Hello everyone!
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:14, ESV
Have you ever wondered, just what is the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? What about it is so radically important that if it was not true, the entire Christian faith would be in vain? Here, take a look at this verse from Romans:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death... Romans 6:3-4a, ESV
This verse states that we as Christians were baptized with Him into His death, as if as He hung on that cross, we hung there with Him. Think for a moment - if Christ had not risen but remained in the grave, having been baptized with Him into His death, we too would remain there with Him. There would be no life; only death. But praise God, this is not the case!
...in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:4b-5, ESV
We who have been united with Him into His death have also been united with Him in His life - and this is the best news you and I could ever hear! We died with Him; and now, we live with Him. But what does this mean for us? What are the real-life implications of this, and how does this change how we live our lives?
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:6-11, ESV
This is the power of the resurrection. Having been baptized into His death, and thus, into His life as well, we are no longer slaves to sin. We who once were at the every beck and call of our cruel, unrighteous master of sin without any hope of ever seeing the light have now been shown freedom. Whereas before we were totally unable to resist the commands of the devil, giving in to the lusts and cravings of the flesh, we now have had our bonds broken as we are united with Christ into His death (to die to sin) and resurrection (to live to God). Therefore, to finish us off:
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. Romans 6:12-13, ESV
I hope you see the true power of the resurrection of our Lord - it is this which enables and empowers us to lead righteous, self-controlled, God-pleasing lives. No self-will or mental strength can achieve this - only Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord, can - and indeed, has. May we all have a blessed Easter!
Blessings,
Andrew
Showing posts with label The Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cross. Show all posts
The Nature Of Love - 3/22/08
Hello everyone!
I hope things are well with your lives today, and that in all the Easter hype, you're finding time to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday - the resurrection of our Lord.
Tomorrow, many of us will be going to church for an Easter service and will undoubtedly learn of the great sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, how He was delivered into the hands of evil men, crucified, and then how He died for our sins, only to rise having "defeated death and the grave" in glorious victory. So, keeping this in mind, I won't preach your Easter Sunday message on Saturday afternoon - I'll leave that up to the more capable and more knowledgeable. However, I would like to point out one thing, and that is the nature of love which Christ demonstrated perfectly on the cross. You've probably heard this countless times, but it is so very important that saying it just once doesn't do it justice.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:13-15, ESV
Greater love has no one than someone laying down his life for his friends - and this is exactly what Jesus did for us. We have no greater love in our lives than the love of Christ. No one has ever loved you, nor will ever love you, as much as Christ does - never let anyone tell you otherwise.
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 1 John 4:16-17, ESV
God is the very nature of love. As we abide in Him, the nature of love is perfected within us as well. Do you want to learn to love more? Look to God, abide in Him, and this will be perfected in you. As the source of all things good, He is the only one we can look to for both the example, and the empowerment, to love more - both of which are given freely at the cross. Let us keep this in mind as we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of our Lord's resurrection, and I pray that you all have a blessed Easter Sunday!
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:16-17, NKJV
Blessings,
Andrew
I hope things are well with your lives today, and that in all the Easter hype, you're finding time to reflect on the true meaning of the holiday - the resurrection of our Lord.
Tomorrow, many of us will be going to church for an Easter service and will undoubtedly learn of the great sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, how He was delivered into the hands of evil men, crucified, and then how He died for our sins, only to rise having "defeated death and the grave" in glorious victory. So, keeping this in mind, I won't preach your Easter Sunday message on Saturday afternoon - I'll leave that up to the more capable and more knowledgeable. However, I would like to point out one thing, and that is the nature of love which Christ demonstrated perfectly on the cross. You've probably heard this countless times, but it is so very important that saying it just once doesn't do it justice.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:13-15, ESV
Greater love has no one than someone laying down his life for his friends - and this is exactly what Jesus did for us. We have no greater love in our lives than the love of Christ. No one has ever loved you, nor will ever love you, as much as Christ does - never let anyone tell you otherwise.
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 1 John 4:16-17, ESV
God is the very nature of love. As we abide in Him, the nature of love is perfected within us as well. Do you want to learn to love more? Look to God, abide in Him, and this will be perfected in you. As the source of all things good, He is the only one we can look to for both the example, and the empowerment, to love more - both of which are given freely at the cross. Let us keep this in mind as we prepare to celebrate the anniversary of our Lord's resurrection, and I pray that you all have a blessed Easter Sunday!
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:16-17, NKJV
Blessings,
Andrew
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