Please enjoy the summary for Easter it's all about.
Vernon the elder
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Living Water Devotionals <
davidl5012@att.net>
Date: Saturday, April 15, 2017
Subject: The Resurrection of Christ
To:
prevatt3@gmail.com | | | | | HE IS RISEN!
Easter Sunday Living Water Devotional (The following devotional from last Easter is re-published for this year. The message never grows old, and we have added many new subscribers since last year. I hope you are blessed by the message, by your worship today, and by re-living the miracle of Easter! -jdl)
Easter has been observed in the church since earliest days; we have evidence going back as far as the mid second century. It was the custom on Easter morning for one Christian to greet another with the salutation, "He is risen!" to which the Christian being greeted would reply, "He is risen indeed!" Thus today we greet you with this wondrous salutation: "He is risen…indeed!"
The significance of the resurrection is manifold. Let me suggest some of the consequences:
The resurrection shapes our lives as Christians. It changed the day of worship from the last day of the week when Israel commemorated the creation of the world and God's rest in satisfaction from having done so to Sunday, the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, the day of the resurrection. This day commemorates the ultimate new creation in Christ, successfully accomplished, and now God resting in satisfaction from having done so. Jesus exclaimed the joyous words from the cross "It is finished!" Thus the church, Christian worship, the preaching of the gospel, the fellowship of Christians, the proclamation of the gospel, and the glorious worship of Christ's followers all were shaped by this historically-grounded event.
The resurrection of Christ provides us with incentive and motivation to unite and to live for Christ. We are as well incentivized to go forth confidently and joyfully with the gospel of Christ, knowing its truth and its power to save. It turned a scattered band of scared and disillusioned disciples into a force that changed the world.
The resurrection certifies that the atonement of Christ on the cross was a success. Paul stated in Romans 1:4 that God made a declaration that Jesus is His son with power through the Spirit by the resurrection from the dead. Thus I can know that God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf and on the behalf of all His people. The great High Priest provided the acceptable payment for our sins of commission in violation of the law and of omission in failing to keep all the righteous requirements of the law. In the process of becoming the essence of sin and curse on our behalf, he made possible our being declared completely acceptable to God through the process of justification by faith.
The resurrection certainly proves that life exists beyond the grave. No one wants to cease to exist when he/she dies; all want some kind of conscious existence. Various religions have posited a number of theories to help satisfy the natural, human desire for life to go on beyond the inevitable point of death. If Jesus conquered death, then others can do so in Him. In reality, we truly conquer death to experience glorious life only in Christ. This argument Paul develops in considerable detail in First Corinthians 15.
The resurrection proves that Jesus has conquered death and lives, thus it validates all the truth claims of Christianity. If Jesus rose from the dead, then all He said about Himself is true. What we call the Christian faith is undeniably accurate. Christ is then the way, the truth, and the life. The gospel is certified, and our faith has a basis in reality. Historical fact undergirds all we believe and teach.
May you ponder these great truths today and henceforth as you join in the joyous celebration of this most holy day!
-Soli Deo Gloria
-David Lawrence | | | | Copyright © 2017 Engedi Ministries, All rights reserved.
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Vernon Prevatt
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prevatt3@gmail.com
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