A closer look
Easter has come and gone, and I'm still stuck on this. I just can't shake the realness of it.
I'm not a "deep" thinker ~ not very analytically prone. I tend to glaze over facts with a surface understanding, but for the past week I've returned again & again to this thought.
I'm not a "deep" thinker ~ not very analytically prone. I tend to glaze over facts with a surface understanding, but for the past week I've returned again & again to this thought.
Jesus is ALIVE.
It can kinda flip your lid, if you allow it to... which, I suppose is a good thing.
Jesus IS ALIVE.
Not in a merely ethereal (spiritual) way. Not just "alive in my heart". Not that his memory will live on in me.
Jesus is ALIVE.
The word through which all was created... GOD the son, humbled himself and took on the very nature and likeness of that which was created. He lived in a mortal body and ultimately subjected himself to a disfiguring, humiliating death.
Having never sinned, he took the sins of mankind upon himself as though they were his own.
Three days later he was seen - ALIVE.
Not bound in grave clothes, not zombie-fied Jesus, but a GLORY-FIED Jesus.
A conqueror, who had descended into hell - ultimately defeating the power of death, hell and the grave in order to redeem a people from the effects of sin.
After his gruesome death he was seen by many, he spoke with, cooked for, ate with and was touched by his disciples and followers ~ even inviting one to place his hand into his side. His body still bore the marks of crucifixion.
The body that he ascended into heaven in, is the same body he is living in now. According to John, the apostle, who saw him some 60 years later in his revelation from the Isle of Patmos, He still bears the likeness of a man.
WE are the reward of His suffering; His inheritance. His eyes were fixed on US as He endured the humiliation and abuse of the cross.
Even now, He is alive and - I believe - He is anticipating the time of His return, to claim a bride that is as devoted to Him, as lovesick as He has shown himself to be.
He's WORTH preparing myself for.
As Misty Edwards sings: He's not a baby in a manger anymore. He's not a broken man on a cross. He didn't stay in the grave and He's not staying in heaven forever. He's alive. He's ALIVE. HE'S ALIVE!
It can kinda flip your lid, if you allow it to... which, I suppose is a good thing.
Jesus IS ALIVE.
Not in a merely ethereal (spiritual) way. Not just "alive in my heart". Not that his memory will live on in me.
Jesus is ALIVE.
The word through which all was created... GOD the son, humbled himself and took on the very nature and likeness of that which was created. He lived in a mortal body and ultimately subjected himself to a disfiguring, humiliating death.
Having never sinned, he took the sins of mankind upon himself as though they were his own.
Three days later he was seen - ALIVE.
Not bound in grave clothes, not zombie-fied Jesus, but a GLORY-FIED Jesus.
A conqueror, who had descended into hell - ultimately defeating the power of death, hell and the grave in order to redeem a people from the effects of sin.
After his gruesome death he was seen by many, he spoke with, cooked for, ate with and was touched by his disciples and followers ~ even inviting one to place his hand into his side. His body still bore the marks of crucifixion.
The body that he ascended into heaven in, is the same body he is living in now. According to John, the apostle, who saw him some 60 years later in his revelation from the Isle of Patmos, He still bears the likeness of a man.
WE are the reward of His suffering; His inheritance. His eyes were fixed on US as He endured the humiliation and abuse of the cross.
Even now, He is alive and - I believe - He is anticipating the time of His return, to claim a bride that is as devoted to Him, as lovesick as He has shown himself to be.
He's WORTH preparing myself for.
As Misty Edwards sings: He's not a baby in a manger anymore. He's not a broken man on a cross. He didn't stay in the grave and He's not staying in heaven forever. He's alive. He's ALIVE. HE'S ALIVE!
Labels:
Jesus,
Love,
Revelation
