Resurrection Day - the day at death met its end in the person of Jesus Christ!
Jesus came, conquered death and rose again. He brought forth a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. He has reversed the curse in our lives. No more curse!
This is the day that the curse is reversed in your life. Death has been abolished. Death is an enemy to God. Sin is an enemy to God. It is never God's plan that man should die. The last enemy that would be put under the feet of Jesus is death. We wait for that day. Jesus conquered death and brought eternal life. Our life is one that has swallowed up death.
It is not the loving plan of our Father God that there be death. But God gave man a free choice. God did not bring death. The devil is the one who exercises the power if death. Jesus has settled that for us.
God told man that the wages of sin is death. Man is free to choose. Although you can choose freely, you cannot choose the result/effect of your choice. The day that Adam partook of the fruit, he died spiritually that day. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our God. Eternal life is not living forever. Eternal life is zoe life - it is the quality of life that God lives by. It is the life that swallows up death. Death is the end of natural life for man. Resurrection is the end of death. Death has received its just desserts. His life swallows up death. When Jesus rose from the dead, it is death for death.
Jesus did it all for us. He came down so that whatever He did, He can include us in it. When He died and rose again, His victory over death is our victory over death. Death is in our history. Death is behind us. Now, we are walking in resurrection life.
Many people fear death. The fear of death is causing us to be subject to bondage and causing us to lose the good life. Jesus came to release us who through the fear of death are subject to bondage. Death is no respecter of persons. Death is a tyrant. The fear of death is behind every bondage. Wrong emotions are indicators of wrong believing. When you have fears, you have wrong thinking somewhere. We do not know that we have wrong believing. One indicator is whether we experience fear on a constant basis. Are we depressed? Do we experience worries? Wrong believing is often because of wrong hearing, which is because of wrong preaching. If we preach the Word of God, it will set us free from every fear.
Our blessings and security depend on Jesus and we can rest. This rest transforms us into a holy, powerful and overcoming life. Through death, Jesus destroyed the devil (who has power of death because of what he borrows). The law is the knowledge of good and evil. When God first gave the, 3000 people died at the foot of Mount Sinai. The ministry of death is written and engraved on stones. This is referring to the Ten Commandments, ie. the law. The other laws are written on scrolls and parchments.
The devil flashes before us the Ten Commandments and keeps trying to remind us of it. There is no grace to memorise the Ten Commandments. But even little children can memorise John 3:16. Because of the law, people fear death. Conscience is the knowledge of good and evil. Conscience will always tell us when we are doing wrong. Conscience always says that somebody has got to pay. Many a time, we cause our loved ones or ourselves to pay the price.
Do not have the "I do not deserve" mentality. Your conscience creates that fearful expectation of judgment. Jesus became human flesh so that He can die the death that will set us free. The devil uses the law to bring about death. The devil accuses and if we accept the condemnation, the devil has us. The devil cannot bring about death per se - it is only if we accept the accusation by the devil. Through death, Jesus has released us from the fear of death.
Through death, Jesus has released us. Through death, He destroyed the devil and deprived the devil of the power to accuse us and cause us to fall under condemnation. It is not all about us. It is all about Christ. It is about us only in Him. Jesus used death to put an end to death. The law must be met. God's law is holy but cannot make us holy. It is perfect but cannot make us perfect. It is the devil's master achievement to use something holy (the law) so that we did not expect it is the devil.
When Jesus was born, he placed in swaddling cloth and placed in a stone manger. He was the only baby born to die. God's law must be met. Sin must be paid. Punishment must be executed. God is righteous, just and holy. But God does not want to punish sin in our body. God knew that the only way for sin to be punished is that it must be paid. God in His love sent His Son. He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Jesus has freedom from death and judgment. Jesus said that no man takes His life from Him. He has power to lay down His life and He has power to take it up again. The devil tried to kill Jesus several times but it was not time for Him to die. When the time came, at the Cross, He absorbed all the punishment for us, He bowed His head and dismissed His spirit. That is power. And He did not do that until all our sins are paid for and then He cried out, "It is finished!".
Jesus swear blood at the Garden. Why? Because of the very thought of becoming our sin. He had no sin of His own to die for. He did no sin, He knew no sin and in Him is no sin. Pilate found no fault in Him. Even Judas said that he has betrayed innocent blood. When He carried our sins, there was such a violence that went through His body. A holy God became a perfect man who never knew any sin. to receive our sin into His system was such a violent shock. Being a holy person, even the though of becoming sin, caused Him to sweat blood in the Garden. We will never know what happened fully. It is all about God and the sacrifice.
