Easter 2015

Ka hari Aranga

(Happy Easter in Maori)

On Easter Sunday 1969 I was at a Presbyterian youth camp, and I gave my life to Christ. What a wonderful spiritual birthday to have - Easter Sunday! I was resurrected on Resurrection Day!

Praise God - He is risen - no longer on the cross, but living in our hearts.

Here Is Love

Another wonderful hymn to meditate upon this Easter season:

Words: William Rees (1802-1883), trans­lat­ed from Welsh to Eng­lish by William Edwards in The Bap­tist Book of Praise, 1900.

Music: Robert Lowry, 1876  

This wonderful version of the 'love-song' of the Welsh revival was recorded in 1995. It is part sung in Welsh, the original language of the hymn, which dates from the 18th Century. It was recorded at The Event Without Walls at the Exeter Showground in 1995. (The identity of the vocalist is unknown - please post her name if you know it)

Here is love, vast as the ocean,

Lovingkindness as the flood,

When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,

Shed for us His precious blood.

Who His love will not remember?

Who can cease to sing His praise?

He can never be forgotten,

Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,

Fountains opened deep and wide;

Through the floodgates of God’s mercy

Flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love, like mighty rivers,

Poured incessant from above,

And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice

Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,

Love Thee, ever all my days;

Let me seek Thy kingdom only

And my life be to Thy praise;

Thou alone shalt be my glory,

Nothing in the world I see.

Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,

Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me

By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;

And Thy grace my need is meeting,

As I trust in Thee, my Lord.

Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring

Thy great love and power on me,

Without measure, full and boundless,

Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Saved From A Tree

Look at all these occasions where Jesus brought salvation to people who were found under a tree, up a tree and hanging on a tree. You can see the progression we make as we turn our lives over to Christ. At some point, we are skeptics - we question if Jesus is who He says He is. We move on to seeking the truth until we realize that we are sinners who have no power to save ourselves. We finally meet the only one who has the power to save us from sin and eternal separation from the Father:

Jesus saved a man He saw under a tree - this man was a skeptic:

John 1:46-49 (NKJV)

And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"

Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to

him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

Jesus saved a man He found up in a tree - this man was a seeker:

Luke 19: 4-6 (Message)

So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home."

Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him.

Jesus saved a man who was hanging on a tree - this man was a sinner:

Luke 23:40-43 (NKJV)

But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?

And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."

Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."

And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Jesus saved all mankind from a tree - this man is our savior:

Galatians 3:13 (NLT)

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

During this Easter season - come and look again at the One who embraced death on your behalf so that you could live as a friend of God. Come to the tree of salvation.