The story of Easter is very old. It really has it’s roots in the worship of Babylonian god’s and goddesses. The derivation of Easter is Ishtar the Babylonian goddess of fertility. Ishtar is celebrated at the spring of every year with symbols of fertility such as eggs and rabbits. If you want to know more about the pagan origins of Easter, do a Google search of the word Ishtar.
What does Ishtar have to do with the resurrection of Jesus? Nothing. What do rabbits, eggs and rituals have to do with the resurrection of Jesus? Nothing.
Actually, there are no instructions from Jesus that we are to celebrate His resurrection. So how did all of this start. It really goes back to the beginnings of the Catholic church and King Constantine who adopted these celebrations and blended them into the dogma and doctrine of the church.
Is it bad for Christians to come to church in the spring of the year to celebrate the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascent of Jesus to His throne where He has earned the place of King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Not necessarily. But, what is the motive? What is the intent of the heart?
Many people come to church every year for Easter services for the wrong reasons. Some are motivated by social or political correctness. Some are motivated by fear. Have you ever known a person who came to Easter services because they were afraid not to? And unfortunately, they do not return in Spirit, mind, body or heart until the other “High Holy Day”.
What would a day in the spring that would honor the King of Kings look like? What would please Jesus? The answer is in His Word:
There is no one day that is more important to Jesus than another. A person once told me that “Sunday is the Lord’s day!”. What then, I asked my friend, is Monday?
” If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
(Luke 9:23)
” Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for sufficient unto the day are the troubles thereof”.
(Matthew 6:34)
” For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” (Matthew 12:8)
For Christians, everyday of the week should be “The Lord’s Day”.
What should a celebration of Jesus, be about? His Word and His Blood!!! Many people who will attend Church services at “Easter”, have made an ardent decision to believe in Him because they are afraid of the consequences of not doing that. Yet, many of those same people, refuse to believe Him.
As you take “Communion” this “Easter”, try to remember this teaching from Jesus:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him, was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; comprehended it not.”
” 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 1:1-5 and 14)
Here, John the disciple who walked and lived with Jesus as an eyewitness; under the direction of the Holy Spirit and from first hand knowledge, reports that Jesus is the Word. And, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among the disciples who beheld His glory.
Therefore, in the following teaching, when Jesus commands us to “eat the flesh of the Son of Man”, He is instructing us to consume His Word. Jesus is clearly stating that Life comes only from His Word and His Blood. To eat His flesh is to consume or make His Word THE energy source of our lives.
” Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eats my flesh and drinks my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me, and I in him.”
(John 6:53-56)
” It is the Spirit that gives life. The flesh profiteth nothing; the Words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
(John:6-52-54)
Many Christians consider themselves to be flesh eaters. But few when questioned are comfortable drinking His Blood. What does it mean to drink the blood of Jesus? It means to fully accept the guaranteed New Covenant. It means to make a decision to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus guaranteed every Word that He spoke, with His Blood. And that because, He did, they are absolute irrevocable truth. You may be an avaricious flesh eater, but unless you drink His Blood, it profits you nothing. I know many people who can quote chapter and verse of the Words of Jesus, yet no matter what they say, in their hearts, they do not believe that His Words are guaranteed and unbreakable.
More on the blood:
In the following Scripture, Moses reports the prophetic promise that God has made to Him and to all people about Jesus and His reconciling, atoning and redeeming blood:
” For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
(Leviticus 17:10)
” For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, Saying, this is the blood of the testament which God hath joined unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood, both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.”
“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and….WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION”. ” It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.’
“For Jesus, is not entered into holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; Not yet that He should offer himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
” And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So, Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation”.
“For the law having a SHADOW of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year conditionally make the comers there unto perfect.”
( Hebrews 9:19-28 and 10:1)
” For this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for the remission of sins.”
(Matthew 26:28)
” By the which will we are sanctified though the blood the offering of the body of Jesus once for all.”
” For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before”,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my Words into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
” Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh: And having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to our profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised)”.
(Hebrews 10:10 and 15-23)
In the verses you have just read, Paul has carefully and methodically explained that God replaced the system of works, the old covenant by using the blood and flesh of Jesus to purify all of us who accept them. Once for all. In so doing, The Jews who were the only people ever under the law of Moses were given the power to be made free from that law by accepting Jesus. The Gentiles, those of us not born as Jews, were offered reconciliation through the blood of Jesus once for all to our God. If you choose to accept this Covenant, then you are working towards drinking His Blood.
So, If according to Jesus, to have life in us, we must eat His flesh and drink His blood; and that means that we essentially must: make a decision to believe His Words are guaranteed by His blood, how are we doing?
Here is a little test prepared by Jesus Himself. Jesus gave us the following measuring devices to test ourselves on whether or not we believe Him beyond a shadow of a doubt. This test is not about whether Pastor Allen thinks you are a believer. These are the standards that Jesus established, punctuated by some of His teachings:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall He do also; and greater than these shall he do; because I go to my Father.”
“And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that Will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
“If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”
(John 14:12-14)
” Said I not unto you, That if you would believe, you should see the glory of God?”
(John 11:40)
” Have faith in God. For verily, I say to you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be you removed and cast into the sea; and does not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says. Therefore I say to you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive and you shall have them.”
(Mark 11:22-24)
” And these signs shall follow those who believe, in my name, they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing ( here Jesus is speaking of the strongest powers of the evil one, not literal snakes and poison.) it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
(Mark 16:17-18)
” Verily, verily, I say to you; whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you. Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
(John 16:23&24)
” Again, I say to you that if two or more of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall asks, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three of you are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of you.”
(Matthew 18:19&20)
” If you live in me, and my words live in you, you shall ask what you wish and it shall be done unto you. In this, is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.”
(John 15:7&8)
” And He said to them, ” I beheld satan fall as lightning from heaven. Behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject to you, but that your name are written in the Lambs book of life.”
(Luke 10:18&19)
” Verily, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on ear shall be loosed in heaven.”
(Matthew 18:18)
If we drink the blood of Jesus, then we accept the work that it accomplished. Here are a few of those things:
This prophecy was written by Isaiah the prophet to whom God revealed them hundreds of years before the birth or death of Jesus:
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He shall frow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”
” Surely, He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement necessary for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
(Isaiah 53:1-5)
“Who His ownself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin might live unto righteousness, by whose stripes we were healed”
(1 Peter 2:24)
This Easter Sunday, as you take communion, think on this: The wafer, cracker or whatever that white piece of paper is, represents the Words of Jesus. When you ingest it, make a covenant with Jesus that you have made a decision to believe every Word that He spoke. When the grape juice, wine or Kool aide comes around, it symbolizes the shed blood of Jesus. Make a covenant with Jesus that you will never doubt the truth of His Words again. Make a decision to believe that Jesus guaranteed His Words with His blood and covenant with Him to believe that without a shadow of a doubt.
Your life will never be the same!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pastor Allen
www.throneofgraceministries.com
