Jesus Died For Me And Rose Again

November 3, 2016

Jesus Died For Me And Rose Again

But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.

1 Thessalonians 5:8

Here in the concluding portion of this letter, Paul ends where he began by affirming faith, hope and love. And to make his point, he uses the metaphor of the armor of God which he will expand ten years later in chapter 6 of his letter to the Ephesians. The NLT uses the word ‘confidence’ of our salvation where many other translations use the word ‘hope.’ Sometimes, in our culture, the word hope has a fleeting connation to it; it just doesn’t seem to carry the full weight of Biblical hope which is having the full assurance, the absolute trust in the outcome. There is nothing fleeting about Paul’s hope in his (or our) salvation. He staked his life on his belief! Why? He tells us in verse 10.

In verse 10, Paul affirms the basic Christian Creed: Christ died for us and rose again. The truth of this creed begs a very serious question. How different would your life be if you believed this creed? I don’t mean that you mentally assent to its theological truth, but like Paul you had full assurance and absolute trust in the truth that Christ died for you, and Christ rose again to give you new life. (See 2 Corinthians 5:17)

As I write this, I am looking forward to when it will be published on November 3^rd. On this day I will arrive at Mission Hospital at 7AM for a cardiac catheterization procedure. My cardiologist said he is not expecting anything significant that would need surgery – maybe a stent or two. But that’s what he said almost four years ago and I ended up having cardiac bypass surgery with 4 bypasses. So I am a bit apprehensive. Even so, I know how I will begin my day; I’ll use Paul’s creed.

Jesus died for me and rose again.

I invite you to let that affirmation be ringing in your ears, and heart, as you venture out into the world for your day.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.