Can
you imagine what it must have been like to be with Jesus during His ministry
here on earth? Those were exciting
days. Everyone from those who opposed
him, like the Pharisees, to the disciples, like those closest to him, or even
the people who looked on and were curious about Him saw things they could not
explain.
They
saw things and heard things that could not rally be explained in human
terms. In fact dare I saw that many of
the verses in the Bible are hard to understand without some faith or reliance
upon God?
Jesus told her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even
after dying."
Death is a reality, but
that is not the point Jesus was making in that verse. “Everyone will live, even after dying.” What does that mean?
If we are honest, we will
admit that life is very hard to understand.
Yet leaning on, trusting in and following God gives real meaning to
life. Jesus often said that we are to
die to self and live toward or from God.
Real life, spiritual life begins when we die to our flesh and to our
sin.
Lots of people don’t agree
with that. They say without some fun or
partying there isn’t much fun. I have
found something different to be true.
The more of God I allow in and through my life, the more exciting life
gets. I would further say the more of
life I get to live. Watching lives
change is what makes this life more exciting for me. I believe that God wants to change more
people’s live.
Dying to self is not an
easy task. It is easy to think you have
let go of sin and turned toward God when you haven’t done that. That is why we have to stay humble. We have to believe what God says.
He personally
carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and
live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
Without Jesus’ death we
wouldn’t have life. Without the cross
and death of Jesus there would be no forgiveness of sin. What we couldn’t do and won’t do for
ourselves Jesus did for us. He took my
sin and yours. “By his wounds you are
healed.” Don’t miss that. Life comes through death.
Believe what God says
about your life. You have new life when
you let Jesus into your life. Here is
the truth:
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.
Jesus
died in my place. Jesus did away with
the penalty of my sin. Jesus rose from
the dead and came back to life. Jesus
gives me life again and again and again.
Easter
is days away. Before we could have the
resurrection of Jesus we had to have the death of Jesus. Before we can have the excitement and quality
of life God wants us to have we have to have our death to self to get our
spiritual life through Jesus.
I hope
you got that last piece. The biggest
Easter thought we can have is this: through death comes life. May our lives be transformed by Jesus’ death
and his new life!
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