HAPPY RESURRECTION SUNDAY!!!! Today is the day we celebrate what Jesus did for us at the cross. The last few weeks the Lord has really been talking to me about His resurrection power. I’ve shared before about the power of being a new creation in Christ and that part of the foundation of believing is to truly know and understand what we have because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Most of us know about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and that He was buried and 3 days later rose again. That is what Easter is all about. We believe that when He died and rose again He paid for our sins so that we could have eternal life in heaven with Him. All that is true but I also believe that it is deeper and even more relational. Jesus came to earth as a man. He lived on earth for 33 years. He knew that He came to die for the sins of the world so that man and God could have the relationship that God had created them to have. In the beginning man and God were intimate. Then when sin happened there became a bridge between God and man. The heavenly Father could no longer have a close relationship with His children that He longed to have. After the fall man could still be close to God, speak to God and hear from God but God could not be in them. There were laws made that let man know what was acceptable and unacceptable to God. It was through the keeping of the laws that you earned your relationship with Him. A relationship that is built through doing good deeds is never as close and intimate as a relationship built on oneness. “I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and You have loved them even as You have loved Me.” John 17:23 In this verse Jesus is talking to God about Their love for each other and man.
I always like reading through John and the life story of Jesus this time of year. Jesus knew that the cross was before Him. He knew He would die a horrible death. How could He do that? Some may say it is because He was Jesus, He was God’s Son. It is true that He was the Son of God but when Jesus came to earth He gave up His place in heaven and became a man. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are. He had no more power than we have available to us. The difference was that He never gave in to any of the temptation and because He lived a sinless life He could become our sin. He was the Lamb without blemish that shed His innocent blood for our redemption of sins. God sent His Son, Jesus, to take our punishment and pay the price we owed for all we had done in unbelief – which is sin. Jesus actually became all the sins of the world, past, present and future. Jesus, the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God had to become our sin and then shed His innocent blood for us to have an intimate relationship with God, our heavenly Father. Jesus could endure the shame and pain of the cross because He saw the other side of the cross. He didn’t look at the pain of that day but saw the purpose and goal of the cross. His power came from knowing He would get through.
“In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission, forgiveness, of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses) in accordance with the riches and generosity of His gracious favor, which He lavished on us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence.” Ephesians 1:7-8
When we talk about Jesus dying so that we could have eternal life, we are usually thinking about life eternally with Him in heaven. That is true but listen to this verse. “And this is eternal life; it means to know (perceive, recognize, become acquainted with and understand) You, the only true and real God and likewise to know Him, Jesus (as the) Messiah, Whom You have sent.” John 17:2 Eternal life is more than just living forever. It is knowing Him deeply right now – here on earth – TODAY!
As I seek the Lord on the power of His resurrection, I am seeing there is a foundation. Part of that foundation is to know and believe that we are a new creation in Him when Jesus becomes the Lord of our life. We aren’t a fixed up person but totally new in Him. “If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your mind and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on things that are on the earth.” Colossians 3:1-2
None of us will ever have to do what Jesus did for us. Yet, all of us go through problems and
situations that are hard to endure. How can we know that we will have victory in those situations?
By seeing the other side. We must learn to look beyond the circumstances and see what God has promised us. Any problem we have we can get through when we see the victory at the end. You
may ask, “How can we know it will be victory?” We will have victory if we believe in our heart
God’s love and purpose. If we believe in failure and that there is no hope that is what we will experience. There is no power in unbelief. The power comes from believing that with God all things
are possible and that without Him we can do nothing.
Another great part of that foundation is His love. His agape love never fails. If our life is built on the foundation of His love, we will stand strong through any storm. One of the greatest things about knowing and walking in His resurrection power is knowing His love. Most of us aren’t accustomed to handling most of our situations by the power of His love that we have because of His resurrection. We don’t see ourselves and others as the Lord sees and then we walk things through by our own logic instead of His unfailing love.
Jesus died on the cross for us because of that unfailing love that He had for His Father and us. God gave up His Son to die for us because of that same love. Jesus didn’t go to the cross full of bitterness doing a duty He was told to do. He could only have done what He did for us through the love and power of God. “I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self and I will continue to make You known, that the love which You bestowed upon Me may be in them, felt in their hearts and that I, Myself, may be in them.” John 17:26 These are the words Jesus prayed to God, His Father, right before He went to the cross for us.
There is so much to know and understand in our hearts about what happened when Jesus gave His life for us and then rose again and conquered death. Ask the Lord to continue to show you the power of His resurrection and how you can have a foundation built on who you are because of what He did. His love will never fail me.
On this day that we have set aside to remember what Jesus did for each of us, take time to search your heart and see what you really believe about Jesus and His resurrection power. If you have
doubt or fear about any situations, surrender that to Him and let Him show you the other
side of it. Let the Lord show you in your heart that His salvation includes love, joy, peace,
prosperity, deliverance, healing now not someday down the road. He wants you to experience
“On earth as it is in heaven” today and every day. That is His will for you.
Don’t let His love for you be in vain. Believe that God truly is a good God and “so loves the
World that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, shall not
perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Have a beautiful week reflecting on His power – His love and desire for you. You will see the power of His resurrection in your life and never see your life and situations the same. You are blessed!!!
