R is for redemption.

E is for eternal life.

S is for the Spirit of God.

U is for unity.

R is for restoration and reconciliation.

R is for righteousness.

E is for evidence.

C is for confidence.

T is for transformation.

I is for imperishable.

O is for the only one.

N is for a new mission.

For forty days after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to many different people in many different settings, proving that He indeed had risen from the grave, not just as a Spirit, but in bodily form. His disciples sat with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, touched Him, and ate with Him.

This was no hallucination. Jesus had truly risen. He had done exactly what He had said He would do.

How joyful they must have been for those forty days, but how deeply it must have grieved them to stand atop the mountain and watch the Savior ascend into heaven. No wonder they stood staring, wondering in their hearts if they would see him again in this life, or would have to wait until their own deaths to greet their beloved friend face to face.

Acts 1:9-11 – And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

Just before Jesus returned to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, He gave the disciples their assignment:

Matthew 28:18-20 – And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus had given them their marching orders – a NEW MISSION. The resurrection of Jesus was the completion of God’s redemptive plan. He completed His mission, and from those moments on the mountain with His disciples until this very moment, His mission has become our mission. We are to proclaim what we have seen and heard – the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!

How do we know this is our mission?

Read the following passages describing the actions of followers of Jesus who had met the Risen Lord. What do you notice?

Acts 4:20 – For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.

Acts 1:8 – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My WITNESSES both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.

Acts 2:32 – This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all WITNESSES.

Acts 3:15 – …but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are WITNESSES.

Acts 5:30-32 – The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are WITNESSES of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.

Acts 10:38-43 – You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are WITNESSES of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to WITNESSES who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. Of Him all the prophets bear WITNESS that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

Acts 22:14-16 – And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a WITNESS for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

Luke 24:46-48 – And He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are WITNESSES of these things.

Yesterday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Churches were a little more crowded than usual, as the habit of some who possess an intellectual knowledge of the gospel fulfilled half their bi-annual duty to attend church at Easter and Christmas. We surely hope and believe that the gospel was proclaimed clearly, and that those who heard responded, and experienced resurrection in their hearts. We pray that Easter Sunday 2024 was the day of salvation for many.

But now it’s Monday.

What do we do now?

We accept the new mission Jesus gave His followers after His resurrection. We continue as faithful witnesses of what we have seen and heard, just as those early followers did in obedience to the Savior’s final words.

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of WITNESSES surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 – Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

If you have heard the gospel, responded by faith, and have been saved, then you have seen the Risen Jesus. Have you accepted your new mission as His witness?

May we all be faithful to proclaim the resurrection, not just on Easter, but every day, from this day forward, until He comes.