Musings from Easter Sunday
Easter is an interesting Sunday. A lot of people attend worship services who are rarely seen during the remainder of the year. I can relate…. I have been there. I always went to church on Easter with whatever girl I was seeing at the time, when I was younger. Here is a synopsis of my message last Sunday.
Transformation REALLY HAPPENS!
Do people really change? Human nature is corrupt. There is nothing innocent about us! Only a cursory reading of the Old Testament serves as a convincing reminder that the sinful nature is all too real. Genesis alone is filled with dark stories of hate, murder, immoral conduct, and disdain for the authority of God.
Do people really change? A young and proud 17 year old Joseph forgives his brothers after experiencing separation from his family, false accusations, and imprisonment. Joseph appears to have changed…His heart experiences a transformation somewhere along the journey. I can’t help but think of the phrase seen repeatedly in Scripture in reference to Joseph: And the Lord was with Joseph… But do people today really change? Is transformation just an element of a fairy tale that never comes true? Churches are filled to the brim with people who display their imperfections for the whole world to see on some days. And on other days heinous secrets remain secluded in the depths of hearts darkened by sin. I don’t think people ever really change…We are just a hopeless lot of flawed human beings. Thankfully that is not true.
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:3-4)
Outside of Christ there is no hope for spiritual transformation, or long lasting, meaningful life change. The resurrection of Jesus opens the door for an authentic conversion of the heart that leads to life transformation.
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:1-4)
A new life in Christ is made possible by the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Do people really change? Human nature is corrupt. There is nothing innocent about us! Only a cursory reading of the Old Testament serves as a convincing reminder that the sinful nature is all too real. Genesis alone is filled with dark stories of hate, murder, immoral conduct, and disdain for the authority of God.
Do people really change? A young and proud 17 year old Joseph forgives his brothers after experiencing separation from his family, false accusations, and imprisonment. Joseph appears to have changed…His heart experiences a transformation somewhere along the journey. I can’t help but think of the phrase seen repeatedly in Scripture in reference to Joseph: And the Lord was with Joseph… But do people today really change? Is transformation just an element of a fairy tale that never comes true? Churches are filled to the brim with people who display their imperfections for the whole world to see on some days. And on other days heinous secrets remain secluded in the depths of hearts darkened by sin. I don’t think people ever really change…We are just a hopeless lot of flawed human beings. Thankfully that is not true.
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:3-4)
Outside of Christ there is no hope for spiritual transformation, or long lasting, meaningful life change. The resurrection of Jesus opens the door for an authentic conversion of the heart that leads to life transformation.
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:1-4)
A new life in Christ is made possible by the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.