All Things New
Life in grave places
Glenn Garvin • March 31, 2024
With minds still swirling and whirling, because death and grief rarely allow for a moments rest, three unlikely grouping of women; Mary Magdalene, a former hostel for several demons, Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Mary, mother of Jesus, arrived at a borrowed Airtnt (tomb and trough) before the crack of dawn, Sunday morning.
Luke tells us they went into Joseph of Arimathea’s private burial cave because the massive stone had already rolled away. They were looking for Jesus, but the crypt was uninhabited! Ah, except for two men in dazzling clothes - ANGELS. The women were terrified and bowed down in reverence. The angels asked the ladies a profound question, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?” Great question!
How do we find life in grave places?
Christ’s resurrection is the
Easter is far more than proof of truth. Easter is the proof of
Irrefutable Truth
It is 100% agreed that Jesus was real, lived in Israel and died.
Even with irrefutable truth that Jesus also resurrected, secular scholars will not commit to his coming back to life.
There are folks still believe the world is flat, we never landed on the moon and Elvis is alive.
Thoroughly New
That resurrection day defined this day. That day defined your
That day, it was like God stretched time on a linear path from beginning to end. But this one event somewhere in the middle would define both our
It was the anchor and reference point for God’s grace and mercy being poured out on humanity. Nothing will ever be the same.
Easter, for me is not about proving Christ’s resurrection or the truth of Christianity.
It’s more personal!
You may want proof, you may want facts, you may want undeniable truth, and I get that! I know now, there is overwhelming facts that Jesus lived, died and resurrected proving that He is God, and is the only way to be saved, to know God and to live with Him in eternity.
Resurrection Sunday, for those who already believe in Jesus it is not proof it’s the
In this life we keep staring at death, looking at things falling apart around us, looking at our world unraveling before us.
Easter means, we do not need to look at death as the way out!
Here’s the good news!
Luke 24:1-8 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.” Then they remembered that he had said this.
The Apostle Paul said…
• Seek the things that are above – Colossians 3:2
• The old life is gone; a new life has begun – 2 Corinthians 5:17
• It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. – Galatians 2:20
And Jesus will say in the future…
Look, I am making everything new! – Revelation 21:5
Here’s the bad news.
It is kind of sad that there are some who are hoping Jesus DID NOT come back from the dead!
Because, to them, if Jesus come back from the dead, it means that Jesus is right and is exactly who He said he is. Hope for those who believe, but accountability for those who do not want to believe.
The apostle’s record that Jesus made 12 public appearances after the resurrection.
The 8th appearance was to 500 people, recorded by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the churches in Corinth
Matthew 28:5-6 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.
The angel in Matthew’s account said,
Jesus is risen from the dead! And because He lives, I too live.
Gloria Gaither wrote…
Gloria wrote, “The drug culture was in full swing, existential thought had obviously saturated every area of our American thought, the cities were seething with racial tension, and the God-is-dead pronouncement had giggled its way all through our educational system. On the personal front, Bill and I were going through one of the most difficult times in our lives.” —https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/i-serve-a-risen-savior
BECAUSE HE LIVES
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow;
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives!