Grace and Peace Episode 22

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 22
Presbyterian Church of Easton
February 9, 2021

Watch Episode 22

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

Heidelberg Catechism

45Q. How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us?

A. First, by his resurrection he has overcome death so that he might make us share in the righteousness he obtained for us by his death. Second, by His power, we too are already raised to a new life. Third, Christ’s resurrection is a sure pledge to us of our blessed resurrection.

Sometime around the year 30, some of Jesus’ disciples found an empty tomb where Jesus’ body should have been.   Later they met Jesus, resurrected from the dead.   They began meeting on Sunday mornings to talk about all that Jesus said and did.   Some of these groups began writing down the stories and teachings of Jesus.   The leaders of the groups started writing letters to each other and to churches.  What they were trying to do was to explain the reality they had experienced.   There was no question about it.   They had seen and heard and ate with and even touched the resurrected Jesus.  In their meetings and stories and letters they talked about and wrote down their thoughts about the meaning of the resurrection. 

One of them wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’  ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’”  As Christians, we are promised forgiveness of sin.  Death is no longer feared. (1 Corinthians 15:17,54-55) 

Paul also wrote, “We 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.”   As Christians, we are baptized into new life.  Our old lives are washed away in the baptismal waters.   We emerge from the water with new identities as children of God. (Romans 6:4)

And Paul wrote this, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”  As Christians, we are promised that when Jesus returns we will be resurrected from the dead with new bodies that will “belong— body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ”. (Romans 8:11) (Heidelberg Catechism A1)

Let’s pray.  Lord Jesus, we are so grateful for your suffering, death, and resurrection.   We thank you for making us right with God.   We thank you for the transformation in our lives that we have experienced.  And we thank you for the promise of eternal life.   Amen.