United in Christ through His Death?
Tis the season to be merry: fa la la la la la, la la la la…. Merry, really? Yes, this earth offers many wonderful relationships, blessed births, tremendous opportunities to live out your dreams, and much more. Not to bring the season down, but to put it in perspective, let’s consider: at the end of the laughter, the tears, the ups and the downs, what will each of us carry out of life that we did not bring in? There is nothing we bring into this world, and nothing the world offers that we can carry out. We die naked: sobering, but true. So you ask, “Joe, why bring this up now?” Because we are celebrating Jesus’ birth, when we should all be celebrating His DEATH!
Romans 6:3-5 states, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” (NIV, emphasis added)
We can have a beautiful life on earth without ever meeting Jesus; but the eternal never-ending will not be merry! So Who is this Jesus, and what do I do in response to Him? Jesus is God, Who chose to leave His heavenly abode to come to us in the form of a man. His life was sinless, yet He chose to die on a cross. Being God, He rose three days later and now sits with God the Father, ready to return to those that have faith in Him. So what, you may think?
Well, we all have sinned, and God (who makes all the rules because He has the power and perfect character to) says that the wages of sin is death: eternal separation from Him. However, God loves each of us so much, Jesus left the throne of God and willingly paid God’s judgment for each and every person’s sin on the cross! If you come to Jesus in faith and ask Him to be your Lord (yes, I mean that He is the Master and you are the servant) and Savior, giving your life to Him to do with it as He will, then He promises to join you to His death on the cross; so you will be redeemed by His blood! His promises don’t end….
The moment you pray to Jesus, asking Him to be your Lord and Savior, you will possess eternal life, because the Spirit of God will enter you, bringing your previously dead spirit to life; you will have become born again! You’ll have a new start, a fresh and pure life with God, as He will always see you through the only acceptable sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now real JOY begins, knowing that you have eternal life with God, that God is on your side, that He loves you unconditionally, and that He has a special plan and life for you on earth and for eternity to come!
I found that I could not be merry in this life without knowing what my life will be after I die. Can you really? I couldn’t rationalize that being a real good person and leaving a great legacy would make my certain death be fine with me. So what is holding you back from coming to Jesus? Does it sound like a fable? Is your pride in the way? Are you afraid of what others will think? Or is there another reason? If I knew that I was going to die, I would do anything to resolve my questions! I did that, as have many scientists, scholars, Presidents, carpenters, cooks, moms, and more before me: people who concluded that life doesn’t end with death, and death doesn’t have to sting; rather, they have found that Jesus Christ is Lord, Lord over all life and death.
In Jesus and Joyful,
Joe
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 11:03 pm and is filed under About Me. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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