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MEDITATION:

Written by Mark D. Roberts, a contemporary Christian author. This meditation is from the Fuller DePree Center daily devotional, for which he is a principal writer.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

For centuries, Christians h ave greeted each other on Easter Sunday with these triumphant words. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus not only because one we love has conquered death, but also because we share in his victory. Because Christ is risen, sin and death have been defeated. Because Christ is risen, we are saved. To use the language of 2 Corinthians 6:2, “now is the day of salvation.” The salvation we have in the risen Christ includes the assurance of the fullness of life in God’s future. One day, we too will be raised with Jesus, thanks be to God. But we begin to live in the reality of salvation today. “Now is the day of salvation,” Paul exclaims. Thus, we mustn’t “receive God’s grace in vain” (6:1). Rather, we should allow the grace of God given in Christ to transform us, inspire us, and empower us so that we might live for God and others in God’s name. Though God has done all that is necessary for salvation through Jesus Christ —who died on Good Friday and was raised on Easter—we are nevertheless “God’s co-workers.” Even as God created humankind to cooperate with God in the stewardship of the earth, so we also work with God in passing on the message of salvation in Christ. Through living as people in which God’s grace is alive and through speaking of what God has done to save us through Christ, we, along with the Apostle Paul, are God’s co-workers. Thus, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on this day of salvation, we also commit ourselves once again to receiving God’s grace fruitfully and to living our whole lives as God’s co-workers. May God receive all the glory!

PRAYER:

Written by Rachel Marie Stone, a contemporary writer, editor, and speaker.

Lord God, you loved this world so much that you gave your one and only Son, that we might be called your children too. Lord, help us to live in the gladness and grace of Easter Sunday, every day. Let us have hearts of thankfulness for your sacrifice. Let us have eyes that look upon your grace and rejoice in our salvation. Help us to walk in that mighty grace and tell your good news to the world. All for your glory do we pray, Lord, Amen.