I think you can tell already what this post is about...this weekend being Easter, there's a lot to celebrate! I've always been amazed & awed by the story of Christ's resurrection. One of the parts that we're all probably most familiar with is that the massive stone that covered the tomb had been rolled away. There's so many things to pull away from that...I mean, nothing...absolutely nothing could hold back God from what He intended to do.
But there's also another part of the story that has really hit home in my heart over these past several years.
Back in college I had to take this course (yes, "had to") as part of my major. It was called homiletics. Basically, it was a class on teaching/preaching. We reviewed some of the greatest sermons ever written, we studied them, & then we took time learning how to write a sermon. And then...we had to preach on two different ocassions in the class. See why I used the phrase "had to"? I'm not so much a get up in front of a crowd and preach kind of girl. But don't get me wrong...I actually really loved the class because I learned so much from it. I think I was most encouraged just being able to listen to the hearts of my classmates as they gave their messages. One stuck out to me in particular...
"Take Off Your Grave Clothes"
Ever notice that part in the Easter story? Here...I'll show it to you...
"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!' So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen." -John 10:1-7
When Christ died on the cross, He was covered in sin. He took all of it (your sin, my sin, everybody's sin) & He carried it with Him to the cross...
You know the song "It is Well with My Soul"? Remember that line in there that we all sing triumphantly, "my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more"?
Yep, that's what Christ did. He took our sin, our flaws, our shame, our junk and got rid of it. His beaten, battered, and bruised body was wrapped up & put in a big stone tomb...but something happened when that stone was rolled away & the disciples came to look inside. They saw that something had been left behind...the grave clothes.
So what's my point?
How many of us so called Christ-Followers are still walking around with our grave clothes on?
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." -Colossians 3:1-3
After hearing my classmates sermon on "Take Off Your Grave Clothes," I came across Colossians chapter 3. Not that I hadn't read it before, but I hadn't really seen it before. So that semester, my mentor and I decided to commit Colossians 3:1-17 to memory. I don't tell you this to say "Yeah me! Look at how super spiritual I am that I have this passage memorized." Are you kidding me?! I memorized it, because I needed that constant reminder of what my life should look like...that constant reminder to get rid of my nasty grave clothes.
So many of us are walking around with our grave clothes on. We're living exactly like we were before we encountered Christ. The sin that He died for is still wrapped around us...we're still hanging onto it. Maybe we don't even realize it's there. So many of us are not living FREE in Christ...
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. BUT NOW you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator." -Col. 3:5-10
As you read through the Bible, you see so many examples that Christ gave us of how we should be living this life. The Easter Story is no different...it's another example. Christ rose from the grave & left the grave clothes behind. If we're going to live as Christ-Followers, we've got to leave our grave clothes behind.
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindsness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all thse virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." -Col. 3:12-14
This Easter weekend, may you be reminded not only of what Christ did for you but also of the example He left for us to follow. Take off your grave clothes, and start living the life of freedom Christ came to offer us.
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