Ta-Dah!

 

A preacher was telling the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to a group of children. He asked, “What did Jesus say when he came forth from the grave?” He was trying to make the point that He didn’t need to say anything; that His wondrous miracle said more than words could ever say. A young lady however insisted that she knew what Jesus said. The preacher finally asked her to tell him what Jesus said. She smiled widely and said in a loud voice, “Ta-Dah!” Now I don’t know what Jesus said, if anything at all, but from a human standpoint I can only imagine the excitement of just defying death, and perhaps Jesus doing something like that, (in part because Jesus still possessed some of his human experience as well as a great sense of humor). Who knows?

[Romans 6:1-11] We have just passed that time of the year when we witness most of the religious world celebrating “Easter”. It might surprise most people to know that the church of the Bible doesn’t do that. I know that might be hard for some to imagine that folks claiming to be Christians and yet not celebrating this traditionally special day. But for the church of the Bible, it is no different than any other Sunday. You see, the Bible tells us to come together as believers the first day of the week to worship God. The early church did just that. Paul had to reiterate what Jesus had said at the “Last Supper” in his first letter to the Corinthians that they were to remember His death, burial, and resurrection through the partaking of “The Lord’s Supper” or “Communion” whenever they met that way (1 Corinthians 11:23-26; [Matthew 26:26-29]). The early church is seen coming together on the first day of every week to “break bread” or to partake of the Lord’s supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30). In other words, the church of the Bible doesn’t need a special Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the “Savior of the World”. Biblical churches celebrate each and every “First Day of the Week” – every “Sunday”. I know that some may ask the question, “Won’t doing that make it something that is no longer special?” My answer is no, not at all, because it is a continual reminder of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. Jesus’ sacrifice was His willingness to pay our debt for sin, which is death (Romans 6:23), through the sheading of His blood redeeming all who believe and are baptized to God the Father (Revelation 5:9). The apostle Paul wrote: For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26). Not only His death, but His resurrection, because that is part of what the Gospel is all about (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). I don’t know about you, but I personally need the reassurance of the hope I have because of “The Great Ta-Dah” every week is a remarkable thing and a great comfort to me. I pray you don’t think me irreverent about the resurrection of our Lord. Really, I’m excited that one day I will share in that resurrection, whether I see Jesus coming in the sky or I raise from the grave – what a rush that will be! My prayer is that you will see past the “pomp and circumstance” that so many heap upon this one special day of the year and understand that it is something you can participate in on every Sunday with the same sense of awe (Romans 5:6-11).

In Eden, after man’s fall, God asked Adam, “Where are you?” And Adam said, “I was afraid… and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:9-10). Having sinned, disobeyed his Creator, Adam hid among the trees. It is impossible to hide from God. Adam found that out, so did Jonah. Many think they can hide out from God and cover their sins. Hiding out doesn’t change a thing – God knows. We need to come to God in repentance and enjoy His forgiveness through Christ. For in the time of trouble, He shall hide me… (Psalm 27:5).