Resurrection

DEVOTION 1 PETER RESURRECTION 1 Peter 1:3-5 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. NIV What other gods that people worship can say their god died for them and was raised from the dead to be a living Savior? This is the core issue of our faith. Jesus is the firstborn of the resurrection. True he resurrected Lazarus from the dead, but that was to prove it is within the power of God to raise all of us from the dead. OH death where is thy sting! It would seem to me that as much effort the human race exerts in trying to extent their lifespans, cheating death or at least prolonging life and putting off the inevitable, they would see the wonderful truth of the resurrection. Death is not the end of life, but merely the next step in eternal life. The main difference between believers and non-believers is that those who believe have already begun their eternal life, while those who do not believe are only living a temporal life that will someday end. It is beyond me why they cannot see that. Or is it they have been so deceived by Satan they are blinded to the truth? If our inheritance will never perish, spoil or fade, it is obvious that their will. If ours is kept in heaven, theirs is not. If we are shielded by God’s power, they are not. What a horrible existence they must live, knowing they have nothing awaiting for them at the end of their lives. Maybe that is why they spend their days trying to satisfy the desires of their flesh, they have nothing else. They have no hope, no peace, and no joy. They will not be partakers in the resurrection. We, the believers in Christ Jesus have a living hope, he is alive and is our hope, as the living savior of our souls. God has shown his mercy and given us this new birth, we have been born again a new creation in Christ. We have overcome the ways of the world and accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. We are once again in the paradise of God and able to eat from the tree of life, living forever. It does not depend on how good we are, or on how well we can keep from sinning, for that is impossible in these bodies we live in, yes we should try as best we can. But what it does depend on is our overcoming the deception of Satan and seeing the truth of God, accepting his mercy, accepting his salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. We are in the resurrection.