l ^ e ó u r r e c t i o n
R t ^ r c t m i d
By R. R. Brown, D.D.*
C HRIST Is Risen! What a glorious Easter song! Not only at Easter time, but daily it should be the song of our hearts for the two essential truths in the Gospel of Christ are that He died and He rose again. His death was made effective as a redemptive quan tity because of His resurrection. The resurrection is not speculative. It is the • most thoroughly authenticated fact in history. Its spiritual significance can not be expressed in a single truth, for it is the foundation of all truth. We would ask you to think of resurrection truths in the form of a pyramid. We must, nat urally, begin with the base and proceed until we reach the apex—the ultimate goal and glory of all redemption. We, therefore, begin at the base. Faith Faith for salvation. The apostle re minds us, “ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19). All that Christ accomplished in His death became legally and spiritually effective for us by His resurrection. He not only died for our sins, but He was raised for our justification (Rom. 4:25). Therefore, it is the ground of our faith for salva tion. Christian faith implies not only a present possession, but a glorious hope. Life The second stone is realization—reali zation of the fullness of His risen life. The seed of His Word is sown in the soil of our souls and it springs up unto life everlasting. So when Christ was put to death, He rose again to make us par takers of His divine nature. Jesus did not come to improve our old life, but to give us new life. Resurrection means life,
A Heart-Warming Reminder of Resurrection Blessings
His service. Christ never promised ease and comfort to His own. This is not the day of our rest. There is a tendency tot day to glamorize the Christian life, There is an attempt to take out of it the spikes, the spit and the spear. We must hear Him say as He did to the mother who was ambitious for her chil dren, “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?” (Matt. 20:22). The grace of God is a stewardship. Because of it we should henceforth not live unto ourselves, but unto Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Fel lowship and stewardship of life and service are essential if we would develop a full faith and complete Christian char acter. Christian Perfection “Wherefore he, is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). In the chemistry of nature we find that carbon was once coal. The glistening dia mond was once the unpromising carbon. The sinner, in differing degrees of moral character and conduct, is transformed by this living Christ in heart and life. Cleansing from and victory over sin is an act of God in answer to our faith. The perfection of our spiritual life in all of its aspects is a process. Because of His intercession, He is not only saving us to a life of victory moment by moment, and a future glory, but this makes pos sible the work of His Spirit by means of His truth to perfect us in Christ. His ultimate joy in His resurrection will be realized when He brings many sons unto glory (Heb. 2:10). Praise God for the day when He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. (Continued on Page 28)
liberty and abundant living through His indwelling by His Spirit. Not only are we declared just, but we become the children of God by the birth of His Spirit. Furthermore, we must recognize that since we were raised with Him, we are now made free from the law and from the power of sin, so that sin shall not have dominion over us. Have you reckoned yourself dead? Then recognize your place in Christ and realize the full ness of His resurrection life. Inheritance Next in our pyramid we have rights and realities. We have the right to be come the sons of God (John 1:12). We have been seated together with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2 :6). This not only suggests family relationship, but it also means that we have the rights of sonship. Jesus said. “ Henceforth I call you not servants.” This truth must be comprehended if we are to be victorious in our living and effective in our prayer life. Because we are in Christ, God is able to do for us all that He has pur posed in Christ, so that Jesus Christ could teach His disciples, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you” (Jphn 16::23). Many are defeated in prayer because they have a sense of unworthiness. Others aré limited by temerity. We must learn to come boldly and remember that God an swers prayer always because of Christ who alone makes us worthy. Fellowship and Stewardship We now have fellowship with Christ. “ And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3b). Furthermore, He wants us to know the fellowship of His suf ferings and be partners with Him in,
* Dr. Brown is pastor of the Omaha Gospel Tabernacle and Radio Minister for WOW.
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