It is Easter, and it is
the time when people recall the passion of Jesus Christ: the last supper, the
agony of His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His betrayal by Judas
Iscariot, and His trial and crucifixion. We are reminded that He died to
provide for our salvation, and that He rose from the dead bodily.
These events have been
portrayed in movies and in the theater. The
town of Oberammergau in Bavaria is world famous for its passion play, which has
been performed every 10 years since 1634.
Pastors and regular church members everywhere often put on a passion
play at Easter.
Praise God for all the depictions
of what Jesus Christ did for us, so that we may be saved. Over the years I have seen conversions take
place when the passion of Christ is portrayed.
Nothing that follows is intended to detract from that in any way.
There are more things we
should consider, however, and meditate on, pray about, and study further:
·
Jesus of Nazareth
was God living among us in a human body.
He is the Second Person of the Trinity, who lived in unimaginable splendor
and glory in a perfect love relationship with God the Father. He existed before the creation of the
universe, and through Him everything was created. (John 1:1-5,14) His power holds the universe and everything
in it together. Yet, He willingly gave
all that up to live among us as a man, and to die an unspeakably cruel death on
the cross to fulfill God’s plan to save us by paying the penalty for our sins.
·
Not only did
Jesus die for us, but He arose – bodily – from the dead. If He had not done so, we could not hope to
rise from the dead like He did. In His resurrection,
He conquered death, for Himself and for us if we hold fast to our belief
in Him. (1Corinthians 15)
·
After rising from
the dead, Jesus met with the faithful and then ascended up to heaven in a cloud. But - there is more. God restored Him to the splendor
and glory He had before the incarnation.
He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Not only that, but because they are in vital
union with Christ believers are also seated there in Him.
·
Why? Well, for
one thing we have all sinned, and we need a Savior. (Romans 3:9-18) Yet again, hallelujah, there is more. He broke the power of sin and death, and He
sealed the doom of Satan. By doing the
will of the Father, Jesus fulfilled the requirements of God’s plan for the ages;
that God will put all things in submission to Jesus and under His control, and
that we who believe will share in His glory when the time comes.
Praise God! To Him we owe our thanks, worship, and our
very lives.
The
Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For
in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have
been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him
all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he
is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything
he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his
fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all
things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once
you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has
reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in
his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you
continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope
held out in the gospel. (Colossians 1:15-23 NIV) (emphasis added)
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name …
(Philippians 2:8-9 NIV) (emphasis added)
In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the
riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made
known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he
purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their
fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under
Christ. (Ephesians 1:7-10 NIV)
(emphasis added)
I pray that the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to
which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy
people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That
power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him
at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that
is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head
over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything
in every way. (Ephesians 1:18-23 NIV) (emphasis added)
But because of his great
love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it
is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in
the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and
this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV)
(emphasis added) *
* All verses copied from: https://biblehub.com
