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All over the world, people are celebrating Easter, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was one of the tenets of Christianity, and upon which every believers’ faith rest, that Christ came to the world, died for the sins of humanity, was put to death; and on the third day, He was resurrected back to life again by the power of God. As a matter of fact, the resurrection story is so important that even the basis of every believer’s salvation is based on believing it. Romans 10:9 say “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
For many days after His resurrection, Jesus was with His disciples. In those days, there were certain things that He espoused to them, which is the crux of this writing. As much as you celebrate Easter, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, how much of these vital lessons after His resurrection have you inculcated in your Christian life until now? You see, to Jesus, the resurrection was just an event which must come and go, but what becomes of His disciples afterwards, and you and I most especially, the sacrifices that He had come to make on behalf of mankind; is the most important thing to Him.
So, in those forty days Jesus, first and foremost, showed His disciples a perfect model of leadership. Although, this He had done even long before his crucifixion, for three and half years; but He needed to emphasize this as well after His resurrection. In Acts 1:1-2, Luke wrote: “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up…. ” Jesus displayed to them how to lead properly; becoming a man or a woman who lead by example, both in words and actions.
No doubt, Jesus in his thirty-three and half sojourn on earth had seen the so called leaders of the people carried themselves in an untoward manner. He had seen hypocrisy in leadership that men have modeled for themselves, which He believes was not a perfect example.
At certain point in His earthly journey, He rebuked the Pharisees and the Scribes as regarding how they lead. Matthew 23:1-5, Jesus said “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 for they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.”
Another thing Jesus did after resurrection was to reveal more, talk more about the Kingdom of God with His disciples. Verse three of Acts one says Jesus was talking about things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He was not seen talking about other mundane matters or things that had happened in the past, No! Jesus, as documented, was seen talking about the purpose, why He came on earth in the first place, which is to point people back to the Kingdom of God. You see, this implies that our preoccupation in this life must have the kingdom of God in it.
Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and every other thing will be added unto it. This means that we must be God-centric in our sojourn here on earth. If you engage in things that do not take you back into the kingdom of God, perhaps you need to have a re-think.
Your preoccupation in this world should not be limited to only yourself and the things that you can make out of life. Scriptures make it clear to us that these are the things that the gentiles seek after as well. The Bible makes it clear also that the things of this world are temporary, and that the world as it is, is passing away and everything in it. What exactly would be your reward, if you gain this whole world and then lose your soul? Think about this! The whole essence of Easter is to point you back to the sufferings, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which in the end, is meant to point you back to the kingdom of God.
Then the promise of the Holy Spirit was another thing Jesus emphasized on to His disciples. Earlier, He had told them that it is important for Him to go, so that the Holy Spirit can continue from wherever He would stop. The Holy Spirit at the time was to be an enabler for the disciples in furthering Jesus’ agenda on the earth. Jesus told them the importance of waiting so that they can be endue with the power that will come from Him. Witnessing the gospel can only be done by the power of the Spirit, and not with physical strength or power. A believer today, without the power of the Holy Spirit is missing out on something that is very vital.
So, do you witness Christ? How many people are you pointing to Christ by your lifestyle and the way you profess your faith in God? Can people see Christ in you? These are the questions that comes much more after Christ’s resurrection and Easter celebration. Easter would come and go, but what you do with your life after it is all that matters.
Stay Blessed!
Centre for New Dimension Leadership
