace.

  Undeterred by Jack’s rude behavior, smiling broadly, the man cheerfully greeted Jack by name, asking, “How is your resurrection day going?”

  Deliberately mumbling an unintelligible reply, Jack rammed his hands deeper into his pockets and, head down, trudged on.

  As his workday wore on, Jack could not get the odd greeting out of his mind.

  Later in the afternoon, while staring morbidly out the window at dark rainy weather, it struck him. Christ’ resurrection was not His alone. It is not limited to something He did. It is not exclusively His to live. Resurrection is the eternal abundant life that He gifts to all who will receive, trusting Him as Lord and Savior.

  For the believer, everlasting resurrection is our assured present possession; but is it just as certainly our daily preoccupation? “Does the Spirit of the one who brought Jesus back to life live in you? Then the one who brought Christ back to life will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you. So, brothers and sisters, we have no obligation to live the way our corrupt nature wants us to live.” (Romans GW 8:11-12)  

EBB4 (Originally pondered and written a Sunday in 2008. And yes, I had 2 particular men in mind when I wrote the story.)