THE MESSAGE OF EASTER

 

I love Easter, but today because of what I now understand and believe about Christ and His resurrection, it has a deeper meaning. When I was 10 years old I walked an isle prompted by a preacher’s message to receive a baptism that I did not understand. It was a fun experience, but nothing in me changed. When I was 13 years old, I ask Christ into my life, yet my life never changed. That decision too, was prompted by a number of firry conversations that my uncle had had with me out of the book of Revelation.  Still, I continued to do the same old things that I had been doing, until God began to stir in me at the age of 18, the gospel of the cross and opened my spiritual eyes through the Truth that He had been placing in my heart from committed soul winners that had been sharing the gospel with me over a period of time. Upon His opening up my eyes to the truth that had been shared with me, for the first time in my life, I really understood the difference between, having a head knowledge about who Christ was and what it was exactly that He had done for me on the cross. Once I understood that clearly, I then embraced it by receiving it, as the precious gift that it is. Luke 24:45-47 says this,  “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

 

Once I got my salvation right, I was then properly baptized. Where before, it was like having the cart before the horse. You see, like myself, many people make some sort of decision about Christ, but their decisions are based on what they think about God, as mine was and not what His Word says about Him. Our opinions, thoughts and ways are not God's according to Isaiah 55:8-9.  In John 3:16 you will find this, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not parish, but have everlasting life.” You see many people misunderstand what that verse is saying. The word believeth does not apply to a person who believes in Jesus in his head or mind alone. Satan himself believes that, yet he will never be saved. Hitler believed in Christ, many people believe in Christ, yet have never been born again. That word believeth is and should always be paired with other verses in the scripture that speak of salvation. You must always understand the Bible as a whole and not dig out the verses you want and come up with your own interpretation, that was what I was doing. I thought, “if I just believed in Jesus”, then I was good to go, by what John 3:16 said, and that made me born again, so I thought! Besides, John 3:16 said nothing about being baptized. Theologically, I was just a mess! Yet, God broke through all my messed up thinking about Him and brought the light of His Truth to overshadow my way of thinking in order to see His. He looked at my heart and knew that I was trying to get to Him. As He stood at the door of my heart knocking, with His help, I was able to open my heart up and allow Him to come in. It was the greatest decision I have ever made. Your belief is most important to your salvation, but it must involve more than a head knowledge about Christ. It must come from the heart, not merely the head. We cannot be mere fans of Christ only, but we must be followers as well. Once you understand who Jesus is and what He did for you in His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the grave you too will understand the greater message that Easter brings us all!

Loving on you,
-Bren