DATE: – SUNDAY 4TH OCTOBER, 2020
TOPIC: – THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION
BIBLE PASSAGE: – Ephesians 2: 1 – 18
MEMORY VERSE: – “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death” (Philippians 3:10).
INTRODUCTION: – When one is resurrected he is brought from nothing into existence, from death to life, and the transition is simply infinite. A true Christian is resurrected. The glory of the Gospel is that it shows our inability to do anything good of ourselves, and lays us at once in the grave in utter helplessness and nothingness, and then raises us up into new life, born entirely from above and sustained alone from heavenly sources.
LESSON OUTLINES
1) The Resurrected Life
The Christian life is not self-improving at all but it is wholly Supernatural and Divine. The resurrection cannot come until there has been the death (John 12:24). This is pre-supposed, and just as real as the death has been will be measured of the resurrection life and power. We loose nothing by letting go and we cannot enter in until we come out. If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.
In Colossians 3:13; the fact that we have already died and risen was established and that we are now to take the attitude of those for whom this is an accomplish fact. Christens here are not called to die with Christ and rise with Him, but rather we are called upon as Christians to take our places as having died and risen with Christ and to live accordingly.
One may say “How can I reckon myself dead when I find so many things that pull me back again to my lower place?” it is your failure to reckon and abide that drags you back. It is the recognizing of the old life as still alive that makes it real and keeps you from overcoming it.
In a sense, all Christians have been crucified with Christ on the cross. Their old sinful, rebellious way of life was put to death. On the cross the Lord Jesus Christ as the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, did take all our sin upon Himself, and God the Father made Him the object of His judgment when Jesus paid our death penalty on the cross (Isa.53:10). By willingly giving His perfect life as a substitute for our sinful lives.
In addition, all those who have accepted by faith the forgiveness provided by the sacrifice of Christ receive a new life (2Corint.5:17).
Thus, we are expected to live with the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom.8:11). This means that Christ and His strength live within us through the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit (Jh.16:13-14). Jesus has become the sacrifice and focus of our lives. He is the centre of our thoughts, words and actions (Jh.15:1-6; Eph.3:17). Our primary aim is to fulfill His purposes and honour Him in all we do or speak or think.
Our opportunity to relate to and share in Christ’s death and resurrection is a gracious gift of God, and it becomes activated through faith in Christ. That faith is not an intellectual belief, but an active trust that surrenders completely to the leadership of one’s life to the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. Living by faith in Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit is also referred to as living by the Holy Spirit (Jh.3:3).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
To know the Power of Christ’s resurrection, referring to the miraculous power that raised Jesus from the dead is to experience the same spiritually renewing, life transforming, miracle-working, sin-crushing power in our own life and ministry (Eph.2:5-6). May this be our experience and testimony.
QUESTIONS
- What does it mean to be dead as a Christian?
Describe how to live the resurrected life.