New Testament (40)
Resurrection is repeated forty times in the New Testament. God repeats Himself and makes important matters plain so as to be understood.
I have written four devotionals dedicated to resurrection over the past four years. This is the last and perhaps most important issue for our eternal salvation. Study it well and understand that if there is no resurrection then there is no afterlife.
Even if there were not, and I know there is, then the grace, mercy and love that exists now for us in this life would still be needed by all.
Our salvation began the day we accepted Jesus into our hearts and continues each and every day until His return. Now I know that many hope to see that day but why wait on it if you do not believe in the resurrection? Are we so desperate to escape pain and suffering in our present condition that all we are concerned about is a way out?
Where is our compassion for others if all we care about is to be escape? Does our belief in a rapture save us? I would like to think not. This life is more important than an escape clause.
Eternal salvation is the finale. Go to the end of the book and read the ending. Does that satisfy you or are you interested in reading all the tales to be told in the book?
We are sojourners and we don’t get to stop and rest just because we know how the story ends.
Revelation 2:10 English Standard Version (ESV) Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Believe even if you do not like hearing it.
And that glorious declaration of the truth of the resurrection leads Paul to make a statement about the significance of the resurrection in his life about the results of the resurrection not only in his life, but also in Timothy s life and the lives of the Ephesian Christians, and in our lives, brothers and sisters. He s speaking about the consequences, the significance, the effects, the results of the resurrection in our lives as Christians today, and that s the passage that we re going to study this morning.
Oner, well said.