Halleluyah! The Cheque Cleared

Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. – Rom 4:25

Halleluyah!!! Today we celebrate the unique, inimitable Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ from the grave after three days.

But was His resurrection necessary? I once heard a preacher say the Resurrection was just “God showing off”.  But the Bible says differently. The Resurrection of Jesus from the grave was not a superfluous, gratuitous show of power by God; rather it is an integral part of the salvation plan.

The Apostle Paul says it bluntly in 1Co 15:17: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; YOU ARE YET IN YOUR SINS.” Therefore, we see that the atonement of our sins is tied to Jesus’ Resurrection.

Christian poet, Propaganda, in his didactic song “The Gospel in 4 Minutes” uses a modern cash analogy to explain the significance of the Resurrection. In his words,

“God sent Himself as Jesus to pay the cost for us.

His righteousness, His death, functions as Payment.

He wrote a cheque with His life, but at the resurrection we all cheered,

BECAUSE THAT MEANS THE CHEQUE CLEARED

When someone who uses a different bank from yours writes you a cheque, the cheque has to go through a CLEARINGHOUSE. This is an association formed by banks as a central agency where members can settle accounts. At the clearinghouse, the representative of your bank presents your cheque to the issuer’s bank and asks for the value in cash. However, the other bank may also have cheques by its own customers to cash from your bank. If the cheques to your bank that they present sum up to more than the one your bank wants to cash from them, rather than get any cash your bank will now actually be OWING the other bank! Needless to say, if your bank doesn’t even up that debt, you won’t be getting a dime.

So if after the usual 48 hours, your bank credits your account, that tells you that not only was there money in the issuer’s account in the other bank, but also that YOUR bank has NO DEBTS TO PAY any other bank. All is even.

So Propaganda was on to something then with that “cheque” analogy.

Because the ‘Clearinghouse’ of Heaven had to make sure that all your sins – past, present and future – was well-atoned for, before allowing the Lamb of God to rise up from the dead.

Well, we know that Jesus did rise from the dead. So you what that means now. Today is Resurrection Sunday... let God hear your “CHEER”.

Have a HAPPY EASTER

GREG ELKAN