Saturday, March 22, 2008

Resurrection!

For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.

But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.

So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.

- The Apostle Paul to the Corinthians (New Living Translation)

4 comments:

greene5 said...

Rick, thank you for this posting..and so many others. I enjoy coming everyday and reading your views. You have a gift for making me understand and see a different side of life, religion and my beliefs. Tricia and Nate's struggles -- challenging and tragic they are -- are bringing so many others closer to Jesus. This they should rejoice in!

marcia said...

Praying that your gatherings this Easter morning will be filled to the brim, and overflowing, with people looking for the Jesus of whom you speak! May they find the Risen King alive and well in NHC, and go home with new life in Him!
And it would be really, really wonderful if you would get a call right at the end of the second gathering, so your people could literally pray you out the door for a trip to Durham to stand by while Tricia gets her new lungs!
He is Risen....He is risen indeed!

Terry Gray Sr. said...

Rick,
How powerful a message you preached this morning! I again came away with the thought you had touched every heart in the NHC. I know you did mine. I am sure it was the best Easter Service I have ever attended.

I came away with such a peace and better understanding that Jesus truely has done all that is neccessary, all we have to do is accept him as our Lord.

I really enjoyed the band also, they most definatly rocked this morning.

Hope your trip is a safe one today and that good news awaits you and Gail.

We will be praying for that.

Sarah H said...

Hi Rick,

I just wanted to add my thanks for your postings. Somehow you are able to put things down into words which are understandable and make sense. I really struggle to understand much of the bible - I missed out on bible classes as a child and never went to church and now at the age of 37 I'm struggling to determine my faith and what it all means.

I sometimes wonder how the person I talk to, ask for help and thank for things links in with everything else. It feels like a constant struggle to understand. Some days I strive to understand and on others I give up but your blog really helps to make order of the muddle in my head.

I will be back! Many thanks for your words and wishing a happy and healthy Easter to you and all of yours.

Sarah H in Kent, England