Sunday’s children, people of hope and worship!

We are not Saturday’s children anymore! We are Sunday’s children. We are people of hope and worship!

Friday’s agony gave way to Saturday’s despair. But thank God, Saturday’s despair gives way to Sunday’s hope. It is summed up in the opening sentence of Mark 16, "And when the Sabbath was over...." Friday’s agony had come, but it had passed. Saturday’s despair had come as well, but it was now over as well. A new day had come. Sunday had come. And with Sunday, hope had come too.

Early on that Resurrection Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to the tomb where they thought they would anoint Jesus’ body. They were concerned as to who would roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb. But it had already been rolled away. They entered the tomb, and saw an angel of God. In verse 6 it says, "And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He is risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid him.’" This was the most incredible experience of their lives. They could hardly believe their eyes, yet, there was no doubt this was the tomb. And Jesus was not there. He had risen.

When this amazing truth got through to them, Mark 16 says in verse 8, "And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them..." After experiencing Friday’s agony and Saturday’s despair, what a revitalizing experience this must have been. It has sharpened every sense they had. So they were both thrilled and afraid, both terrified and elated.

This is what the resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about. It reveals that the Lord is in charge, because the Lord is alive! The dark night of our soul has passed and, even in the circumstances which we cannot control, there is hope for a day of resurrection-power for us. There is hope because God is in charge.

Do you have hope? Things may look depressing today. You may be experiencing a dark night. You may feel overwhelmed by circumstances. It may even feel out of control. But God is in control. There is hope for tomorrow.

The resurrection of Jesus teaches us that life can come out of death. Friday’s agony brought Jesus’ death. Saturday’s despair was symbolized by Jesus in the tomb.
But we are not Friday’s children and do not have to live as Saturdays children!
We belong to Sunday: to hope and celebration and praise and worship of the living Lord.
Sunday brought hope, because Jesus came alive. And he who came alive on that first Easter Sunday is still alive, and he lives today to bring life to us too.

The life he gives is both eternal life and life we need for today. It is both hope for eternity and hope for tomorrow. Because of the life of Jesus, we can experience a new day. We can be brought from Saturday’s despair into Sunday’s victory, because God is in control.
Because Christ is risen, indeed!