TOPIC:“Put On Your Easter Garment”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
“Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it” (Acts 2:24)
If you have done any shopping lately I am sure you have noticed the many Easter specials which are being offered. The shopping malls and department stores are crowded with people who desire to purchase new apparel for this season of the year. With all of this activity it is easy for one to be misled as to the meaning and significance of this holy day.
Certainly the idea of getting outfitted for Easter is a noble one provided you get clothed with the right thing. For you see, my dear friend, Easter has nothing to do with the new clothes you are wearing, but it has everything to do with the living Christ you so desperately need. In reality it is not the new suit, but the new soul that makes you adequately prepared for Easter. You must be spiritually outfitted for this special day.
Listen to me: If you really want Easter to mean something to you, if you really want to enter into the significance of the celebration, then by all means make certain you have been clothed with the total Easter message. A message which takes in the cross as well as the empty tomb and the coming glory. If you ask, of what does the Easter message consist, I would answer the following.
Consider, first of all, that the message of Easter is that of a REJECTED Savior whose life ended in death. That truth is part of your total Easter garment. You must clothe yourself in it. From the flaming mouth of Peter in his scorching sermon of Pentecost we read in verse 23: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God…you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” Embracing this verse in the Phillips translation we have the words: “you nailed up and murdered.”
Let's get this fact down: Before we can celebrate Easter Sunday we must contemplate Good Friday. Before we can have the vacant tomb we must have the vicious cross. Before we can . . .