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SCRIPTURE READING

ACT 2:34-43

COLOSSIAN 3:1-4

JOHN 20:1-18

REFLECTION

The theme for our Easter Sunday reflection is Christ is risen indeed. Christ is risen indeed means Christ truly resurrected from the dead. We shall reflect on two importance of the resurrection of Christ to the believer:

1. Christ is risen therefore He is our Lord and Saviour.
2. We are now children of God, living a transformed and heaven-conscious life because Christ is risen.

First, Christ is risen. Therefore, He is our Lord and Saviour. Beloved in the Lord, the resurrection of Christ has made Him Lord of both the living and the dead. He is the only one who lived, died, and resurrected without ever dying again. It is for this reason, Peter, who was an eyewitness to the fact that Christ is risen said “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:39-43) Dear friend, had Jesus not risen, our salvation would not have been complete, and the world would make a mockery of our faith. The resurrection of Christ has given us confidence and hope that one day He shall return to judge the living and the dead. Paul further assures us that “If you declare 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 profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11) We are greatly encouraged to completely surrender our lives to Jesus and continue to be faithful to Him because He is the risen Lord who will come and judge the world and to redeem His own.

Secondly, we are now children of God even on earth, living a transformed and heaven-conscious life because Christ is risen indeed. Christ after His resurrection, confirmed to Mary Magdalene that those who believe in Him are now children of His Father and God when He said to her “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17). In other words, through the death and resurrection of Christ we are reconciled to God and have become His children through repentance and faith. Paul further explains that “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs —heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17) Dear friend, if we are made children of God through the risen Christ, then we are to live the transformed and heaven-conscious life. To live the transformed and heaven-conscious life as children of God, Paul admonishes us in Colossian 4:1-4 that “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” We must henceforth have the nature of the risen Christ in is as a demonstration of the transformed and heaven-conscious life. We must not become obsessed with the pleasures of this world and be drawn to immorality, for since Christ is risen with us spiritually we have become children of God and must look forward to appearing with Him in glory. If we have lived the transformed life by setting our minds on things above and not on earthly things then we have the confidence to say with Paul as we approach our departure from this earth that “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day —and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

In summary, the theme for our reflection is Christ is risen indeed. In our reflection, we have underscored the importance of the resurrection of Christ to in the life of a believer. First, Christ is risen, therefore, He is our Lord and Saviour, and second, we are now children of God, living a transformed and heaven-conscious life because Christ is risen. May Christ the risen Lord and Saviour continue to reign in our lives even as we continue to live the transformed and heaven-conscious life in anticipation of His second coming. Amen.