Grace and Peace from Our Lord Jesus Christ!
He is risen! Risen Indeed!
The resurrection of Christ changes everything. But first we must understand that the resurrection of Christ was something greater than the resuscitation of His physical body. That is, Christ was not raised from the dead simply to die again. Others have experienced that kind of resurrection, including Lazarus. But the resurrection of Christ is in a category altogether radically different because He experienced the FINAL resurrection with a resurrection body.
One day we will all experience that final resurrection but the fact that it has already happened for Jesus Christ changes everything. He is making all things new. He is at work transforming His people – their hearts are experiencing something of that final resurrection now – and yes the Father is breathing His Holy Spirit into His people. Those who belong to God are coming to a saving faith and thus being transferred into that new creation – the old things have passed away and the new things have come.
At this time of year people often lament the relative emptiness of churches compared to a few decades ago. We live in a different time now when people do not need to attend church to “succeed” in the world’s eyes. And it is common for people to wish that the old life of our churches be resuscitated – that we would experience that time again. But this is thinking too small. It is my prayer that we would instead see resurrection! It is my prayer that we would see new life! We want to see changed lives, we want to see heart transformation, and we want to see the Spirit of God move with power.
What we must lament is that there are so many people in our community and throughout the world who do not have a relationship with Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We should shed our tears not for the former glory of the American church but because so many are lost and in need of Jesus and do not even know what they are missing. If we are going to see resurrection we have to move forward – to move toward people who are not coming to us. This is what Jesus is doing and we want to see Him do it.
He is risen! Risen Indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Justin
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