Devotional Day 38 for Wednesday 4/7

Reading: Acts 7

Looking at the implications of the resurrection from my message on Easter Sunday. (4 of 4)

Jesus is a “life-giving spirit.”  He gives life.  Real life is founded in a live-giving relationship with God.   The God who rose from the dead 2,000 years ago.  It’s not a fading religious memory.  Jesus is alive and he wants to know you.  He wants to heal your pain.  He wants to cleanse your sin.  He wants you to know what a relationship with him is like. 

He’s come to save you from a rules motivated, religious life that leads to death.  Or life led by giving fleshly cravings or addictions that rule your body.  You don’t need to hope that you will get you into heaven.  You can know NOW.

Jesus has freely given of himself to us through the Spirit so we could know NOW that he is alive and is waiting to welcome us in his home in heaven for all eternity.  Jesus has died for our sins that they might be washed away forever.  This is the good news that should be ringing from the churches all across the globe this morning. 

It is the joyous words of the old song, “He lives, He lives salvation to impart!  You ask me how I know he lives – he lives within my heart.” 

And the church bears witness to this reality.  The Spirit of Jesus has come into our lives.  He permeates our gatherings.  Jesus is alive and he’s poured out his life-giving Spirit on this group of humbled people who used to be separated by their sin, but not know HE really is alive.  They’ve experienced his forgiveness.  They know he’s alive.

Previous entry's on the implications of the Resurrection:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Devotional Day 37 for Tuesday 4/6

Reading: Acts 6

Looking at the implications of the resurrection from my message on Easter Sunday. (3 of 4)

So what are the Implications of the Resurrection?  

It changes everything! Here are possibly two of the most important implications.

1.     As we have already looked at, Jesus was more than a man, he was God

a.     This means his words are more than great teaching, they are the path to life.

b.     As God, Jesus could not remain dead.

2.     Jesus is a “life giving spirit.” (1 Cor. 15:45)

Jesus said himself, “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh in no help at all.  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)

What is Jesus getting at?  He’s saying, “Look, I came to give life.  Death has had humanity hopeless and fearful, mourning and grieving for too long.  But my kingdom is not of this world.  My kingdom doesn’t use militaries and politics, success and money aren’t necessary here.  My kingdom has the antidote to death – it’s methods are the opposite of the way this world thinks.  The poor get lifted up.  The humble receive salvation.  The meek inherit the earth.  The lowly find grace.  The King shows up as a peasant boy.  The Messiah gets nailed to the cross.  And dead men rise again!  Everything is changed.  Death is defeated.  I’m all about life.  Life to the full.  This is what I’m wanting to get across to you a relationship with God is possible because I’m alive!”

Paul would sum up Jesus’ words in his letter to Corinth, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6)

In other words, if I just gave into every impulse of my flesh – it would lead to destruction in my marriage, my job, and my life… it would eventually lead to death – it would kill me.

And, if I tried the opposite of living for worldly pleasures and embraced aestheticism or strict moral living.  If I embraced to trying to live by religious laws and rules I would die trying to achieve that.  I’d live a completely frustrated filled life – either feeling like God owed me something or  feeling guilty because I never measured up.  Both paths lead straight to Hell.

BUT, the Spirit gives life.  Jesus defined “life” in his teachings.  

He said, “This is eternal life – true life, real life NOT the life this world offers with its fading pleasures and desires –eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ who He sent.” 

  (John 17:3)

Devotional Day 36 for Monday 4/5

Reading: Acts 5

Looking at the implications of the resurrection from my message on Easter Sunday. (2 of 4)

It was not just Peter who preached that Jesus was the Son of God – both a physical man AND a life-giving spirit.  It was the witness of all 11 of Jesus’ of disciples and the entire early church (and the church through the ages) that Jesus rose from the dead.

Strangely, as this fledging group of believers testified to the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead and the implications of that fact for their lives and the lives of their listeners, the religious and governmental authorities who persecuted them so intensely were never able to produce Jesus’ body despite the fact that any evidence against Jesus’ resurrection would have immediately destroyed the testimony of the early church and halted the progress of Christianity. 

