Our celebration of Christ’s resurrection
reminds us of our complete dependence on Him and His work for us on the cross.
There is nothing we can offer that will match the sacrifice He made for us. His
sacrifice was because of His great love for us and our great need of Him. All
that we give to Him in worship and praise on Easter Sunday is based on His
grace: we bring it to Him because He first gave it to us. Not only did He die
for our sins but He lived for our lives: we are subject to His grace in all
things. We worship Him, giving back far less than
what He gave to us, but by His grace He completes what we bring. He is Risen!
At some time in our lives we have stood at
the bottom of Jesus’ cross, observing His hideous death and the moral and
emotional wreck that is our lives. Beneath the cross of Jesus we observe the
horror of an innocent man punished and killed because of our guilt and shame;
somehow we know He did it on our behalf.
If bad things don’t matter then good things
don’t matter either. If our sin doesn’t require justice and judgment then any
good thing we do requires nothing good in return. Good and evil are rendered
meaningless if our sin is not recognized and judged. Our sin has been judged,
once for all, in Jesus receiving our judgment on Himself. It wasn’t fair for
Him, but He did not come to die for fairness but for love and grace. Life is
often not fair for us, but in the cross of Christ we have come to know we are
of all people most favored and most blessed. “Life isn’t fair” in that we have
received far more good than we have deserved and have not received the full measure
of justice that we so richly deserved.
I am not what I would call a “good and noble
man.” I don’t think of myself as holy nor do I “feel” holy most of the time. I
have such obvious chinks in my armor (I wear them like a gilded robe) that I
could be ridiculed and judged at any moment. The level of perfection that the
world demands (how ironic that the people most critical of Christianity are the
most legalistic and demanding of absolute perfection from people) is not
attainable. The world demands far more of their definition of “righteousness”
than God demands of us. (The world seeks to destroy our good with its “perfect”
when you think about it.) So I know I have no self-righteousness to offer: but
I am redeemed. I have no intrinsic power or discipline to show off like a shiny
trophy: but I have His grace and mercy. My only trophy is the cross and His
grace. It’s all I’ve got: it’s all I have to lean on. I’m nothing and nobody
without Him, and without Him I can do nothing of any value.
But by His grace He asks me to express my
love and devotion for Him in the ways He has given me. He is pleased when I
offer my mind, heart, soul and strength; even though it’s woefully inadequate. He
fills it up with His grace to make it an offering with which He is pleased. And
when I give what I am to Him, I know He is pleased.