God loved Jesus always and He gave up His Son for us. God loved Jesus because Jesus lay down His life for us. Jesus was never more pleasing to God. As God, He turned His back on the sin offering but as Father, God was heartbroken because Jesus was never more pleasing. When Jesus hung on the Cross, mid day became midnight. Jesus cried out, "Why have You forsaken me?". So that we can cry out, "Why have You so blessed me?". God is our Father.
Jesus finished everything when He absorbed every condemnation and punishment in His body and then He cried out, "Finished!".
The resurrection is a proclamation that the work is finished. Jesus coming out of the grave is the divine receipt that it is paid. If Christ is not risen, we are still in our sins. Christ is risen and therefore, we are no longer in our sins. It is all finished at the Cross. He rose from the death without our sins - He did a perfect work.
For us to expect punishment for our future is negating the work of Jesus. When we are sin conscious, we are saying that God did not accept what Jesus did. Jesus has paid for our sins. The payment that Jesus gave on our behalf to a holy God is an overpayment. That is why God is more than satisfied. That is why we have much more. He overpaid our sins because of who He is. His victory is effective in the lives of those who believe in Him. God wants us to experience the devil's defeat.
Christ is risen from the dead. By Jesus came the resurrection of the dead. If you put your trust in Christ, you are made alive. Christ must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy is the enemy of death. When Jesus rose from the dead, death has been abolished. Before Jesus' comes back, the body of Christ has power over death.
Death, for the believer, is falling asleep. For the believer, death has been deprived of its sting. We who are alive and remain shall always be with the Lord. Before Jesus come again, we will remain alive and have power over death. We do not need to suffer any more. All the enemies, one by one, through the years, have been put under His feet. The experience of the Church is now. He must reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.
When you look at Jesus, you are transformed from glory to glory. He is our answer. Behold the Lamb of God! See Him in the scriptures. Let us unveil Christ. We are transformed into the same image.
The body of Christ will put the enemies under them. God will make our enemies our footstool. Today, we are seated with Christ at God's right hand. The only thing that God wants us to do is sit and rest. Our enemies are coming every way but God says, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.". Sit and thank the Lord that our enemies have been defeated. Let us thank God. We pray in faith and our victory will manifest. When we sit, God gets up and does something about our situation.
Let His resurrection life flow through our lives. When we let go, God holds on and does something about it. Have the throne attitude and sit. God will make our enemies our footstool. God, I cannot and I thank You that You have done it all.
Psalm 91 - the promises of God. Let us confess that all the time. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No evil will befall us and no plague will come near our dwelling. It shall not come near us. We are the people that Christ has redeemed. Jesus died young so that we might live long. We have protection from all dangers and disease.
Where is this secret place of the Most High and the shadow of the Almighty? Believe in the Lord and He counts it to us for righteousness. Justification by faith. We are justified based on our faith in what Christ has done. God wrote His love story in the stars. It is about us. It is about Him. The heavens declare the story of the Lord. We have the Bible - the perfect revelation has come. Our own righteousness is from the law. We want the righteousness which is from faith in Christ. Let us know Him and the power of His resurrection. Do not live in self-condemnation anymore. God is bringing about a grace revolution and from there, the revelation of faith becomes real and death has no more power over us. We rest in Christ who has overcome it all for us. We rest in Jesus and His righteousness and we will be flanked by the Most High. We have divine protection that only God can give. When God protects, we are protected. We are as safe as the ark is safe. We are in Him and all because when Jesus hung on the Cross, He took our place and bore the fullness of God's anger. He absorbed all the sin and condemnation. It is not a matter of getting angry with the Jews. It was our sins that placed Him on the Cross.
Under law, the judgment was greater than the sacrifice. Under grace, Jesus absorbed all the condemnation and when it was over, He was still alive. When the judgment was all gone, He called, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!" and He dismissed His spirit and died.
See what happened in the spirit. Christianity is not a religion. He came to give us life and life more abundantly. He came to make us righteous. He loves us. All that He has done will be in vain if we do not receive it. God will never force us but He loves us and He says "Come home to love and to victory".
Let us put our trust in Christ and what He has done for us.
Thank You, Father, for the gift of Your Son. The devil is defeated. You are my Lord, Jesus... now and forever. Amen.
