Jesus is Alive!
One of my favorite hymns at Easter is, “Up from the Grave He Arose.” The chorus goes like this:
"Up from the Grave He Arose with a mighty triumph o'er his foes He arose a victor from the dark domain and He lives forever, with his saints to reign.”
If you are around my house at Easter, you will hear me bellowing this song at the top of my lungs--because I have reason to celebrate!
Have you thought about His followers and how they felt when Jesus was placed in the tomb? They were grieving, the one they thought was the Messiah was dead. There was no rejoicing. But, they did not have to grieve because if they had listened to Jesus they would have known what was going on. Jesus had told them many times before His death that He would be killed but He would rise from the grave.
What they did not understand is that Jesus had to die to bring salvation to the world. He was going to be the perfect sacrifice. Up to this time, animal sacrifices were made to be a temporary way of forgiveness and when an animal was sacrificed, once it was killed, it was dead forever.
When Jesus was crucified and died, He was placed in a tomb and the stone was rolled over the tomb. Everyone thought that is where He would remain.
On the third day, however, after His death, some of the women went to decorate Jesus’ grave, but when they got there they had a big surprise.
Luke 24:1-6 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!!!!
That’s right! He rose from the dead as He said He would. People have been raised from the dead before but eventually died again, only to remain in the grave. But Jesus did something no one else has and will ever do, He rose from the grave and remains alive, never to see death.
That’s so important for us to understand. His death and resurrection brought us salvation and if you believe you will be saved
Romans 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
His salvation is for all who want it and if you want it He will give it to you.
I rejoice and celebrate His death and resurrection. And I am going to bellow at the top of my lung the end of the chorus from “Up from the Grave He Arose.” He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!