Crossroads Community Church

If you’ve ever watched the popular series, The Men Who Built America, the 50 years between the end of the Civil War and 1900 demonstrated massive changes within the United States. Because of those discoveries, inventions, and innovations, people were forced to evaluate how they would do life as compared to previous generations. For example, just in the sector of transportation: the horse and buggy and boat transportation were replaced by trains, cars/motorcycles and eventually, planes. Life schedules were reevaluated because transportation options were different.

In the twenty-first century with the introduction of the internet and cell phones being almost a household necessity, we do life differently vs. how we interacted even 50 years ago. Each new technology advancement causes us to ponder the benefit/cost of accepting the new or continuing with the old. I’m sure that in a few years we’ll be discussing the ethics of Artificial Intelligence usage in the church world.

When Jesus resurrected, suddenly the human race entered a new era. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus joined two of his disciples as they were discussing the recent events and what it all meant. In other words, they were reinterpreting life in light of Jesus' resurrection. They were trying to make sense of how they previously understood the scriptures versus now that Jesus rose from the dead. As the disciples were, “catching Jesus up on the latest events,” He suddenly said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27 NIV

What was Jesus doing? He was reinterpreting the ancient scriptures for them in light of the resurrection! While they still didn’t know it was Jesus talking to them in person, they later said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32 NIV What a moment for these disciples to realize they had just entered a demarcation moment in history that would never revert back! What a watershed moment!

Larry Kreider, International Director of DOVE, said on several occasions, “Methods will change, but the message must and always will be the same.” While Jesus declares himself as the unchanging one, that doesn’t mean the methods we use to convey his message won’t change. They have and they will. Today more people are using electronic Bibles than paper ones. Both have pros and cons. Today, movies are used to communicate the gospel and it’s very effective. People who live in nations where sharing the gospel is considered a punishable crime have access to SD cards in their phones that remain undetached by policing authorities. The message remains the same but the methods change.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we have the New Testament. The Old Testament was based on a continual sacrificial system of animal sacrifices for the repentance of sin. Since Jesus rose from the dead and lives today, we still sacrifice, but in a different way than directed by the Old Testament. We bring a sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice of will, a sacrifice of love, and a sacrifice to serve. We now sacrifice because we love, in the Old Testament we sacrificed to get right with God, but that’s not the case in the New Testament. Our faith in what Jesus did causes us to be right with God; he paid the ultimate price and offered the ultimate sacrifice. Because he rose and lives, we now interpret life differently than others who lived before was raised.

Come Sunday and learn more about the amazing new era we entered because Jesus was resurrected!

April 19, 2023

Resurrection Reinterpretation

Live Stream Starts at 10:30 am

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