Larry Lilly Live
Add text
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Berean Baptist Church of Terre Haute
  • Journal December 2019
  • Journal November 2019
  • Journal October 2019
  • Journal September 2019
  • Journal August 2019
  • Journal July 2019
  • Journal May 2019
  • Journal April 2019
  • Journal February 2019
  • Journal January 2019
  • Journal December 2018
  • Journal October 2018
  • Journal September 2018
  • Journal August 2018
  • Journal June 2018
  • Journal April 2018
  • Journal March 2018
  • Journal February 2018
  • Journal December 2017
  • Journal November 2017
  • Journal October 2017
  • Journal September 2017
  • Journal August 2017
  • Journal July 2017
  • Journal June 2017
  • Journal May 2017
  • Journal April 2017
  • Journal March 2017
  • Journal February 2017
  • Journal January 2017
  • Journal December 2016
  • Journal October 2016
  • Journal Sept 2016
  • Journal August 2016
  • Journal July 2016
  • Journal June 2016
  • Journal May 2016
  • Journal April 2016
  • Journal March 2016
  • Journal February 2016
  • Journal November 2015
  • Journal October 2015
  • Journal September 2015
  • Journal August 2015
  • Journal July 2015
  • Journal June 2015
  • Journal May 2015
  • Journal April 2015
  • Journal March 2015
  • Journal February 2015
  • Journal January 2015
  • Outrageous Forgiveness
  • Making it Thru The Holidays
  • About Walls, Pope & Trump
  • Sunday at Berean 2/19/2017
  • Prison Ministry Update
  • Journal November 2018
    • Amazing Grace Booklet
  • Untitled
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • Blog
  • Blog

Resurrection: The Dramatic Difference

3/27/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Click Pic to hear Alive Forevermore
03-28-13  Resurrection: The Dramatic Difference

I often wonder about death. This could be that an end to any part of the prototypical man, death, was not on the board. Death was given as a release from the bondage of the physical due to the sin of the spirit. We believe, based on the Bible, that trust in Christ sets both spirit and flesh on the course of total redemption of body, soul and spirit as per numerous passages, most prominent to me 1 Corinthians 15.

The resurrection body of Christ is of flesh and bone as He said, Luke 24:39, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

Commenting on Christ’s resurrection Augustine wrote, “I don’t care to inquire why they cannot believe an earthly body can be in heaven, while the whole earth is suspended on nothing.”

Phillips Brookes, who gave us O Little Town of Bethlehem, also blessed us with this piece:

“Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right...”
~Phillips Brooks, An Easter Carol

When the resurrection of Christ breaks in all its truth upon our stony heart, we are flooded with a courage that cannot be stifled. You may have your Easter Bunnies, I will take Christ walking out of the tomb.

Copyright © 2013 Larry Lilly


2 Comments
Oral Deckard link
3/27/2013 10:53:12 pm

That sounds a lot like "As for me and my house, we shall serve The Lord."

That's rational. But to the contemporary mind, who need eternal life when you can have bunnies and candy eggs instead?

But as successful as the enemies of Christ have been co-opting the holey days and providing our children with fun and sweet counterfeits, what have we provided at the children's level?

Telling a child about eternal life, when they already think that 60 years is forever anyway, may not be very captivating. The story of the resurrection is a very serious subject, not really comprehensible to the adult mind. But fun and candy are readily comprehensible to a child.

And so we co-opt back, providing the children an Easter Egg hunt at church. And that usually consists of them being taken out to hung the eggs so they don't have to sit through the resurrection story.

The co-opting back might be an excellent plan, if it included re-establishing the resurrection as the central purpose of Easter. But instead churches usually leave the two presentations of Easter as oil and water, simply because that is the path of least resistance, requiring minimal effort.

Seeing Easter converted to rabbits and eggs is rather repulsive. But to many children, they still know about Easter because of it, where they might not otherwise, so it is not totally counterproductive.

But given a little more time, we may soon hear of The Spring Holiday, as Christ Mas has become known as The Winter Holiday.

NOW try to reach a child growing up in that culture. Anyone want to bring The Spring Holiday into the church?

Last Sunday the children at my church were involved in the Easter story, hearing it from their Sunday School teachers, then handing out palm fronds to the adults in the sanctuary. It was beautiful!

Easter will mean more to these children than just the co-opted secular view. And all it took was caring enough to try.

I don't mind of churches incorporate rabbits and eggs, as long as they do something to seriously connect Christ's resurrection to Easter on a level that children can comprehend.

Reply
David link
3/28/2013 02:59:50 am

Thanks for another fantastic article that causes us to think. This is a missing art in today's society. We want the easy road. Christ did not take the easy road when He went to the cross and died in my (our) place and I need not think that I will get the easy road either. Oh, I want the easy road; but, as someone said, "If the mountain was smooth you could not climb it."

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly