The First LIGHT of Morning

Scripture Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:12-23

When you hear the word, Resurrection, you probably are drawn to the Easter account.  When you hear the word Light, you may think its the opposite of darkness.  Lastly, when you hear the word "morning" you think of that which follows night.  All three words have in common Jesus Christ.  

Death is a tragedy no matter who is involved.  Some people die and we take little notice, while other die and we never forget.  Some people die and we cheer it and wished it came sooner, while others die and we cannot bear the thought.  The common theme is of course Death.  However, the common theme of Jesus Christ's ministry was Life and it was Light.

The tomb that sealed the body of the Lord was horribly dark.  I don't mean that in a physical sense, though it was dark, but in a spiritual sense.  It would have seemed that Satan had won his victory and that the power of darkness now surrounded the body of the One whom it feared the most.  Yet there was more darkness to be observed...a darkness of hopelessness on the part of discouraged disciples.  They had heard Jesus say that He would raise from the dead, but nobody in that dark upper room really fully believed it.  Then there was the darkness of the curse of sin.  Did Calvary do what Jesus had promised?  Did sin really have a death blow dealt it?  From Friday's events it would not seem so.  

The stage was dressed up for Night, but it was not set correctly.  The Christ was crucified and out of the religious leader's hair.  The body was put in a borrowed tomb and not only shut, but sealed with a detachment of soldiers to guard it.  The disciples were in defeat.  The High Priest was in his glory and Pilate was just glad to be done with the whole matter.  The death of Christ was most grim for those who either chose not to listen or did not understand the reassurance of the Master.  From a human standpoint, all that Jesus was and said had been vanquished.  The cries of "He saved others, but He Himself He cannot save" seem to bore in on the minds of His followers.  Total and absolute darkness of the spiritual kind and lulled in and settled like a heavy fog.  

In my mind, I scan the Upper Room and see many faces.  But look off in the corner, see the man with his head in his hands, the man who had been like this for hours.  The man who was in such despair.  This same man who hours earlier boasted amongst them all, "Lord, if all be offended in thee, I will not!"  Yet a few hours later used words he hadn't used since he met the Master by Galilee's shore, to deny all knowledge of the One whom he would not supposedly be offended at. For the disciples, the darkness hung its most heavy yoke on Peter.

Such a stage that seemed like darkness was about to roll its curtains up for Morning!

Two women, the most devout of the whole group, went early to the Garden Tomb to bring spices to anoint the dead body.  Just how they were to enter I know not, for Rome made it secure with a contingent of soldiers and the great seal of Pontius Pilate.  Yet they came.  Faithful.  Devoted.  Caring.  The scene was not what they expected.  There were no soldiers, no seal, no body!  Mary Magdalene supposed someone, perhaps the Gardner had taken the body of the Lord.  The two women in Luke's account approached the tomb and found two men clothed in white.  These divine messengers were living up to their job.  

The message:  HE IS RISEN, just as He said.  Go and tell His disciples.

All the chains of darkness.  All the supposed victories of evil.  All the shroud of ungodliness now found themselves bruised under the heel of Christ.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ and its meaning to the spiritual forces of darkness is not quite understood by mortal men.  What happened that day, spelled the doom  on those who were most satisfied to have doom pronounced on God Himself.  The Apostle Paul said it best, "Oh Death where is thy sting, Oh Grave where is thy victory?" No one in the ranks of Hell could now lift up their heads, but the sentence of eternal defeat, damnation, condemnation and separation now abode and abides on them to this day.  You see when God defeats an enemy, the enemy never, never recovers.  The evil which had been long in place now was abolished.

