Friday Nurturing Content - 03/15/24

Happy Friday, Friend!

“Though our lives are full of sorrow and pain, sickness and diagnoses, death and betrayal, Jesus’ death brings us hope in the midst of the messiness of life.” -Jamie Ivey, Christian writer, speaker, & podcaster

I’m opening up this email with a rather deep question today:

Why do we need hope in our lives?

It’s a question I wrestle with from time to time. But, oftentimes, it doesn’t take much to look at the world around us and see humanity’s desperate need for a hope to cling to.

We live in a word that is etched with evil and sin, marked by sickness and disease, and overfilling with misery and despair. Yet, as Christians, we know this was not our Creator’s intention. We were created for good and the world was originally meant to be a place for us to dwell with our Creator.

Do you think God created hope from the onset because He knew it was something that we were going to inevitably need as a fallen humanity? Was hope, then, the very essence of Jesus, who was part of the Trinity from the very beginning?

This March, we’re exploring the theme of Resurrection & Hope as we prepare for Easter at the end of this month.

As Christians, we cannot talk about the resurrection of Jesus without talking about the hope we receive from it and we cannot talk about hope without acknowledging Christ’s resurrection. The two go hand in hand.

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” -John 11:25-26

Because hope is so important to our lives and is so intricately woven with the resurrection of Jesus, let’s take a closer look at how His resurrection = our hope.

1. His Resurrection = Our Justification

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” -Romans 4:25

To be justified simply means “to be put right with.” Because our sin has created a barrier between us and God and has condemned us to eternal death, we are not right with God. And yet, in His goodness and mercy, He created a gracious plan of redemption for us through the sacrificial death of His Son; a plan that redeems and justifies us, putting us back into right standing with Him. The resurrection of Jesus is proof that God accepted the sacrifice of His Son for our sin.

2. His Resurrection = Death’s Defeat

“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.” -Romans 6:9

Death was the intended punishment for our sin. But, miraculously, Jesus rose from the dead because the grave could not hold him. Jesus did not just defeat His own death but, subsequently, eternal punishment for us believers as well. Death had no mastery over Him and it has no hold over us either!

3. His Resurrection = Our Union with Jesus

“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” -Romans 6:8

God loves us so much, more than we could ever possibly imagine! That’s why He allowed His Son to go on the cross. Once we acknowledge and accept this truth in faith, we receive the righteousness of Christ and are united with Jesus. This means that, when God looks at us, He sees us as a new creation in Christ—one that has that has the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit and is righteous because He is righteous.

4. His Resurrection = Our Living Hope

“In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” -1 Peter 1:3

We have this great hope as Christians: we are blessed, chosen, forgiven, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing us eternal life. This hope is not dead but alive and living. And, it also gives us the confidence to live our lives according to our new identity as His children.

4. His Resurrection = Our Resurrection

“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” -1 Corinthians 15:21–22

The resurrection of Jesus is a precursor to that of all believers. This is why His resurrection is called the first-fruits. Here on earth, both Christians and non-believers suffer alike. There is pain and illness and grief and struggle. However, we believers are guaranteed that we will experience our own resurrection and receive glorified bodies in the life to come. Because of His resurrection, we get to look forward to an eternity with Christ!

Doesn’t this make you so grateful for that Easter Sunday so many years ago… where not only did the sun rise to signal a new day but His Son also rose to signal new life (and hope!) for us all?!

I just love how Easter can bring us this joyous hope, even in the midst of some of our darkest and hardest days!

Dedicated to your success,

Tam

P.S. Don’t forget about our monthly challenge! I hope you find some time of solitude and gratitude to pray through our March Prayer Calendar and reflect on how the resurrection gives you hope.