Coffee With The Lord

Pretending… We usually think of it as a child’s game.  Pretending that you are someone or something you’re really not – acting like something is true or a reality, when it isn’t.  Can you think of some of the things children have pretended to be and do – things they have pretended are real when they really aren’t?  Their pretending usually brings a smile, a wink, a snicker or a Facebook pic or post.

But tragically pretending has also been an adult coping mechanism with some very sad and tragic “acting out” and deep disappointment… people denying who they really are, refusing to accept what they have done, denying the reality of a situation, or living life in a fantasy land that is completely removed from reality!

What about Easter?  Christians celebrate it today, you know!  Is belief in the resurrection a case of Christians pretending – or is it a reality?  Is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead about as real as the “Easter bunny?”

Apostle Paul would answer that question with a resounding “NO!” (In fact, he already answered it in 1 Corinthians 15 – I read his answer this morning in the Bible…)

^“But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there is no resurrection of the dead?  For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.  And all of us have been lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.  And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.  In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!  And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.  But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead! … So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Jesus! … If there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” (from 1 Corinthians 15:12–33 NLT)

Can you imagine Christians who have staked their eternal future on the truth of the Gospel “pretending” about the resurrection?  Well it’s happening among professing “Christians” today – questioning that Jesus actually rose from the dead!  Well, let me say it clearly… NOT ME!  And I hope not you!  I intend to take Paul’s words very seriously!  Easter is about the actual death, burial, AND RESURRECTION of Jesus from the dead!  I’m pinning my eternal hope on that reality!  It’s not a pretend truth to make people feel good – It’s a historical reality!  It gives us “HOPE!” by the Biblical definition – confident expectation!

The day between “Good Friday” and “Easter Sunday” … what do you call it?  I’m calling it “Anticipation Saturday!”

During “Coffee with the Lord” today an old gospel song I sang as a child on Easter in church came to mind… and I’ve been reflecting on it all “Anticipation Saturday” morning!

“Low in the grave He lay,

Jesus, my Savior,

Waiting the coming day,

Jesus, my Lord!

“Vainly they watch His bed,

Jesus, my Savior;

Vainly they seal the dead,

Jesus, my Lord!

“Death cannot keep his Prey,

Jesus, my Savior;

He tore the bars away,

Jesus, my Lord!

Refrain: (and it MUST be sung with “gusto”!!)

“Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

-Robert Lowery 1874

Let’s call it “Anticipation Saturday” and rejoice that Easter Sunday came and inaugurated HOPE!

We call it “Good Friday” …  How can it be GOOD?  The day that Jesus died in agony, infamy, unjustly accused, and for my sin – for the sin of the whole world!

This morning I was reminded of why He died… for the sin of us all!  Psalm 38 expresses our condition well…

“For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me! … But for You, O Lord, do I wait!  It is You, O Lord my God, Who will answer. … I confess [acknowledge] my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin! … Do not forsake me, O Lord!  O my God, be not far from me!   Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (From Psalm 38)

I’ve got to tell you, those inspired words from David, describe perfectly how I felt when I became aware of my sinfulness!

But there is an answer, and that is why we call it “GOOD Friday!”

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows!  Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.  He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed!  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one of us – to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all!” (From Isaiah 53:4-6)

“Now I would remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are saved… I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sin in accordance with the Scriptures, the He was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures!” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Yes… “Good News!” – the “Gospel!”  “GOOD Friday!”  There is an answer – a solution – for my sin, for all of our sin!  The sacrifice – the death – of the sinless “Lamb of God,” Jesus Christ, on the cross!  He died for our sin, He was buried, and rose from the dead!  Praise the Lord!  It really was a “GOOD Friday!”