Most religions stress the importance of striving to reach a level of detachment to this world, and a focus on reaching eternity through their good works. Christianity is the only religion that espouses that our God became a man, suffered through the same things that we do in this life, was crucified and buried in a tomb, and then rose again three days later.
Once the soldiers pounded the last nail into Jesus’ body, most of His disciples ran back to their former life. They lived in fear of arrest, and they felt disillusioned and discouraged. It was only as they gathered in the upper room, and the Holy Spirit filled each one of them, that they had the power and courage to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to their world and beyond.
They even had the gumption to defy the gag-order placed on the mention of Jesus’ name by the authorities of their day. Many of them actually saw the risen Christ as He walked the earth for 40 more days after His resurrection (Matthew 27:53). This personal, post-crucifixion encounter changed their life and worldview forever.
Their passion and conversion spread the life-giving message, of Jesus’ triumph over sin and death as well as the reality of eternity, all over the known world of their time. Some of them experienced torture, death and exile; yet never lost their faith in the unseen promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). Christianity grew exponentially, and it has continued to do so ever since.
Jesus Christ was not just some great teacher, wise man, or religious leader of His day. He is the Word of God, He is God, and He was with God from before the foundation of the world (John 1:14). Jesus Himself claimed that those who saw Him, also saw the Father (John 14:9), because He and the Father are one God (John 10:30-33).
The man, Jesus, lives today, seated in the Heavenly Kingdom; yet the God, Jesus, also abides within every Born Again Believer by the Spirit of God (Galatians 2:20; Romans 8:9-11). We know He dwells in us, because we are transformed from this earthly existence by His presence within us, led by His Spirit, and serve Him through the perfect plans He has for us before we were even born (Jeremiah 1:5; Ephesians 2:10).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for hearing our pleas for help during our lifetime, and for working out everything for our eventual good (Romans 8:28). Your spiritual wisdom and power sustain us through every crisis that we ever face. Your love energizes us and gives us comfort and reassurance to continue to place one foot in front of the other, even when there is no apparent light to show us the way.
Allow our faith in Your faithfulness to bear fruit in our life, and to make us a witness and an example for those seeking to know You more intimately today than the day before (John 10:10, 10:28, 17:8). You give us eternal life while we remain in this sin-cursed world, and You sustain us through every negative circumstance that we ever experience during our lifetime (John 3:36, 5:24, 6:47). We love You with our whole heart and we look forward to serving You all the days of our life both now and throughout eternity.
Thought for the Day:
As we live our life according to the direction of God’s Holy Spirit, we shall never die, because our last breath on this earth is followed immediately by our next breath in Heaven; this journey starts in the moment of our salvation through our unwavering belief in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, and we walk on this path forever.
- John 8:51, 11:26
