SUNDAY 19TH APRIL, 2020

MEMORY VERSE: - “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things whci are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1)

INTRODUCTION: - The fact from the Scriptures is that we are already dead and risen, and that we are now to take the attitude of those for whom this is accomplished fact. Paul does not tell us to die with Christ and rise with Him, but rather He calls upon Christians to take their places as having died and risen with Christ and to live accordingly (Col.3:3).

1) Practical Power

There is a great power in the glorious fact, that we have been raised up together with Christ.

i) It has power to confirm our hope and assurance of salvation because the resurrection of Jesus was the finishing work and a guarantee to men and angels that the ransom price was paid and the work of atonement complete.

When Jesus came forth triumphant from the tomb, it was evident to the universe that the purpose for which He went there was fulfilled, the work He undertook satisfactorily done, and the Father satisfied with His finished atonement.

Therefore, faith can rest upon His resurrection as an everlasting foundation, and says “Who is he that condemneth? Is Christ that died, yea that is risen again’ (Rom.8:34).

ii) The Resurrection Of Christ Is The Power That Sanctifies us

it enables us to count our old life, our former self, nullified, so that we are no longer the same person in the eyes of God, or of ourselves and we may with confidence repudiate ourselves and refuse either to obey or fear our former evil nature. Indeed, it is the risen Christ Himself who comes to dwell within us, and becomes in us the power of this new life and victorious obedience.

It is not merely the fact of the resurrection, but the fellowship of the Risen One that brings us our victory and our power. We have learned the meaning of the sublime paradox. (Gal.2:20). This is the only true and lasting sanctification, the indwelling life of Christ the Risen One in the believing and obedient soul.

iii) The Resurrection Of Christ Is The Power To Heal Us

He who came forth from the tomb on that Easter morning was the physical Christ, and that body of His is the Head of our bodies, and the foundation of our physical strength, as well as our spiritual life. If we will receive and trust Him, He will do as much for our bodies as our spirits, and we shall find a new and supernatural strength in our mortal frame and the pulses of the future resurrection in our physical being.

The resurrection life is intensely practical. The Apostle Paul brings it into touch with us the nearest relationships of life, with the family circle, with the position of masters and servants, and with all the secular obligations of life. It is to affect our whole conduct and aims and lead us to walk wherever we are called.

1) What does the resurrection of Christ offer us?

2) How do we benefit from the resurrection of Christ?