He lives. Jesus is alive

6. 🙌 Because He Lives

The fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead gives us the absolute, unquestionable ⚠foundation for everything else we believe.
First of all, we have the confidence of knowing our 💖God is alive. Jesus was not simply some itinerant preacher or teacher; He claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16: 16-17). The Lord told His disciples that to see Him was to see the Father (John 14:9); and in fact, that was one of the reasons He came—to reveal the heavenly Father so we could understand what He’s like.

All other belief systems have their so-called gods, but we know where their leaders are buried, which calls into question their “divinity.” Christ rose from the dead to validate and settle once and for all that our God🙏 is the only true God, the Creator of all things. He who made each of us can’t be fashioned by us. The One we worship is alive—not dead, inanimate, or an idea dreamed up in the mind of man. Think about it: Unless you ♨believe that Jesus Christ is 🍇risen from the dead, then you either worship something else or nothing at all, a situation Isaiah considers foolish and Paul calls pitiable. Why? Simply because people without the living Christ have no assurance of anything.

You might be wondering, Well, if Christ is alive, then where is He? What’s He doing? Scripture reveals very clearly that Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, interceding on our behalf (Heb. 7:25; 10:12).  He’s a living God who cares, loves, hears, and answers our prayers. He’s our forgiving Lord, continually advocating on our behalf. What’s more, the Lord Jesus is God the Son, who is preparing a place for each of us who believes in Him (John 14:2). He’s also the risen Savior who promised His disciples that, though He was going away, He wouldn't leave them as orphans—Jesus assured them He would send the Holy Spirit to teach 🍎and guide each of His followers until He returned (John 14:16, 18).

So today, every single believer is indwelt by⛅ the living Spirit of God, beginning the moment he or she receives Christ as Savior. As Christians, we’re sealed forever🏆 unto the day of redemption when we’re called home to heaven. Our God is alive and active in and through the lives of His children, and He’s ready to save any who are willing to 🔊confess sin and receive the gift 🎁of forgiveness He so freely gives.

The Resurrection

⛅ 5. 

The Resurrection—Why It Matters

What if Jesus Christ hadn’t risen from the dead? Where would that leave us? What assurance would we have about anything in life? Our confidence, thoughts about death, and our hopes for existence after this life would all be affected.

God knew Jesus’ resurrection would raise many questions in our minds; that’s why He led Paul to provide us with some answers. In 1 Corinthians 15:14, the apostle addresses the main issue: What if the resurrection didn’t really happen? He writes, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”

This means if the resurrection hadn’t occurred, our faith would be empty and without foundation; we'd be false witnesses, spreading lies; all our efforts for the faith would be worthless; and reading Scripture and sharing the good news would be a total waste of time (1 Cor. 15:17). All Christ-followers who’d died believing they were destined for eternal life would've simply perished, their hope of heaven nothing more than a delusion (1 Cor. 15:18).
Worst of all, we'd still be living in our sins (1 Cor. 15:17), still under guilt, and owing our lives as the penalty our transgressions deserved (Rom. 6:23).
Paul sums it up this way: “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19).

Thankfully, our 😃hope extends beyond this life because 😇Jesus truly has risen from the dead. 
God, in His wisdom, left us undeniable ⚠evidence. For starters, the tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers, who faced imminent death if they failed to carry out orders. Though this precaution was to prevent Christ’s followers from stealing the body and falsely claiming He’d risen (Matt. 27:62-66), the tomb nevertheless ended 🎯up empty. Another indication is that of changed🙏 lives—something significant has to have taken place for Christ’s fearful disciples to become bold♨ proclaimers of the gospel despite violent threats (John 20:19).
Mat 28; luke 24; mark 16; john 20.

Most importantly, Jesus 💡Himself promised He'd rise from the dead (Matt. 16:21). He claimed to be one with the Father (John 10:30), so either He was and is the Son of the living God, or else He was a liar. The record shows, however, He never told an untruth (John 14:6). Everything He promised or predicted 🌷came about, just as He said it would, except for those prophecies that are still to come (such as His second coming). These, too, will one day 💥occur exactly as He’s foretold, for there’s nothing false about the sinless Son of God (John 7:18).

Sanctification

⛅4

Sanctification & Access to God

At the moment of salvation, Jesus sanctified😇 you with His blood by applying it to your life (Heb. 13:12). This means you were set apart as God’s child to live for Him from that time onward. The best way for me to describe sanctification is to compare it to a period that comes at the end of an event. You were😇 saved, redeemed, justified, reconciled, 🙌and sanctified, period. But this period does not end. It turns into a line that continues 🙏throughout your life.

Sanctification is the process by which the Lord is continually⚠ transforming His children into the image 🍎of Jesus Christ. The entire Christian life is in that line; it just keeps lengthening as we 🎯grow in godliness, obedience, and understanding.
Salvation is not the endpoint but the beginning 🎄of God’s purposes for believers. His goal is to renew every area of our lives so that we can become His valuable servants and🌹 ambassadors of Christ to a lost world.

This process will continue throughout life because the Holy Spirit resides 🔥within every believer, guiding and empowering each one to move forward. He'll never leave us—there’s always another step to take in our progress toward 😃Christlikeness and fruitful service for the Lord.

Key to that progress is being able to confidently enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:19-22). In the Old Testament, the Holy of Holies was the inner room of the tabernacle or temple where God dwelt above the ark of the covenant. The high priest was the only one who could enter this most holy place, and he could do so only once a year to make atonement for himself and the nation. After carefully preparing himself with sacred rituals, he would enter with animal blood to sprinkle on the mercy seat.

Today, the only reason Christians can approach God is because, spiritually speaking, they're covered in the blood of Jesus. When Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, the veil of the temple—which separated God from the people—was torn in two from top to bottom. Mat 27:51. Heb 10:20.
This supernatural event signified the Father’s acceptance ⚠of Christ’s sacrifice, which opened the way to His presence.

Because we’ve never participated in the Old Testament sacrificial system, we usually take for granted our access to the Lord. There’s now no need to sacrifice a lamb when we want to approach God. Each time we enter the Father’s throne room in prayer, it’s as if Jesus looks to us and says, “Here’s one of Ours … the blood has been applied.”