Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25,26
He's alive! When those two words are put together, they form what is probably the most powerful phrase ever exclaimed.
Here's what "He's alive!" means to me ---
1) My God can do impossible things. He beat the power of death. Nobody else can do that.
2) I can overcome anything with His resurrection power at work in my life.
3) I can live abundantly.
4) Everything He promised will be fulfilled.
5) Freedom. There is now no condemnation in my life because I am in Christ Jesus.
6) Great joy. Great peace. Great hope.
7) I can look beyond the problems of today and toward the future knowing that the best is yet to come.
8) I just gotta tell somebody! WOOHOO!
He is risen! Yes, indeed. That's great news for you and me!
When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. Leviticus 16:20-22
As we reflect on the significance of Good Friday, one of the stories of the Old Testament brings home to me the significance of Jesus being the lamb led to slaughter to pay for the sins of the world. In the verses we read for today, we see Aaron, the High Priest, the representative of God’s people before God, going before the Lord on the Day of Atonement. This day was commemorated once a year as the High Priest would make atonement for all the sins of the people of Israel. On that day, he would go by himself into the Holy of Holies to meet directly with God with a blood sacrifice.
The significance is that he would take two goats. He would use one for the sacrifice and the other would have blood sprinkled on it while the sins of the people were ceremoniously placed on the goat’s head. The live goat would be driven out of the tabernacle into the streets and then driven out of camp. In later years, this would be done in the temple and the goat would be driven out of the streets of Jerusalem and then beyond the walls of the city. Tradition says that a relay team of couriers would drive the goat into the wilderness, even over a cliff some say, to its death. The couriers would then relay back the message by yelling “It is finished” in Hebrew, then another one would say to another, “It is finished.” The people of Jerusalem would be gathered along the wall of the city waiting to hear the last courier repeat the message, “It is finished,” and then the people would celebrate with song and shouting because Yahweh had forgiven them of their sins for another year.
Jesus hung on that cross more than 2,000 years ago in excruciating pain and suffering as the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. When He gave up His life by saying “It is finished,” He was saying God’s payment for sin was satisfied and forgiveness was available to all who would believe on His name. He was the final sacrifice for sins, the final payment that would satisfy God’s righteous anger.
So we should rejoice today in the finished work of Christ on the cross. The Greek word tetelestai (It is finished) that Jesus used is one that means an action was finished with continuous results in the future. His act on the cross paved the way for us to celebrate the permanent forgiveness of our sins, when we come to Jesus at the foot of the cross and claim His royal blood to cover over our sins. When God looks on the believer’s sin, He sees our wickedness covered by His Son’s blood, and that satisfies God’s judgment and gives us the relationship we so desire and He desires to have with us.
May we focus on the significance of the words Jesus shouted on the cross:
It is finished!
Lord, thank You for being willing to lay down Your life as the sacrificial lamb on my behalf. May I walk in confidence in a relationship with You knowing that You have forgiven and will forgive all my sins as I confess them to You.
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:18,19
A type (typology) is an example, model, pattern, foreshadowing, or a prefiguring of something or someone to come in the future. Types are used in the Bible by comparing and contrasting two similar things in order to see or understand them better. According to Romans 5:14, Adam was a type of Christ. In other words, when we compare and contrast Adam (type) to Christ, the second Adam (antitype), we understand and see both more clearly.
This is what Paul is doing in Romans 5:12-21. He is using typology to better explain the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. In short, the first Adam explains why every single human being needs justification, while the second Adam explains how humans can have justification. Clearly seeing the differences and similarities between these two Adams will enable one to understand this doctrine better.
First, let me define the doctrine Paul is teaching here in Romans. Justification by grace through faith means that a sinner is justified (pardoned from the punishment and condemnation of sin) and brought into relationship with God by faith in God’s grace alone. This means that sinners (all people) deserve God’s holy wrath for their sins, but through God’s grace (the undeserving generous love of God) one can be forgiven of his sin and punishment. This doctrine begs two questions, however. One: how is it that all humans are sinful and deserve God’s wrath; and two: how does God’s grace save people?
All humans are sinful and deserve God’s awful wrath because the father of the human race, Adam, sinned by disobeying God. Actually, when Paul says, “all sinned—” (Rom. 5:12), I think he means that we all sinned in Adam. This is to say that Adam, as the representative of the human race, did not sin alone; we all sinned with him. Consequently, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Adam rejected God, we rejected God with Adam, and we reject God today; therefore, we all deserve God’s rejection of us, namely His wrath.
Now to answer the second question, God’s grace saves people through the work of Jesus. In other words, Jesus is God’s grace (the undeserving generous love of God). The doctrine mentioned above says we can be saved by faith in God’s grace alone. So, we can be saved only by faith in Jesus. Jesus can save people because God sent Him into the world as a second Adam to reverse the effects of the first Adam’s disobedience.
Jesus reverses the effects (sin, death, judgment, eternal separation from God in hell) of the original Adam by being “the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10), which is an offering that turns away God’s wrath and gains His favor. Jesus, as God, became human and gave His perfect, holy, divine life up to an innocent death on the cross as a sacrifice for every person that believes and trusts that this is true.
