My Favorite Easter Message! Resurrection day! The Day Him became IT and IT became HIM! Notice in the four Gospels that before His death, Jesus was referred to as Him. “They bound Him, led Him, delivered Him, betrayed Him, examined Him, stripped Him, clothed Him, worshipped Him, saluted Him, mocked Him, spit upon Him, smote Him, chastised Him, scourged Him, unclothed Him, and crucified Him.” Pilate cried, “Release Him… let Him go.” They led Him… to crucify Him, followed Him, offered Him vinegar, and finally crucified Him. As long as He was alive, He was referred to as “Him.” When Jesus knew all things were fulfilled, He cried “It is finished!” He had left nothing undone. God accepted Him as the last sacrifice for sin. He died! Notice immediately after His death, His body was referred to as “it” not “Him.” Him became it. “And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own tomb” (Matt. 27:59-60). But after the resurrection, “It” became “Him” again! The angel said, “He is risen; He is not here: But go your way and tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him. After His resurrection (pardon my grammar), Him got back in It and It became Him again! AMEN! He is now the risen Savior. On the cross: Him became It. In the tomb: It became Him.
If Him had not become It and It had not become Him again, our hope and faith is in vain. “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain… And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (I Cor. 15:13-14). No one is saved without the Gospel of the resurrection; “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). The resurrection validated, verified and vindicated that Christ is the risen Saviour. The resurrection was God’s “Amen” to Christ saying, “It is finished!” In life, He was the Son. On the cross, He was our sacrifice. In the grave, He was our substitute. In the resurrection, He is our Saviour.
Only Christianity has a risen Saviour! Good news! He is still changing lives. He changed my life, and He can also change your life (2 Cor. 5:17). We celebrate Easter because Easter represents the day when HIM became IT and IT became HIM!
He is risen – He is risen indeed!
BTW: Why was Jesus placed in a borrowed tomb? He only needed it for three days!