Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder if you sometimes look at your life and find yourself overwhelmed by God’s goodness to you? Seems to me the apostle Paul was frequently amazed when he thought about who he once was and how ferociously he opposed Jesus and any people who refused to deny Jesus. Listen to what Paul wrote to his Christian friends in Corinth: “I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle of Jesus, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and God’s grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Cor. 15:9,10)
If you are like me and most people alive, there are some things in your past that you aren’t proud of and you are determined to not allow those shameful things to define you in the present or shape your future, right? Perhaps you are a person for whom it’s not difficult to imagine the terrible existence you would be living today if God had not rescued you from yourself destructive lifestyle.
That was Paul. The description of his anger toward Jesus and the followers of Jesus is well documented in Acts 8,9 and referred to several times by Paul as he explains the grace and mercy of God extended to him even while he was an angry man trying his best to eliminate Christianity from the Roman empire!
Every time I think of the dramatic transformation in Paul’s life, I find it difficult to fully comprehend. Yet Paul is a prime example of the living evidence of the forgiving, restoring, transforming GRACE of God available to all of us. Paul wants us to know that no matter what we’ve done, how far we’ve run, how wrong we were… there is always forgiveness and restoration available to us in the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ.
That life transformation is why Jesus came to earth, died, was buried and was resurrected, and today reigns in heaven as King of kings and LORD of lords, ready to rescue and restore any repentant person! (Heb. 7:25) Do you believe that is true my friends, and are you living proof of it?
But over and over again Paul was questioned… what or who is this power to rescue and transform a human life? Of course, Paul’s answer was the miracle of a living Savior who conquered death! But that always met with skeptics and confusion. Resurrection is so far beyond our ability to really understand, so far outside anything any of us have ever seen or experienced.
So, let’s watch as Paul pours it out: “If it is preached that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. And if Jesus Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is YOUR FAITH! More than that, we are found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. But if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Jesus Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Jesus Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:12-19)
It is one of the most powerful, profound statements ever written or spoken, would you agree? We understand that God’s design for the human species is an immortal existence! Once conception takes place, the soul/spirit of that person will NEVER cease to exist. While the body dies, our soul/spirit continues to live, forever! The PLACE where our soul/spirit lives is determined by us, each of us, but only during our lifetime on earth. The choice of where we’ll spend timeless eternity is made possible by the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Redemption Plan of Almighty God.
God is willing to accept the atonement death payment of Jesus as payment sufficient for God to pardon all the sins of any person and draw that person into an unbreakable relationship with God which includes resurrection after death to an eternal life in heaven!
But that miracle requires our decision to acknowledge we are sinful and need a Savior and can’t save ourselves. We need to trust that Jesus Christ is who God identified Him to be, God the Son, our sinless Savior, and we need to repent of our sin and trust Jesus alone for our Salvation. God then promises to do the full work of our Salvation from sin condemnation. We also understand there will be resurrection for the person who does not trust Jesus Christ, and rejects God’s offer of Salvation, only their resurrection will be to an eternity apart from God. (Rev. 20)
Do we notice Paul makes it very clear that Jesus Christ’s ability to be our Savior depends on the historical, verifiable fact of His resurrection from the dead? A dead person cannot save another person. The sinless life and atonement death of Jesus is only capable of earning our forgiveness from our sin and drawing us to an eternal life relationship with God IF Jesus is an alive Savior, having been raised from the dead!
That’s why Paul is so clear that “if Jesus Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Jesus Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” It is abundantly clear isn’t it my friends? If Jesus Christ is NOT resurrected from the dead to life eternal, then we have no reason to have any faith in God, in God’s promises, or in Jesus Christ as our potential Savior. If Jesus is still dead, there is NO truth in the Gospel!
If Jesus Christ is not resurrected from the dead, and God has said there is ONLY one hope for sin forgiveness and that’s Jesus Christ’s atonement death and victorious resurrection, then God is a liar, and we are all still in sin bondage with no hope of deliverance from our sin condemnation!
And finally, if Jesus Christ is NOT resurrected from the dead, then those of our families and friends who placed their faith in Jesus BEFORE they died… are lost and their faith is useless! My friends, is there any worse hopelessness than a world without the hope of a resurrected Jesus Christ?
Now it’s the weekend and for all of us, anywhere in the world, the weekend calls Muslims, Jews, Catholics and Protestants to a time of worshiping God and spiritual reflection. For the Muslims it’s Friday, for the Jews it’s Saturday and for most Catholics and Protestants it will be Sunday. And for every person the questions are the same:
1. Who is God? What relationship does God invite me to with Him?
2. What is God’s answer to my sin problem? If my sinfulness separates me from God, what is God’s plan by which my sin can be forgiven by God, and I can be restored into relationship with God?
3. Who is Jesus Christ? What does God say is the role of Jesus in making my sin forgiven relationship with God possible?
4. What is my part in attaining forgiveness for my sin and establishing an eternal relationship with God?
Now my friends all around the world, regardless of your religious background, your ethnicity, the country where you are hearing my voice, you and I and every person are given the opportunity this weekend to answer those questions and pursue a relationship with God. I know I will be doing so through Jesus Christ in full confidence Jesus is alive and my Savior. What will be your path to God, your plan for your sin forgiveness? And if both you and I die this weekend, I know I will be in heaven for all eternity with resurrected Jesus Christ… and I wonder, what about you?
And once again, here’s a song to help us reflect on these important questions…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Cor. 15:12-19.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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