JESUS IS ALIVE AND WORKING!

Mark 16:19, 20

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Jesus is alive! He is alive right now. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father and he is building his church. He is not just far away in glory. He is not simply basking in the worship of countless angels. He is not just an idea or a symbol. He is alive and we need to learn to live our lives in that knowledge. We have to remind ourselves daily that Jesus is alive and he is our Lord, Savior, Master, and Teacher. I fear that many Christians go about their daily lives without a single recollection of the fact that Jesus is living and active. It seems to me that many of us rarely consider the significance of the fact that Jesus is alive. Perhaps the only time we really think of Jesus is on Sunday mornings when we attend worship.

What is the natural response of those who believe Jesus is alive? The disciples went out and preached everywhere! They went out and bore witness to what they saw and what they knew to be true. If we don’t think about the fact that Jesus is alive we will not bear witness. If we truly believe Jesus is alive it will have a radical effect on the way we go through our days! When the disciples saw Jesus ascend into heaven it sealed the deal for them. They knew he was alive and they went about telling people that good news; the good news of salvation through faith in Christ.

And Jesus worked with and through them. They were not preaching alone. Jesus helped them. Jesus gave them strength. He empowered and enabled them. He worked through their message. And he showed the world the truth of their message through signs and wonders. Jesus works with us! We are not building his church; he is building his church. We bear the message of his word and he works with us to bring it to fruition. And I believe he will testify to the truth of our message with various signs and wonders!

It is all very simple and it all begins with the knowledge that Jesus is alive at this very moment! We simply go about doing what he told us to do and he will be with us and bless our work and bear witness to its truth. What do we do? We are his witnesses in all the earth. We just tell what we know to be true and the Lord will work with us!