He Reigns......Well, Does He?

He is risen! He’s alive! Because He lives, we have a future!

Many, if not all, of those declarations were heard and said in our Resurrection Sunday services all across this globe. And yes! Hallelujah! Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords! Yes! He did overcome sin, hell, the grave, and flesh! Yes! Jesus reigns as the authority of all creation as given by God the Father.

Jesus reigns. He reigns because He is King.

The question is, do the words you say and sing match the position He holds in your own life?

That’s a serious question. It’s also one that you, I, and all will answer at the Tribunal of Christ spoken of by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Essentially, modern day believers focus on Good Friday for Calvary’s Cross and the Lamb of God crucified for our sins. Our salvation is available and in progress. We also focus on the Third Day and empty tomb that guarantees life eternal after this flesh in the presence of God.

But what does the modern Christ follower do when pressed about our 4th day experience? The 5th, 6th, 7th, ten-thousandth day? What evidence exists in our lives that Jesus Christ is Lord?

Hear me out. Judeo-Christians are not among those who have a useless faith in a philosophy, ideology, or religion of a dead prophet or group whose leader or leaders are dead and have earthly bodies in manmade tombs. If Jesus’ body, however, had remained in the tomb, Christianity would be useless.

It would be fraudulent because of the testimonies of men and women willing to die horrible and violent deaths for a contrived story about a resurrection that never happened. And if that resurrection never happened, you got it – our hope for eternity after this life would be lost.

Instead, we do have a powerful faith that is valid and authentic with a hope, not just wishful thinking, but confidence in our life eternal.

Christ is King and reigns over all of history. His Church, His Body lives today and functions as Christ in us and we in Him to do good works, tell of the life-changing, but simple Gospel, and to live in the world, but not of it. Current events, like the validation of the Shroud of Turin, or the grave clothes of Jesus which features 50 puncture wounds at the head and face from the Bethlehem Spikes that fashioned the mocking crown of our Lord.

But back to the question: Does Jesus reign in your life?

Take a few minutes to watch the message from Resurrection Day in its entirety. But as you watch it and as you read the rest of this post, ask yourself this question: Does Jesus reign in my life?

God’s Kingdom doesn’t begin the instance we die and are in our heavenly bodies in the afterlife. Oh, no! Dear friend! We have missed both the message of John the Baptist, the forerunner and last prophet announcing the coming of the Messiah, and the message of Jesus Himself.

In both Matthew 3:1-2 and Matthew 4:17, from John the Baptist, also the cousin of Jesus, and the Son of God Himself, after his time in the wilderness and standing down the confrontation of Satan, the same declaration of fact is made: “Repent, because the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!”

Are you part of God’s Kingdom in this life, not waiting on your heavenly existence after death? Are you devoted to Christ the King in love, faithfulness, hope, and willingness to serve and forgive others as you want?

Jesus sees and knows who has Him as Lord versus those who attend a lecture on Sunday, taking away what is easy to adapt to your lifestyle, calendar, and budget. Put plainly, what we say and sing is easier than what we live. But we’re held to account by the latter, not just the former.

An old saying in the church circles goes like this, “Jesus is Lord of all or not Lord at all.”

Do you know Jesus personally? Do you love Him, fellowship with Him, and obey Him? He’s the Savior and Messiah that’s predicted in every single book of the Old Testament, who speaks to us through His Gospels in the first Person, and who was evidenced in the lives of changed followers inspired to write the rest of the New Testament, teaching God’s love, grace, mercy, and life-change for this world and “His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Yes! Jesus reigns as King. Have you made Him your King?

Admit your need of the Savior and the need for the blood of Jesus to cover your sins. Then confess those sins but also confess that Jesus is the Savior who saves you, the King who reigns in your changed life, and the Messiah who will return for His Bride, His Church, those set apart for His Name and will.

Yes! Jesus reigns!

The Mystery of Passover

The Bible is no random assembly of writings. The events recorded aren’t just a chronicle of events of people groups from the ancient of days seeking to know God.

