双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：4月3日 复活节的意义

4月3日

复活节的意义

“那少年人对她们说：「不要惊恐！你们寻找那钉十字架的拿撒勒人耶稣，他已经复活了，不在这里。请看安放他的地方。”

马可福音16:6

有一次我在看电视新闻节目，看到一位记者在街头随意采访一些人，询问他们复活节对他们来说意味着什么。一个人说：“哦，兔子，巧克力，孩子们的快乐时光。”另一个人说：“染彩蛋，找彩蛋，和亲人聚餐。”第三个人说：复活节对她来说就是买新衣服，或者是一顶新帽子。所有的受访人中，只有一个人说：复活节意味着耶稣基督的复活。

与圣诞节一样，复活节也已经成为一个流行的商业化、世俗化的节日。但是，复活节的真正信息，是基督教的核心教义。

使徒保罗说，“基督若没有复活，你们的信便是徒然，你们仍在罪里。”（哥林多前书15:17）就是这么简单，如果基督还是死的，那他就不可能是我们的救主，因为他不是神的儿子，他的死和所有其他人没有两样。

但是，按照圣经所记载，以及数百名见证人所见证的（他们没有一人因为受到死亡的威胁和逼迫而否定自己的见证），基督复活了！因为他的复活，我们有了永生的盼望，我们就可以胜过死亡和坟墓，回到创造我们的天父那里。

复活节对你来说是什么意义呢？对我来说，它意味着基督复活了！哈利路亚！

今日祷告：

天父，基督复活了。哈利路亚！我们赞美你、将荣耀归于你，因为你做了奇妙大事。你已经赦免了我们所有的罪孽，使我们不再绝望，使我们得到自由。感谢祢;奉耶稣的名，阿门。

April 3

THE MESSAGE OF EASTER

“Don’t be alarmed,”he[the angel]said.“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,who was crucified.He has risen!He is not here.See the place where they laid him.”Mark 16:6 NIV

Once while watching a television news program,I saw a reporter ask people she encountered on the street what Easter meant to them.One person said,“Oh,bunny rabbits,chocolate candy,a fun time for the children.”Another observed.“Dyeing eggs,an Easter egg hunt,dinner with relatives.”A third person said Easter for her was“some new clothes,maybe a new hat.”Only one person of all of those interviewed said Easter meant“the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Like Christmas,Easter has been popularized and commercialized by merchants and the secular establishment.But the message of Easter is the central focus of Christianity.

The apostle Paul said,“If Christ has not been raised,your faith is futile;you are still in your sins”(I Corinthians 15:17 NIV).It is as simple as that.If Christ is still dead,then He cannot be our Savior,for He was not the Son of God,and He died like all men.

But,as the Scriptures teach and as hundreds of witnesses testified(none of whom ever recanted that testimony despite threats and death for many of them),if Christ is risen,then we have the ultimate hope of humanity—eternal life with the God who made us and a hope of life beyond the grave.

What does Easter mean to you?It means to me that Christ is risen!Hallelujah!

Pray for the Day:

Father,Christ is risen.Hallelujah!We give You praise and glory,for You have done the most amazing thing.You have forgiven our sins in all their depth and despair and set us free.Thank you;in Jesus’Name,Amen.