If Jesus really has risen from the dead as the scriptures teach us, where can people find the risen Jesus today?
For over two thousand years, people have been searching for the resurrected Jesus. But why have some found Him and others have not? The likelihood that you are reading this article at this moment probably means you not only have found Jesus but also received Him as your Savior and Lord of your life and have an intimate and growing relationship with Him. But what about those who have not found and know Jesus as we do? The following are some points to think about because you and I probably know someone who possibly fits into one or several of these categories.
It should be one of our deepest desires that everyone who is not a Christian that enters a Bible believing and teaching church building, including the persons we invite, would find Jesus, repent of their sins (not their mistakes) and invite Jesus into their lives. The reality is, the majority of people whom we know, who do not have a relationship with Jesus, will never enter a church unless it is for a wedding, funeral or baby baptism. Nevertheless, how often is there a gospel message preached and an invitation to receive Jesus during one of these three events? Almost never, therefore this brings us back to our first question. If Jesus really has risen from the dead as the scriptures teach us, where can people find the risen Christ today? Especially, when they will not enter a church building for about an hour and a half to be able to hear and experience that they can receive Jesus as their Savior.
Very rarely, the message on the sign in front of Hope Chapel is intended for those who consider themselves Christians. The main purpose of the sign message is to speak to those who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. It not to make people laugh or to make them upset. Nor is it to use words (“Christianese”) that someone who does not know the Bible or do not have Christ in their life will not understand, such as “Hedge of Protection” or “Traveling Mercies”. The one time of the year the sign message is exclusively intended for someone who has a personal relationship with Jesus is right after Easter. There is not enough room to put the following sentence on the sign, Jesus in a Christian’s life should be proof to others of His resurrection, so the sign message has to be edited down to say the following speaking to Christians. “Is Jesus in Your life proof to others of His resurrection?”
One of the many metaphors that Jesus put emphasis on who Christians are when Christ is in their lives is found in Matthew 5:14-16. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
The “light” that is in a Christian is Christ in us. This is what will “shine before men”. The “light” that is in us whom others will see and experience outside of the Church building should be the resurrected Jesus. Who Jesus is in us and how bright He shines through us, is the proof or evidence to others that Jesus is not dead but alive.
John 8:12
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Someone who is not a Christian does not need to enter a church to find the resurrected Jesus. All they should do is look at Jesus, the “light” that is us and look at our lives to find the risen Jesus who is alive today. It is Jesus in us that should be that witness and example to them of the difference of a life that has changed and is being changed by the resurrected Jesus.
Pastor John
“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
John 3:21
