It is All About Jesus!

It is all about Jesus! This week we remember Jesus. His passion and his resurrection. As Oscar Cullmann states so brilliantly that the Christ event is the climatic event of all salvation history.

All that God had done previously leads up to the coming of Christ as His Suffering Servant to bring redemption to the world.

This is foretold in the latter half of Isaiah. Chapters 42, 49, 50 and 53 are the Suffering Servant Songs that portray how God will bring salvation for Israel and the nations.

Since the resurrection of Jesus, believers look back and celebrate the coming of God’s servant. This week we will again remember and celebrate what Jesus did on the cross

as the Lamb of God and in his resurrection as our reigning Lord. The message of the resurrection is not the creation of the early church’s faith.

The resurrection created the people of faith. There is no other possible explanation for the faith of the New Testament. The testimony of the early disciples is one of disillusionment and fear.

It was only after the resurrection appearances and the coming of the Holy Spirit that transformed these disciples. Today, all around the world, many of Christ’s disciples face similar trials and persecutions.

Even in countries like our own, Christ’s disciples face trials and hardships. But in the midst of these struggles, God’s kingdom advances. This is possible because the resurrected Christ lives.

His power is unleashed in the hearts of people through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray that as the Gospel is proclaimed this Easter Sunday that more people will enter the Kingdom and the church of Jesus Christ will be strengthened.  

Pastor Fred