April 14, 2020
What does the resurrection mean to me?

Good Morning Faithful Followers,

Rebirth through God’s plan and mercy.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)

Salvation is given to us because of God’s boundless mercy alone. That salvation is called the privilege of being born again. Jesus used this concept of new birth when he told Nicodemus that he had to be “born again” in order to see God’s Kingdom. In the new birth, we become dead to sin and alive to God with a fresh beginning.

Everybody know that a child cannot birth himself or herself! Likewise, we do not earn our salvation. We do not do good works to make ourselves saved. Rather, God causes us to be born again! That’s why salvation comes according to God’s mercy through faith. When we humble ourselves, acknowledging that we cannot be the god of our own lives, repenting of our sin and placing our faith in Christ, God will respond to us according to his great mercy. He will take the power of the resurrection and cause us to be born again!

Rebirth includes our justification and redemption.

The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness, for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Romans 4:23-25 (NIV)

Jesus died because of our sins, taking the penalty we deserved, according to God’s plan, so God raised Jesus from the dead. His resurrection made us right with God.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished, he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 (NIV)

God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins. That punishment involved his death, the shedding of his blood for sinners. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, and His resurrection, God will accept those who put their trust in Jesus.

God bless you friends,

Pastor Dennis