LifeLink Devotions for Friday, August 16, 2024

In Philippians chapter three the Apostle Paul gives us four principles for rejoicing in the Lord. All of them have a theological basis. As we discovered yesterday, proper theology is essential to the experience of enduring joy. We learned that joy can only be found in salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ and not by the works of man.

Today, in theological principle number two, we discover the joy of knowing the resurrection power of Jesus in our lives.

Philippians 3:10-11 “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

If we are going to rejoice in the Lord, we must grow in our knowledge of the Lord who is in us. Specifically, we need to know the power of resurrection life. You may wonder how resurrection life is possible when you have not died yet. Well, in Christ you have. Listen to how your salvation is described in Romans chapter six.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

“⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Good news. You have died. You died to sin when you came to Jesus for salvation from sin. Here’s more good news. When you spiritually died to sin, God gave you the resurrected life of Jesus to live in you by the power of the Holy Spirit. You have been united with Jesus in His resurrection. Death has no power over you. And yet we allow sin to continue to have power over us. This is a joy sucker. It should not be so.

There is an alternative: to know the resurrection power of Jesus in our lives that conquers sin and death. But for us to know it’s power we must first consider ourselves dead to sin. We must stop keeping sin alive by desiring it or placing value on it. Crucify the sin in your life. The resurrection power of Jesus will grow up in you and give you a life filled with joy. It’s the truth.

Pastor John