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The Gospel Truth
The original gospel story is the total eclipse of Good Friday followed by the blazing light of Resurrection Sunday. Yet most of us live on that peculiar Saturday, stung by the darkness and skeptical of the light. Almost no one believed that a resurrection would take place, then. Now, only a minority truly believes it did take place. What you believe about the resurrection of Jesus Christ will make a difference in your life, and your life to come. It is a difference greater than darkness and light. The Darkness I don't need to remind you that there is darkness in the world. But perhaps I should warn you that the world is becoming a darker place. The signs of the times are everywhere. Weren't you repulsed by the murders of college coeds Lauren Burk of Auburn and Eve Carson of North Carolina? School shootings, like the ones at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech, have claimed 165 lives in my lifetime. Who would have thought prior to September 11, 2001 that 2,974 of our citizens could be wiped of the face of the earth in a matter of minutes by a terrible terrorist plot? Even our movies, which are meant for entertainment and escape, are becoming more and more graphic and gruesome, more and more dark and depressing. Darkness exists. Sometimes it gets so thick that it can make people lose their way, lose their lives, or perhaps worse, lose hope. The Light Darkness can and will overtake us unless we realize at least three things. There is a God. The true and living God is a God of light. And, the light of God that overcomes the darkness is connected to a particular resurrection. Read Isaiah 60:1-3. In verses one and two we see the name of "the LORD." The English translation covers the name Yahweh, the personal name for God. There is a God who is personally interested in us. He has personally revealed himself to us through his spirit and word, through angels and human messengers, and in the person and work of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The LORD's perfect desire is to bring light into our dark lives. Yes, darkness covers our world. Verse two acknowledges that there exists discrimination and injustice, hatred and strife, theft and murder and all manner of darkness. But God has broken into the world he created, a world messed up by our own sin, in order to bring us his light. The light God offers is impossible to see, or experience, or receive apart from a certain resurrection. The beginning of verse one, the middle of verse two, and the last word in verse three focus on the resurrection. This resurrection that is the bridge God has built to transport us "out of darkness into his marvelous light." This prophetic text predicts a personal resurrection, or the resurrection of a particular person. The personal pronoun "you" and "your," used six times in these three verses, is singular. Therefore, it is the resurrection of a particular, singular person which is required to bring light into our dark world. That person is Isaiah's "Servant of the Lord." We Christians believe that the "Servant of the Lord" is the Lord Jesus Christ. In this light, Easter can no longer be merely a time for bunnies and eggs. It can no longer be an event that causes us to put on our best clothes and come to church once a year. Easter is about the resurrection, and the resurrection is the dividing line of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel will make the difference for the "peoples" and the "nations" who must choose to live now and forever either in the darkness or in the light. Where Do You Live? Someone wrote, "The evidence for Jesus' resurrection is so strong that nobody would question it except for two things: First, it is a very unusual event. And second, if you believe it happened, you have to change the way you live." Surely those thugs on drugs who killed those two beautiful college girls came live in the darkness. Surely those who break lives with the broken promises of prostitution and serial adultery and other forms of immorality live in darkness. Surely those who cannot tell the truth and drag down corporations and countries with their lies live in darkness. The fact is, you may be a great humanitarian, a lawabiding citizen, even an upstanding religious person. But if you are "unbelieving" when it comes to the gospel, then you are doomed to live in the darkness. However, if you are the world's worst sinner, your life can be changed from darkness to light by sincere belief. The light of true belief is much more than mental assent. It is much more than an emotional experience once in your life or once a year. It is a confession of deeds done in the darkness and a turning away from sin and selfishness. It is the conviction that he died for your sins and rose again for your salvation. It is full commitment to the light of life, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a putting on of the armor of God and fighting for the light. It is personal discipleship, responsible church membership and the making of every Sunday to be Easter Sunday.
Darkness and death are things we all must deal with. But the gospel of Jesus Christ, particularly the belief in his resurrection, brings light and life. So I compel you, believe and live.
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