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The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
During April we are going to continue to work our way through the gospel of John our theme is Responding to the Living Word.
Today we are talking about The Resurrection and Our Salvation.
Prayer
Holy father, we come today to thank You and to praise You for the gift of Your love to us revealed supremely in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We thank You for the presence of the living Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit in our midst today.
Help us to have the faith to recognise and to respond to His presence.
Help us to open our lives fully, not only to His surveillance, but to His sovereignty.
We bring gifts as expressions of our love and as indications our faith and hope that all people everywhere shall come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
Hebrews 7:25 NKJV
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Scripture Reading
Hebrews 7:23-28 NKJV
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.
24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
Introduction
The words of our text declare that Jesus Christ is alive from the dead.
This means that He can save fully and completely those who approach God through Him. For the is always living to intercede on their behalf.
We meet today in this house that we have dedicated to worship because of our faith that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, conquering death, sin, and the grave.
Christianity is the faith that claims a living founder.
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and died on a cross outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Jesus Christ conquered death and the grave and ascended back to the Father.
By His Spirit He is present everywhere in the hearts of those who trust Him and love Him.
Christianity is good news about the Son of God, who came, lived, died, and conquered death, and continues to live.
Our great salvation is made possible and certain by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If Christ has not been raised, the church has no message for the world, as Christians, we have nothing to believe.
If Christ has not risen, Christians are telling lies about God, and out faith is empty, it’s a lifeless shell, it’s a tragedy, and we are still in our sins.
Paul declared that our salvation is based on our belief n the fact that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures.
If Christ hasn’t risen, then those who have fallen asleep in Jesus Christ have perished.
If Jesus hasn’t risen, we should be pitied because we are living and building our life on an illusion.
Christianity is based on the faith that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead as the first fruits from among the dead.
- The resurrection vindicates Jesus as being God’s only begotten Son.
During His life and ministry, Jesus revealed His uniqueness, not only by His words, but by the miraculous works that came from His hands and from His words.
He talked as man had never spoken before.
His disciples came to believe that He was more than just a man and more than just a prophet.
Peter spoke for them in his remarkable confession of faith which he expressed his belief that Jesus was the Son of God in Matthew 16:16.
It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ that dramatically declared Jesus to be the unique Son of God.
2. The resurrection of Christ declares the crucifixion to be a revelation of divine love for sinners rather than just an execution.
For the apostles the death of Jesus was a personal catastrophe, a public disgrace, and a political disappointment.
For the Father God it was the revealing of His suffering love and His redeeming power to save sinners from the consequences of their sins.
It was through the doorway of the empty tomb that the apostles were able to visualise the cross as the instrument of God’s redeeming love.
Had there been no resurrection, the death of Jesus Christ would never have been understood as a revelation of the great love of God for runners.
The death of Jesus Christ for sin was a once and for all substitutionary sacrifice that covers our sin debts. (1 Peter 3:18)
3. The resurrection gives us as believers an intercessor in the presence of God.
Jesus Christ, our High Priest, has entered into the Most Holy Place with His own sacrificial death as an atonement for our sins.
John, in his first epistle, wrote to encourage believers not to live a life of sin.
1 John 2:1-2, The Test of Knowing Christ
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
All of us need the ministry this divine Advocate.
4. The resurrection gave to the believers a living Lord and companion.
Jesus began His ministry by saying “Follow Me.”
He continues to extend this invitation.
This living Lord walked and talked with His disciples.
He taught them and showed them how they could become makers of disciples.
He continues to lead us in helping others to become disciples.
Jesus instructed His disciples that they were to teach new disciples to obey His commandments and follow His example.
Jesus Christ, the living Lord, continues this same ministry today and wants to assist us as we seek to help others.
Conclusion.
Yes, Jesus Christ is alive.
He walks the road of life with us today as He dis with His two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
He comes to us in the prayer closet.
He comes to us in the place of worship.
He comes to us in the needs of those around us.
If you have never yet trusted Him as Saviour, He comes today to knock at your heart’s door.
Let Him come in as Saviour and Lord and Teacher and Friend.
As the living Lord comes to you, let Him walk with you along the road of life.
Go with Him as He leads in the good way.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2022 IS A YEAR OF REPENTANCE AND BLESSINGS
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