Forever Forgiven
As I reflect back on this Easter Sunday and the past few weeks leading up to today, I can’t help but feel awestruck as well as passionate. As a church family, we watched Passion of the Christ last week as a time of fellowship. My dad sang and narrated at the Community Choir Easter Cantata and performed at our home church this morning. We sang my favorite Easter songs, “He lives,” and “Christ the Lord Has Risen Today,” multiple times. How would I describe it? Blessings upon blessings upon blessings. God never fails to show His love for us – especially on this day, the day that changed everything. In the sermons, clips I’ve listened to and in the music, there are two words that stand out: forgiven and forever. These two words seem like they have different meanings, but on Easter Sunday (and every day), I believe that they intertwine to establish the key to our existence.
As we look at the crucifixion of Jesus, it’s heartbreaking and hard to stomach if we truly think about it. Why did it have to be so cruel? Why did they whip Him to the point of breaking His flesh open AND crucify Him? Not only did He endure physical pain, but the people mocked Him, laughed at Him and just let it happen. He carried His own cross, wore a crown of thorns and had nails go through His hands. I cannot even begin to fathom how much pain He went through during these last hours of His life. As I read these verses over and over, I see that this is what had to be done. This is what had to be done for me. Not Him, but me. Jesus was perfect and He didn’t need to endure this pain, but He did because He was thinking about me and you. Because of this ultimate sacrifice, our sins were and are and will be forgiven.
Just because we are forgiven, doesn’t mean we should live a life full of sin and have a halfway dedicated heart. Instead of taking this act of love for granted that Jesus performed for us, we should live completely and 100% for Him. I am not saying I am perfect; I fail Him every day, but I am working on serving Him and having “all in” faith. Jesus rose from the dead at dawn on Easter morning. Isn’t that just a perfect reminder to always put Him first as it was the first part of the day of the first day of the week? (Thanks Pastor Scott for that neat realization!) When we read the story about Good Friday, we know that Sunday is coming; however, imagine being there the day of the crucifixion. All hope would’ve been lost. The people had been promised someone to save them and if Jesus was dead, then who would? Sit there and try to picture what life would be like if your sins weren’t forgiven and you didn’t have that hope for eternal life.
Because of what Jesus did, we were forgiven, so we have forever to look forward to. This life is short compared to all of eternity, but if we aren’t giving our all to be our best, if we aren’t following Him, and if we aren’t using our gifts to share Him, our life is just a waste. And yes, if you truly accept Jesus Christ into your heart on your death bed, you will go to Heaven but then what was the point of your life?
When you get to Heaven, don’t you want to see the people that you shared the good news with? When you are nearing death, do you want to feel peace because you did what He asked you to or do you want to feel regret from putting other things in front of Jesus? If you want to spend forever with Him, why not start spending time with Him now?
This week I challenge you to put Him first in every aspect of your life. If you don’t go to church, there’s no better time to start. If you haven’t opened your Bible in a while, find a study online and begin to dive into the word. If you haven’t forgiven a member in your family for something that happened years ago, do it now. When He was on the cross, He put us before Himself. Let’s follow His example and do the same for Him.
"He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as He said it would happen. Come see where His body was lying." -Matthew 26:6