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Christ is Risen!
He is Risen, and He dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him (Rom. 6:9). He is Risen, and He has received power to raise up all who had died in Adam. He is Risen, and now He resurrects in the spirit those who turn to Him with faith and obedience!
So, rejoice and be merry, you who love to embrace the fate of all mankind in your thoughts, and who would like to find a means to liberate it from every evil! This means is found in Heaven. It is the Savior, sent down by God Himself, Who shall wipe away all tears from their eyes (Rev. 21:4), from everyone who suffers. After this, it remains for us to follow His precepts, spread His light, and pour out His life. You who sigh under the weight of our nature inclined to sin, who know not how to overthrow the yoke of the passions—take courage and be comforted! The mystery of spiritual regeneration was resolved on Golgotha; there is a God-sent Liberator from the bonds of sin!
After this, it remains for us only to use these means of grace revealed by Him, to root ourselves in Him by faith and love, and to walk in His footsteps; and a clean heart will be created in us again, and a right spirit will be renewed within us (Ps. 50:12). You who seek immortality, who have been chasing glory all your life, if you want genuine immortality, glory unfading, then seek it nowhere but the tomb of Christ: Here is the source of life and incorruption! The Risen Savior will make you immortal not in name only, as does the world and history, but will grant eternal life to your entire being.
O brethren, how good and comforting is our faith! What a great happiness to be a Christian! Where else is there so much light and life as in the Gospel? Where else is there so much hope and consolation as at the Cross? Where is there a Savior like ours? We Christians alone bear the cross, we alone celebrate the Resurrection! What is more inevitable on Earth than the former, and more necessary than the latter? Where all earthly wisdom is lost and knows not what to do—to be silent or murmur—I mean over the grave—there the Christian faith especially renders its Divine effect—it illumines, comforts, and gives life. The cross that stands on our graves speaks more about the destiny of man than all the systems of the philosophers.
Let us, brethren, recognize our treasure and learn to cherish it as we ought: Let us not be so unthinking as to be carried about with every wind of opinions and doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness (Eph. 4:14). Many can promise salvation, but only One can give it—He Who ascended the Cross and rose from the grave to this end. People who freely ascend a cross don’t do so to speak lies; they don’t rise again to speak falsehood. Let us be faithful to the Risen One both in deeds and in life, as He was and is faithful to us.
Amen.
