THURSDAY, 4TH JANUARY 2024
THE RESURRECTION IS THE KEY
But what saith it?...That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:8-9).
Christianity begins with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not the death. This doesn't mean the death of Jesus Christ is not important, for there would be no
resurrection if there were no death. If you believe in the resurrection, you definitely believe in the death, but the key is in believing in the resurrection. That's what gave us a new life.
In Acts 13:33, the Bible says, "God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." This isn't referring to His birth in Bethlehem but the rebirth at the resurrection.
Jesus was the first begotten of the dead, which means the first to be born out of spiritual death. On the cross, He died two deaths. He died spiritually first when our sins were laid on Him and He was cut off, separated from the Father. He cried out on the cross "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me" (Mark 15:34). When that happened, it became possible for Jesus to die physically.
When He died, He went to hell in the spirit, because that's where we all should have gone; He went to hell in our place But He was a righteous man, bearing the sins of others. The Bible shows us how in hell, Satan and all the demons of darkness grappled with Jesus in order to subdue Him. But He threw off from Himself principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them (Colossians 2:15).
Jesus publicly defeated Satan and the demons of darkness and came out of death and hell in victory. When He arose, the Bible says He was justified; the resurrection was the sign. That rebirth at the resurrection meant that there was no sin, there was no condemnation; the debt of sin was paid by His death, but His resurrection of a new life brought us justification (Romans 4:25).
That's why today, anyone who believes that Jesus died for their sins and was raised back to life for their justification comes into a newness of life and becomes a new creature: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life"(Romans 6:4).
PRAYER
Dear Father, thank you for the glorious resurrection of Christ that brought us the justification of eternal life. I acknowledge the glorious victory He achieved over Satan and the forces of darkness, triumphing over death and hell in my behalf. Now I'm raised together with Him in the place of victory, authority and dominion forever, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
Galatians 2:20; I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Romans 4:23-25 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Matthew 4 & Genesis 9-11
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:
Acts 7:1-11 & Nehemiah 7-8
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