Remembering the Resurrection of Jesus

At Fields of the Wood, there is a replica of the empty tomb symbolizing how we remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. I was introduced to the story of Jesus Christ as a child in Sunday school, church, and at home. My parents read the Bible, lived a Christian example, and drove my older brother and me to Fields of the Wood for every special program held there.

I am originally from Cleveland, Tennessee, and was raised in the Church of God of Prophecy. Every June 13, my family planned to spend the day at Fields of the Wood to spend time in fellowship with other family members and our church family. We participated in each special event by joining everyone in worship, prayer, and singing. Our focus was on drawing closer to the person of Jesus, and we celebrated his resurrection—the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

As a young person, I remember how often my parents would draw my attention to other cars and vehicles displaying a fag decal, a symbol of the Church of God of Prophecy, as we traveled down the highway. Especially on a special trip like this—to Fields of the Wood from Cleveland, Tennessee—we would enjoy seeing how many cars displayed a Church of God of Prophecy fag window sticker or bumper sticker. It felt as though we were participating in a parade of church members going to this special event. Several people even had a small church fag to wave.

We planned to join the commemorative services at Fields of the Wood to listen to all of the special guest speakers, the general offcials, and the music worship leaders. The program would bring tremendous enthusiasm because of the large attendance. The day was flled with sounds of preaching, praising Jesus, and singing coming from a high platform with microphones and speakers so that all could hear. The audience would sit below in the fold-up chairs provided or the ones they brought from home. One place our family visited during this time was the gift shop; it allowed us to get out of the sun for a few minutes, and we enjoyed shopping for a few of the souvenirs from Fields of the Wood.

We walked past the baptismal pool to get to the hillside displaying the Ten Commandments. After the program, many would climb the hill, counting each step as they made their way to the large, open Bible at the top. Others would choose to drive the paved road to get to the top without walking. They could also drive their vehicles up and around the hillside to get a view of the fags of many nations located at the top of the hill behind Ten Commandment Mountain. On the hillside near the left of the entrance was a path of steps leading to an altar for prayer.

Gayla Brewer serves as Director of Library Services for Spirit and Life Seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee. In addition, she serves as Director of Library Services for Chattanooga College: Medical, Dental, & Technical Careers. Having obtained a Master’s Degree in Library Science from University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a sixth year degree, Specialist in Library and Information Science, from Florida State University, Gayla has a career in library services and education that spans over 30 years.

During any breaks in the services, families spent time fellowshipping with each other. This was another opportunity to share testimonies of blessings, Holy Ghost messages with interpretations, prayer requests, and healing. We would take advantage of visiting with our family from out of town and friends whom we had not seen in a long time. All of the adults and the children enjoyed this special time at Fields of the Wood; it was a time of drawing closer to our Lord Jesus Christ.

My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins would drive in from different parts of North Carolina. My parents, older brother, and I would look forward to our family gathering during this special historical celebration of the Church of God of Prophecy. We would park our cars near the hillside where we could enjoy a picnic lunch of homemade food and desserts. Our family meeting on June 13 became a family tradition.

Another great memory I have was the time I participated in the Easter Sunrise Service at Fields of the Wood. One year we were standing on the Ten Commandments hillside in the Easter reenactment costume robes, and it began to snow!

Our family taught me the importance of keeping Jesus frst, focusing on the person of Jesus. As you are reading your Bible, be encouraged by its message. Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” And 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us, “Pray without ceasing.”

As my mother and I read the Bible, we are still learning more and more about the person of Jesus. In his life, he taught many lessons for us to learn. Then he offered himself as a sacrifce in our place. He was buried, but after three days, he arose. Praise the Lord!

And let's not forget, Jesus is coming back!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5 NKJV)

The word “heritage” in its English usage and understanding generally applies to property passed on to an heir; it can also apply to a tradition, culture, etc., passed on to a later generation ( Webster’s New World Dictionary, 2nd college ed., 1979). The 1986 Deluxe Encyclopedic Edition begins its discussion of synonyms under “heritage” as thus: “That which comes to or belongs to one by reason of birth.” This thought better refects what we want to consider, for Christ as our Heritage is connected to our new birth, the “born again” experience described to Nicodemus by Jesus in John 3:3–8. Our heritage, therefore, involves the kingdom of God of which Jesus Christ is King.

BISHOP ADRIAN L. VARLACK, SR. | CLEVELAND, TENNESSEE

The biblical presentation of our new heritage as the Person of Christ Jesus our Lord concerns our human need of redemption, our rescue from the lostness which sin and death brought between us and our Creator, God. This lostness and death interrupted God’s intended purposes for his good creation. The deep struggle of the church1 throughout its history (and on into today) has been to maintain its journey and mission through and to the world as Christcentered. Although sent by Christ himself (Matthew 28:18–20), time and distance have taken their toll on the church’s central focus. As early as the apostolic times, the tendency to displace Christ was becoming evident. For example, the apostle Paul wrote to one of the earliest congregations, “For I determined not to know anything among you save [except]2 Jesus Christ, and him crucifed” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

That church had been fghting over the standings of individual leaders—Paul, Apollos, Cephas, even of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12, 13). The question, of course, was with which leader would one identify. The idea that Christian leaders could/would become a source of division within the church of Jesus Christ surfaced very early in its history. In fact, much of the New Testament’s epistles and writings were occasioned by corrections and faulty perceptions of Christ that needed adjustments. There were even local church offcials who refused the authority of the apostles and asserted their own preeminence (3 John 1:9).

We thank God for the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in teaching, promoting, and exalting Christ in the church and in the world (John 15:26, 27; 16:7–15). He is the One who sustains the legitimacy of the church as belonging to Christ alone into this third millennium. Christ is the church’s heritage! She has no other. He is Head of the church and Savior of the body (Ephesians 5:23). The church’s failures (including our own) have occasioned repeated and undeniable interventions of the Holy Spirit beyond his general guidance and instructions. He has continued, as he has historically done, to raise up renewal movements both within and beyond the organized church— interventions that bring reform and revival. Thus, he returns the wayward leadership institutions and congregations of the church to their proper focus, which is Jesus Christ himself, the Living Word, as faithfully expressed in the Bible—God’s holy, written, inspired Word.

As we refect on Christ our Heritage, it is my considered opinion and belief that the Church of God of Prophecy is among those renewal movements raised up by the Holy Spirit around the turn of the twentieth century to call specifc attention to the church’s general lack of Christian love, Christian unity, its need for the restoration and centrality of the Bible as God’s holy Word in the midst of his people, and to foster and revitalize the biblical nature and purposes of the church as the body of Christ in the world, led by the Holy Spirit. These renewal emphases bespeak the centrality of Christ as our Heritage. Our forefathers sought the church’s general renewal along apostolic lines as is evident from our history.3 They were reluctant to form a denomination and expressed their view in a note on the front page of the First Assembly Minutes:

NOTE: We hope and trust that no person or body of people will ever use these Minutes or any part of them, as articles of faith upon which to establish a sect or denomination. The subjects were discussed merely to obtain light and understanding. Our articles of faith are inspired and given us by the Holy Apostles and written in the New Testament which is our only rule of faith and practice.4

Returning to our biblical text in 1 Peter 1, I have several observations on the apostle’s exposition of our inheritance in Jesus Christ. Peter blesses the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in his abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This is strange language, but it clearly confrms that we were lost from God and dead in trespasses and sins, as Paul put it in Ephesians 2:1. Being dead and in jeopardy of eternal damnation at the appointed judgment (Acts 17:31), only God’s rescue of us could prove effective for our salvation. In his great mercy, he has Continue on page 28