Saturday, April 07, 2012

The power of an endless life

Quite a few people have come back from the dead.

There was the son of the widow at Nain, whom Jesus raised from the dead as his body was being being taken to its burial. There was the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus, whom Jesus similarly blessed. There was Lazarus, who had been dead four days when Jesus called him out of the tomb and restored him to his family. All of these eventually died again.

There is only One who rose from the dead like He did, alive forever. "I am the First and the Last," He said. "I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev 1:17, 18). If Jesus isn't alive, the Christian faith is meaningless.

You know the story: how they laid Him in the tomb, rolled a great stone across the door, sealed it shut, set a guard on the tomb, then found the stone rolled away and the graveclothes empty. (Some teach that He rose spiritually from the dead. If that's the case, what happened to the body? How come He appeared in a physical body and ate food with the disciples?)

You may think it a little over the top going around saying that Jesus is alive. But it's a personal encounter with a living Saviour that turns a heathen into a committed Christian. Christianity isn't just a religious practice, a doctrine, a creed, a belief. It's a personal, daily relationship with the living, resurrected, glorified Son of God.

Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). Do you hear His voice like that? If not, tell Him you're sorry for the life you've been living. Ask Him to take over. Make Him the Lord and Saviour of your life.

It's the most important decision you will ever make.