Indeed, He is Alive

One time there was a Jewish man observing a written message on the wall of a church. He was asking a Gentile about the beliefs of the Church members. The sign said “Jesus Lives” so the Jew turned and said to the Christian, “I thought we killed Him.” Unfortunately, many Church people today are living as if Jesus is dead. Because a living Jesus is the absolute center of everything in the Christian religion, He must be alive or Christians have nothing. A living Jesus is the reason the world has martyrs. A living Jesus is the reason there is any deceit society in the world. One of our original American leaders preached that we would become the city of light on a hill for the world to see.  Christians are always that city. The light represents Jesus because there is no other genuine light source available in this dark world. Without the “living” Jesus no one would ever have been reborn out of drunkenness, dope, sex, violence, or cruelty. There was no Jesus before the flood and the world became so vile that God had to drown all but one family. When we meet a real Christian there is a small light that shines as a proof that Jesus is alive today.

On Sunday morning, after the killing of our Savior, some friends of Jesus went to the grave site. They were surprised to meet some men standing outside the empty tomb. The men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” Luke 24:5-6 (NLT) Many people today think Jesus is dead because they cannot see Him with their eyes. Our eyes are not the only part of man that we rely on to know the truth. Even blind people can tell the truth about things by using other senses. The Scriptures explain the living Jesus this way; Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:19-20 (NLT) People can see Jesus is actually alive inside of real Christians. Everyone should have met people that are obviously not a part of this world system. Many people like to identify Church people that do not have Jesus living in them but it would be far better if we pointed-out people that have the Savior living in them.

Jesus is alive as a spirit and gratefully our own spirit does have the capability to be united with His divine Spirit. God’s Spirit wants to unite with the spirit of humans but we must humbly seek the Lord and let Him know our desire to be in His family.  When God is satisfied with our sincerity He proceeds with our salvation; For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. Eph 2:6-7 (NLT) To be raised with Jesus means that God has granted us a life that will last into eternity. Our new life is the reason we have no fear of physical death. When we lay down this body it will have no meaning to our eternity. We have already died to this world when we join with Jesus in His death. Jesus is the reason there is such great substance to our religion.

People can “die to live,” in the Spirit of Christ. This is well documented in the Scriptures. A good description of this unusual union is given in this passage; Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. Col 2:11,12 (NLT) Buried with Christ means that we have no worldly desires left on this earth. For example, when we are someday placed 6 feet under, we will no longer desire anything from this old life. Admittedly, it is a struggle to walk around alive on this earth and not give-in to worldly desires. But this is exactly what happens when we accept the new life that God wants for us. The power for this special life is coming straight from God and into our life as explained here; Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:3-4 (NLT) We need this power.

This wonderful and unusual plan is available because Jesus came to live and die for us years ago.  For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. Romans 5:10 (NLT) Not only did Jesus die for our sin but He lived for our righteousness. We invite Jesus into our heart and our life begins anew. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Col 3:11-12 (NLT) As well as being our sacrifice, Christ is all that matters in our new righteous life. Indeed, He is alive and can easily make us winners for God in this sinful world. Paul mentioned that the sin of Adam took us all down but then he then said that Christ had done much more for us. The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 (NLT) Righteousness is possible because of the life of Jesus both then and today.

Looking at the total life of Christ is “indeed” important because our life must become part of the Saviors life. If Jesus Christ is not alive then there is no way that we can live in Him. Can we grasp how important it is that we become part of this union which will position us before the Father as a worthy child in God’s eternal family? This is the reason that the Scriptures tell us that we must die to this world along with Him as well as living together with Him every day.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 2 Cor 4:10 (NLT) It is not as bad as it sounds. Through faith we simply yield ourselves to God and He accomplishes His will. The perfect life that Jesus lived on this earth will someday be substituted for our righteous benefit. Christ sits on His powerful throne today in order to make the Christian life possible for us. No one enjoys a life of suffering until they begin to realize its purpose. Suffering in this world is the way we identify the fact of our union in the Savior. The Christian hope is that our commitment to our Savior will ultimately be followed by a glorious eternity.    

