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The cross, tomb, and resurrection of Jesus are the central events of our faith. Here Jesus the Christ, the only begotten Son of God won our salvation. Without these events, Jesus would not be who he is, and we would not have salvation (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). The cross is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8). This is the one thing we needed above all our needs. It is the one thing we deserved least of all from the hand of God. We who of ourselves have done God no good (Acts 17:25) and have repaid his goodness with rebellion and apathy towards him have been repaid with his greatest kindness. Ask yourself if you treat your loved ones, family, and friends in this manner, not to mention your enemies. All that truly plagues us in life is due to sin, and the cross is the only answer to sin. All significant problems flow from sin. Guilt, loneliness, worthlessness, depression, despair, anxiety, alienation, hostility, anger, hatred, failure, stress, worry, sickness, pain, grief, sorrow, and death all have their origin in sin and separation from God. While not all problems are solved in the same way, all real problems have the same root. Jesus came to free us from these ills by first freeing us for sin and making us ready for our eternal home. Each Lord’s Day, as God has directed us, we gather to remember Jesus and the sacrifice he made of himself for us. We remember the gift God made of his Son for our salvation. We remember that by the sacrifice of his physical body we are his one spiritual body (1 Cor. 10:16f.). We remember that by the shedding of his blood God has brought us into a covenant with himself in which he promises to be our God and make us his people and to be merciful and forgive our sins (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:25f.; Jeremiah 31:31-34). On this Lord’s Day we also take our sermon time to think more deeply on our remembrance in the Lord’s Supper. In a few weeks we have our gospel meeting. The heart of the gospel is Jesus and what he did for us in his death and resurrection. In him we preach that we all find salvation from sin, come to God, and find victory and success in the struggles and hardships of life. Use today to learn to draw closer to God in worship and to truly be changed in your heart and life. Make a commitment today to be part of our gospel meeting to know, glorify, and appreciate Jesus more. Think of someone you know who needs Jesus and may be more acutely aware of his need. Tim Jorgensen |