Take the Cure
This Sunday we celebrate Easter, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when He rose from the dead and took the keys of death and hell and broke every force of darkness that's against us. Nothing is more amazing or significant than the power displayed at the resurrection. This is what separates our faith from any other on earth. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins on the cross. He lived a perfect and sinless life and gave it as a sacrifice for our sins. And when all hope seemed to be gone, He miraculously came to life again. What this means is: When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are completely forgiven...for anything...for everything...forever.
Over the past year we've seen the devastation and great loss of lives when there is no vaccine for a strain of virus that our bodies have no antibodies to fight. Without a cure, we're at the mercy of the virus. Once you have the cure, you don't have to be afraid of the disease. But what about virus-like poisons that you can't see with a microscope--sin, guilt, fear, depression, addictions. These can infect our thinking and poison our life, but you can't treat them with a vaccine. If we only had an antidote to deal with the guilt from past sins, failures, and mistakes. Now we go around sick with condemnation, regrets, down on ourselves. If we only had a cure for the hurts, the disappointments, the unfair childhood. Now we're tempted to live bitter, insecure, without passion.
The good news is that two thousand years ago the antidote was developed for these poisons--not by a team of researchers but by the Son of the living God. When Jesus went to the cross, He took our sins, our guilt, and our failures upon Himself. He not only made Himself an offering for sin and bore our sins, but He took our sicknesses. The Scripture says that by the stripes He received before He was crucified, "we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). We are not at the mercy of fear, depression, or addictions. We have the cure. "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Don't let the fear, the guilt, or the depression hold you down. Take the cure. "Father, thank You that I am forgiven, I am redeemed, I am free, and I am healthy and whole."
So that is the good news today. No matter where you are in life, what problems you may struggle with, no matter what you have done in the past, or what someone else has done to you, Jesus became sin for you so you could be healed and made whole. You can experience the power of Jesus' resurrection, the "same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead" (Ephesians 1:19--20)--the power to be forgiven and to forgive. This cure is ours because Jesus Christ rose from the tomb. Jesus is alive, and He wants to live in and through you today. That is what Easter is all about.
Over the past year we've seen the devastation and great loss of lives when there is no vaccine for a strain of virus that our bodies have no antibodies to fight. Without a cure, we're at the mercy of the virus. Once you have the cure, you don't have to be afraid of the disease. But what about virus-like poisons that you can't see with a microscope--sin, guilt, fear, depression, addictions. These can infect our thinking and poison our life, but you can't treat them with a vaccine. If we only had an antidote to deal with the guilt from past sins, failures, and mistakes. Now we go around sick with condemnation, regrets, down on ourselves. If we only had a cure for the hurts, the disappointments, the unfair childhood. Now we're tempted to live bitter, insecure, without passion.
The good news is that two thousand years ago the antidote was developed for these poisons--not by a team of researchers but by the Son of the living God. When Jesus went to the cross, He took our sins, our guilt, and our failures upon Himself. He not only made Himself an offering for sin and bore our sins, but He took our sicknesses. The Scripture says that by the stripes He received before He was crucified, "we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). We are not at the mercy of fear, depression, or addictions. We have the cure. "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Don't let the fear, the guilt, or the depression hold you down. Take the cure. "Father, thank You that I am forgiven, I am redeemed, I am free, and I am healthy and whole."
So that is the good news today. No matter where you are in life, what problems you may struggle with, no matter what you have done in the past, or what someone else has done to you, Jesus became sin for you so you could be healed and made whole. You can experience the power of Jesus' resurrection, the "same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead" (Ephesians 1:19--20)--the power to be forgiven and to forgive. This cure is ours because Jesus Christ rose from the tomb. Jesus is alive, and He wants to live in and through you today. That is what Easter is all about.