HE LIVES!


The great crowds who followed Jesus throughout His ministry are missing on
Easter morning. The horrors of Christ's Good Friday crucifixion had sent the
disciples into hiding. Though Joseph of Arimathaea begged the body of Jesus
from Pilate and placed it in his own tomb, even Jesus' closest followers
have left Him now and He is alone in the tomb. How ironic is this first
Easter morning. The greatest moment in the history of mankind - the
Resurrection - is about to take place, and yet it is being done so quietly
that no one realizes it.


Because He Lives There Is Hope

In a quiet little comer of the world, God was working a miracle that would
introduce hope into the darkest experiences that life can bring us. Since
Jesus rose from the grave, nothing that you or I face will ever be utterly
hopeless. No battle will be too fierce. No hardship will be too intense.
That is the Easter message:

Christ is risen! There is always hope!


Our Faith Is Not In Vain

Christianity is different from all other religions. The Moslem prays five
times a day and repeats the words, "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed
is his prophet." But Mohammed is dead. The Buddhist hopes to attain the
state of "nirvana," the extinguished flame, by means of self-sacrifice and
self-denial. But Buddha can't help the Buddhist. He is dead and in the
grave. The Confucionist studies the sacred classics and learns the rules of
righteousness and follows the path of duty as did Confucius. But that
pathway ends at the tomb because Confucius is dead.


The power of salvation rests in this fact: Jesus not only was crucified and
buried for our sins, but on the third day He was resurrected from the dead.
He is alive forevermore. The angel stood at the open tomb and said to the
disciples, "He is not here. He is risen, as He said." We can be victors,
because Christ was victorious. Jesus said, "Because I live, you shall live
also." In 1 Corinthians 15:17, the great apostle Paul declared, "Christ is
risen and our faith is not in vain."