From the Cross to the Resurrection: Insight and Inspiration- Shades of Grace | Natalie Nichols
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From the Cross to the Resurrection: Insight and Inspiration

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Below are a few articles and devotionals that are excellent sources of insight and inspiration this Easter:

John Piper: 8 Reasons Why I Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead

A saving knowledge of Christ crucified and risen is not the mere result of right reasoning about historical facts. It is the result of spiritual illumination to see those facts for what they really are.

The Village Church: Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead?

The biblical and non-biblical, Christian and non-Christian, evidence that we do have demonstrates that the early Church at least believed that Christ rose from the dead.

So, did He?

Either He did and we have the foundation of the faith, or He didn’t and Christianity is completely and utterly useless (1 Cor. 15). These are really our only options.

Randy Alcorn: The Hope of Easter Is That We Will Be Like Him

Oh, what we miss out on when we rush past the cross of Christ. Oh the richness and reward when we stop to linger before it, when we take the time to “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself” (Heb. 12:3). In a culture where crosses have become commonplace as architecture and jewelry, how we need to truly gaze upon the cross of Christ in all of its ugliness and beauty, in its death and in its healing, in the painful price paid there, and in its free gift of grace. Jesus, keep us near the cross

Ray Hollenbach: 50 Forgotten Days the Church Desperately Needs

We are big on Easter, and rightfully so—God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, putting an exclamation mark on the life of his Son. Some branches of the faith are big on Pentecost, celebrating the coronation of Jesus in heaven and the overflow of the Spirit dripping down to the earth.

Between the two there’s a span of 50 days.

In the hubbub of Easter, we sometimes forget Jesus stuck around for another 40 days after resurrection.

C.H. Spurgeon: Does it Represent Your Sin?

Beloved, can you feel assured that He carried your sin? As you look at the cross upon His shoulders, does it represent your sin? There is one way by which you can tell whether He carried your sin or not.

 Adrian Rogers: The Perfect Sacrifice

Jesus Christ doesn’t have any strong points. For Him to have strong points, He would have to have weak points.

Robert Clark has rightly given this assessment of the character of Jesus: “There was meekness without weakness, tenderness without feebleness, firmness without coarseness, love without sentimentality, holiness without sanctimoniousness, lowliness without lowness, truth without error, enthusiasm without fanaticism, passion without prejudice, heavenly mindedness without forgetfulness, carefreeness without carelessness, service without servility, self exaltation without egotism, judgment without harshness, seriousness without somberness, mercy without softness.”

Justin Taylor: What Time Did Jesus Die?

Zack B. from Fort Wayne, Indiana, asks:

In the Gospel of Mark, it says Jesus was crucified on the “third hour” (Mark 15:25), and the Gospel of John says the crucifixion sentence was on “about the sixth hour” (John 19:14). How was time being reckoned, and is this a contradiction?

We posed this question to Justin Taylor, vice president of the book division at Crossway, blogger at Between Two Worlds, and co-author with Andreas J. Köstenberger of The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived

Charisma Magazine: 

J. Lee Grady: 8 Ways Jesus Suffered for You

In the churches I grew up in, all the crosses I saw were plain and empty—and usually painted white. We celebrated the fact that Jesus came off the cross and was raised from the dead on Resurrection Sunday. So I always considered the Catholic cross very odd because Jesus was still hanging there in bloody agony. Some people I knew even suggested that crucifixes should be avoided because they leave Jesus in perpetual death.

I’m not lobbying for anyone to wear a crucifix. But I do think we Protestants have at times been so fearful of Catholic doctrines that we minimized Jesus’ painful suffering. In the Gospels, plenty of time is spent describing the torture that led to Calvary and the pain Jesus suffered while nailed to a piece of wood. We should ponder what Jesus suffered if we ever hope to fathom the price He paid for our salvation.

Mike Shreve: 8 Things Jesus’ Resurrection Does for You … Right Now!

Most believers view the resurrection of the Lord Jesus either through a historical or a prophetical lens. They tend to look backward or forward. Too often, sons and daughters of God fail to grasp the present-tense benefits that have come to us as a result of this grand, spiritual conquest that took place when the stone rolled away almost 2,000 years ago.

Ron Cantor: Yeshua Rose From the Dead on a Jewish Holiday

There has been a conspiracy! Whether earthly or in the spirit world, I don’t know. But this Sunday, at least in heaven, they will mark the greatest of all the Jewish Holidays—and it isn’t called Easter.

There is a secret Jewish holiday that no one wants to talk about. Well, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic, but the fact is that Yeshua rose from the dead on a Biblical feast day.

Charisma News:

Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt: 5 Life-Changing Truths You Should Know About the Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the bedrock of the Christian faith. That is why it has been the target of the most vicious attacks by those who oppose the Christian faith. If the physical resurrection of Jesus can be disproven, then the entire Christian faith comes crashing down. But if the resurrection is true and Jesus Christ is alive today, then at the end of the day, nothing else really matters and He and His cause are worthy of our absolute devotion and faith.

Here are five life-changing truths you should know about the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Christianity Today:

Slaughterhouse Gospel: Why God dwelling with us meant gruesome rituals by Richard Stearns

As we read the Old Testament it is easy to imagine ourselves awed by the great temple of Solomon and the tabernacle that proceeded it—God’s dwelling place in the midst of Israel. …

In the final chapters of Exodus we read about the building of the tabernacle with its magnificent architecture, courtyards, lamp stands, adornments of jewels and precious metals, and beautiful woven curtains. God specified every detail of what must have been a truly majestic structure filled with works of art, craftsmanship, and beauty. Moses personally oversaw its construction.

But we rarely think about these places as slaughterhouses. Their overriding purpose was to be a place of carnage where animals were brutally and graphically sacrificed—thousands upon thousands of them, day after day and year after year.

What Easter Has to Do with My Everyday Life by Amy Julia Becker

Why am I surprised that God is willing to enter into the smallest problems, concerns, and details?

Penny, my eight-year old daughter, was on spring break. William (5) and Marilee (3) were not. My husband Peter was out of town. So I decided to pull William and Marilee from school and go to the Connecticut shore, where we have a family beach house. We got there Monday afternoon. It was cold and windy, but the sun was out. We picked up stones and the kids walked barefoot on the sand and ran away from the frigid water. But the next morning, it was raining. It rained all day, a cold hard blustery rain. A rain that then turned to ice and snow. Not exactly my vision for spring vacation at the beach.

Meanwhile, I was thinking about Easter. I didn’t have Easter outfits for anyone. I didn’t have candy or books or bathing suits, the things my mother used to put in our Easter baskets. I didn’t have a plan for a special meal. And with Peter gone and Penny on break, I didn’t have any time (or much motivation, truth be told) to rectify this situation.

Images to Share

Fix-our-eyes

 

He was pierced

 

Easter: Fresh Insight and Inspiration from the Archives

 

The Confrontational Language of the Cross

 

Resurrection ground

Question: Which article did you find the most inspiring or insightful?

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One Response to “From the Cross to the Resurrection: Insight and Inspiration”

  1. jimmy little says:

    it is amazing that the cross was not as heavy as the sins jesus was carrying

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