Thursday, November 1, 2007
Revelation 1:17-18 (NLT)
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.
18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.
“Humans are amphibians – half spirit and half animal. As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time.”
C. S. Lewis
Jesus is eternal, that is without restraints of time—its passing or its accumulation. He has always existed and will exist forever. But more important than that concept is the fact that Jesus has the power over death and showed that power at Calvary. There He faced the great enemy—death. There He took on Satan and all of His forces. And when it had seemed that death did Him in and He would be no more—Sunday came. Jesus arose from the dead and lives again. He now holds the keys to death and the grave.
That means Jesus has the control needed for us to conquer death. As human beings we must face this enemy death at least once. We will all die someday, unless Jesus comes again in our lifetime. And the fact that we must physically die pales in comparison to a spiritual death of suffering in eternal damnation. So, what can be done to give us the power to conquer this spiritual death? We need Jesus. He proved to us at Calvary that nothing can stop Him—not even death. And when He is a part of our lives, as our Savior, we can have the confidence that even though we might face a physical death—we too will someday resurrect to a newness of life eternally with Him.
How interesting that our conversion at baptism has us being immersed into a watery grave—only to be raised to a newness of life here and now, living daily for Christ till the day we die physically or see Him face to face. Either way, we are Christ’s for eternity—first and last.
Prayer Points for the day
1. Praise the Lord for the blessings of our salvation.
2. Pray for the outreach of our congregation into the community.
3. Thank the Lord for His Son, Jesus, who arose for you.
