Hands Of Easter

HANDS

The Bible is our HANDBOOK for Salvation

I got to thinking about the Bible being a HAND book. And it struck me that there are a lot of hands that are in its pages.

What are the hands of the handbook of the bible that speak about Easter?

HANDS OF GRACE

The hands of Grace are the hands of God handing us His gift. The Bible says that God hands us the gift of heaven on a platter. We don’t have to work for it with our hands, earn it and we don’t deserve it. It’s given to us by grace as a gift from His hand. “The gift of God is eternal life”

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) says “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done” by our hands, “so none of us can boast about it.”

Eternal life is God’s handiwork, handmade for us, and we are handpicked to receive it.

But there’s a problem taking this gift in hand.

What’s the problem?

The problem is to do with the hands of man

THE HANDS OF MAN

The trouble is that God’s hands are pure, sinless hands.

But the hands of people in the world are sinful hands.

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

God sought to give the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, a guiding hand

But when Adam and Eve sinned, things got out of hand. They took the law into our own hands rather than live as God intended.

God’s hands are too pure to put up with our sin.

We became enemies of God, and those with sinful hands cannot go to heaven because the “wages of sin is death.”

How could God hand us His love when we turned our hands against Him.

What could be done?

Did God throw up his hands because the situation seemed hopeless? No.

Did He force his hand upon us and make us comply with His will? No.

He had a plan. He wrote it in his handbook and written in His own hand, He tells us about …

THE HANDS OF GOD

On one hand – God hates sin and must condemn those who sin.

On the other hand – God loves you and me and wants to save us from the hands of the evil one, from condemnation, from going to hell, from a life that is less than He intended.

Make no mistake, God acts with a heavy hand towards our sin. Because of the sin on our hands, it looked like the entire human race was destined to go to hell.

You see, we forced God’s hand and compelled Him to judge our sin. But fortunately, God knew how to handle the problem of sin.

That’s where Jesus’ hands come into the story.

Let’s look at what the handbook says about…

THE HANDS OF JESUS.

Jesus also wanted to have a hand in the human race.

The hands of Jesus that created the world became the tiny hands formed in Mary’s womb. He became a human being and lived among us.

He wants to have a hand in your life and my life today because Jesus is a hands-on kind of person

The rough, calloused craftsman’s hands of a village carpenter, working hands that gripped lumber with bare-handed fingers, removed splinters, shaped timber and sanded the rough edges are the hands that want to shape and craft our lives today.

Those strong, calloused but gentle hands that could restore sight to the blind with a touch, bring life to the dead, heal deformed hands, and lift those who were lame up from the dust are the same hands that want to heal the wounded places in our lives.

The same compassionate, helping hands that took five loaves and two fish and fed the five thousand; the same servant hands that washed His disciple’s feet; the same loving hands that prayed for little children and blessed them want to touch and change your life forever today.

But what has all this got to do with God’s problem at hand? If we are still condemned by God, how did Jesus’ hands change things?

Well, here’s what happened.

Jesus had the same clean, sinless, pure hands of God

The handbook of the bible says in 1 John 3:5 (NLT) “there is no sin in Him.”

Judas had the blood of Jesus on his hands, but even Judas said, “I have betrayed Innocent blood.”

Pilot declared “I find no fault in Him”

Why is this important?

Only clean, sinless hands can do what Jesus did for us.

Here’s what He did.

It was the time of the Passover and Jesus hands took up bread and wine and told His followers that it was a perpetual picture of His coming sacrifice. On Good Friday, many celebrate communion and remember His words, “Do this in remembrance of Me”.