Resurrection Sunday is less than one week away, and while we’ll be celebrating the resurrection of our King Jesus, there are still so many who will be celebrating Easter as a fun spring holiday about egg hunts and Easter bunnies.
Now, I love the fun aspects of Easter (like egg hunts, special chocolates, and picnics), but Easter is, of course, not about those things in the same way Christmas is not about receiving gifts or simply gathering with family.
It’s all about Jesus.
Sadly, there are many who forget that. There are many who fail to recognize the significance of this holiday, perhaps because they have fallen away from serving God or because no one has reached them with the truth. There are many forms of “truth” roaming around, especially around religious holidays, and there are many lies that distract people from focusing on the truth.
Today, we’ll focus on one lie that the enemy tells to keep people from finding Jesus and two truths that disprove this lie.
The lie: the days of New Testament miracles and spiritual gifts are over.
This is called cessationism, which is the belief “that spiritual gifts ceased after the closing of the biblical canon” (Apostolic Study Bible). Of course, we know this is a lie due to the truths below.
1. Jesus Christ is alive, and so are supernatural gifts and miracles!
Jesus Christ was crucified but rose again and reigns today. If He is alive, and His power still exists, then so do the miracles, signs, and wonders that all stem from His power.
Through the Holy Ghost, we have the power to reach the lost, tread on serpents, discern spirits, prophesy, and interpret tongues among many other things (see Acts 1:8, Luke 10:19, and 1 Corinthians 12). The fact that God’s people can pray for the sick and they be healed and that God’s people can rebuke spirits and perform other miracles is the evidence of Christ’s reigning power and presence.
Jesus is still performing New Testament miracles through His people, which brings us to the second truth.
2. Jesus Christ is still raising people from the dead.
Yes, that means both physically and spiritually. A person can suffer two deaths: physical and spiritual, but the spiritual takes place before the physical. While a physical death does not necessarily resign a person to eternal death (hell), a spiritual death can lead to eternal death if left untreated.
But our God does not abandon the weary, the broken, or the spiritually dead.
When I was struggling with the darkest depression I had ever experienced, I worried I was lost. I worried that there was no way out of that seemingly endless pit because I couldn’t see it. A mix of various emotions consumed me—grief, bitterness, despair, hopelessness. I found myself in a dry wilderness where there was no life and no peace.
But God breathed new life into me.
Through a series of sermons, He began to speak life into me again. After studying certain Scriptures, I began to feel His love and mercy again. After calling out to Him on several occasions, I began to get closer to Him than I had been before, and He brought me out of darkness into His light.
He renewed me. He resurrected me.
If He did it for me, He can do it for you.
Those are the truths we must remember, especially as we celebrate His Resurrection.
Jesus Christ is still on the throne.
He is still healing the sick.
He is still mending broken souls.
He is still saving the lost.
He is still reviving the dead.
He is still moving, and He is not done.
For our God is alive!
Happy Easter, everyone! Thank God for His blood that He shed to cover our sins and give us the chance at eternal life with Him!
I pray you all have a wonderful time celebrating our risen King this Resurrection Sunday!
“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said….”
Matthew 28:5-6a (KJV)
Breathe. Pray. Repeat. 