Date 188: "Do You Believe?": Our Own Resurrection Response
Read: Luke 24:13 - 35, John 11:17 - 45 (21 - 27 in particular)
Response to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death is like
anything else. We see, we hear, we question, and we consider. And we
either believe or we do not. Do you remember seeing the master
illusionist, David Copperfield, make a jet airplane disappear? Did you
believe it? I didn’t believe it but I also couldn’t explain it. You see
Copperfield is an illusionist. He creates illusions. It’s not real. But
how did he do it if he really didn’t make that plane disappear? Did he
really make the plane disappear or was it a very large, very complex use of
mirrors and camera misdirection? He wont tell you his complete secret
lest he risk losing his paying audience and television sponsorship and the mystery behind it all.
While we may not completely understand how a David Copperfield performs his great illusions, it’s fascinating, but not believable. It is very entertaining, but it is not reality. But what about the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? Was this
too only an illusion or a trick to make people believe in a person who
was not real or maybe was not who or what He claimed to be? Do we
believe Him or do we not? Do we believe in His resurrection or do we
not? Wholehearted belief in the reality of Resurrection is central to Christianity, the Christian message of faith, hope and eternal everlasting love and life. Some consider Jesus but do not recognize Him. Some know Scripture, yet they do not believe.
Some consider Jesus but do not recognize Him. They walk the wrong way on the road to Emmaus. There are many people, however, who only consider Jesus
briefly but are kept somehow from believing in Him and trusting Him as
their Savior. These two disciples were kept from recognizing Jesus at
this particular time as they were slowly walking along. They believed
but didn’t recognize Jesus at this time. In this incident, Jesus kept
them from recognizing Him, Jesus knew they needed someone to come up
beside them and talk with them, console them, model love for them,
educate them in the Scriptures, stay with them, encourage them, fire
them up. Today, different story. What direction are we walking?
Many people today may talk
about Jesus, Christianity or religion in a general sense but they don’t
recognize Jesus as the Son of God. I believe they want to believe but
they are kept from recognizing Him as the son of God. Why would a person
not want to believe in heaven? Knowing that this life will come to an
end some day why would you not want to believe in life after death? And
for that matter, believe in a better life than this one? It seems so
sensible to believe in Jesus and heaven but many people are kept from
believing. It’s not God. It’s the world. The distractions of this world
can make an unbeliever or a skeptic out of people. Question is: which
camp do we believe in? Which do we live in?
Let Us Pray: Risen Lord, be our
resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life for us and all
whom you have made. Be the resurrection and the life for those who feel
forsaken. Be the resurrection and the life for those who live as if you
do not. Be the resurrection and the life for those who do not believe
they need resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life in us
who know the good but fail to do it, who have not been judged but still
judge, who know love but still live for self, who know hope but yield to despair. Be the resurrection and the life for us Mary and Martha's, help our own unbelief.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1z8l0F6WpU
Hillsong United - Mountain - Lyrics - Zion Album 2013
www.youtube.com
Hillsong United - Mountain with Lyrics from their latest new album Zion 2013. More songs from this
Read: Luke 24:13 - 35, John 11:17 - 45 (21 - 27 in particular)
Response to the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death is like anything else. We see, we hear, we question, and we consider. And we either believe or we do not. Do you remember seeing the master illusionist, David Copperfield, make a jet airplane disappear? Did you believe it? I didn’t believe it but I also couldn’t explain it. You see Copperfield is an illusionist. He creates illusions. It’s not real. But how did he do it if he really didn’t make that plane disappear? Did he really make the plane disappear or was it a very large, very complex use of mirrors and camera misdirection? He wont tell you his complete secret lest he risk losing his paying audience and television sponsorship and the mystery behind it all.
While we may not completely understand how a David Copperfield performs his great illusions, it’s fascinating, but not believable. It is very entertaining, but it is not reality. But what about the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? Was this too only an illusion or a trick to make people believe in a person who was not real or maybe was not who or what He claimed to be? Do we believe Him or do we not? Do we believe in His resurrection or do we not? Wholehearted belief in the reality of Resurrection is central to Christianity, the Christian message of faith, hope and eternal everlasting love and life. Some consider Jesus but do not recognize Him. Some know Scripture, yet they do not believe.
Some consider Jesus but do not recognize Him. They walk the wrong way on the road to Emmaus. There are many people, however, who only consider Jesus briefly but are kept somehow from believing in Him and trusting Him as their Savior. These two disciples were kept from recognizing Jesus at this particular time as they were slowly walking along. They believed but didn’t recognize Jesus at this time. In this incident, Jesus kept them from recognizing Him, Jesus knew they needed someone to come up
beside them and talk with them, console them, model love for them, educate them in the Scriptures, stay with them, encourage them, fire them up. Today, different story. What direction are we walking?
Many people today may talk about Jesus, Christianity or religion in a general sense but they don’t recognize Jesus as the Son of God. I believe they want to believe but they are kept from recognizing Him as the son of God. Why would a person not want to believe in heaven? Knowing that this life will come to an end some day why would you not want to believe in life after death? And for that matter, believe in a better life than this one? It seems so sensible to believe in Jesus and heaven but many people are kept from believing. It’s not God. It’s the world. The distractions of this world can make an unbeliever or a skeptic out of people. Question is: which camp do we believe in? Which do we live in?
Let Us Pray: Risen Lord, be our resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life for us and all whom you have made. Be the resurrection and the life for those who feel forsaken. Be the resurrection and the life for those who live as if you do not. Be the resurrection and the life for those who do not believe they need resurrection and life. Be the resurrection and the life in us who know the good but fail to do it, who have not been judged but still judge, who know love but still live for self, who know hope but yield to despair. Be the resurrection and the life for us Mary and Martha's, help our own unbelief.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1z8l0F6WpU
Hillsong United - Mountain - Lyrics - Zion Album 2013
www.youtube.com
Hillsong United - Mountain with Lyrics from their latest new album Zion 2013. More songs from this
Hillsong United - Mountain - Lyrics - Zion Album 2013
www.youtube.com
Hillsong United - Mountain with Lyrics from their latest new album Zion 2013. More songs from this
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