A New LIfe Because of Death

Dear Readers,

God writes through St. Paul in Romans 6:1-14

What should we say then? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, sin a person who has died is freed from sin's claims. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies. Death no longer rules over Him. For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He live to God. So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those whoa re alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace. (Christian Standard Bible translation)

This is a great explanation of who were are as Christians. Sin does not have any power over us. We have the power to say to sin, "See ya. It's not been good to know you. Go away from me." God gave to us the power to walk away from sin. We died to sin. Our sins were crucified with Christ Jesus. By means of His sacrifice upon the cross, Jesus took away from us our sins. Through the action of Baptism, those sins were drowned and buried with Jesus. And then we were made alive in Jesus because He was raised from the dead. Since Jesus was raised from the dead, so are we! Hurray and hallelujah! We are alive and free from sin, death, and the so-called power of Satan. Our freedom came at a cost. The cost was the life of Jesus. And the benefit of the cost is life with Jesus today and every day of our earthly lives. And when God the Father calls us home to heaven, we will live eternally with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit forever. So while we live on the earth, now, let us offer our lives, which includes words, thoughts, as well as actions, to God in righteousness. Amen, and Hallelujah!

A New Season

Greetings to all,

It is time for a new season. I'm not talking about winter or spring or summer or fall. Those recycle and return. What I'm talking about is a new season of life. The Bible says, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." Every day is a new day in and with God. So no matter what today holds, let us rejoice and be glad in it. I tell you, it will surprise a lot of people when you go through one of the worst days in your life with a smile on your face.

Struggles and strife are normal to people every day. Some days are better than others. So when we go through each day with joy because this is a day that the Lord has made, we have a different perspective on the day. It's normal to be upset and angry when things go wrong. It's normal to be sad. And it is also normal to be happy and joyous. Yet what's not normal to people is to recognize and believe that this is the Lord's day. He made it. He created it especially for us. This day is a new day and a new season.

For me, I want to know the answer to the question, "Why?" Why is today a new season from yesterday? Why would we rejoice, especially when the day is wrought with sickness, sadness, and grief? The reason why is a day that occurred long ago that we call "Good Friday." This is the day that Jesus died. It was a day of horror, grief, betrayal, and death. It was a sad day for all of those people who loved Jesus. And even for Jesus it was a painful and bloody day. But for you and me, it is a joyous day. It is the day on which God saved the world from sin, death, hell, and Satan. Through all that grief, sorrow, blood, pain, humiliation, and death, we receive the gift of life. We rejoice every day, because Jesus died for us all, so that we have the promise of sins forgiven. Now add Easter Sunday into the mix. Easter is the day that God broke the bonds of sin and death through Jesus' resurrection. So now we live in the reality of a new resurrected life. We are free from Satan's so-called power and we live in the power of the almighty God. The problems of life and death attempt to bring us down. Yet we rejoice through our sufferings and struggles because of what Jesus did for us.

So every day is a new season. Every day is something new to explore. Every day is a new season of life. Every day is God's day. Remember why each day is a day of rejoicing and rejoice.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Robert