The Resurrection

Posted on by korgrocker

“Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.”
1 Peter 1:21 NLT

The verse today amplifies a connection between God and man through God’s Son, Jesus. Before Jesus the gulf was too large, as we can see by reading the Old Testament scriptures. The Jews never seemed quite sure about the relationship and ended up by trying to make it rule based, a disaster that spawned people such as the Pharisees. Their attitude to following the rules to the exclusion of all else inspired Jesus to call them out, such as we read in Luke 11:42, “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things”. 

But when Jesus came He ushered in a new order. In Matthew 5:17,20 we read, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. … But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”! The Old Testament rules and laws were intended to bring righteousness to mankind – if they were followed. God knew that, on their own, even His own chosen people could never become righteous and worthy enough to enter His presence by following a set of rules. 

In his Ephesian letter, Paul wrote, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4-5). Through Jesus, and our belief in Him, we have the opportunity to achieve what following a set of rules couldn’t. 

Peter wrote that it was through Christ that we can now trust God, and have faith and hope in Him. The rules could never replace the relationship. Jesus came to this earth, becoming the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. And in the process he conquered death by returning to life on that first Easter Sunday. Suddenly, we have nothing more to fear from life’s final enemy, death. Jesus came to this earth as a man, and showed the way back to God, bringing hope to a hopeless world. God loved us so much, so what else can we do but respond to that love and be obedient and play our part in His plan for our salvation. The resurrection of Jesus was the one single event that has changed the course of history. Without the risen Christ there is no faith and hope. But because of the defeat of death, we pilgrims now have a hope for eternity. 

Of course, the sceptics will demand evidence. But that is where faith comes in. That Jesus lived on this planet is evidence based. He was really here. And His sinless life was recorded for posterity by a few faithful men who lived with Him. One of them, John, wrote, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son” (John 1:14). And in the previous verses John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:12-13).

Peter wrote that we can find faith and hope in God because Jesus rose from the dead. And He is now deserving of all the thanks and glory. The greeting “He is risen” is not just for Easter Sunday. It is a reality we can embrace each day of our lives.

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You for Your ultimate sacrifice at Calvary, and that wonderful event when You returned from the grave. You are alive today and forever. Amen.

Death to Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
Romans 4:16-17 NLT

At the time when Abraham ”… believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:6), God had just made the statement that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the number of stars. But Paul pointed out that “Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing”. At this point, Isaac had not even been born – that didn’t happen until Genesis 21. But Abraham continued to believe God that He would supply him a family that would be too numerous to count. 

Do we pilgrims believe that God resurrects the dead? There are of course several Biblical examples. Take Lazarus for example. We read in John 1139-43, the incredible account of his resurrection, ““Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”” Every time I read this passage I’m struck by its authenticity. All Martha could think about was that there would be the bad smell of a decaying corpse, which would have not taken too long in that warm climate. But Jesus had His eyes on His Father in Heaven, to God who was the Source of the power Jesus needed. 

But what about bringing the dead back to life today, on 21st Century Planet Earth? There are many Christians today who claim that such miracles died out with the original Apostles. But we mustn’t forget that every time a medic resuscitates a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest, we experience an intervention that would have been miraculous in first century society. However, Jesus gave His disciples an instruction, which we can read from Matthew 10:8, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!” The God I worship is all powerful, and is able to perform miraculous acts both through His people and directly. But the reality is that bringing the dead back to life is an unusual event. There is a book “Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts” authored by Craig Keener, that sets out an in depth account of miracles throughout the world since Bible days. Worth a read. But if God performed miracles in Biblical accounts, I fail to understand why He would suddenly stop. In the end, perhaps if we all had faith like Abraham’s, miracles would become commonplace. Paul believed that God could raise the dead, so why shouldn’t we believe that as well?

We pilgrims march through life without really knowing all that much about how things will work out each day and how our lives will end on this earth. But we do have a God who leads and guides us on our journey. And the closer we stay with Him, the more light we will receive to illuminate our paths. We are living in a time of much change. But God never changes. And having “faith like Abraham’s” will take us into incredible places, so be prepared! We’ll finish today with Psalm 71:3. David said to God, “Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress”. 

Father God. You’re an amazing God, full of love, grace and good gifts. We worship You today. Amen.

 

The Once Dead

Posted on by korgrocker

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the One who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Having finished relaying Jesus’ message to the Ephesian church, the Apostle John now writes to the church located at another town, Smyrna, which was a port on the coast of what is now Western Turkey. It was a city, just across the sea from the Island of Patmos, where John was exiled. Today, the ruins are being researched – the ancient Smyrna is no more. Again, we don’t know what happened to the church there, but at the time John wrote his Revelation we can assume that it was a thriving fellowship of early Christians.

Again, John is addressing the “angel of the church”. Presumably a leader, or the leadership at the church. Perhaps even the very culture, or soul, of this fellowship of believers. And John once again emphasises that the message is coming from Jesus Himself, “the First and the Last”. Just to emphasise the credentials of our Lord, he finishes with “who was dead but is now alive”. 

These last 7 words are earth-shattering in their portent. Not only did the Creator of the universe, our Father God, send His Son, Jesus, to this sad and sorry planet, but He did it to fulfil a plan that would involve His painful death on a Roman cross. A plan that would in some inexplicable way enable mankind at long last to approach their Heavenly Father without all the carry-on of animal sacrifices and priestly rituals. A plan that would enable mankind to receive forgiveness for their sins directly, and to receive the righteousness that God Himself had. No wonder that there was darkness in the land while Jesus was dying. No wonder the temple curtain was torn in two. And we read that when Jesus died, significant physical events, earthquakes, rocks splitting and tombs opening up, all took place. I’m sure the whole of Heaven was looking on, wondering and sad. And the devil was having a party, sincerely believing that he had engineered the destruction of God’s Son. 

But the last word in this verse changed everything. On the third day after His death, the One who was dead, laid cold and still, in a tomb, suddenly came alive. In Matthew we read that there was another earthquake, and an angel appeared, rolling away the stone. The battle-hardened Roman guards shook with fear and fainted. And the angel uttered those words that have echoed and reverberated through the years and centuries ever since, “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead” (Matthew 28:6). How can we ever imagine the impact that that had throughout the Heavens. The party is still going on in Heaven, because the One “who was dead … is now alive”. The devil defeated. And a way planned out for us pilgrims to join our elder brother Jesus when we cross the Great Divide. What else can we do, like John, than fall to our knees with grateful praise and worship.

Dear Lord. We are deeply grateful for all You have done. Words cannot express how we feel. One day we will have the opportunity to praise and worship You forever. Amen.