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Celebrating the joy of Salvation

Exodus 14: 5-31, Colossians 3:1-11, Matthew 28: 1-10

Introduction:

The theme for our Easter meditation is ‘celebrating the joy of Salvation’. The three assigned readings help us understand the title. Our reflection will be under five sub points - Israel Celebrating the Joy of Salvation, Celebrating the Joy of Resurrection, Celebrating the Joy of Risen Life/Salvation, Five Requirements to Lead a New Life and Glorious Resurrection.

 

I   Israel Celebrating the Joy of Salvation:

We have the Israelites celebrating the joy of salvation in Exodus 14: 5-31. Pharaoh, after so much of the cry of the Israelites and God’s constant intervention, allowed the Israelites to flee Egypt.  But again when he realized that the people of Israel had fled Egypt, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people. Pharaoh made ready his chariot, six hundred chosen chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them and took his army with him and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.  He and the Egyptians, Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and his horsemen and his army pursued the people of Israel. 

The Israelites feared greatly and cried out to the Lord. They accused Moses for leading them out of Egypt.  The Lord said to Moses, tell the people of Israel to go forward, lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.  And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground.

 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.  

 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”  So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.  The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 

 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. This is a great reason to celebrate their salvation from the Egyptians by the hand of God

 

II   Celebrating the Joy of Resurrection:

According to the Gospel reading Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.   There was a great earthquake. An angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.  And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.  But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.

  And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

This is the celebration of the women and the disciples of Jesus, and of course, all of us the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the greatest celebration of the joy of salvation for confirming that we will also rise like Christ.

 

III   Celebrating the Joy of Risen Life/Salvation:

The main reflection for Easter as per the title of the sermon is from the epistle reading. Paul in Colossians 3:1 starts   ‘If then you have been raised with Christ. Paul was definitely convinced that all of us are saved because we are raised with Christ. After being died and buried with him in baptism we are raised for a new life. Everyone who accepts Christ as the lord shares this experience of salvation. Every member of the body of Christ, the Church is, already raised with Christ. And therefore all of us are saved for a new life. Our present life is to secure the future glory, that is, the final resurrection.

Paul takes so much pain to explain the importance of our present life. We are special. Since we are raised with Christ we are different. We are saved for a new life. We celebrate the joy of that salvation because this new life leads us to future glory- the glorious resurrection. Paul explains this fact using different examples or images in his epistles.

Paul says we have died to sin therefore we cannot live in sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For the death, he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So we also must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in our mortal body, to make us obey its passions.

            Baptism is another image Paul used. He writes all of us who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death. Baptized is paralleled with another expression, buried with Christ by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead we too might walk in newness of life.

            Another imagery used is united with Christ in a death like his.  Since we are united with Christ in death, we shall certainly be united with Christ in a resurrection like his. Here Paul points to the future glory that awaits all of us who are united with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection.

Old self is another expression Paul uses for our salvation. He says our old self was crucified with Christ so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  The old self belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires. Therefore, it is to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul writes, do not present your members (body) to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 

Another Paul’s popular expression to distinguish our salvation is that, we are not under the law but under grace. Since we are not under the law sin will have no dominion over us. Paul profusely uses the word grace to show how the salvation event is a gracious act of God.

Paul uses his understanding of slave to distinguish our salvation. He says, if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. Since having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. Once you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness. But now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. Paul goes further and says, but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. He strengthens his argument by saying, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons.

            Marriage is another imagery used to explain our salvation. A married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.  Likewise, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

Paul contrasts the life in flesh with spirit to make his point clearer. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Now we are living in the spirit.

Another imagery used by Paul is debtors. We are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.  For if we live according to the flesh we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body and we will live.

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship, is another imagery used by Paul. A similar powerful image used by Paul is put on the armor of light. It puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, and makes no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires, which are compared to darkness. He calls us children of light in contrast to children of darkness

Paul’s sureness that we are saved by Christ for a new life is vivid when he writes your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and you are not your own, you are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

The most striking phrase Paul used is that if anyone is in Christ, she/he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Paul, more profoundly affirms that he has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

With all these imageries, Paul demonstrates to all of us that we are died, buried and resurrected with Christ for a new life the result of which is the glorious resurrection. Therefore he appeals that if you have been raised with Christ follow these five requirements.

 VI   Five Requirements to Lead a New Life:

1.  Colossians 3: 1 Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Seek is always associated with our thoughts. 2 Corinthians 4:18 reads, we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

In 2Corinthians 4:4 Paul says god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The bible says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Seeking the things above is not transcendentalism but seeking while doing. We are in the world but not of the world.  It is based on Jesus - love, righteousness, cross, resurrection and peace.

Seeking is about our thought. Since we are saved our thoughts have to be directed towards God, love, righteousness, justice and peace. The parable of the prodigal son is the best example for us to understand how our thoughts can be detrimental.

 

2.  Colossians 3: 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Not just seeking but fixing our mind. Seeking can be sometimes fancied unless the mind is fixed on what we sought. The Bible reminds us about where our treasure there our mind also will be. There is always the possibility of building our house on rock or sand. We are also free to choose either the narrow or wide gate. The parable of the sower is instructive that only some seeds fell on the good ground. It is a warning for all of us to avoid pathway, rocky soil and thorns. For Paul, those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

            When thoughts have confirmed, we have to make them into action. Those thoughts have to be fixed on proper actions. The rich young man came to Jesus and returned when he said go and sell everything and give to the poor. Thought is good but turning to action is better.

 

3.  Colossians 3: 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality,  impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming.  In these, you too once walked, when you were living in them. Here Paul talks about things that will ruin our own lives. Our priorities can be misleading. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So we cannot ponder harming our own body. We cannot bring disgrace to our own body which is the temple of God. We cannot be different to ourselves when we expect others to be different. The parable of the prodigal son best illustrates how our own actions can bring disaster to our own life.

 

4.  Colossians 3: 8 But now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. These are things that proceed from us and hurt others. It is not only we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. All of us who are members in the body of Christ are the same. Therefore we cannot cause hurt to others. In contrast, there are the fruits of the spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law. Jesus himself reminded us that what you wish others do to you, do to them.

 

5. Colossians 3: 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. A most disgraceful act many commit so carelessly. Here we belittle ourselves and dishonor others. Bible condemns lie. It says the mouth of liars will be shut. David always prayed to God, do not take me along with liars. One of the commandments is do not bear false witness. Somehow we ignore this great demand.

           

V   Glorious Resurrection

We have to follow these five principles because according to Colossians 3: 3- 4 we have died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then we also will appear with him. This is our final hope. In order to share in that hope, God has granted us salvation by the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we honor the salvation granted to us by the gracious act of God, we will have the final joy of celebrating the glorious future resurrection.

 

Conclusion:

Easter is really the day of celebrating the joy of salvation. God through Jesus Christ has saved us by his death, burial and resurrection for a distinct life. When we lead that life in the spirit in contrast to the other forms of life, we are graciously endowed with the privilege of the final resurrection. About it, Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 that “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” Therefore let’s celebrate the joy of salvation with confidence and enthusiasm because we have the hope of final resurrection.