Now for us, the mortals, the benefactors of the Resurrection.  Had there been no resurrection, evil will still have its kingdom.  Paul says if there be no resurrection, then what do, believe and have in Christ would be in vain, or simply, would not exist anywhere.  But you may think that the world is full of evil and increasing every day.  Yes, that is true.  The Lord allows evil its space only because there are those of its ranks who have never trusted Christ's finished work to save them and God is willing that none should perish and gives the condemned a chance to repent before the judgement.  During the time of grace, evil is present.  However, God never looks at our timeline as we do.  Evil to God is a forgotten foe.  Just as God already sees the believer in our glorified state, He sees evil in its ruined state.  Of course God knows that evil thrives.  After all He is coming again to finalize its destruction, but note....evil at the morning of the Resurrection is already destroyed in the eyes of God.  We left standing who have trusted in Christ are the grateful and most blessed victims of once being evil, now being redeemed, pardoned, restored and glorified.  The Resurrection of Christ in one act guarantees all of this for those who will trust in Him.  It is not enough to receive Christ death for sins, you must also receive His Resurrection too, for therein lies the power of God over your sin.  With no Resurrection there is no hope of pardon.

One more item.  The Resurrection not only guarantees the pardon of corporate sin of the whole people, but the pardon for each and every individual sin of the person.

Do you remember Peter in the Upper Room?  Wonder what must have went through his mind as he contemplated what he had done.  Judas had sold out Christ, but Peter had denied Him. However, in all of this we see the tenderness and personal attention to the heart of Christ.  You will recall that Christ had the angel in Mark 16:6-7 tell, "Go, tell my disciples, and Peter, I am risen." There was no sharp rebuke or lingering bitterness on the part of Christ.  He knew Peter was hurting the greatest of the eleven for his acts.  We see later that Christ forgave Peter and restored Him on the shore of Galilee in John 21:4-20.  He made it a point to tell Peter the Good News so that Peter himself would not languish another moment in guilt that swallowed him.  Such is the heart of Jesus Christ for you and for me.  The Resurrection shows victory to those engulfed in sin, for sin was paid for on Calvary, and new life began in Gethsemane.  

Whenever I go to a cemetery for Memorial day or some other occasion I am reminded that Christ is the victor over death.  Had he swooned or was stolen and then impersonated it would not be the same.  He shared the same grave with all those whom you see lying underneath the sod.  Christ is the firstfruits of the dead.  All those buried bodies, who in life committed their souls to the Bishop of Souls--Christ Jesus will leave their graves as He did that morning.  The graves will be opened that had not seen the light of day since the funeral home placed the dirt over them.  GLORIOUS as we shall see all those who lived, was dead, and now lives forevermore, just exactly as the Saviour, the forerunner, the pathfinder, the fiery pillar, the sea parter, the Resurrected Christ has done.  This is the hope we have in Him that none can take away, for there is none now who opposes Him because of the Resurrection.  

Simply put, Light dispels Darkness.  When Christ arose, that which held us prisoner fled for fear from the Almighty.  No darkness stands in the way of Christ's Light.

If you know Jesus Christ as you personal Lord and Saviour, for you, THE FIRST LIGHT, even Jesus Christ, lives within you and has replaced the night of sin in your hearts, with the glorious rays of Morning  and Hope.  

Praise His name for what He has done.  

Look for His soon return.

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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When New Becomes NEW

Scripture Reading: Revelation 21:3-5

We live in an age where when something breaks we throw it out. My grandpa, now with the Lord, came from the era when something broke, you repaired it back to its new condition. You know we really don't see many "fix it" shops anymore. Throw away technology has done away with those. So as a culture we are inundated with stuff that replaces its former name bearer. Everything is upgraded, but nothing is really new. King Solomon made this wise assessment when he proclaimed there is nothing new under the sun. Even though Solomon would have been blown away with a digital camera or an IPhone, the principle he expressed still remains true.

In today's reading, there is a phrase that I believe is mostly overlooked not so much intentionally, but relationally. The phrase, "the former things are passed away," is so astounding in its concept and reality. We read that and we superficially know that Heaven will be much better than anything we experience on Earth, but do we stop and think of the details? I believe personally that if this phrase was no where to be found in the Scriptures that our hope would be of a lesser state than what it is.

