pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: resurrection


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Resurrection Eyes

How often could Jesus look down at the decisions we make and the actions we take and think to Himself, “Get behind me, Satan”?  How often do we disappoint our savior?  How often do we fail to live up to our full potential?

Peter was one of Jesus’ closest disciples.  Yet when the end was nearing and He told them so, it was Peter who rebuked Jesus.  Peter saw Jesus’ power and authority growing almost daily – why death now?  Peter was trapped and he could only see what Jesus was describing from earthly eyes.  Peter didn’t yet have resurrection eyes.

Sometimes we don’t either.  Ok, maybe often we don’t.  That is why we are often less than we could be.  That’s why we don’t always feed the hungry or clothe the naked.  Maybe faith is not the top priority.

Each day that we choose to walk with Jesus Christ, we are more than we used to be.  As we get to know Him more, we grow closer to Him.  It is a pretty neat little circle.

How do we come to see more and more with resurrection eyes?  How do we focus in more on God’s priorities and less on the world’s?  Time.  T-I-M-E.  In this season of self-examination, may we see ourselves more clearly and allow Him to lead us on His path.  When we walk His path, we see the things He sees.

Scripture reference: Mark 8: 31-33


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Cleansed

One of the unique and powerful ideas found in the Christian faith is the idea of cleansing.  Early in the Bible God used water to cleanse the earth – only Noah and his family survived to flood.  The ides of water as cleansing agent is also picked up in the New Testament.  John the Baptist uses the waters of the Jordan River to baptize people.  People confessed their sins, were called to repentance, and were baptized.  The water washed them clean.

Our baptisms cleanse us too, but more so they mark us as members of God’s family.  For most Christian denominations baptism represents the formal declaration of belonging to Christ.  For many denominations it is also the point at which God’s grace starts to work in and shape our lives.

God’s grace becomes what washes us clean.  Through His death on the cross, Jesus conquered sin and death.  In His resurrection He showed all that sin and death hold no power over His followers.

Through our baptism and the inflowing of grace that follows, we are called to walk as children of the light.  Our call in the midst of a world that pursues so much else is to share our story of faith and the story of what He can do for all of mankind.  As we learn to surrender more and more to His good will, we grow to live more and more into the life we were first called to in our baptism.

Scripture reference: 2 Peter 3: 18-22


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Resting Fully

Those who knew Jesus expected him to return very soon after the resurrection.  But Jesus never gave a date or a time – that was (and is) God’s will.  Yet the early believers expected Jesus to return any day.  Part this was probably a longing to see their good friend again.

As people in the early church began to die, some worry arose over the fact that Jesus had not returned.  They didn’t know their loved one’s fates.  But Paul assured them and assures us that final victory over death has been won by Jesus Christ’s resurrection.  Paul assured us that those who have died will rise and return in glory when He returns.  Those alive at the time of His return will then join the great cloud of witness.

As a human we grieve the physical loss.  But as a Christian we rejoice in knowing they have attained their place in heaven’s glory.  We also live each day without fear of death because we too know that our eternity is secure, resting fully with Christ!

Scripture reference: 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18


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Jesus is Alive!!

The fact that Jesus was born, walked  the earth, and died is not in much dispute.  The method of his death on the cross is also widely accepted.  Even Islam sees Jesus as a great prophet.  But for many, believing that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, is somewhere they are unwilling to go.  Good man, great teachings, did a few amazing miracles even – but God’s Son, in the flesh?

Without the resurrection, maybe Jesus is just these things.  But for the Christian, the empty tomb is the ‘proves it’ moment.  Because Jesus conquered death and rose to eternal life, the resurrection is our sign that Jesus was indeed God’s Son.  Many in the Bible spoke to and for God.  Many in the Bible performed miraculous signs.  A few were even raised from the dead (although just back to an earthly life).  But Jesus, our Lord and Savior, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God.

Shortly after His death, Jesus appears to several people.  He comforts his closest followers and friends with the fact that he has conquered death, that the grave could not hold him.  What he said about rising again was true!  It was important for the disciples and others to see Jesus, so that as they write the Gospels and went on to spread and grow the early church, they went forth with an unshakable belief.  As Christians, we believe the witness given by Mary, by the disciples, and by others.  As the Bible unfolds past the Gospels, we see the Spirit of Jesus living on, continuing to change and shape lives.  As is living examples today, we too experience the presence of Jesus’ Holy Spirit working in our lives and in our worlds.  Indeed – Jesus is alive!!


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He Is Strong

Sin is in our world.  One does not have to look too far to see or find it.  In Romans 5 Paul was writing to a newly formed church that lived in dangerous times.  The Romans and the Jews were both openly against the church.  There could be a cost to saying you were a follower of the Way.  We too live in dangerous times.  We too could be asked to pay a cost for following Jesus.  While it is true that in many places around the world the cost is much higher, we now live in a culture that is not always friendly towards Christianity and is at times decidedly against our faith.

It is for these reasons that we must keep Christ’s redeeming act on the cross in the forefront of our minds.  Since Adam ate of the fruit, sin has been in the world.  It is an ever-present thing in our lives.  Satan comes at us from so many angles and in so many ways.  But praise be to God because He pursues us even more.  God was willing to become Christ incarnate, to walk amongst us, and to face death upon the cross so that He could bear the sins of the world and claim victory over sin and death through His resurrection.  Through Jesus’ obedience we are given the way to be restored into righteousness, so that we ae once again part of the good humanity that God first created.  We are set free from the burdens and chains of sin and death.

As we walk through Lent, we are called to be emptied and to be freed from what weighs us down.  As we look within ourselves may we find what God calls us to be as His child.  Through His strength may we strip away that which is of this world.  In our weakness may we reach out to Him, for He is strong.  May we daily be renewed in Christ as we walk through this holiest of seasons.