Move the stone!

Dr. George Sweeting tells of an incident in the early 1920s when Communist leader Nikolai Bukharin was sent from Moscow to Kiev to address an anti-God rally. For an hour he abused and ridiculed the Christian faith until it seemed as if the whole structure of belief was in ruins. Then questions were invited.

An Orthodox church priest rose and asked to speak. He turned, faced the people, and gave the Easter greeting, “He is risen!” Instantly the assembly rose to its feet and the reply came back loud and clear, “He is risen indeed!”

But is He? Has Jesus Christ risen from the tomb of your sin-dead life as Lord and Savior? Does He rule your life … your passions, your thoughts, your desires? Is He Master, and are you servant?

If not, Jesus might as well still be sealed up in the tomb, for the great benefit of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is realized in our own lives only if we yield our lives to His! God wants us to “move the stone” and let the Son of God rise up within us and bring to us, the dead in sin, new life for which Jesus had laid down His own.

Rejoice at these words recorded in Romans 6:3-5, “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was.”

If Christ doesn’t REIGN in your life, then move the stone! Let the risen Savior lift you from brokenness to wholeness. If Jesus isn’t LORD of your life, then “move the stone”! Surrender your will and your ways to the living Son of God, who lives and reigns on high. If you’re tired of being dead in sin, then move the stone! Let the Savior who sacrificed all on your behalf give you a brand new life, make you a new creature, and set you free forever!

Sound good? Then move the stone …

Scotty