One Moment In Time

But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them,"Why do you seek the living among the dead?  "He is not here, but is Risen!  Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, "saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."  And they remembered His words.  Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Luke 24: 2-9 NKJV

It's funny that as the women came to the tomb of Jesus that morning that they had all but forgotten the words of His resurection.  Of course, one can hardly blame them after all that had taken place those past few days.  Their dear friend had just been crucified by the hated Romans.  Of course, He had predicted all of these things woud happen.  They NEEDED to happen in order for His destiny to be achieved.  He could not utter those final words "It is finished" without His selfless sacrafice.  For He did this all for us.  However, in the grief of the moment, His friends had forgotten some of the most important part of His teachings.  This is where God stepped in for a gentle reminder.  As if their eyes were opened, once the angels reminded the women of the words of Jesus, they recalled what He had said.

Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurection.  Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.  Knowing tthat Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion  over Him.
Romans 6: 3-9 NKJV

As Paul tells us here in Romans 6, there was alot more happening that morning than these women realized.  This death of Jesus was ultimately for their own benefit.  Oh, yes, He had told them all of this.  As I've stated many times before, I certainly don't feel like I myself have ever died as of yet.  However, here is the proof right in front of us.  To personalize this a bit, if I have been united with Christ in the likeness of His death, then certainly I shall be in the likeness of His resurection.  It is in Romans 6:7 that Paul gives us yet another reminder.  For it is "he" that has died that has been freed from sin.  One needs to relalize that, in scripture, when refering to our Lord or Jesus, that the name is capitalized to show it's importance.  Therefore, if verse 7 refers to he who has died, he is refering to US!  In other words, "For I who has died has been freed from sin!"  We can rest assured that the sin nature that once plagued us no longer has dominion over us, for Christ has dealt with this issue once and for all.

~Scott~