Just Say Yes!

A few years ago we were told to “just say no” to our bad habits. Although this advice sounds easy enough, it is difficult for us to say no to our nature when it wants something. Unfortunately, Christians also seem to have a hard time saying YES to what God wants us to do. We have not developed the habit of saying yes to the Spirit of God that lives inside of us. The entirety of a real believer’s life is contained in the phrase “just say yes to God.” Every Church should be selling shirts with bold letters reading “just say yes to God.” When believers fail to listen to God and obey Him, it is the same as saying NO because the result is the same. We are not making the effort to say yes. People would gladly shout YES to every instruction if they could simply understand the great privilege a person can occupy in the body of Christ. It is impossible to over state what God has provided his people even if we made a list that took one whole year. Many people do not have such a list because they do not have the habit of saying yes to God.

The “privilege” we need to understand, is what the Holy Spirit can do in our life. God sends all of His gifts to us through the Spirit and understanding this is essential to our Godly life. Paul spent a lot of time and effort teaching people how to yield to the influence of God’s Spirit. He also gave a reason for spiritual gifts; Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor 1:7-9 (NLT) God’s gifts are the only way we can be successful in our partnership with Jesus. We all should be able to understand that by saying no to the gifts can cause great damage to the relationship that we must acquire to face eternity. The gifts are the reason that we always hear believers say “no one can work their way into the family of God.”

 The family of God is made of believers who say yes to the Spirit as He leads us with gifts. When Paul talks about this “yes” he writes; For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 2 Cor 1:20 Why does our “yes” have any meaning? Paul continues by giving us the answer; It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us. 2 Cor 1:21-22 (NLT) This is where we are told that we have been given the task of allowing the Holy Spirit to show Jesus real in our life. This is our commission, to “just say yes” to God’s Spirit. There are at least two important reasons given here for our strength to carry out this assignment. The word for the phrase “he has identified us” in the original is “sealed us” and the word for “first installment that guarantees everything” is the word “earnest.” These two words are a great comfort.

The word sealed is very important to every Christian. It is the reason our hope in the Lord can take a huge leaps forward. When we realize the Spirit is “the seal” for our eternity with God our spiritual strength increases intensely. The Bible says; And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Eph 4:30 (NLT) In this verse we see the words “identified you, as his own” which mean sealed by the Spirit. This is our guarantee of salvation upon our meeting with the Savior someday. There is unbelievable comfort that comes with “the sealing of the Spirit.” When Paul was talking about the truth he said; when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. Eph 1:13 Our “sealing” today was promised long ago in the Old Testament. The old time prophets did not know what the Lord was promising us but the power of sealing our souls is one of the most precious things that God has done for us.

As this passage continues we see the connection of “sealing” with the “earnest” of the Spirit; The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. Eph 1:14 (NLT) Remember that guarantee is the word for “earnest”. Because we are purchased and sealed we now have the earnest of God which is His Holy Spirit. God not only promised us a fantastic inheritance but has given us the down payment as our most precious helper here on earth. How wonderful that God’s plan for us includes all the help we will ever need. As a “spirit filled” believer looks forward in life they find great hope in verses like this one; While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 2 Cor 5:4-5 (NLT) To be swallowed by eternal life is guaranteed by the Spirit because He is the one who makes our partnership with the Savior possible.

Every Christian wants to live in Heaven for eternity. The Spirit makes this possible as the Word says; The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Romans 8:11 (NLT) The Spirit raised Jesus Christ out of His death so He can certainly save us from our own death. Many church people are trying to live for God without the help of the Spirit and they think they are doing a good job. Imagine how disappointed they will be when their time comes to travel to Heaven and they don’t have the Spirit living in them. Our eternal life is only possible if the Spirit lives in us. When we are certain of our sealing and earnest our Christian life is full of peace and joy. But while we live on earth we must show our righteous life to the world because it is valuable to God. It also helps us to be certain that we are one of His children. This is why, as a member of God’s family, it is important that we have as our slogan “Just say Yes!”.