He Was Raised to Life for You – April 25, 2019

By this gospel you are saved . . . For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:2-5

He Was Raised to Life for You

In 1994, Nevest Coleman was working his dream job as a groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox, until he was convicted of murdering a 20-year-old woman. He received a life sentence. Twenty-three years later, in November of 2017, DNA evidence proved that the crime was committed by someone else. He was released from prison. A few weeks later, for the first time in more than two decades, Nevest Coleman showed up again for work. The Chicago White Sox had given him his job back.

As he languished in prison those twenty-three years, Mr. Coleman must have thought he would never again work at his dream job. Just as Jesus’ disciples thought they would never see Jesus again—not after what had happened to him on Friday. His horrible death had shattered their dreams and left them wondering what they would do now.

But at various times over the following weeks, their friend who had been so wrongly convicted, was standing right there in front of them, fully alive even after he had died. Showing them that, in the end, death does not win. Jesus did. And, because of Jesus’ victory, death does not get the final say in the existence of Jesus’ followers. Jesus does. You see, it wasn’t his own victory he was most eager to show the world. It was yours. “By this gospel, YOU are saved,” the Bible says. No matter how weak, exhausted, guilty, or broken you feel from day to day. You are saved!

Prayer:
Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of salvation. Help me to live confident of the victory I have been given through my risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.