At this time of year over a billion people will pause and remember the greatest event in the history of the world: The resurrection of our Lord! While we do not have any specific commandment to celebrate this event on an annual basis, God certainly permits men to honor certain days as special as long as they do not make it some sort of requirement that everyone else has to go along with to be considered a good Christian (Romans 14:6). And many do get upset if there is not some sort of special annual event at the place they worship, but leaving such situations aside, it is a great opportunity to teach and preach the good news of Jesus Christ.

And this opportunity to teach the good news is something that we should be more than pleased to welcome. After all, the resurrection of Christ is a key to the Christian faith. We believe that Jesus was the Son of God, that He was arrested by evil men, that He was beaten and spat upon and then nailed to the cross for all men to see and mock. But this wicked set of acts that was prompted by evil men under the influence of the devil backfired when He arose three days later.

He arose!

Just think about the significance of this most important event in history. We know that wicked men intended Christ's death to be a defeat for followers of Christ, but God has a way of accomplishing His will despite the intentions of wicked men. And because God so loved the world, He allowed His only begotten Son to die in such a cruel manner... for you and me! It was so we would not have to bear the penalty for our sins that God allowed this terrible event to happen. He allowed Jesus to take our place, bearing our sins upon Himself and shedding His blood when it should have been our blood that was shed.

And yet, this loving act would have meant nothing if Jesus had not been raised from the dead by the power of God!

This is why we remember His death: It is not just because of the sacrifice for our sins, but because He conquered death and arose! We believe that if Christ arose that we who have become obedient to his requirements will, by the grace of God, share in that resurrection someday (Romans 6). And before Jesus even died, He commanded those who would follow Him to remember that death - not merely on an annual basis - but every single week!

So, this time of year is not just a good time to remember His resurrection, it is also a great time to remind people that God does not call us together as a church for just one special event a year but instead has set aside the first day of every week for us to gather. And it is this weekly gathering and its purpose that I want to talk about today, for I am afraid that many people will be tempted to replace this required weekly gathering for a really special once a year event.

In I Corinthians 11:17, God had the apostle Paul write a rebuke to His church at Corinth. It seems that they were meeting on the first day of the week as was required, but they had turned the day of worship into a day of feasting. They had stopped centering their worship on remembering Christ's death and had turned it into a party! The condemnation was thorough, and I would encourage everyone to read this account in this eleventh chapter of I Corinthians to get the full picture for yourself. 

I would also encourage people to realize just how important this purpose of remembering Christ's death and proclaiming it to others was. When we read of the church gathering on the first day of the week when Paul was visiting the church at Troas (Acts20:7), we find that the reason for their meeting together was not to hear this wonderful, inspired speaker, rather, it was to partake of the Lord's Supper. II Corinthians 16:1-2 reminds us that the church's meeting was on the first day of every week, not just on special occasions. Again, Paul pointed out in I Corinthians 11 that the people were bringing judgement upon themselves because they had corrupted the commemoration of Christ's death and as a result were doing more harm than good.

I guess the point I want to make clear is that it is good and proper to remember Jesus' resurrection - it is the reason we follow Him! Further, if a person wants to remember this great event of the resurrection as a special day, then this would appear to be pleasing to God as long as it is something that does not replace our commanded responsibility to gather on the first day of every week to proclaim the Lord's death through the partaking of the Lord's Supper. It is fine to have special times of remembering the important things in our lives, and there is no more important event than Jesus' resurrection. What we do not ever want to be tempted to do, however, is to take this freewill offering of commemorating this seminal event, and replacing it with our duty to gather together on the first day of each and every week, with the church, to partake of the unleavened bread that represents His body, and the fruit of the vine that represents the blood He shed for our sins.

This is a wonderful time of year, for it brings to mind the beautiful sacrifice that was made so that we might live forever! And because Jesus arose, we have that very hope. What a wonderful thing Jesus did, and we ought to remember that sacrifice, and His resurrection, each and every day of our lives!