/ / 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. We would ask you to think of resurrection truths in the form of a pyramid. We must, naturally, 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 reminds us, “ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (I Corinthians 15:19). All that Christ ac complished 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 ans 4:25). Therefore, it is the ground of our faith for salvation. Christian faith implies not only a present possession, but a glorious hope. Life The second stone is realization — realization of the fullness of His risen life. Resurrection means life, liberty and abundant living through His indwelling by His Spir it. 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,
is a tendency today 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 children, “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?” (Matthew 20 : 22 ). Christian Perfection The perfection of our spiritual life in all of its as pects is a process. Recause of His intercession, He is not only saving us to a life of victory moment by moment and a future glory, but this makes possible the woVk 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 (Hebrews 2:10). Hope As we build our pyramid higher, there is emblazoned near its apex the flaming light of eternal hope. Because He lives, we, too, shall live (John 14:19). He could say to the bereaved sisters of Lazarus, “ Your brother shall rise again.” We are able to shout triumphantly by the open grave, 0 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (I Corinthians 15:55). Christ arose and because He arose, we have the hope of resurrection. Immortality “ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep,
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 fullness of His resurrec tion life. Inheritance Next in our pyramid we have rights and realities. We have the right to become the sons of God (John 1:12). We have been seated together with Christ in the heaven- lies (Ephesians 2:6). This not only suggests family re lationship, 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 vic torious in our living and effective in our prayer life. Many are defeated in prayer because they have a sense of unworthiness. Others are limited by temerity. We must learn to come boldly and remember that God answers prayer always because of Christ who alone makes us worthy. Fellowship We now have fellowship with Christ. “ And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (I John 1:36). Furthermore, He wants us to know the fellowship of His sufferings and be partners with Him in His service. Christ never promised ease and comfort to His own. This is not the day of our rest. There
but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twink ling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51, 52). “ But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2b). We shall see Him and be like Him. Immortality is the gift of God to all who have eternal life. It refers to the day when the bodies of our humiliation shall be transformed and become like His own glorified body. Reward The reward is the promise that one day we shall share with Him in His kingdom triumph. We are to reign with Christ. While we have shared with Him in His present humiliation, we are promised that we, too shall be with Him in His future glory. “ If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with him ;” and then throughout the endless ages of eternity the Scriptures say we shall serve Him day and night forever (Revelation 7:15). Endless privilege, to express undying love for His glorious redemption! We shall sing of His grace forever. When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun. “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
APRIL, 1962
13
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online