Tag: Resurrection

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Daily Devotion August 10th

MONDAY 10th

John 11:1-44

NIV (v27) – ‘Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’

ESV (v27) – ‘She said to him, Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’

We remain in chapter 11 again today and our verse is the answer that Martha gave to Jesus after he had told her that he was the resurrection and the life, he said to her ‘Do you believe this?’ Martha answered in the affirmative with an important statement that summed up her own understanding of who Jesus was, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God . . .’

Do you remember when a similar answer was given when Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter replied ‘You are the Christ the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16)

There are a lot of questions in the Bible, this one in John 11:26 ‘Do you believe this?’ is an important one, in its context it is regarding our answer to whether we believe or not that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that by believing we will never die, but will have eternal life, but what he offers is only possible because of who he is, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Because of the reason for John’s writing of this gospel, ‘ . . . that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, . . .’ (see John 2:30-31) it is plainly obvious that we cannot go through the gospel, and in particular myself preparing these devotions by having to keep repeating the theme of believing who Jesus is and the importance of believing on him! But that is a good thing, that we keep reminding ourselves that in believing in Jesus we have come to know the only one who can give forgiveness of sin and grant eternal life. While going through the gospel, I have not gone too often into the Old Testament, but with today’s devotion we will turn to Psalm 103 to remind ourselves again of what the Cross means to each one of us, the place where the Christ, the Son of the living God paid for our redemption.

Psalm 103:1-5 ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ 

‘. . .who forgives all your iniquity.’ Look at what it says in Psalm 32:1-2 ‘Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.’

We are blessed because we have been forgiven, we are blessed because our sin is forgiven, it has been washed by the blood of the Lamb and therefore the Lord will not count that iniquity against us. The lyrics from a well-known song, ‘Only by grace can we enter’ continues with ‘Lord, if you marked our transgressions , who would stand? Thanks to your grace we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.’

Believing on Jesus is so important, not only because of who he is, but because of what he has done for us. I repeat the question Jesus gave to Martha, ‘Do you believe this?’ Then end with the words of John, ‘. . . but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that by believing YOU may have life in his name.’

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Devotions

Daily Devotion August 9th

SUNDAY 9th

John 11:1-1-44

NIV (v25-26) – ‘Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

ESV (v25-26) – John 11:25 ‘Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’

If I were to have to choose which of the ‘I am’ statements would be my favourite, it would be very difficult because each one is significant and important in our understanding about the Lord Jesus Christ and concerning our relationship with him. But if I had to it would probably be this one in John 11:25 which is the fifth out of the seven.

It ties in with the whole reason of why John has written the gospel, which is all about believing and receiving life, and here in this chapter we see the power that Jesus had to raise a dead man back to life. It isn’t the only time Jesus raised someone from the dead, but it is the only time he has linked the miracle to his being the ‘resurrection and the life’.

The statement he makes to Martha is an amazing declaration – ‘Whoever believes in me, though he die yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die’. It seems a little bit of an enigma, ‘though he die . . . shall never die’ and yet it is an incredibly powerful truth, a truth that gives eternal hope to every one who has come to believe by faith and a comfort to everyone who loses a close friend, family member, etc who is also a believer at the time of their passing. They have died and yet they shall never die, for as the physical death has come, it has become the means or moment through which they will have passed from the temporal into the eternal. And this is so because Jesus himself in dying took away the sting of death, he defeated death, conquered death, and in his own resurrection brought the hope of resurrection to all who would believe.

The loss of a loved one is a sad occasion, but at the same time it is a joyful occasion because of the wonder of the words, ‘absent from the body, but present with the Lord.’

I would have loved to have been at the graveside when Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, like me you have probably heard it said, that Jesus had to say ‘Lazarus, come out’ specifically calling him by name otherwise all the graves would have opened and all the dead would have come out, well, whether that is right or not is not important, what matters is that a day is coming when the Lord is going to come from heaven to the clouds with a cry of command, with the voice of and archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God. AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST, THEN WE WHO ARE ALIVE, WHO ARE LEFT WILL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER with them in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)

Will you hear his voice on that day? Notice the qualifying factor, those who are ‘In Christ’ that is those who have come by faith to believe in him and who have received the hope of eternal life which he offers.

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Devotions

Daily Devotion June 28th

SUNDAY 28th

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

We will return to where I left off yesterday, the amazing transformation that is going to take place at the moment of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Incidentally, if in doubt about a possible future rapture or being caught up as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, do not forget it has happened before! Remember a few weeks ago we looked at Enoch, who was not, because God took him. (Genesis 5:24) Elijah who was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire, witnessed by Elisha (2 Kings 2:11-12) and Jesus was taken up (Acts 1:11) – Jesus knew the wonder of resurrection and rapture! As a result, we who believe in him will experience one or the other, depending on whether we are dead in Christ (resurrection) or living in Christ when he returns. (Rapture)

What is the transformation that is going to take place? Read what Paul has to say, 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 ‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.’

Paul says ‘we shall be changed’ in these few verses he is saying or declaring what is to be factual in the future, that is that the perishable shall be transformed into imperishable, and the mortal shall be transformed into immortality. It will be the final moment when death will be ultimately defeated, swallowed up in victory. Understand this, that once we have gone through this transformation, death will never haunt us again, we will live for ever, spiritually, and in the new resurrection body.

