The Week - Settled!

The Week - Settled!

Mark 16:6 TPT

[6] But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you’re here looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here—he has risen victoriously! Look! See the place where they laid him.

The week has now come to an end. Jesus has gone to the cross, and fully paid the price that we should have paid but could not pay. He gave His life as a ransom for all of the world, and anyone in the world can make a claim on the benefits and blessings of the cross. Even as He hung on the cross, dying from the loss of blood, salvation and redemption were on offer, and a man who was condemned to death and destined for destruction got his reprieve, and got admitted to paradise. What is that issue that seems to be persistent, not wanting to give way? Remind it that the cross is final, and it has brought an end to all that is of my past. 

It is also interesting that the disciples forgot that Jesus had told them He would rise up from the dead. They came to look for Him at the grave, but met the angel who told them the news that they must have forgotten, but which was true anyway: Jesus had risen. In the event that they were still unsure, the angel offered them an opportunity to come in and see where He was laid. There is an awesome power in eyewitness testimony; it is not what I heard from someone else or was told, but what I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. Ignore the noise from those who seek to deny the truth of resurrection, and point them to the empty tomb. There is no other person or authority in history whose grave is not known, or whose story is not now in the past. 

It is nice to start the search for Jesus based on His past, which is the cross, but that is not the full story. The cross is the start point, but it is bigger than just that. His death paid the price for me, and His resurrection is the seal of hope, and the future that lines up with God's purpose and plan. It means that I do not have to die again, and just as He rose from the dead, death has no power over me, as long as I am IN Him. That location is critical to this discussion; nowhere else can a man be truly safe and secure than IN Him. The victory has been secured, and all I need to do is to trust and believe in that finished work. I cannot add anything to, or take anything away from it. How would you respond? God's time of favour is here.