‘…Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1Peter 2:21-25)
And again: ‘…Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.’
(1 Peter 3:18)
But then Jesus conquered death and was physically alive again – eyewitnesses had no doubt about it, as St Paul writes:
‘Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.’
(1 Corinthians 15:1-8)
(Just a note here; don’t be confused about that phrase ‘appeared’ and think that Jesus was just ‘ghost-like’ – when He met with the disciples He ate and drank with them and showed them that He really was physically alive, and they believed it.)
And Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul says, really does bring us the peace with God that we all need:
‘…since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
(Romans 5:1-2)
As you can see in this edition of our magazine, at Christ Church, we will be ringing our Church bells on 8th May at 6.30pm, and then having a short Church service at 7.30pm as part of our nation’s VE Day commemorations. If you are able to join us, it will be lovely to see you!
But if not, or if you’re reading the magazine after that date, don’t worry! Don’t worry about having missed those events, because as Christians, we celebrate every Sunday in Church (and in fact every day of our lives) the greatest victory – that of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ’s victory that has secured a glorious future for us as we turn in faith to Him.
That is the greatest victory… ever!
God bless,
David
