Today as Christians and followers of the faith, we celebrate our Lord and Master's triumphant resurrection and share in the promise of His kingdom. Without this belief, our faith would have no meaning but praise God and His Son Jesus Christ for keeping Their word and never faltering in Their pursuit of our salvation through Jesus Christ. Easter Sunday serves as a glorious reminder to us that death and the grave no longer have a hold over us and that the promise of God has been fulfilled and realized in the person of Jesus Christ. He was true to His word that if you destroyed this temple, He would raise it up again on the third day. We must be ever mindful that this three day ordeal had to occur in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled through Him and that He take upon Himself our debt, our sin even though He Himself was without sin. He paid our debt in full to the Father and it is through Him that we enjoy communion with God the Father. What exactly was Christ's purpose in coming to Earth? Why was He here? What was His mission? Simple, Christ's mission was to bridge the chasm that existed between God and man. In order for that bridge to be acceptable, the offering had to be given freely and be free of any guilt or sin so as to be welcomed by God. "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10) "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18) "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:15) You get the idea from this small number of examples that God takes sin quite seriously and the penalties for that sin or any sin for that matter, is death. Jesus was to be our sacrifice as we are unable to bridge the gap to God by ourselves. God is perfect and Holy. That's why He required a perfect, sinless, guiltless sacrifice. Christ took our sins, our debt, our guilt upon Himself to pay in full to the Father that which we could not. "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Romans 4:25) "By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also." (1 Corinthians 6:14) "The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:14) It's hard sometimes for finite man to grasp this concept of giving up your own life to save the life of another but that's exactly what Christ did and that gift is one that keeps on giving until the end of all time. Christ was freely giving His life as sacrifice for many that no one would have to suffer the pains of death or eternal life separated from God. Christ simply died for something that was greater than Him. God knows our nature yet despite that, He loved us anyway and set in motion the means by which we could look to the kingdom of heaven as our refuge in times of trouble. Without Christ's sacrifice upon the cross, the promise of heaven and life eternal were completely out of man's grasp. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24) "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds, we healed." (Isaiah 53:5) The death of Christ in and of itself is probably the most horrific account of torture leading to execution ever experienced in the annuls of human history. No mere man could have survived this form of slow torture then last another 6 hours nailed to a crucifix before He finally gave up His spirit. Beaten severely and loosing large amounts of blood only to have to haul His own means of death up a hill while getting beaten all the way. The final insult: driving each nail in one by one until He was affixed to the cross. You and I deserved those nails not Him. It was our sin that put those nails there in the first place. "He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him." (1 Thessalonians 5:10) "I tell you the truth; you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." (John 16:20) "They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said." (Matthew 27:28-29) "Therefore.He said "It is finished" And He bowed His head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30) "At that very moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split." (Matthew 27:51) That portion of Christ's earthly ministry was over and a new era between God and man was ushered in but first Christ would have to overcome the sting of His own death and be resurrected as the scriptures foretold. This new era, commonly referred to as the dispensation of grace was born through Christ and it would be that miracle which would bring about the forgiveness of sins. "This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:46-47) "God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:24) "After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3) "Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Revelation 1:18) Some people stumble over their own disbelief whether it is because of a broken relationship with the Father or a lack of faith in Christ and His ministry. God is all knowing and all powerful. Nothing escapes His notice. You must reach out your hand in faith and grab the treasures that the Father has waiting for you. All you need is to call on Him through Christ Jesus and He will hear and rejoice over your fellowship with Him. "The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." (Psalm 14:1) "Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:18) "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. (John 3:36) "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, Jesus told him, you will never believe." (John 4:48) Regardless of what Jesus had done, despite the miracles, there were still those that mocked and ridiculed Him even unto death. But even on the cross, Christ was willing to forgive and show forgiveness to His detractors. "One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?" "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying, "Jesus remember me when You come into Your kingdom!" And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:39-43) It was only after they crucified Christ that they realized He was truly the Son of God. His earthly mission now complete, men could now for the first time come to the Father through Christ Jesus and attain forgiveness of sins and enjoy fellowship with the Almighty once again under the dispensation of Grace. "But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace." (2 Timothy 1:8-9) "This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:9-10) "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives." (Titus 2:11-12) "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." (Titus 3:4-5) There is nothing man in his infinite wisdom can do to attain eternal life on his own. There has to be a Holy Conduit, a Bridge if you will, and that Bridge is the Man in the glory, Jesus Christ for there is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved. God has given man free will over his ability to choose and several times has given him two choices. He can choose heaven or hell, belief or unbelief, righteousness or unrighteousness, salvation in paradise or agony in the lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I encourage all of you to choose life. Choose Christ. You'll be glad you did. You must ask yourself, what exactly is holding you back from making that all important decision to turn your life over to God. Do you need help? Do you need answers? Contact me and together we'll get through those areas of uncertainty. Like my Savior which is in heaven, I came to serve not be served. My ministry is dedicated to you along with the people of the streets, the homeless, the hungry, and the needy. It is my hope that you will experience the love and peace of Christ through me. I am not here to judge rather to help and to provide hope where there is none by sharing my Jesus with my readers. For years and years all I ever knew was war and the brutality that child abuse can produce and hoped and prayed that God would make all my hurts go away. He did in time but I also recognized early on that I had to meet Him halfway. I am a child of God and nothing will change that. God may allow me to be tested but I will be on my knees thanking Him for thinking so highly of me as to test the resolve of my faith. Each of us has a mission in life. God created only one person like you to fill a need somewhere and it's your God given duty to find out what that mission is. God would have never created you otherwise. Christ will be returning soon so you must ask yourself am I ready? If not, why not. Trust me. You do not want to be left behind when the final tribulation comes my friend. "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:27-28) "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." (John 5:28-29) "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4) "Behold, I am coming soon!" (Revelation 22:7) Every day brings us one day closer to Christ's arrival. Are you looking upon that day with joy, fear or could you care less? Believe me, when you see Jesus returning for His elect in the clouds that is not the time to try to be copping religion. The time to act is now before it's too late. No one knows the hour or day of their death. Only the Father knows. You may never get another opportunity like this please don't get left behind! Your decision is totally up to you. Live life as a new creature created anew by God and the Holy Spirit, or live in the dead end rut you're in now and try to keep scratching and crawling your way out to a feeble existence. Your only way out is to be saved. I ask the Lord at this time to let the Holy Spirit lay a conviction upon your soul about lingering hate or bigotry and that you would ask for God's forgiveness to heal you this very day. Our Father tells us "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15) He also reminds us in Ephesians (4:32), to "Be kind to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you." If you don't know forgiveness, you'll never understand or be ready for salvation. So ask yourself this, "What must I do to be saved?" 1.) Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is not a promise of a perfect life quite the opposite! Jesus said "Take up your cross and follow me!" You may be ridiculed, lose friends, lose jobs and be persecuted for your beliefs. If this happens, and more times than not it will, praise God for this tells you without a doubt that you are His child and when the day is over and everything is said and done, that's all that matters. 2.) Confess your sins. Bring all your sins to the cross of Jesus. Christ's blood has the power to cleanse all sins don't hold anything back! God knows everything but He wants you to come to Him freely and make your confession. 3.) Repent of Your Sins. What does it mean to repent? To repent is to completely turn away from old habits that cause you to stumble or sin in the first place. 4.) Live a Godly life. Christ said in John, Chapter 11 that "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even if he dies" In John 14 he reiterates this statement and adds that "no one comes to the Father but by me" There is no name under heaven other than Jesus that will unlock the gates of heaven to you when you die. None of us are guaranteed anything. You and I may die today, only the Father knows the appointed time. Wouldn't it be nice to know that you've laid up treasures for yourself in heaven? If you do not know where you'll go when you die, I would encourage you to examine your heart, listen and wait upon God and the Holy Spirit to work in your life. There is no decision you and I will ever make that's more important than this one. God patiently waits on those who seek Him. If you're unsure of your relationship with our Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, contact me. Together, we'll seek guidance from the Father to eliminate those things which are interfering with your walk with God.

Copyright 2010 Dr. Myers is an Independent Christian Minister and a Biblical Counselor with an Honorary Doctorate in Psychology, and a Masters in Divinity with a PhD in Biblical Studies. He is also a motivational speaker and writer and may be reached at; [email protected] All Scriptures taken from the Zondervan 1984 NIV and used with permission.