CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN

 

"WE ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE"

 

We are leaving the deadness of winter and moving into the new life of spring. If we had not witnessed it before, we could not be convinced of the possibility of the beauty of springtime, where everything was once dead. God has designed His creation so that it can survive. The forest fires in California can destroy all the foliage, but somehow, over time, one will see new life rise from the ashes. Hurricanes and tornadoes can cause great damage to life and property. Yet, before you know it, neighborhoods and families continue to endure the elements and the people who endured the turbulence.

 

We are in the Easter season. This time in our Christian faith marks a horrible period when the followers of Jesus Christ faced the greatest challenge to their faith. They knew that Jesus warned them that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer many things by the elders, chief priests, and the teachers of the law; that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. These disciples had the utmost trust in words that fell from Jesus’ lips. They had seen the evidence that He could do the impossible. But when they saw Him submit to the humiliation of the ridicule of being beaten, and the horrible suffering and death on the cross, it left His disciples in a period of hopelessness. It seemed that this mighty man, whom they placed so much confidence in, had been destroyed. Like the grass, the trees, and all the vegetation, at a glance, seemed to be forever dead. The disciples were trying to dismiss the dreams and visions they felt while with the master.

 

Those of us who have invested our faith in Jesus Christ and started our faith journey by depending on His word can attest to times during our walk with Him when it seemed as if everything we have believed about Him was dead, based on what we are witnessing in our experiences. We are all challenged, as we try to live what we have learned about God, by how we feel about the reality of what we presently see. Life has a way of trying to make us concede to defeat, as did the disciples of Jesus Christ. My advice for us is that when we are faced with what seems to be our demise, we should believe what we have learned about God. Jesus told His disciples there would be trying events that He would face.

 

They would see Him abused, and He would face death. Then He spoke to them about how He would be the ultimate victor over everything that He faced. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ should help us understand that there are no situations or circumstances so dead that the power of God cannot bring new life! Jesus Christ is the one who lived, died, and is alive forevermore. Because we are in Him, "We are on the winning side."

 

                Reverend Dr. Michael Jones

     Moderator of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America