Another significant type in the Bible is located in Gen. 3:21. This text reads, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Adam and Eve sinned and they realized they were naked, so God killed an animal for its skin to cover up their nakedness. That first animal sacrifice is a type, looking forward to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross. When God killed that first animal to cover up Adam and Eve’s nakedness, He was thinking of His Son, Jesus, who would one day lay down His own life to cover up the sins of all types of people from God’s sight. This is how God’s grace saves people.
Jesus did all the work of salvation. I am undeserving of salvation; yet, all I have to do is trust and believe Him, and even that faith is given to me. I was dead in my sins, following Satan, and God saved me (Eph. 2). How glorious, how wonderful, how awesome are You, O Lord!
So, in the end, what does the second Adam mean to me? Pure, beautiful, sovereign grace.
Take some time on this Maundy Thursday to reflect on the magnitude of what Jesus did on your behalf.
Jesus, I am undeserving of Your love. I am overwhelmed by Your grace. Thank You for laying down Your life for me. May I never forget the price You paid to reverse the effects of my sin.
Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:7
Watching the sky was an integral part of life as I grew up on an Iowa farm. The sun rose in my east bedroom window and set around the maple tree west of our house. The clouds in the sky determined the family’s work for the day--cut hay, walk the bean fields, or stay indoors.
On a lazy summer day we would lie on a blanket with my mom and fantasize about the shapes and images formed by the clouds.
When our girls were little, we, too, gazed at the clouds. And we talked about Jesus and His return. These lessons were reinforced in Sunday school and at Bible Study Fellowship. One day as we ate lunch, Andrea pointed out the window and exclaimed, “Look! I think Jesus is coming for us on that cloud with a steering wheel!”
Oh, may we have the faith and excited expectancy of a child. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end. He IS coming again.
Are you looking to the sky, reading the signs of the times and expecting His return? When will you speak of this with those you love?
Oh, Jesus, help me this day to lift my eyes to You, to look expectantly with the believers through the ages for Your return. You are my soon and coming King--the beginning and the end of all things. Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, who was and is and is to come. Amen.
Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:3,4
Jesus means all the world to me is a phrase I often say to people because God has been so good to me and my late wife. Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, I thank the Lord for all his blessings. I thank him for our country, our church, and the staff and people where I live.
My wife suffered numerous miscarriages during our marriage. We decided to ask God for one child we could adopt. We were a working family, not a wealthy family, but God blessed us with four children we were able to add to our family.
I am thankful for my daughter who helped my wife and me move out of our house and into our retirement community. She took care of everything and made it easier for my wife and me to move. Praise the Lord.
I always give God all the glory and the credit for everything that happens in my life. That is why I say to people Jesus means all the world to me.
Stop a couple times throughout the day today to thank God for what He has done for you.
Jesus, You mean all the world to us who know You. Without You we would be nothing. Thank You for all the little things and the big things You do for us. May we give glory and thanks to You this day.
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:23
I once noticed an offer in the newspaper for a free cross pendant. Not just any cross pendant, but one made with grains of sacred sand from Christ's tomb. According to the ad, the specially-made Holy Land Crosses were designed to allow the faithful to actually hold a spiritual gift containing grains of sacred sand in their hands and keep it with them wherever they go.
The woman who endorsed the product said, "It is a wonderfully comforting item to have with you every day. When I hold this special cross in my hand, I always feel closer to God no matter where I am." The article stated that the crosses are free for all. The only requirement was to enclose three first class stamps along with your name and address.
I know there are people who probably made a mad rush to the mailbox because of the offer they couldn't refuse, but I didn't give the cross pendant a second thought. The reason? Someone had already made me a better offer. An offer for an eternal relationship with God. And the good news is that it didn't cost me a penny--not even a stamp. God's Gift is Someone who stays with me wherever I am. This spiritual Gift lives within my heart and draws me close to God. This Gift is wonderfully comforting to have with me every day.
I'd rather have the Gift of Immanuel than a cross pendant. How about you?
Immanuel means God with us. How have you experienced His presence in your life? Have others noticed?
Jesus, my Immanuel, Your presence is a true gift to me. Knowing that You are always there for me brings great comfort.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:8-11
What does it mean to be righteous? It means to be free from guilt and sin, to be morally right and just. This is something that none of us can attain to in our flesh. And without being righteous, we are limited in knowing the Righteous God. Thankfully, however, "for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21). Through Jesus Christ's perfect life and sacrificial death, we who believe in Him are viewed as righteous, as God looks upon us and sees us as He sees His Son, as righteous. This is wonderful news!
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed" (1 Pet. 2:24).
This makes me want to live for Jesus instead of for myself. I can never attain to righteousness on my own and must put my trust and faith in Jesus Christ; for apart from Him, no one can know God.
"Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You; there is no greater thing. You're my all; You're the best; You're my joy, my Righteousness; and I love You, Lord." Is that your song today?
Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like You? Psalm 71:19
