Psalm 118:24 - The Resurrection Changes Everything

Myfriend, I am convinced that this is the day that Psalm 118:24 propheticallypoints to—that day, the first day of the week when Jesus Christ came out of thegrave victorious over death, sin, the devil, and hell itself. Jesus rose fromthe dead, alive, never to die again, eternally living because He is the eternalGod. Thisis the day that the Lord has made. That very special day 2,000 years ago, whenJesus came out of the grave, changed everything. If Jesus had only died and wehad been told that He died for our sins, we could say that is good. But whatbrings authenticity, effectiveness, and justification to that truth is the factthat He rose from the dead. Romans 4:23-25: “Now it was not written for his sakealone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to uswho believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who wasdelivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Theearly disciples, when they preached, referred to the resurrection of JesusChrist again and again in every message. My friend, until the disciplesexperienced the resurrection of Christ, they did not have the courage theydisplayed afterward. Before that, they were fearful. They were hiding. Theywere in fear for their lives. But when they encountered the resurrected Saviorduring those 40 days before He ascended into heaven, something changed. Whatchanged was that, after waiting those 10 days in the upper room, the HolySpirit of God came upon them. The Holy Spirit is the One who made the truth ofthe resurrection of Jesus Christ personal. He made that truth come alive intheir souls, and they were willing to be martyred for the cause of Christ. Allbut one of those disciples were martyred. John is the only one who survivedmartyrdom and died a natural death. My friend, that is the difference theresurrection makes. Thatis, in a sense, what Paul is speaking of in Philippians 1:7 when he tells thechurch at Philippi, “Just as it is right for me to think this of you all,because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in thedefense and confirmation of the gospel”—remember the gospel is the death,burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ( Corinthians 15:1-11)  Paul is in chains. He is suffering. He has been through much. Hedoes not know exactly what the future holds while he is in those chains. But hehas grace in the midst of his struggles and his problems. He is talking aboutgrace—grace that gives him everything he needs to be all that he should be,with the peace of God, the joy of God, and the completeness of Jesus Christliving in him and through him.  John1:1-14 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,and the Word was God… and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and webeheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full ofgrace and truth.” Jesus is grace personified. When you have Jesus, and youenter into the fellowship of His sufferings, you recognize that He suffersalongside you.  Rememberwhen Paul was saved on the road to Damascus and he said, “Lord, who are You?”Jesus said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Jesus goes through oursuffering with us. He weeps with us. He cares for us. We are partakers of Hisgrace. This is not just grace that helps us get through a tough time—it isJesus Himself who is present with us, helping us through every difficulty. Evenwhen we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, the psalmist said,“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear noevil.” Why? “For Thou art with me.” Oh, my friend, through the ministry, work,and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can experience the grace of Jesusevery moment of our lives if we will simply believe and trust Him. We arepartakers of His grace, and I trust you will know that today. Hallelujah—He isrisen! He is risen indeed!