Most of us know about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and that He was buried and 3 days later rose again. That is what Easter is all about. We believe that when He died and rose again He paid for our sins so that we could have eternal life in heaven with Him. All that is true but I also believe that it is deeper and even more relational. Jesus came to earth as a man. He lived on earth for 33 years. He knew that He came to die for the sins of the world so that man and God could have the relationship that God had created them to have. In the beginning man and God were intimate. Then when sin happened there became a bridge between God and man. The heavenly Father could no longer have a close relationship with His children that He longed to have. After the fall man could still be close to God, speak to God and hear from God but God could not be in them. There were laws made that let man know what was acceptable and unacceptable to God. It was through the keeping of the laws that you earned your relationship with Him. A relationship that is built through doing good deeds is never as close and intimate as a relationship built on oneness. “I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and definitely recognize that You sent Me and You have loved them even as You have loved Me.” John 17:23 In this verse Jesus is talking to God about Their love for each other and man.
I always like reading through John and the life story of Jesus this time of year. Jesus knew that the cross was before Him. He knew He would die a horrible death. How could He do that? Some may say it is because He was Jesus, He was God’s Son. It is true that He was the Son of God but when Jesus came to earth He gave up His place in heaven and became a man. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are. He had no more power than we have available to us. The difference was that He never gave in to any of the temptation and because He lived a sinless life He could become our sin. He was the Lamb without blemish that shed His innocent blood for our redemption of sins. God sent His Son, Jesus, to take our punishment and pay the price we owed for all we had done in unbelief – which is sin. Jesus actually became all the sins of the world, past, present and future. Jesus, the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God had to become our sin and then shed His innocent blood for us to have an intimate relationship with God, our heavenly Father. Jesus could endure the shame and pain of the cross because He saw the other side of the cross. He didn’t look at the pain of that day but saw the purpose and goal of the cross. His power came from knowing He would get through.
“In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission, forgiveness, of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses) in accordance with the riches and generosity of His gracious favor, which He lavished on us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence.” Ephesians 1:7-8
When we talk about Jesus dying so that we could have eternal life, we are usually thinking about life eternally with Him in heaven. That is true but listen to this verse. “And this is eternal life; it means to know (perceive, recognize, become acquainted with and understand) You, the only true and real God and likewise to know Him, Jesus (as the) Messiah, Whom You have sent.” John 17:2 Eternal life is more than just living forever. It is knowing Him deeply right now – here on earth – TODAY!
As I seek the Lord on the power of His resurrection, I am seeing there is a foundation. Part of that foundation is to know and believe that we are a new creation in Him when Jesus becomes the Lord of our life. We aren’t a fixed up person but totally new in Him. “If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. And set your mind and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on things that are on the earth.” Colossians 3:1-2
None of us will ever have to do what Jesus did for us. Yet, all of us go through problems and
situations that are hard to endure. How can we know that we will have victory in those situations?
By seeing the other side. We must learn to look beyond the circumstances and see what God has promised us. Any problem we have we can get through when we see the victory at the end. You
may ask, “How can we know it will be victory?” We will have victory if we believe in our heart
God’s love and purpose. If we believe in failure and that there is no hope that is what we will experience. There is no power in unbelief. The power comes from believing that with God all things
are possible and that without Him we can do nothing.
Another great part of that foundation is His love. His agape love never fails. If our life is built on the foundation of His love, we will stand strong through any storm. One of the greatest things about knowing and walking in His resurrection power is knowing His love. Most of us aren’t accustomed to handling most of our situations by the power of His love that we have because of His resurrection. We don’t see ourselves and others as the Lord sees and then we walk things through by our own logic instead of His unfailing love.
Jesus died on the cross for us because of that unfailing love that He had for His Father and us. God gave up His Son to die for us because of that same love. Jesus didn’t go to the cross full of bitterness doing a duty He was told to do. He could only have done what He did for us through the love and power of God. “I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self and I will continue to make You known, that the love which You bestowed upon Me may be in them, felt in their hearts and that I, Myself, may be in them.” John 17:26 These are the words Jesus prayed to God, His Father, right before He went to the cross for us.
There is so much to know and understand in our hearts about what happened when Jesus gave His life for us and then rose again and conquered death. Ask the Lord to continue to show you the power of His resurrection and how you can have a foundation built on who you are because of what He did. His love will never fail me.
On this day that we have set aside to remember what Jesus did for each of us, take time to search your heart and see what you really believe about Jesus and His resurrection power. If you have
doubt or fear about any situations, surrender that to Him and let Him show you the other
side of it. Let the Lord show you in your heart that His salvation includes love, joy, peace,
prosperity, deliverance, healing now not someday down the road. He wants you to experience
“On earth as it is in heaven” today and every day. That is His will for you.
Don’t let His love for you be in vain. Believe that God truly is a good God and “so loves the
World that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, shall not
perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Have a beautiful week reflecting on His power – His love and desire for you. You will see the power of His resurrection in your life and never see your life and situations the same. You are blessed!!!
