\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>In this glorious season of celebrating the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, I want to reflect on the reason for our Lord coming into the earth in the first place\u2026 it was for OUR SAKE.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On Easter or Resurrection Sunday, the Orthodox, Catholic, and other liturgical churches greet each other with, \u201cThe Lord Is Risen\u201d and the other person responds, \u201cYes, the Lord has Risen Indeed!\u201d<\/p>\n Gotquestions.com stated:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cThe words are sometimes accompanied by the exchange of three kisses on alternate cheeks, depending on the church. In the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the greeting is called the \u201cPaschal greeting\u201d and is a very old custom.<\/em> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n What a beautiful greeting to say to each other, but something is missing\u2026 us<\/strong>! When Jesus died on the cross, He told His Father, the Holy Spirit, the angels, the whole world, Satan, and the demons, \u201cIT IS FINISHED!\u201d<\/strong> He was declaring His purpose for leaving the heavenly realm with His Father, coming to live in a human body, and becoming a man; His work was accomplished. He was saying, \u201cFather we did it, now I can return back home, no longer as a man but once again as Spirit!\u201d <\/strong>To understand His message, let\u2019s look at a few passages of scriptures, taken from the Amplified Bible:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED – WE WERE CRUCIFIED WITH HIM \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ<\/strong> [that is, in Him, I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me<\/strong>. The\u00a0life<\/em>\u00a0I now live in the body, I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When Jesus died on the cross, we were In Him<\/em>, just as when Adam sinned in the garden, we were In Adam.<\/em> But the difference is, we didn\u2019t get to choose to follow Adam as a sinner<\/em>, but we do get to choose to follow Christ as a believer<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n JESUS DIED – WE DIED WITH HIM<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Romans 6: 3 –<\/strong>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been\u00a0baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n When we gave our hearts to our Lord Jesus we were baptized spiritually into His death. The water baptism we experienced was an outward sign of what had already taken place to us spiritually the moment we said yes, to our Lord.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n JESUS WAS BURIED – WE WERE BURIED WITH HIM<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Romans 6:4 – <\/strong>We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death<\/strong> so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory\u00a0and <\/em>power of the Father, we too might walk\u00a0habitually<\/em>\u00a0in NEWNESS<\/strong> of life [abandoning our old ways].\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In our death and burial, we said \u201cGoodbye\u201d to our old life and ways of trying to make life work in our own strength and efforts. We made Jesus the Lord or \u2018Boss\u2019 of our life so that He could fulfill all the desires of His heart and the plans for what our Father intended when He created us.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n JESUS WAS RESURRECTED – WE WERE RESURRECTED TO A NEW LIFE IN HIM<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Romans 6:5 – <\/strong>For (SINCE) (TG) we have become ONE with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully]\u00a0in the likeness<\/em>\u00a0of His<\/strong> resurrection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave, declaring ALL POWER IS IN HIS HANDS! He held the keys to death, hell, and the grave. We have been made ALIVE IN CHRIST!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n But greater still is this:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n THE LORD\u2019S PURPOSE FOR CRUCIFIXION, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Romans 6:6-7 –\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>We know that our old\u00a0self was nailed to the cross with\u00a0Him<\/em>, in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup>For the person who has died [with Christ] has been FREED from [the power of] sin. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>JESUS DIED AND HAS SET US FREE TO LIVE IN HIM!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The list goes on and on! Now we can celebrate with the understanding of:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n THE LORD IS RISEN, YES HE IS RISEN INDEED BUT ALSO,<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hispreciousgift.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Christ-is-risen-graphic.jpg\")
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The greeting is ultimately based on\u00a0<\/em>Luke 24:34<\/a><\/em>. Translations throughout church history, from the\u00a0<\/em>Latin Vulgate<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(c. AD 400) to the\u00a0<\/em>ESV<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(2001) have translated this verse nearly identically: \u201cThe Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!\u201d (ESV). Exactly how the saying became a standard greeting in the church is not known, although there are various theories regarding how it came into common usage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
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