Easter Victory Lap!
If you enjoy car racing, you might look at Easter as the “victory lap”. You’ve already won! Now you can totally enjoy a free lap with those cheering you on! Then comes the prize!
The Bible is thick and contains so much. Is there a way to summarize it? Some verses in the Bible do that. Here is one that outlines the heart of Easter. It reads like this:
16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great:
God was revealed in the flesh,
justified in the spirit,
seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
and received up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
To help you see it, a little detail might help. So let me fill you in. Jesus existed with God before He was born. Jesus was involved in our creation. Jesus was then born to Mary and God. (Joseph was just Jesus’ stepfather.) When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, “God was revealed in the flesh”.
To satisfy all righteousness, Jesus insisted on being baptized by John the Baptist. During baptism God Himself said He was pleased with Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God came down on Jesus like a dove. (That’s just one example of Jesus “justified in the spirit”.)
Jesus was then tempted by Satan for forty days. After that He was “seen by angels” who came and helped Him. (Again, just one example.)
Jesus went around healing the sick, casting out demons, explaining how He was the only way to be forgiven by God, and preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who sincerely repented of their sins, and asked forgiveness through Jesus, mightily received forgiveness from God. Many experienced the Holy Spirit falling on them too! Those believers also took the message of Jesus and “preached among the nations”. Many more then believed and spread the message to others who would believe. So, Jesus was “believed on in the world”.
Jesus willingly offered His sinless body on the cross, taking the death penalty for the sins of whoever would repent! Jesus won the victory by being the only one with a human body to live a sinless life! Jesus had said He would eventually share His prize of Heaven with His repentant believers —and Jesus never lies! —By the way, Heaven is not boring —it’s the victory dinner and party! Raising from the dead, and showing Himself to hundreds of His followers, is how Jesus took His “victory lap”! —That’s the Easter Victory!
Then His followers saw Jesus raise up into the clouds “and received up in glory”! I’m invited to the victory dinner and party and so are you. The time for each of us to go is up to God, because God is putting on the party. Will you repent and believe so you can go too? Is Jesus your favorite Driver or what?
