DAY BEFORE EASTER

No Resurrection, No Savior

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain…. ye are yet in your sins.” - 1 Corinthians 15: 14, 17

It’s an unthinkable question: what if there had been no Easter? Suppose Jesus had not risen from the dead? Our faith would be futile, death would have dominion, sin would be sovereign and the future would be fearful. His death without His resurrection cannot save anybody. Our faith is worthless if He is still in the grave.

How do we know that Jesus Christ was not just a religious fanatic, someone with a martyr complex who happened to get crucified?  How do we know He is the Son of God, God incarnate? Romans 1:4 says He is “shown to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.”

How do we know that God accepted the sacrifice of Calvary? By the resurrection. The Bible says He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. No resurrection, no Savior. No Savior, no forgiveness.  But Jesus went into the tomb and three days later walked out like a butterfly bursting from a cocoon. He is a risen Savior.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

A Man of Sorrows

Is. 53:

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 

3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 

5 But 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. 

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 

9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 

10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. 

How can something as wonderful as the mercy of the Lord bring such a devastating event that changes the course of the human race? I'm speaking of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who knew no sin but became sin for you and me. We could never be worthy before God for this ransom but praise the name of Jesus for He alone was wholly able to satisfy the wrath due us!!

In obedience to the Father, he was nailed to the cross and suffered in agony even though He was innocent! We all want justice for those wrongly accused but what about this travesty of justice? You and I need to think about the price this innocent man, the Christ Jesus willingly paid! He is our only righteousness!!! He is our only means of forgiveness and salvation!! There is no other way!! Praise Him for He alone is worthy!!!!

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your obedience. We ask for many souls to hear this message of Your good news. Open hearts and eyes to the holiness that is You. Amen

The Place of Calvary

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” Luke 23:33

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Jesus carried our sin to the cross. The spot where that happened was Calvary, also called Golgotha—the same spot known as Mt. Moriah where in Genesis Abraham offered Isaac to God. Mt. Moriah, the temple mount, and Calvary are all on the same limestone ridge—all the same mountain. 

Centuries before Christ was born, God told Abraham, the brightest star in the Hebrew heaven, “Abraham, I want you to take your son, your only son, the son that you love, the son of promise, to a place I will show you. Not just any place—a certain place. And there you are to offer your son.” That spot is the very spot where one day, centuries later, Jesus Christ would be crucified.

For Abraham and Isaac, a ram caught in a thicket provided the substitute. There was no such substitute for Jesus Christ—for He was our Substitute.

ACTION POINT:

Meditate today on what it cost God the Father to sacrifice His only Son on Calvary’s mountain and what it cost the Lord Jesus to be that “ram caught in the thicket” for us. Let what God the Father provided—and what His Son did for you—sink into the deepest part of your heart. “I will praise Him, Praise the lamb for sinners slain. Give Him glory, all ye people, for His blood can wash away each stain.”

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Just for the Unjust

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God …” 1 Peter 3:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
A Roman soldier walked down a narrow corridor in a Roman prison. He held the torch up, and back in the shadows was a man. The guard with his key opened the door and said, “Barabbas, get up and come with me.” Barabbas began to plead, “No, wait, don’t take me! Have mercy!” The Roman soldier said, “You’re not going to die; there’s somebody else who’s going to die in your place. Come here. Look over on that hill. That’s the cross we made for you. But there’s someone else on it. He has taken your place.”

In what happened to Barabbas, God arranged a perfect picture of substitution — the just dying for the unjust that He might bring us to Himself.

ACTION POINT:
Take time today to tell the Lord Jesus Christ how much you love Him and how grateful you are that He stepped out of glory and became obedient unto death—even the death of the Cross—for your sake and mine.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Cursed

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And unto Adam He said…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” Genesis 3:17 
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The crown of thorns Jesus wore—what does it speak of? It symbolizes the curse upon humanity, on you, on me, on us all, because of sin. When God created mankind and put him in the Garden of Eden, there were no thorns. A curse came upon Adam and Eve because they sinned and disobeyed God. The thorn, the thistle, are the result of the curse of sin upon humanity.  Jesus wore a crown of thorns because He bore that curse…the hardship, sorrow, and death that come with sin.

Are you having heartaches? Are you having sorrow? Do you know sickness? The thorny pathway we walk is because of sin. The bed of briars we sleep on is because of sin. 

ACTION POINT:
Who is taking care of your sin today? Who is paying the price for it? Is it under the blood? Are you trusting Christ alone for that?

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Dead and Buried

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:4

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

One of the grandest blessings in the entire Bible is often missed by believers. It is the burial of Jesus Christ! That’s right! The burial of Jesus is a blessing to you. Because not only have we died with Him, we have been buried with Him.

When Jewish people died in Bible times, they were immediately embalmed with special oils and wrapped in linen. The body was hidden and buried in a tomb. That is what Jesus has done with our old body of sin.

Not only have we been crucified with Christ, we have been buried with Christ. Why the emphasis? So that you will not be haunted by the ghost of guilt. Your old life is not just dead, it’s buried!

ACTION POINT:

The devil will try to remind you what you were. Don’t let him. Don’t go prowling around in the dead bones of your old life. It is gone by the grace of God!

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Salvation: Not An Attainment, But An Atonement

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:25-26

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

When I was a little boy, I thought that God was like Santa Claus with a long beard sitting up in heaven—making a list and checking it twice, trying to find out if I was naughty or nice. Then when my life was over, I would face Him and He would pull out these massive scales and weigh my good works against my bad to see if I made it into heaven.

Do you know what this thinking did? It made me fearful that at the end of my life I would face God and He would say, “Adrian. I’m sorry, but according to My calculations, you didn’t make it.” Then, I would have to turn and ashamedly walk past family and friends.

Friend, maybe you even believe this, but let me set the record straight: Salvation is not an attainment, it is an atonement.

ACTION POINT:

You cannot atone for your sins. Your good works cannot do it. None of us could produce works good-enough and fast enough to atone for sin. Don’t even try. Rest in the finished work of the Cross.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers