E121 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Jesus Beyond the Cross - Part 4 of 4 - Final Episode

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #121

Title: Jesus Beyond the Cross – Part 4 of 4

Date: August 28, 2023

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse: Romans 1:4 – ‘and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.’

Intro: Did you know that Jesus’s resurrection from the dead is a part of the Gospel?

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is just as crucial to our salvation as His death on the cross for our sins. For if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead it means His sacrifice was not sufficient payment for the sins of the human race. It means there is no atonement for our sin.

But rest assured… Jesus did rise from the dead on the 3rd day after He died. This fact was witnessed by many people who saw Him afterward, and numerous people with whom Jesus interacted.

Tied to the resurrection is Jesus’s ascension into Heaven, also witnessed by numerous people and they testified to this fact also.

But how do we know for sure?

Devotion focus: Jesus’s resurrection changed the disciples.

First thing I want to present you with is the change in Jesus’s disciples after they saw Him and interacted with Him after He rose from the dead. And then examine some of the blessings we have because Jesus lives, even now.

Mark 14:50 tells us, ‘Then they all forsook Him and fled.’ This was the night of Jesus’s arrest and subsequent crucifixion the following day.

So the disciples went into hiding.

And on the morning of the 3rd Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw Jesus alive. He told her to go tell His disciples. But when she did, they didn’t believe her. Even after Jesus appeared to the group, one of them who was absent and who later earned the nickname Doubting Thomas, declared he wouldn’t believe unless he touched the scars of the nails and spear.

Jesus was gracious and told Thomas when He saw him later, to touch where the nails and spear pierced Him. Thomas then declared belief, but Jesus told him it was better to believe without proof. Hmmm…

Later, after Jesus ascended the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and empowered them to testify of Jesus's life. This account is found in Acts1:5 – “…for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."’

 This empowerment was necessary to carry out Jesus’s instructions found in this passage from Luke 24 verses 45-49 –

Vs 45 –‘And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Vs 46 – ‘Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

Vs 47 – “…and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Vs 48 – “And you are witnesses of these things.

Vs 49 – “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

Listen, Christian, this instruction from vs 47 applies to you and me. To help us with strengthening our faith enough to obey Jesus’s instruction we have the following verses to consider. These declare the evidence of Jesus’s resurrection.

Act 1:3 – ‘to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.’

Act 4:33 – ‘And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.’

Romans 6:4 & 5:

Vs 4 – ‘Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.

Vs 5 – ‘For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection…’

1 Peter 1:3-5:

Vs 3 – ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Vs 4 – ‘to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

Vs 5 – ‘who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’

And Peter, the one who denied Jesus while afraid for his life, is later found preaching in the temple as recorded in Acts chapters 3 and 4.

Summary: We have the assurance of Scripture based on eyewitness accounts of Jesus’s resurrection.

We have the knowledge of how the disciples changed from fearful men in hiding to going out at risk to their lives and preaching the Gospel.

We have the record of Jesus ascending into Heaven with the promise to come again.

Action to consider: Memorize this verse and consider it daily for the next 30 days:

Romans 6:4 – ‘Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.