Think about this. If something is really "new," how does it become so? Can you have something that is new when remnants of the old remain? Well, we know that Paul tells us that the new man of Christ is dwelling in us, but the old man of sin still remains. We are becoming "newer" everyday, but we are not totally new. That does not mean we're sort of saved or that we are half partakers of glory, I just mean that we are not completely and totally what we shall be in Glory. Why? Simply because the former things (future past tense in our understanding today) are not passed away yet. We still struggle with sin, our bodies still get sick and easily succumb to failure, our world is on the brink of war where it is not so engaged already, our societal morals are gone, and we could go on being depressed describing what's wrong in life. It all points back to this verse and the hope is found in it. So how does the state of being truly "new" change our perspective on life today and eternity someday?

First, the most obvious point is that being "new" eradicates the old. This is not an oversimplification. Oh no friend this is the culmination of hope in a few words. Imagine never visiting a hospital again, never gazing at a casket, never getting hot and sweaty, never worrying if you can make the bill payment, never concerned where your kids are or what they are watching, never fretting over what might happen in a fallen world. No sickness or pain for the old body is gone. No more troublesome thoughts because the mind is perfectly in tune with Christ. No more fear of enemies because now we are immortal. Never fearing separation of death because all that ended when God closed the book on this thing called Sin, or simply the former things.

Second, a different set of rules, environment, and relationship now apply. We live by societal norms. We tend to dress according to the way our environment dictates. We tend to be less than ourselves for fear of relational disembarrment. Not so in Heaven. Christ is the rule, He is Just and Fair, and the creator of those two adjectives. Our environment will be fresh and without defilement. The finest of gold most prized on Earth is the most basic element of Heaven. Our relationship to Christ as Brother and Savior will have just begun in its literal state never to end. All the saints of all the ages of this world will be most eager to swap stories of Divinity in action. Best of all, your new found family and friends will never be gone from your side. What a contrast to what we have now. The same old muggy hot air. The same old decaying moral governments. The same old cloak and dagger trying to impress techniques on people....all gone to usher in the New.

Thirdly, it completely forms the foundation of all we hope in. Paul tells us if we have hope of Christ in this life only we are the most miserable people to have ever lived. I firmly believe that if Heaven were only half of what it is described to be, you and I may fairly have some reservations about in Whom we are trusting. Suppose you were in your new Heavenly home and you called one morning on the Apostle James. You greet him and notice he is rubbing his neck. You ask him what's the matter. He replies, "well it where that sword severed my head on Earth, oh I am not complaining, but still it is a bit sore." You would wonder. If earthly conditions follow us, then quite frankly there is no end to the doubt that could arise in us. Christ has to eradicate completely all that was in the past to make the future glorious. If there was no guarantee of complete change, then there would be no reason to trust in Christ as Savior. This change, both inwardly and someday outwardly makes Jesus Christ the unparalleled difference from all the "help" of this world.

Fourthly and finally, God's "New" never gets old again. I like to look at old cars. Echoes of former glory. What once sat brand spanking new on a showroom floor in 1952 somehow doesn't have the identical lustre in 2008 that it once had. This is the greatest part of this truth--everything in glory stays exactly in its fresh new state a million years from the day it was created. What on earth have we that so compares?

I wished I could convey the great meaning of this phrase in words. I know it in my soul as you who are believers also do. To possess something that is truly new, and not an upgrade will in itself be wonderful.

"The former things (all that we know and are used to right now) will be gone." If you do not trust in Christ in this life, the life you face will not only be far worse than your nightmares can conjure, but you will face it completely alone. No ending, no reprieve, no hope. Is this world really worth living for? Right now as you read, its foundations are losing their footing and about to slide into sea of eternal despair. God has His hand of salvation stretched out, take it while you still can.

Christian, we are facing and will face the most difficult times. If this verse was never written, our hope might as well be forgotten. But it was written! One day, this mortality will be put on immortality, and things like death, disease, heartache, abuse, finances, worry, and all that we deal with will disappear. Not pie in the sky theology. Bed rock truth that will not fail, simply because God wrote it and thus it is so.