A POWERFUL AND PERSUASIVE TRUTH
“Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 NIV.
My thoughts and comments on Easter are about, “Facts and Effects.”
Not all things are absolute truth, but the deity, birth, life, sacrificial death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus, and His certain return and rapture of the redeemed are absolutely true. You were created to enjoy life now and a timeless eternity with your Creator, along with all others who place their faith in Christ for salvation purchased by His death on the cross and assured by His resurrection from the tomb. Sadly, too many lives are lived confined and much smaller than God intended.
You were made in the image of a great God to enjoy an eternity with Him. Each Spring, our celebration of Calvary and the Resurrection reminds us that life extends beyond this brevity of years. As you celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and His promise of your own resurrection, remember one powerful, consequential truth.
During my college years (and that is quite a while ago), the Holy Spirit inspired a life-long passion in my heart to know God intimately, as I read Paul’s words, ”That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” Read Philippians 3:10-12 NKJV. Do you hear the insatiable passion in Paul’s words? Why then are we content to settle for such shallow, inconsequential lives?
Paul desired and anticipated a depth of interaction and spiritual intimacy with Jesus that produce supernatural life. Paul described an intimate depth of knowledge that is personally experiential rather than merely intellectual. Too often we know much more intellectually than we are committed to experience spiritually.
AThe Hebrew and Greek form of the words, “to know Christ,” describe, “an intimate experience with the capacity and power to create and conceive, resulting in an expanded dimension of spiritual life.” Jesus said, ”It is the spirit that quickens (gives life); the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they [birth] life.” John 6:63 KJV. The fact of the Resurrection is a powerful and persuasive truth when an unbelieving world witnesses the incontrovertible effects of the Resurrection in the lives of those who claim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
After his conversion, the Apostle Paul wrote, ”For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures.” Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV. Paul considered this foundational truth to be, “of first importance.” The Holy Spirit prioritized the death and resurrection of Jesus as the foundational truth for your faith, life, and future destiny.
Opinions change; feelings falter; truth always remains. God’s Word abides forever. Jesus assures us that, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35 NIV. At the house of Cornelius, Peter declared that the literal Resurrection of Jesus, and the assurance of our own, is the cornerstone of our faith.
For those who witnessed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, there was no doubt whatsoever. They were eye witnesses. Their testimony was simple and clear, “God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen.” Acts 10:40-41 NIV. Today, you and I are the witnesses God has chosen. The central event of all history, as well as your eternal destiny, is the enduring cornerstone of the literal resurrection of Jesus and His triumphant return. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV.
Today, I pray for you to know the resurrection power of Jesus in daily life.
Christian Communications 2019
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