April 17 Devotion - Jesus' Resurrection

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that He was seen by Peter, then by the twelve. ⁶ After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once.

 If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

 فانني سلمت اليكم في الاول ما قبلته انا ايضا ان المسيح مات من اجل خطايانا حسب الكتب. 4 وانه دفن وانه قام في اليوم الثالث حسب الكتب.

5 وانه ظهر لصفا ثم للاثني عشر. 6 وبعد ذلك ظهر دفعة واحدة لاكثر من خمس مئة اخ.

  ¹¹ لانك ان اعترفت بفمك بالرب يسوع وآمنت بقلبك ان الله اقامه من الاموات خلصت.  10 لان القلب يؤمن به للبر والفم يعترف به للخلاص.

1 Corinthians 15: 3-5, Romans 10:8-10

Believing that the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead is essential for Christians. Merely recognizing that He died for our sins is not enough; we must accept His resurrection in order to receive eternal life. Christ paid our debt, but His sacrifice on the cross means nothing if He possesses no power over the grave. In vanquishing evil and death, the Lord made our salvation possible.

Jesus’ resurrection proved He was able to remove sin and its penalty. Assuming Christ remained dead would mean accepting the opposite—that believers are still in sin. And the inevitable end of a sinful life is death. Consequently, a person who denies Christ’s eternal nature looks toward a void future.

Instead of enjoying Christian liberty and anticipating a home in heaven, those who reject resurrection are slaves to the present, with no real hope or meaning in life. Career, family, and good works can offer brief pleasure but not the kind of joy that comes from knowing we are right with the Lord and working in His will.

Resurrection is not a denominational issue or a point for theological debate. Either we believe Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven or we do not. If we reject His victory over the grave, we deny ourselves a place in eternity. But if we accept the truth, Paul assures that we will be saved.

I invite you to repeat the following prayer for yourself:

Abba Father, thank You for Your unfailing, inseparable, deep and everlasting love for me, Your abundant blessings in my life, and for the riches of Your grace upon my life. Jesus I confess that You are my Lord, and believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. Jesus I thank you for saving me through your atoning death on The Cross at Golgotha and for making me righteous in the eyes of God our Father. Thank you Jesus that because I believe in Your resurrection I am granted eternal life. God I praise You, revere You, worship You, I stand in awe of You, I lift You up on high, and glorify Your Holy Name. I pray in Jesus’ Holy Name. To Him be the power, the glory, the majesty, the blessings, and the dominion before all time and now and forever and ever, and unto ages of all ages. Amen.

Jesus loves you,

In Him,

Wagdi Henein