The last time I checked, the Rolling Stones were still rolling, though looking a bit jagged. (HAHA) But this article is not about those stones. This is about THE STONE – the one that covered the tomb of Jesus. And it is also about THE STONE that once covered (or in some cases, still covers) our hearts.

Inside the tomb lay the body of Jesus Christ, from late Friday until early Sunday. But, as we know, the tomb could not contain Him. He knew His way out. By the power of God within Him, He arose from death, escaped the tomb, and fulfilled the will of Father. Then He appeared to many, and especially to His disciples and the others gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. There, in a blaze of fire, He rolled their stones away.

And so, in Christ Jesus we have the great exchange. Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. His righteousness for my sin and shame. His agony for my acceptance. His blood shed for me. In Him I have life, and it is abundant life. In Him, I live eternally in the presence of the Father.

What once separated me from God is now separated from me. He has redeemed me, once and for all.

This is the message of the cross AND of the stone.

You see, the stone represents the barrier between a holy God and sinful mankind.

Behind the stone – trapped – entombed – imprisoned, lies my dead spirit. Now I may not even know that it is dead. I have physical life. I move, I breathe. But apart from Christ, I am not just spiritually barren, I am spiritually dead. Behind the stone lies a spirit of decay, a rotting and rotten mass. No matter how extravagant the spices, no matter how tightly wound the linen cloths, it is still embalmed death.

“The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17.9 Romans 7.18 informs us of this truth: “For I know that there dwells in me nothing good, that is, in my sinful nature.” 

It is indeed a sinful nature. We have Adam and Eve to thank for that. We have inherited it from them, due to their disastrous choice. And there is no cure for this nature, apart from the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. He has set us free from this nature. In Him we are new creations. This priceless fact is so beautifully expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5.17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, the new has come!”

When the stone of our hearts is rolled away at conversion, we become new people. We are NOT a renewed version of the old! ALL of the old is gone – bad and good! I now have, as it were,  a new genetic code. I am set free from the bondage of sin and death. The chains are gone. The death mask removed.

Just as Jesus arose a victor from the “dark domain”, so have I! And just as Jesus lives forever with His saints to reign, so shall I!

So now what? After my stone is rolled away, how then should I live? I step out of my tomb, I step into the world – a world that should hold no attraction for me. I world in which I am just a pilgrim – a wayfaring stranger. It is not my home.

Yet God has determined that I “camp” here for an undetermined length of time. God has determined that I live in relationship to this world and to its people. God has determined that I work with my hands, that I live within a family, and that I do all this for the glory of His name.

Having my stone rolled away is just the beginning. It is an awesome beginning, an amazing beginning, but it is just a beginning.

Our Bible is chock full of “how-to.” And every word – every line – every precept is important. Colossians 2.6-7 sums it up this way, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”    

How did I receive Him? Can I recall the moving of my stone? I received Him by grace through faith. He at once became my Savior. He baptized me in the Holy Spirit. And even though I still often stumble and sin, He is indeed my Lord. And I am so thankful.

I was once dead in my trespasses, entombed in my own wickedness. But now I serve a risen Savior. And it is in the absolute way of Christ that I commit myself to follow. I’ve come too far. I am more convinced than ever. No turning back.

However, I, like many of my brethren, have entombed many things. I have swept many of God’s blessings under the rug. I have thrown many of God’s gifts to me into closet and shut the door. I have let His calling on my life lay out in the rain to rust at times.

Like Lazurus, the gifts of my Lord lay inside, decaying. Jesus is saying in this hour, PHILLIP – COME FORTH! Brother – come forth! Sister – come forth! DO NOT NEGLECT SO GREAT A SALVATION! CEASE FROM YOUR SLUMBER! ARISE!

The new wine of Jesus was never meant to be bottled and kept to ourselves.

On September 29, 2017, I will celebrate my 44th birthday in Christ. What a journey it has been. As that day approaches, what I want more than anything is to rediscover the “joy of my salvation.” The exhilaration of that newly found freedom. The purity of thankfulness. The uncomplicated knowledge of having a “clean heart.”

I want to rediscover my stone being rolled away.

Well, enough said. For now.