When God spoke to Moses about the passover lamb in Exodus 12, Moses was to instruct the people to "take ... a ... lamb ..." There were, of course, qualifications for this lamb. One of the most significant was that it must be without spot or blemish. The lamb was sovereignly chosen by the head of the household and his only mission in life was that he was born to die.

Let's move ahead in time to the New Testament era. John the Baptist was baptizing and suddenly on the scene a figure appears. John declares, "Behold, THE Lamb!" John's declaration was to distinguish the Christ from those who were imposters.

The significance of this Lamb for us is that He was "wounded for OUR transgressions, he was bruised for OUR iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes WE are healed." (Isaiah 53.5) When He cried from the cross, "It is finished!" the price of redemption was paid and Christ yielded His Spirit to His Father and they took Him down and buried Him. On the morning of the first day of the week, women came to the sepulchre to see about the body. They found, not His body, but His empty tomb, and an angel who told them: "He is not here, he is risen as he said."

The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 3.20 declared: "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death."

Do you know Him? Are you living in the power of His resurrection? May this Easter season bring you peace, contentment, and a passion to joyfully serve the risen Christ.
 
 

As one looks back across the archives of history, a number of events have been significant enough to impact the course of history.
     If we look at the brief history of the United States of America, the landing of the pilgrims was an event that significantly changed the course of history on this continent.
     If we look at the events that surround the beginning of this democracy and its break from England, the Revolutionary War significantly changed the course of history for the free world with the beginning of a new nation.
     If we consider the Civil War that divided this nation so deeply, those events significantly changed the course of history for this nation.
   In our own lifetime, we have had repeated events that have significantly impacted this nation: the stock market crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, the assassination of a president, and in 2001 we experienced an act of terrorism on our soil that rocked this nation and significantly impacted the way we live today.
     Each one of these events has significantly impacted life as it unfolds in time. However, only one event has significantly impacted life as it unfolds in eternity - the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
     Every other event of major significance has impacted someone's life and with some of the ones I have mentioned, lives have been lost and families have been broken up. That touches many lives this side of eternity. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the bridge that enables us to enter eternity and be in the presence of God when this life is over. No other event, if it had not occurred, would impact this world as much as the failure of Jesus Christ to raise Himself from the dead.
     While some may take the position that they do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, that does not change the fact of the resurrection any more than saying that I don't believe in gravity causes gravity to be non-existent.
     When the women went to the empty tomb of Jesus on the morning of the first day of the week, the angel said: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen ..." (Luke 24.5, 6).  That is significant!