Today, we will touch on what Jesus Christ has come to do in this world and what his death, burial, and resurrection mean for you today and for me today.
The Bible, in Romans chapter 10 verse 9, says:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
This scripture tells us about the principle of salvation. If you wanted to give your life to Jesus Christ, if you wanted to be born again, how would you do it? By confessing with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life and believing in your heart that God had raised him up from the dead, then thou shalt be saved. It is important that you believe in the resurrection from the dead. It is important that you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead because the Bible says that Jesus Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, the Holy Spirit.
So, the Holy Spirit raised up Jesus Christ from the dead after he had satisfied the legal requirements for our salvation. Remember that, in being born again, the Bible describes that Jesus Christ is the first begotten from the dead; so, being born again is resurrection from the dead. It’s a brand new life. The Bible says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
The Word of God is what brings true deliverance, and the moment you receive Christ, you are delivered. The gospel itself is the gospel of deliverance. Remember that salvation comes by confessing Jesus as Lord of your life and believing in his resurrection, because if Jesus Christ is not raised from the dead, then the gospel is in vain. But the Bible calls him the first begotten of the dead.
Jesus Christ proved his deity by his ascension. The Bible says that as the disciples watched, the cloud took him up out of their sight. Jesus levitated in the air and ascended back into heaven. Remember, he once said to his disciples and to the Jewish leaders: “What will you do if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he came from?” Oh, glory to God! He says, “What will you do if you see the Son of Man ascend from where he came?” This is remarkable. This is why Jesus Christ said, “I am from above.” He says, “I am from above.” He came from above. He came from heaven. He said, “I and my Father are one.” Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He says if you wanted to know the truth, he said, “I am the truth.” He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
So, we can see that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of the resurrection from the dead. It’s the gospel of deliverance. It’s the gospel of blamelessness—that God is no longer counting your sins against you; that God has taken you out of the power of darkness, out of the influence of Satan, and he’s translated you from the influence and the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son.
So, it is clear that being born again is not a new lease on life. Being born again is not a change in character, a decision to begin to do good. No. No. Being born again is a complete change in your nature because the nature of man is to sin. The nature of man is to do wrong. And no matter how many times you change, no matter how many times you say, “I set new goals,” it will fail because it’s in the nature of man to do wrong. This is why the Bible says that the blood of goats could not save them. Those sacrifices that they made in the Old Testament to God could not rid them of sin. Jesus still had to come. Jesus still had to come to save them.
So now Jesus has come. He’s walked this earth. He’s demonstrated to us God. Jesus Christ is God. The Bible says that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. He says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. This Word that was God took on human form in the form of Jesus, and he walked this earth. He experienced everything that we could ever experience. He was hungry. He was joyful. He was tired, but he was supernatural. He walked on waters. The fish heard his voice and they obeyed him. The wind heard his voice and they obeyed him. Legions of demons heard his voice and they obeyed him.
Then he laid his life down for you. He laid his life down. Remember, Jesus Christ said, “No man has power over my life.” He says, “I have the power to lay down my life and take it up again.” In other words, “I decide to die.” It was his decision to die for you. He was not under compulsion to do so, but he decided to do so. He showed obedience. The Bible says he was obedient even unto death. Hallelujah.
Let’s go to Philippians chapter number two, verse five to eleven:
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
In other words, let your attitude be the kind that was shown to us by Jesus Christ. Who, being in the form of God—who, though he was God, did not demand to cling to his rights as God. I’m telling you, he decided to die for your sins. The Bible says he laid aside his mighty power and glory. He made himself of no reputation, took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. He was tortured like a man. He was humiliated like a man. His flesh was torn. He was ridiculed. He was spat on for your sake. He decided to take this burden upon himself. It was his choice. He says, “I lay down my life.” He called himself the Good Shepherd.
The Bible says, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” And what was his sin? Because he called himself the Son of God. Because he told them the truth. Men killed him for telling the truth. He decided to lay his life down for your sake. What a bundle of contradiction—that men whose hands were so full of sin were judging someone so righteous, someone so kind, someone so loving. Wicked men judged a righteous man. Wicked men judged God. What a contradiction. But he allowed it. Oh, the Bible says he did not consider the shame. He says he looked at the glory that should follow. He looked at what would happen to your life should you become born again. He looked at the implications for you. He looked at it and he thought, “Oh, if this man, if this woman would accept me into her life. If this man, if this woman, if this girl, if this boy will make me Lord of their lives.” They will be called into a class of divine beings.
