President’s Post: A new role
Dear student, no doubt you have heard the good news about the board’s appointment of Pastor Jonathan Falwell as chancellor, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Dr. Dondi Costin as president and myself as president emeritus with the responsibility to help carry out our mission of training Champions for Christ. I will also continue as a Liberty board member, which I have had the unique privilege of serving on since 1996. Now, I want to assure each of you that Liberty University will continue the original mission and vision of Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. to faithfully uphold the gospel of Jesus Christ and to preserve the inerrancy and authority God’s Word. While this is a new day at Liberty, our mission remains the same.
It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as Liberty’s interim president, and I will continue to serve each and every one of you in the coming days as we head into the summer until I take my new role as president emeritus.
As exciting as all of this news is, none compares to the world-changing news we have to celebrate this week. I’m talking about the most important event in all human history that became world-changing news. There would be no Liberty University without the gospel of Jesus Christ, and there would be no gospel without the resurrection.
On that fateful Friday afternoon over 2,000 years ago, the sky darkened, the ground shook and the temple veil tore in two. The Lord Jesus Christ, while hanging on a cross, cried out, “It is finished!” Jesus Christ had completed his ministry in perfect obedience to God the Father. His work was finished.
Jesus Christ was slain. The promised Messiah was crucified. But was his life and ministry in vain?
At that moment, it would have seemed like all was lost and death was triumphant. All the scoffers, the Roman executioners, the Jewish leaders and the wayward disciples looked upon the lifeless body of Jesus as it was taken down from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea took his body, wrapped him up and buried him in a borrowed tomb. The Roman guards sealed the tomb in total darkness, making it as secure as possible.
The disciples were left doubting. Had the “true light, which gives light to everyone” (John 1:9) been extinguished? Had death had its victory?
Why do they call it Good Friday? There are two simple but very important reasons. First, we know that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins. Isaiah 53:5-6 says that “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities… and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The wages of sin, after all, is death (Romans 3:23). And Jesus died so that all who believe in him may have eternal life.
The second reason that we call it Good Friday is because Sunday came. On Sunday, there was a glorious and victorious resurrection. Today we do not just look upon a cursed cross with hope but to an empty tomb for our victory.
Paul reminds us how the two pillars of our good news are the death and resurrection of Christ. They must always go together (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). He wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Jesus’ resurrection proved that all of his promises and words were true. He is the centerpiece. The Messiah came to set the world free from sin. We can be confident that all who trust in him will never be put to shame (Romans 10:11). We celebrate Easter because he is risen, indeed!
Just as there are skeptics today, there were skeptics then. Even Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, did not believe the resurrection was real. But he saw the hands of Jesus and put his finger into his pierced side, and he exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Dear student, while many things change, some things will always remain the same. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is as relevant today as it was in the first century. Our entire eternity depends upon it. Our lives have meaning and purpose because Jesus Christ is alive today.
My hope and prayer for each and every one of you is that you would go forth confidently and with bold assurance that Jesus had victory over sin and death. He did conquer the grave. He has risen. Anyone who will call upon the name of the Lord, who will turn away from their sin, will be saved for all eternity.
That is what it means to be a Champion for Christ. It is believing in him. Now, have you made your decision for Christ? I want you to reach out to a pastor, an LU shepherd or a Bible study leader and do it today.
Prevo is the Interim President of Liberty University