April 8, 2009
When we think about what Jesus has done for us, we
tend to think primarily about the death of Jesus for our
sins. Obviously this is not a wrong place to put emphasis
– but if we fail to meditate often upon the fact that Jesus
did not remain dead, but rose victoriously over the grave,
then we are missing out on a huge part of the finished
work of Christ and of the comfort that God desires His
people to know. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is “of
first importance” (I Cor. 15:3-4) for the believer in Jesus
Christ (indeed, the preaching of the apostles in the book
of Acts focuses even more on the resurrection of Jesus
than it does on His death), but unfortunately it is often
something we think of only once a year. Rather, 1) we
need to remember that every Lord’s Day we are celebrat-
ing His resurrection, gathering to meet with our victori-
ous King (this is the reason the Sabbath switched from
the seventh day to the first day of the week); 2) every
time we share in the Lord’s Supper, we are communing
with our risen Savior who is alive forevermore; 3) our
hope in justification is that the Father has accepted the
sinless sacrifice of His Son – He has been justi-
fied/vindicated, and has been raised for our justification
(see I Timothy 3:16; Romans 4:25); 4) our hope in sancti-
fication is that we have been united to Christ in His resur-
rection, “so that as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in
newness of life…Now if we have died with Christ, we
believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that
Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die
again; death is no longer master over Him. For the death
that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that
He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be
dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not
let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts…”
(Romans 6:4, 8-12); and 5) our hope in glorification is that
one day Christ Jesus “will transform the body of our hum-
ble state into conformity with the body of His glory” (Phil.
3:21).
By His resurrection He has brought in the new crea-
tion, and we have been given the down payment of the
Holy Spirit to assure us of the fullness to come when
Christ returns. Never think about the death of Christ with-
out remembering that He didn’t stay dead, He didn’t stay
on earth, and He won’t stay in heaven; He rose, He as-
cended, and He’s coming again! May every day of our lives
as Christians be marked by a deep reliance upon and joy in
the resurrection of our Savior. He is alive! “Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abound-
ing in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in
vain in the Lord” (I Cor. 15:58).
On a very related note, I strongly encourage you to
participate in the mission trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky,
to assist our sister church there as they minister to their
community. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it, since
we will be visiting my mom (please keep praying for her).
Our Missions Committee has been hard at work, and on
April 24th, at the Roberts’ Switch Activity Center (on
Tommy Roberts’ property), the committee will host a Mis-
sions Dinner to spur us all in our calling to make disciples
of all the nations. I hope that you will make plans to be
there.
I also want to let you know about a great bluegrass fes-
tival the next day (April 25th), hosted by Jack Elmore’s band,
Brimstone Creek. The festival is located down in a beautiful
hollow of Moss, TN, near Gainesboro. If you’re interested
in coming along, check out
http://brimstock-2009.tripod.com.
Another website you might be interested in visiting is
this one:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/printout/0,292
39,1884779_1884782_1884760,00.html. Interestingly, Cal-
vinism clocked in at Number 3 on Time Magazine’s list of
Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now. There has been
a resurgence of Biblical truth and grace over the last thirty-
plus years, and even the culture around us is noticing. May
God grant that our understanding of our sinfulness and of
His grace might transform us and our world for His glory!