Christ is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!
By Keith Haygood
In the early church, believers would greet one another like so: "Christ is Risen!" to which the proper response was "He is Risen Indeed!" During this holy week, we are reminded of the great cost that Jesus paid in order to purchase everlasting life and eternity in Heaven with Him. Jesus Christ, the darling of heaven, became one of us. He was one of us, except that He lived 33 years without sin. He was the perfect, spotless lamb of God... He had it all... and He traded it for a body of flesh and blood so that He could die and rise from the grave.
Do you ever find yourself consumed by your own problems? Are you in some type of physical, emotional or spiritual pain? Think of how much it hurt Jesus:
1) Physical Pain - The scourging, the beating, carrying His own cross, the crown of thorns, the nails in His hands and feet...
2) Emotional Pain - The very people for whom He came turned on Him. It took less than a week for the palm-waving, cheering crowd to go from shouting "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" to "Crucify Him!" (Are we fickle, or what?)
3) Spiritual Pain - On the cross, Jesus cried out "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?" Think about it. Jesus himself said, "I and the Father are One." How it must have hurt Jesus to think that His Father had turned away from Him! But it had to happen. Jesus became sin for us. God cannot look upon sin...
Be encouraged. God is God. Jesus died because He loves you. When you get to feeling like nobody cares, go to the cross. When you don't know where else to turn, go to the cross. When you wonder if God is really there, go to the cross!