Topic: The Impact of the Resurrection [Charles Stanley Daily Devotional 8 April 2021]

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The Impact of the Resurrection

KEY PASSAGE: Romans 6:16

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES: John 3:16 | John 10:10 | John 14:2-3 | 1 Corinthians 15:42 2 Corinthians 5:8 | Ephesians 1:13-14 | Hebrews 10:12 | 1 Peter 1:15 | 1 John 1:9

SUMMARY

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you’re probably very familiar with the story of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

It’s your comfort when you stand by the grave of a loved one and a truth you count on for your own salvation. But has it changed how you live? What impact does Christ’s resurrection have on your thinking, conversation, and conduct? The resurrection is a truth that not only changes your eternal destiny, but it should also affect how you worship God and relate to Him in your private devotions as well as how you relate to others.

SERMON POINTS

Truths about the resurrection

The first step in evaluating the impact of Christ’s resurrection is to review some basic scriptural truths we say we believe.

• Jesus Christ is alive at the Father’s right hand. “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). We believe that Jesus’ sacrificial death was sufficient to pay for all our sins, and His resurrection and ascension are the proof.
• We are forgiven and eternally secure in Christ. “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). Because Jesus died for our sins and rose from the grave, all who believe in Him can know that they are eternally secure, not based on their performance, but on Christ’s payment for their sins. The Holy Spirit who indwells every believer is the guarantee of a heavenly inheritance.
• We are going to live forever. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Christ’s promise of eternal life is a truth that encourages us to live righteously now and gives hope for eternity.
• We too will be physically resurrected. “It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body” (1 Cor. 15:42). Jesus Christ’s resurrection guarantees that we will have the same experience. All the sin and weakness of our present bodies will be a thing of the past when Jesus returns to raise us up.
• Heaven is our home. Jesus promised, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). Because of God’s grace provided to us through His Son, we will one day be made perfect and enter the heavenly place He’s prepared for us, never again to be separated from our Savior. Jesus came to earth so we could have abundant life, and that will be our experience for all eternity (John 10:10).
• We will see our loved ones. Right now we are absent from the Lord, but we have this hope: “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Our saved loved ones are in the Lord’s presence right now, and when we arrive in heaven, we will be reunited with our Lord and with those we love who have gone on before us.

We have all these scriptural promises as the result of what Jesus Christ has done for us. However, they are not given to us simply so we can acknowledge them to be true. They should affect how we live each day.

Has Christ made a difference in your life?

• Are you growing in holiness? “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1 Pet. 1:15). This is not a matter of perfection because that will not happen until we reach heaven. A holy life is one committed to Jesus Christ and to obedience in every aspect of life to the truths of His Word. Although many mock holiness, this should be the desire of our hearts and the goal of our lives.
• What is your message as a believer? Having trusted Jesus as your Savior and placed your eternal future in His hands, are you sharing your testimony of what He has done in your life with others so they too can be saved?
• Are you a beacon to the people with whom you work and live? Your conduct and conversation ought to show that you are different from the rest of the world because Christ’s life is on display through you. You must guard against being consumed with your own concerns, and instead, make an effort to tell others about the peace and security you’ve found in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The truth you offer could change someone’s eternal destiny.
• Are you serving the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit? At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit came to indwell and empower you to serve the Lord. Your confidence is not in your own capability but in the Spirit’s sufficiency through you. He’s the one who brought you to salvation by convicting you of sin, revealing truth, giving faith, and coming to dwell within you, and His work in you will continue all the way to glory. The Holy Spirit now equips and enables you to accomplish whatever God calls you to do, and this includes giving you the courage to fearlessly share the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection with others.
• Do you realize that you are never alone? When you trusted Jesus as your Savior, you gained a Friend who will never leave or forsake you. Jesus came to live within you through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you never have to feel lonely because He is always there.

News of the resurrection of Jesus is a message the world desperately needs to hear, and we have been given the privilege of praying for people and telling them about the hope of eternal life available through Christ. We have been showered with the blessings that accompany our salvation, and it’s our responsibility to share the good news with others.

RESPONSE

• How often do you think about Christ’s resurrection? What hope does it offer in the midst of your daily life?
• How has Jesus’ resurrection affected how you live? Baptism is a picture of our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-6). Is death to sin evident in your character, conversations, and conduct? Could those who know you well say that you are living a new kind of life, or would they say you are still living as you did before salvation?