In the Scripture we read the accounts of men and woman who had died but through the means of a miracle had been raised from the dead, but the problem was that they would all have to face death again! When Lazarus came out of the tomb all wrapped up, once the grave clothes had been taken off he might just as well have washed them and packed them in a bag and kept them in a cupboard, because he would have to use them again one day. When Jesus arose from the dead, the grave clothes were folded and left where his body had lain, Jesus could have put a note on them, free to anyone who wants them, because I will not need them again, because he was raised to the power of an endless life.

Let us remind ourselves regarding our loved ones who have died in Christ, the place where we have laid their earthly remains is only temporal! They will rise again, and we will meet them in that meeting in the air.

And this incredible transformation that will take place when Jesus comes again, means that we will be transformed or changed from the earthly and natural to the heavenly and spiritual. From perishable to imperishable, from immortal to immortality. As in Adam we all die, so in Christ shall we all be made alive.

In verse 42-44 of 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says, ‘So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.’ And the same transformation will happen to the bodies of those who are alive when Jesus comes again.

I want us to note the word used there in those verses, ‘it is raised in glory’. This is where I had intended to be back three days ago when I mentioned in the devotion those words ‘from glory to glory he’s changing me’ but I have got carried away with the excitement of it all!

Here on earth we have bodies that are fallen, fragile, life is futile (especially outside of Christ). Should the Lord tarry we will all go the same way, the way of death, and Paul says when we are buried, we are sown in dishonour. But the good news is that we will be raised in GLORY!

We are going to know the fullness or the completion of our redemption!

Face to face with Christ, my Saviour,

Face to face—what will it be,

When with rapture I behold him,

Jesus Christ who died for me?

Face to face I shall behold him,

Far beyond the starry sky;

Face to face in all his glory,

I shall see him by and by!

Only faintly now I see him,

With the darkened veil between,

But a blessed day is coming,

When his glory shall be seen.

What rejoicing in his presence,

When are banished grief and pain;

Death is swallowed up in vict’ry,

And the dark things shall be plain.

Face to face—oh, blissful moment!

Face to face—to see and know;

Face to face with my Redeemer,

Jesus Christ who loves me so.

Mrs Frank Beck CCLI788682

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Devotions

Daily Devotion June 26th

FRIDAY 26th

2 Corinthians 4

Yesterday I touched on the subject of being victorious in our suffering, in today’s devotion I want to enlarge further by looking at what Scripture says about our present suffering and place it in the context of what Paul says in this chapter, that is, that whatever we go through will be outweighed by that which is eternally prepared for us. Verses 16-18 ‘So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.’

In his earlier letter to the Corinthian believers Paul had written ‘But, as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’ (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Now we know that God has prepared for us in the present, that is everything that is wrapped up in our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ which we are blessed with today, but he has also prepared for us in the future, that which is yet unseen but will be revealed when we enter into his eternal presence. Jesus in one of his parables indicates this in Matthew 25:34 ‘Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ James talks of the crown of life that is promised and therefore is prepared for those who remain steadfast in trials. (James 1:12)

The verses before us today remind us that though the outward is perishing, that is our mortal flesh, the inner man which has been made anew by the Spirit of God is being renewed daily. In other words, outwardly we are aging and decaying, it doesn’t matter how much anti-aging remedies we may be using to try to stop it, we will fail! Yet at the same time inwardly, we are being renewed and to use the words of Paul again we are being changed from glory to glory, 2 Corinthians 3:18 ‘And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’

Now it may seem strange to speak of us being changed from glory to glory, as we always ascribe glory as being related to the Godhead, but in the context here it is talking of us who have been redeemed, becoming more like Christ, the more we are renewed inwardly the more we are being changed to become like Christ. The NIV brings this out ‘And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’

I remember as a young lad our Church often singing the chorus:

From glory to glory He’s changing me,

Changing me, changing me.

His likeness and image to perfect in me.

The love of God shown to the world.

For He’s changing, changing me,

From earthly things to the heavenly.

His likeness and image to perfect in me,

The love of God shown to the world.

It’s a wonderful thought that as Christians, although we are aging outwardly, losing all the youthful features and good looks (if we had them in the first place) something more wonderful is happening inwardly, we are becoming more like Christ. This is the work of sanctification taking place. But there is more good news, the aging, decaying body is not going to be left out of the process of glory! For, that which is temporal, will one day be made anew, and clothed with that which will be eternal. There is going to be an eternal glory, again as a lad I can remember the preachers talking of our justification, sanctification and our glorification, glorification is not only our becoming more Christlike, but also our being changed from temporal to eternal, from momentarily to eternal, from decay to eternal and it is Paul again who brings the wonder of this truth to us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verses 35-49, I quote here verses 42-49 ‘So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.’

I quote Paul again from 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 ‘For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.’ (Did you notice prepared again)

We will continue to look at the resurrection of the body in the next devotion, but may we be encouraged and reminded today with the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:11 ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.’

What is at present is temporal, but what will be, will be eternal, no more sickness, no more suffering, no more pain, no more decaying, no more aging, no more dying, instead we will be entering eternally into the joy and the presence of the Lord.

There’s a place where the streets shine

With the glory of the Lamb

There’s a way we can go there

We can live there, beyond time

Because of You, because of You

Because of Your love, because of Your blood

No more pain no more sadness

No more suffering, no more tears

No more sin, no more sickness

No injustice, no more death

Oh, our sins are washed away

And we can live forever

Now we have this hope

Because of You

Oh, we’ll see You face to face

And we will dance together

In the city of our God

Because of You

There’ll be joy everlasting

There’ll be gladness, there’ll be peace

There’ll be wine ever flowing

There’s a wedding, there’s a feast

Matt Redman CCLI788682