Empty Tomb

An individual who had a tremendous impact on my faith once said, “Many people come TO the cross but never go THROUGH the cross to the empty tomb to find the living Christ.” The cross has become the main symbol of Christianity and thank God for it. Christians wear crosses as jewelry. Churches have used a cross to identify their buildings. When you walk into the sanctuary of many churches you will even find a statue of Jesus hanging on the cross. The problem with all of this is that Jesus is no longer on the cross. He has risen from the dead, ascended into heaven and now indwells the bodies of all who are born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Him. Yet, for many believers they are still at the foot of the cross because they still believe that their sins separate them from God. The jewelry we wear, the cross we place on our buildings and the statues of Jesus on the cross are the representations of what we believe about what He has done for us. The Bible says, “For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:16-17).” As the quote earlier refers to, many people come to the cross, but don’t go through the cross. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul is getting at. Your sins are no longer an issue between you and God. In fact, if Jesus had not been raised you’d still be in your sins. Therefore, the opposite must be true; since Jesus has indeed been raised, you are no longer in your sins. In other words, it is time to go to the empty tomb and rest in Jesus’ finished work on the cross.

 Now, this doesn’t mean that sin is okay or that sin is not serious. What it is saying is that sin is so serious that God had to die for it. Now, it is time to thank the Lord for what He has done for us, rest in His finished work and start experiencing the reality of the resurrection; the restoration of the life of God which has raised us from the dead spiritually and will someday raise us from the dead physically. But, you cannot begin to experience any of that, including a relationship with God, if you are still at the cross. Ask yourself, “How would my walk with the Lord change if I truly believed that He is no longer counting my sins against me?”  How much more peace would you experience? How much more rest would you enjoy? How much more time would you set aside to study His Word? How would your prayer life change? How would your relationships change? How much more would God reveal to you? How many more people would you share the Gospel with? 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” If God is not counting your sins against you then why are you counting them against yourself? The cross should be a reminder of this fact, but for many it is a reminder of their unbelief about what God said is “finished.” If God has committed to Christians the message of reconciliation, it is time that we be reconciled to God.