A very good morning to you my precious friends

1 Peter 1:21 says “Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory.”

As we enter the Christmas season I felt that we need to be reminded of the wonderful truths of the precious Gospel. We often need to be reminded that the reason that our Lord Jesus came was to die for us.

We cannot reduce the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is ONLY by faith in Him that we are redeemed from the slave-market of sin. Only by faith in the sacrificial death of the Son of God, can our sins be forgiven and eternal life received. That faith includes Christ rising from the dead. It is only because of His glorious resurrection from the dead, that we have the unshakable assurance that our bodies will also be raised to life immortal.

It is through faith in Christ that we are called believers in God. It is not sufficient to believe in the historical Jesus. We must believe in the sacrificial offering of Himself on the Cross, for He is the SON that was given, the CHILD that was born.

He is the Light of the world and the Door of the sheepfold, into life eternal. Only those who enter the fold through faith in HIM discover He is the good Shepherd, Who leads us by still waters, restores our soul, and satisfies us with good things. Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life eternal. NO-ONE comes to God the Father except through God the Son - by the power of God the Holy Spirit.

Only in Him are we justified freely by His grace and given access to the heavenly Throne of God. Only in Him can we gain peace with God, be clothed in Christ's righteousness, and discover the peace of God that passes all understanding. He alone will protect us from the wrath to come for He alone conquered death and hell at the Cross forever - and only through faith in HIM, will this mortal put on immortality and this corruptible body be clothed in an incorruptible resurrection.

We were not redeemed from our futile life with perishable things like silver or gold. We were saved with the precious blood of the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world - through His death on the Cross. He is the same Lamb on the throne, Who unseals the seven-sealed scroll that sets in motion the final act in God's eternal plan of redemption.

The unblemished and spotless blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. He was born into His own creation for our sake - so that by faith in HIM we might be credited with Christ's righteousness and justified in the eyes of God. It is His glorious resurrection that gained victory over death and hell. Faith alone in Jesus secures the promised hope of our bodily resurrection and life with Him in the heavenly realm.

Christ shed His blood for our sin... but His resurrection from the dead, in a body of flesh and bone, is our assurance that we too will rise into eternal life. We will also receive a body of flesh and bone, a body like HIS glorious Body. We were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold. We were bought with a price - the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Without Jesus’s resurrection, we would be forgiven of our sin but remain in the grave. But Christ has been raised from the dead, never to die again - and we are raised into newness of life in HIM.

Although death was brought into this world through one man who sinned, it was also through the MAN Who did not sin that resurrection from the dead was secured for all who would believe. Just as our identity with Adam ensures we will die, so all who are identified with Christ, by faith, will be made alive. He is the first fruits of those who are asleep... and because of our position in Christ, we can shout, victoriously "O DEATH where is your sting NOW?"

It is no surprise that Peter wrote, "through HIM we are believers in God who are redeemed. Through HIM we are believers in God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory -  so that our faith and hope are in God, Who raised Christ from the dead."

The Lord Jesus was raised back to life and ascended into heaven and God has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every other name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW. All in heaven will bow before Him. Those on earth will bow and those under the earth will pay Him homage - without exception.

Humanity's appointed position as God's Regent (governor) over His creation was restored, when Christ sat down at the right hand of the Father. He is coming back to rule and reign on earth in righteousness and truth - just as God created man to do in the beginning.

No wonder that Paul was able to confirm that "our faith and hope are in God." Our faith in Christ rests on the Word of God for we trust the promises He has given, which are 'YES' and 'AMEN' in Christ.

Our blessed hope rests on our Lord JESUS, the Author and Finisher of our faith - Who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. What a glorious and Mighty Saviour we serve.

Prayer:

Father God, I praise and glorify Your holy name. By faith in the Lord Jesus, we are saved from the slave-market of sin. Thank You that You raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory and honour. Help me to always remember this tremendous work that Jesus did on the Cross, so that by faith in Him I am now bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh and remain secure in Him through time and into the eternal ages to come. Thank You Lord Jesus. AMEN.

Much love from Maurice and Margaret