The empty tomb that the women and Peter & John claimed to have seen remained empty.  The body of Jesus was never found.  In fact, there has not been a single shred of evidence since Jesus rose to suggest that he has not risen.  Justin Martyr writing an open letter to Caesar just 100+ years after Jesus died boldly set forth the evidence for Jesus’ resurrection.  No critical response to that letter from that era has ever been found despite the letter’s wide spread influence in the Roman Empire at that time.  The historical evidence against the resurrection is non-existent.  Instead, there are a series of hypothesizes that seek to explain why Jesus’ body was not in the tomb – none that have ever been satisfactorily explained or found to be true.

Thus, many have concluded that Jesus was not only the Son of God, but he rose from the dead.

Devotional Day 35 for Sunday 4/4

Reading: Acts 4

These next 4 days, we will look at the implications of the resurrection from my message on Easter Sunday.

“It is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit… The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.” 

(I Cor 15:45-46)

It is impossible to understand what we are celebrating or why we celebrate unless you can answer the question – Who Is Jesus?

Millions of people have different answers to this question. Elton John recently gave his opinion when he said, “I think Jesus was a compassionate, super intelligent gay man who understood human problems…”

Yes, opinions on Jesus abound…

Ghandi considered Jesus the greatest moral teacher to have ever lived.

Others have suggested Jesus reached a heightened state of enlightenment.

Some religions consider him a great prophet.

In fact, Jesus is held in very high regard by most of the people in the world. You won’t find too many people out there spewing negative opinions about Jesus.

In Acts 2, Peter presents us with the real question that defines who Jesus is.  The questions is did Jesus really rise from the dead?  On this question hinges all the opinions and debates throughout history about who Jesus is and was. 

If Jesus was a “life-giving spirit,” if he was the Son of God, then he could not have stayed dead.  He could not have rotted in the tomb outside of Jerusalem.  He could not merely be a man.  And this what Peter is pointing to in Acts 2.  Jesus is not like King David whose bones eroded in his tomb.  Jesus is alive forever – he will never see corruption.

Devotional Day 34 for Saturday 4/3

Reading: Acts 3

What are the results of the resurrection?  First, we see the formation of new community that is committed to each other and prayer. (Acts 1)  Second, we see the outpouring of the promised Holy Spirit. (Acts 2)  Thirdly, we see a community that bears witness to who Jesus is through serving the poor, healing the sick, and testifying to who Jesus is before crowds and societal leaders.

Devotional Day 33 for Friday 4/2

Reading: John 19

What did Jesus' death accomplish?  As we celebrated Good Friday and the crucifixion of Jesus, we remember that he died to take the penalty of our sin - death.  He died to cleanse us by his blood from all evil, pain, and torment. He died that we might have life.

Devotional Day 32 for Thursday 4/1

Reading: Acts 2

The power of the Holy Spirit is poured out on a community devoted to prayer.  The Spirit is primarily given for two purposes both involving witness (to testify of what you have seen and heard).

1) To empower us to be witnesses of who Jesus is.  Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you AND you will be my witnesses." (Acts 1:8)  Jesus has ascended into heaven, and he empowers us through the Spirit to be witnesses of who he is - the risen Son of God.

2) To bear witness in our hearts that we are children of God.  This is hugely profound  If we are not convinced we are sons and daughters of God, that we have been adopted into God's family because Jesus bought us out of the kingdom of darkness through his death on the cross, then we will never be a people that go and tell others.  It says that when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit they were telling of the mighty works of God.  (Acts 2:11)  What is more supernatural then knowing you have been adopted into God's family, and you are now a child of God.  Your brother is Jesus.  Your Father is God.  And, the Holy Spirit bears witness of this.

When the world sees a people who know and enjoy their place as children of God, they will too will ask about what they are seeing and hearing just as they did in Acts 2.  Creation is looking for the sons (and daughters) of God to be revealed (Romans 8:19) not another holy rock show.  The world is looking for people who are convinced of and enjoying a relationship with Father God not busy organizing new events.  The world is longing for something genuine.  Do you have what they long for?  Is the Spirit bearing witness?

"You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."  (Romans 8:15-16)