This is why he came. Remember, he said that a man saw a field; he saw a treasure in a field. He says he didn’t go and buy the treasure; he says he bought the whole field. He bought the whole field. His joy for one person getting saved—he likened it to a shepherd who had 100 sheep, lost one, left the 99, and went out to look for that one lost sheep. That is how important you are to him. If you were the only person in this world, Jesus Christ would still have come to die for you.
When Jesus Christ hung on that cross, he bore your sins. He bore all your wrongdoings on that cross. That’s what Jesus Christ did for you. When he hung on that cross, hanging from his hands, he died a criminal’s death for your sake. And when he died, because the sins of the world were laid upon him, he became sin. The Bible says he became sin who knew no sin. So, the Father turned his back on him. The Father forsook him. Why? Because God is too holy to look on sin. So he cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”—”My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The Bible says he gave up the ghost. Then he died, and then he went to hell.
Oh, let me show you what happened in hell. Colossians chapter 2, starting from verse 9:
“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
In other words, all of God is embodied in Christ Jesus. And when you are born again, the Bible says you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power. Jesus Christ is the head of all principality and power. In verse 12, he says you were buried with him. So when he died on the cross, you died with him because he died on your behalf. When he went to the grave, he says you were buried with him. Wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who had raised him up from the dead. You see? So when Jesus Christ was raised up from the dead, you were raised up with him. This is what happened when you gave your heart to Christ. You were raised up with him and you were given a new life, a brand new life—the God-kind of life, not the same human-kind of life. The God-kind of life is a life that is not dependent on the blood flowing in your veins or your beating heart. No, no, no. That life is the life of God.
He says God has forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the charges that were proved against you—the list of commandments which you failed to obey. He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. And in this way, God took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin. The Bible says that Jesus Christ, when he went to hell—look at what happened. He says, “having spoiled principalities and powers.” In other words, he disarmed the devil in hell. As a man, he disarmed the devil. He made a public spectacle of them. He made an open show. All of heaven was watching as he disarmed the power of darkness. The Bible says he triumphed over them in it openly. It was not hidden. All of heaven saw this victory. And then God raised him, when he had satisfied the requirement for our salvation, up from the dead by his glory, the Holy Spirit.
Oh, praise God! So, you see, when you are born again, you have the life of God in you. Remember, Jesus Christ said, in Luke 10:19:
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
It doesn’t matter whether it’s coming from the gas, from the soil, from solids, in liquid form, or in subatomic molecules. It doesn’t matter. He says, “nothing shall by any means.” So, by whatever means—whether it is by craftiness—he says, “nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Remember, he says that these signs shall follow them that believe:
“In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)
Now, what is he telling you? He’s giving you the credentials. When you become born again, when you believe in the resurrection of Christ, when you believe that God raised him up on the third day out of the grave and that he’s alive today—he says when you believe that, these are your credentials. He says you will cast out devils. Remember, Jesus Christ gave a story where he said you cannot go into another man’s house and take his property until you bind him, until you overpower him. You known what he was telling them? He was showing them how he was going to defeat the devil. So, he went to hell and made a public spectacle of them. He threw them off of him and he defeated them in hell. He defeated the devil in their terrain. And he wasn’t even born again yet, because remember that Jesus Christ is the first begotten from the dead only after the resurrection. So, you can see how he belittled them.
Now, he says that if you believe in him, what will happen? He says you will be able to cast out devils. You can imagine that this will be such a little thing—casting out devils. You tell them to get out in the name of Jesus and they will get out. He says, “they shall speak with new tongues.” So, number one is you cast out devils. Number two is that you speak in tongues. These are the credentials to know that someone is born again. He says, “they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” It doesn’t matter that it’s a communicable disease. It doesn’t matter that it’s an infectious disease. Your life is not in your blood. When you are born again, you have the life of God. It’s superior to the human life.
And then, you begin to live such a glorious life, such a life of joy and enjoyment. Remember, the Bible says that God has predestined you to walk in glorious paths. He says he’s made this path for you to enjoy. You know that God wants you to enjoy life. Today is your day. Now is your moment. Your moment for what? Your moment of salvation. If you’re not born again, now is your time. Remember, the Bible says that if you believe in your heart that God had raised Jesus Christ up from the dead and you confess Jesus as Lord of your life, knowing that he was raised up from the dead, he says, “thou shalt be saved.” Now is your moment. Don’t pause it now. Don’t go away now. Now is not the time to walk away. Now is the time. It’s your moment of salvation.
If you want to give your heart to Christ, I want you to say this after me: “Oh Lord God, I believe with all my heart in Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. I believe he died for me and God raised him from the dead. I believe he’s alive today. I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord of my life from this day.”
