GONE: BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

   If people will not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is nothing else they will believe about Him.

      "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."  (Luke 16: 31)

   If Jesus did not arise from death, He would have been no different than any other person to live on earth, and His name would have been forgotten when His body was closed in a tomb.  His family and friends would have mourned His death, and their lives, in time, would have returned to normal.
   When we consider the thousands and thousands of crucifixions in human history, however, does it seem strange that one name is first remembered?  That one name has not been forgotten?
   But God will not let the world forget that His Son died for our sins!
   To fully understand what it is like to be human, Jesus became one.
      "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.  He came unto his own, and his own received him not."  (John 1: 9-10)
   In so doing, Jesus learned that humans have great difficulty with their own kind.  Even today, millions of people are very engaged with the protection and preservation of animals, fish, and birds, yet they remain virtually silent with respect to the vanishing of young children swept away by the tidal flood of human trafficking.  This truth has been revealed to people, but they remain silent since the lives of the little ones do not seem to matter---while, at the same time, becoming outraged with the inhumane treatment of animals, fish, and birds. We weep for wildlife, but not for our own kind.

   It's been two thousand years since Jesus walked in Jerusalem, and though the message of Him has been received by many on every continent, yet people all over the world continue to live as if God and Christ do not exist.

   But God will not let the world forget that His Son died for our sins!
   In part, we have become institutionalized:  that we are dependent on institutions to direct our lives instead of depending on God.  We rely on governments, rely on religions, rely on memberships in various clubs and organizations, believing that as long as we are in the buildings with others of like-mindedness, we become one with them and them with us, thereby living for the same cause, looking to and following the rules and regulations that each has written, then kneeling in unison to beliefs written by people and also bonding a fellowship one with another, which we mix with the false premise that joining a church and going to heaven is as simple as joining a country club.  Whatever people in the buildings do we do, and whatever they forbid we forbid---while leaving God on the outside looking in because it doesn't really matter what God thinks about our decisions and our behaviors since our dependency  has been forged in our inventions of institutions.
   But God will not let the world forget that His Son died for our sins
   It's been two thousand years since Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem, and the pages of God's Word are just as new and as fresh as the day His words were written on paper.  His words will never fade and they will never go away, for the Word of the Lord endures forever.
      "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."  (John 1: 12-14)
   And God will not let the world forget that His Son died for our sins!