The Resurrection

Jani and I went to Church Simplified's stations of the cross.

I must have looked like an idiot while doing the stations of the cross. In one station, I fell to the ground laughing at my choice. In another station, I was staring at my reflection counting the many scars that the chicken pox virus had left on my face. And since the cross was too heavy for my to carry, I walked around with my arms stretched out. It looked like I was playing patintero with an imaginary friend.  I could almost hear the whispers of people who must have been saying, 'Why is she not taking this seriously?' Heck, I took it seriously. I took it so seriously that while we were eating lunch, I gave a mini sermon about what really struck me. 

For about a few minutes or so, I took the liberty to go on and on about what I had just realized that day. I guess that's what happens when something new is revealed to you. You just cannot shut up about it! My mom must have been so happy that finally some words of Christ were making their way into my head. What she doesn't know is that it has always been there and I just never knew it.  


So what moved me? I was in awe that Christ did not really focus on sin, but he wanted to focus on his resurrection. Sure, there are many passages in the scripture where Christ tells us not to sin, to live a pure life, to repent from our sin and to just stop sinning. He warns us about the effects of sin. He tried to prevent us from sinning by showing the consequences. Yet if we still sin, he does not say, 'I told you! Now go to hell!' He still gives us a second chance, a third chance and so many more chances. 


That's a far cry from how a human deals with another human who is also a sinner. A human would berate the other person. The human would bring shame to the sinner. A human would make the sinner feel like there is no way out of sinning. The ironic thing is that the one telling the sinner off is also another sinner. Yes, sinners judge sinners. Hilarious, isn't it? It's like they rub it in your face that you're a sinner and tell the whole world that you cannot stop sinning! That is just the dumbest thing that happens every single day.


The resurrection means hope and new life. By living again, it was as if Christ said, 'You sinned. I died for it. Now, you have hope that one day you will never sin.' He gave us hope because he is hope. If he just stayed dead then than that would mean that sin was more powerful than he is. But he lived. And because of that I can rub it in that I have sinned, I will sin, but my sin in Christ's eyes is already gone. While I am still wondering how to repent for my sin, Christ has already forgiven me. While my sin makes me ugly and unholy, Christ sees me as pure and perfect. 


The thing is, most people stop at the sin part. They forget that there's more after that. They get so caught up in doing good to cover up their sin that they forget that their sin has already been paid for. They forget that there is hope and that hope is Christ. No, it's not bad repent for your sin and start doing good after. But what makes it pretty annoying is that some people cannot get over it. He is risen! He gave hope! He is hope! Repent and live out the hope that he has given you. Do not let sin weaken you or stop you from believing in hope. 


Christ sees us as the finished product which is perfect and whole. We see ourselves as ugly, too fat, too thin, too short, too unholy, too angry, too sad and blah blah blah. Just remember that all sins have been paid for. All sins means sins in our past, sins in our present and sins in our future. So, instead of living in that never ending cycle of feeling guilty for all those sins, it's time to start living as Christ sees us. If you knew you were perfect, how would you live? If you knew Christ saw you as whole, what would you stop doing? And what would you start doing?