April 2015

April Fools!! That was one thing that I looked forward to saying to someone after fooling them as I was growing up. However, I have to admit I was never very good at pulling off memorable April Fools pranks. The same cannot be said of my wife. Over the years she has pulled the wool over my eyes pretty good and then, with a twinkle in her eye, gleefully declared “April Fools.” I think that her success has been due in great part to how much she knows me. She knows just what button to push that will cause me to react in such a manner that I will not engage my brain but go directly to a knee jerk emotional response. It is either that or I will completely space out what day it is and not consider that what she is telling me may be connected to April first. 

April Fools’ Day, however, is not the significant day to remember during April but rather Easter, the day we celebrate the fact that Jesus kept His word and after three days in the grave rose again. It is a day that has set the foundation of our Christian faith. Paul tells us that if this event is not a true event, then our faith is pointless. Our faith is not pointless because the event did take place and because of that fact our lives have been altered. I will try to explain myself better. 

When we talk about the resurrection, the context is almost exclusively Jesus Christ. I would like us to take a moment and again consider the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:3 “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” In verse eleven of the same chapter Paul says, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” There are other scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” 

We are a church that strives to stay Christ centered. We strive to uphold teachings, actions, and attitudes that reflect the glory and greatness of Christ. Therefore, it is an easy thing to celebrate His resurrection and proclaim to the world “He is risen!!!” I believe that our lives should also reflect that we have risen as well. Those of us who have recognized (confessed) our sinful nature, made a declaration of repentance and proclaimed Jesus as the Son of the Living God and accepted Him as our Lord and Savior have died to our old self and have come out of the tomb that was our old life to a new life engulfed in the marvels of Jesus Christ. The term “resurrection” applies to us as well. 

This month, as we think of the pranks we pulled off or the celebration where we worship a Messiah that rose from the grave in accordance with the Scriptures and His teachings; let us also celebrate that we who are in Christ have also risen from the grave of our old lives to a new life with Christ as our master. As we celebrate, let us also strive each day to live like the new creations we are and not like the old that no longer exist. 


Blessings, 
Vic