Instead, the Bible, from beginning to end is God’s plan for the redemption of man - salvation.

The Old Testament or Covenant records events that occurred to reflect the pattern, plan, and purposes of God the Father. He was painting a picture for all of us – all of mankind – to understand the need for a savior and the ways to recognize the Savior.

If we could stand on the line of time, beginning in Genesis as God the Trinity declared, “Let there be light,” and shot a metaphorical bow with a line attached to land at the end of days with the final “Amen” of Revelation’s conclusion, we have an arc. That arc of history ties the events of the Old and New Testament together, removing the manmade barriers of chronological time and the events we focus on rather than see through the eyes of God Who permitted them to occur for His use and glory.

As the Holy Days of Spring approach, the mystery of the Passover is a supernatural path that makes a way for sinful humanity to approach and fellowship with the Holy God, their Creator. Every redemptive act in the Old Covenant or Testament, or act of buying back or purchase, points to the coming of Jesus Christ as Savior that we read of and can experience as our own at the cross in the New Testament.

The Passover was an event established by God Himself and set for all generations to come to experience freedom and independence. The first Passover and each one to follow pointed to Jesus Christ. Without the blood of the innocent Passover Lamb, each would bear the judgment of God for their own sins.

In Exodus 12-13:10, the Lord God Jehovah spoke to Moses and his brother Aaron. He told them with detail what each Hebrew household is to do to avoid the final plague promised to fall over all of Egypt. God’s people were held in literal bondage; they were enslaved as property. This final plague would ensure their freedom and release.

But both the chosen people of God and those who were unbelievers would endure the plague. The difference —  believers were covered by the sacrificial blood; the unbelievers were not and held the full debt of their sins.

Taking an innocent lamb without blemish, sacrificing its life, then applying its blood to the doorposts and lintel marked the home as God’s possession, His redeemed.

Redemption is an accounting term which means to regain possession of or to gain possession of for an exchange and payment or clearing of debt. God’s instructions were to give the way to be His people, His possession. Any home unmarked with the blood of innocent lambs would bear the debt of their own sin, guilt, and be judged...harshly.

Why? Why must something innocent die for sin?

God is holy. He cannot abide with sin. Those of sin cannot access Him and His Presence. Even in the Garden of Eden, the first sin required the shedding of blood to cover the sins of Adam and Eve while the skins of the sacrificed animal covered their shame.

The Passover was preceded by Noah’s actions of covering the entire wooden ark with a water-proof resin that kept the boat of redemption afloat as the world of evil was being judged. When Yahweh, the great I AM looked down upon a fallen earth during the flood, He saw a wooden vessel covered in the red pitch.

God saw it. Do you? Do you see that from beginning to end of days, and at all times, no one is able to approach God except through the established manner, as ordained by God, that involved the blood?

Jesus Christ became the Passover Lamb. The cross was the altar on which He was offered by the Jewish leadership threatened by His simple Gospel and the Romans demanding loyalty to the god of government.

Jesus was innocent. Without blemish. He had to be led to the slaughter for the forgiveness – the pardon and removal – of the debt of sin, which is death or separation from God.

Jesus became the Passover Lamb Whose blood not just covers our sins, but removes them from our accounting ledger of life. The power of the blood of Jesus shed continues today and for eternity. The purpose of that blood is to cleanse us with forgiveness of sins and the guilt of our sin (don’t miss this!) as well as marking the doorposts and lintels of our lives.

What does God see when He looks upon your life? Are you uncovered and carrying the debt of your own sin and guilt? Are you covered by the matchless, sacrificial blood offered in unconditional love by Jesus Christ Who became the Passover Lamb fulfilling the entire Old Testament and making you the prized possession of Jehovah our Father?

Let this season of Palm Sunday, Passover, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday mean more. Read Exodus 12-13:10 then compare that to Matthew 26:17-30. Embrace the Judeo-Christian heritage of the Old and New Covenants revealed in these verses. Jesus Christ was and is the Passover Lamb who died for YOU!

Learn more about Passover from Pastor Ronnie’s message.