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The Resurrection and then what?

Mar27

 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, Ephesians 1:18-20

As Christians, we have available to us the ability to access the very same power that raised Christ from the dead according to the above verse. The power to live in this world at this time, with all of the discrediting of God and His word, would necessarily need to be powerful to counter the abundance of lies thrown at us daily.

Our enemy, Satan, is the main force behind the libelous suggestions bombarding us daily that undermine our faith and threaten our spiritual growth. He has whispered lies into our ears that we shouldn’t take God, Christ, the Holy Spirit too seriously. His message is, we will be denied the pleasures in life that make us happy. He has convinced us that all we really need to do is to be a good person, and/or attend church ever so often. It isn’t really necessary to do much praying or reading of our Bibles.

For you see, the main thrust of Satan’s plan is to keep us ignorant of the truths of Scripture. For not only will a little exposure to God’s word, expose the enemy’s tactics, but it will also illuminate all the riches available to us as Christians.

Consider the above verse’s mentioning of the riches of resurrection power! That same power God exercised when restoring life to Jesus, is also ours to access. It’s the power we need to bring the thoughts Satan tries to plant in our mind under God’s control. It’s the power we need to keep the heavy handiness of the enemy from destroying us. It’s the power we need to recognize the temptations the enemy would bring to bear upon us and to resist those temptations. It’s the power we need to choose the right path. It’s the power we need that will expose the enemy’s lies.

So after accepting Christ as our Savior, taking to heart his sacrifice on our behalf, the next step is to learn about this Resurrection power. It will be a growing thing. Like practicing how to use a weapon. The more we learn about how to use it and practice using it, the more skilled we become. We become less vulnerable to the enemy’s tricks.

This is what comes after accepting personally Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Christ came to save us from God!

Mar8

For me, this thought put a different slant on why Jesus came! This post is a repost from April, 2022 and after reading it, I’m sure you will understand why I felt prompted to publish it again. We acknowledge God loves us. But, I’m afraid we take His love for granted as is acknowledge by our lifestyles of disobedience. But as real as God’s love is, His wrath is just as real.

Christmas!

What’s the character of God that defines this world encompassing holiday? I’m sure God’s love comes immediately to the forefront. Christ’s physical entry onto the world scene was fraught with great danger and close calls. Yet, God’s love for humankind prevailed! Christ, as a man, grew up and successfully, powerfully fulfilled the purpose for which He had been born. As we study the sacrificial life of Christ, we get a sense of the extreme measures God’s love was willing to take on our behalf. Measures that would ensure our eternal and permanent home in heaven, after our temporary earthly life concluded.

But what concerns me is that as we become so wrapped up in the love God gave us in the Christ-child, we fail to move forward and even acknowledge the purpose for which Christ was born. By failing to embrace both the gift of God’s love and the purpose of the Cross, we venture into a world of deception and falsehood.

Easter!

Therefore, we MUST come to terms with the fact that it was God’s wrath that was poured out upon Christ as He hung on that cross. Wrath that was meant for us! God cannot tolerate sin because He is God. Therefore, there was only one way that we could even hope for a personal relationship with Him and seal our permanent residence in heaven. Someone, who was without sin, would have to be willing to stand in our stead, take our place, endure God’s wrath. There was a price to be paid for our sin and Jesus paid it. For a moment in time, Jesus was willing to allow Himself to be separated from God. As human beings, I don’t think we can even begin to imagine the horror of that moment for Christ. But He endured the cross for us in order that we would never have to experience such horror.

We don’t talk much about God’s wrath, do we. But understand we place ourselves in great peril by avoiding to come to terms with the reality of God’s wrath. For there is no greater love than what was displayed on the cross where the wrath of God was poured out on Christ.

Yet, I wonder, if by overly focusing on just God’s love, without the balance of God’s wrath, could we miss heaven?

Apr7

The cross is bare, the tomb is empty!

Satan has been defeated!

Now, it is up to us to take that personally!

God’s love and God’s wrath! Two parts to the whole.

Apr13

Christmas!

What’s the character of God that defines this world encompassing holiday? I’m sure God’s love comes immediately to the forefront. Christ’s physical entry onto the world scene was fraught with great danger and close calls. Yet, God’s love for humankind prevailed! Christ, as a man, grew up and successfully, powerfully fulfilled the purpose for which He had been born. As we study the sacrificial life of Christ, we get a sense of the extreme measures God’s love was willing to take on our behalf. Measures that would ensure our eternal and permanent home in heaven, after our temporary earthly life concluded.

But what concerns me is that as we become so wrapped up in the love God gave us in the Christ-child, we fail to move forward and even acknowledge the purpose for which Christ was born. By failing to embrace both the gift of God’s love and the purpose of the Cross, we venture into a world of deception and falsehood.

Therefore, we MUST come to terms with the fact that it was God’s wrath that was poured out upon Christ as He hung on that cross. Wrath that was meant for us! God cannot tolerate sin because He is God. Therefore, there was only one way that we could even hope for a personal relationship with Him and seal our permanent residence in heaven. Someone, who was without sin, would have to be willing to stand in our stead, take our place, endure God’s wrath. There was a price to be paid for our sin and Jesus paid it. For a moment in time, Jesus was willing to allow Himself to be separated from God. As human beings, I don’t think we can even begin to imagine the horror of that moment for Christ. But He endured the cross for us in order that we would never have to experience such horror.

We don’t talk much about God’s wrath, do we. But understand we place ourselves in great peril by avoiding to come to terms with the reality of God’s wrath. For there is no greater love than what was displayed on the cross where the wrath of God was poured out on Christ.

Yet, I wonder, if by overly focusing on just God’s love, without the balance of God’s wrath, could we miss heaven?

The Cross – God’s plan to save humankind; Satan’s plan to destroy humankind

Apr2

 

 

Good Friday, is aptly entitled! Know why? Jesus’s sacrifice for humankind sets every one, who believes in Christ and accepts Him as their Savior, on the path to heaven. Certainly, that is Good News! The cross and resurrection affirm that. 

But there is a lion (a desperate, hungry lion) roaming about seeking whom he may devour.  His diabolical deception and manipulation have set humankind on a path of destruction. His evil influence will attempt to convince us that God does not exist. Jesus was just a man, if he existed at all. Believing the Bible is for fools who desire to believe in myths and fairy tales. Or, this is a strong one; Go ahead and believe in God if you like, but don’t take Him seriously enough to pray and read His word every day. (The Bible exposes Satan and clues us in on how to defeat him. It’s no surprise as to why he is going to make sure you never have the time or desire to delve into God’s word or pray!)

Satan exerted powerful energy to block Jesus from becoming the Savior of the world. If you follow the close calls that if carried out would have destroyed the promised seed-line, it’s obvious God’s power thwarted Satan at every hand. At Jesus’s birth, Satan lunged forward in a failed attempt to kill boy babies that would have been around 2 years of age. The time the wise men told Herod they had been following the star. When that plan was thwarted, Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. That failed miserably as Jesus called on the power of the truth of God’s word to rebuff Satan at every turn.  

Satan likely thought Jesus’ death on the cross was proof that he had won. Imagine his surprise when the resurrection scene exploded! Satan’s pride and bloodthirstiness to destroy Christ, likely blinded him from understanding or even knowing of God’s plan of redemption. 

Make no mistake, Satan is out to destroy us! God’s plan is to save us. Yet, we must choose which plan we are going to cooperate with. Please ponder this!