This weekend is one of remembrance and of celebration. As we remember the brutal crucifixion Jesus endured for our sake so that we may be set free from the bondage of sin and death, it is also a time to rejoice in His victory.
In a powerful sermon, pastor Greg Locke shared with his congregation at Global Vision Bible Church the painful affliction Jesus went through on His journey to the cross. A man of sorrows with the suffering of the world upon Him, Jesus experienced pain in a way no man ever has or ever will. Once He was resurrected, Jesus’ disciples even had a hard time believing it was truly Him.
“After His resurrection, after His glorification and after showing Himself on a couple of occasions to His disciples, He said to Thomas…even after My resurrection, you can take your hands and stick them into the prints in My feet and in My hands,” Locke says.
Locke says he wonders if this could be a representation that we will be able to see these marks in Jesus’ hands and feet for all of eternity as a reminder of what He did on our behalf.
Jesus’ crucifixion forever changed history. By atoning for our sins and taking the keys of death and hell itself, our destiny has been changed. His resurrection also did something great and powerful for the here-and-now of this life: He gave us His Spirit to go and fulfill the Great Commission to tell the world about what He has done.
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“He appears for 40 days several different times to His disciples and many others, and then in Acts chapter 1 He stands on a hillside, He gives a commission to His disciples and the Bible says when He gave that commission that He was caught up before them into the clouds, and He was received immediately out of their sight,” Locke says.
“Then two men in white apparel stood amongst them and said, ‘why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which you see rising into heaven shall so come again,’” Locke continues.
Jesus’ resurrection, while difficult to believe in the natural, completely proves that there is nothing impossible for God. Once Jesus conquered death, He gave us the opportunity to be empowered by the same Holy Spirit that overcame the bondages of hell, so that we might go and tell people all about what He has done.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
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