Christ was redemption-driven; He is risen; Power is given

Lunminthang Haokip *

OTD - ONE TIME DEATH : Death and judgement will ultimately come to every living soul (Hebrews 9:27), "Just as a man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." This verse negates the theory of purgatory. Nothing can be done to change one's fate after death. Regretting in hell will have no remedy.

The right time to work out one's own salvation is NOW. It will be a disastrous folly not to repent and receive the grace, while we can, of our Lord made available by His resurrection. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also be in His resurrection (Romans 6:5)."

Immersion baptism is a divine take on His burial and rise to life. There are Churches in which baptism is taken lightly. We may consider a person fit to be baptised when he or she attains a particular age. But heaven will think otherwise.

Scriptural insinuation in Romans 6:4 affirms that nothing lesser than deep repentance and identification with the death, burial and rising of Jesus should lead to immersion baptism. "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even do we also should walk in newness of life."

HE IS THE RESURRECTION: The doctrine of the resurrection had been made clear by Lord Jesus Himself in John 11:25, Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

To those who believe in His Lordship, teachings, divinity, and resurrection power, eternal life is made available after earthly existence. He indeed is 'the resurrection, and the life.' No one else in human history could say, before his death, that "The Son of men is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill Him; after He is killed, He shall rise the third day (Mark 9:31)."

We believe in worldly trends and ads. No one has the faintest doubt that eating a food item in a restro will quench one's hunger. Or we have no reason to doubt the guidelines of a job interview splashed in a newspaper. Then why do we soft-pedal the word of God ? On Jesus, Ephesians 1:7 says, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

Disbelieving this will add up to rejection of the forgiveness offered. To doubting Thomas, Jesus said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20:29)." On the day of judgment, many doomed souls will run for cover in vain for having not taken the Lord at His Word.

THE POTENT POWER OF THE RESURRECTION : The power of the resurrection, if applied by faith in full measure, and if the sermon on such a mind-boggling event comes from a prayerful anointed preacher on the pulpit, it can restore a dead pew to penitent vibrancy. Dead marriages are found in homes where the teaching of the Lord takes a backseat.

More often than not, the wise counsel of Ecl. 4:12 is thrown to the winds, "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold chord is not easily broken." Smooth is a dwelling where hubby, wifey and Christ form a threefold chord. Confiding in Jesus has an unifying effect. The power of the resurrection will flatten all hurdles to blissful happiness where the Word rules the roost.

My conversion in 1994 gave a shot in the arm to my moribund secular job. ADC which otherwise meant Addl. Commissioner became "Additional Divine Connect." Jesus commissioned His disciples to spread the message of peace, love and apply the power of forgiveness to the world (John 20:23), "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

We can feel this unseen power working in the peace that floods the human heart when forgiveness takes place in hassled and torn relations. In 1999, Gladys Staines wrote her name in gold by having forgiven the murderer of her husband, Graham Staines, and her minor kids.

THE FINISHED WORK OF REDEMPTION : The power of the resurrection had been made available on this planet from the first day of the week when God raised His Son. The Sabbath was to mark the finished work of creation. The Lord's Day celebrates the finished work of redemption. History recorded that there were only 125 followers of Jesus, including His disciples, at the time of the crucifixion.

The Son of God prolonged His sojourn on earth for forty days after leaving His tomb empty. His resurrection was no resuscitation. His coming back to life after three days of ground burial made people wonder. This other-worldly miracle generated more believers. The fact that we have 2.3 Billion worldwide believers in Jesus, today, has its roots in the resurrection.

Forgiveness, any time, anywhere, is poised to produce peace. Sticking to the logic of the law of nature, forgiving someone who wronged you is next to impossible. But Jesus set a sterling example on the cross. Luke 23:34, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

On the first day of the week they came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people. Love filled the air. Early in the morning of the first day of the week, three women of Faith, Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary, the mother of the Lord, were seen visiting the burial place of Jesus. On Mary's part, It was final demonstration of the filial love of a mom who nursed her Son from 'womb to tomb.'

THE CALVARY 'TURBINES' ARE IN MOTION: Three huge turbines are constantly in motion to generate hydro power at Leimatak power station in Manipur. The power generated by Loktak waters is transmitted through HT cables and transformers to light up homes as desired. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit generate spiritual power 24X7.

We believers are to take the spiritual power to light up darkened hearts. Jesus Himself entrusted His disciples to be the media to take the power forward. Acts 1:8 says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Every person who confesses his or her sins, believes that all the sin and guilt he or she suffers have been nailed to the cross, and accepts Jesus as personal Lord and Saviour, has the privilege to make good use of the resurrection power.

Then they are in the favoured group to taste victory over all the problems they face on the surface of the earth. The resurrection was the greatest happening on earth. Ever since it occurred, the 'turbines' of Calvary never ceased to be in motion.

Our Churches and Fellowships are the 'transformers.' The responsibility to connect the power line to our homes is ours, individually. Humble yourself and accept the risen Jesus as your LORD; and the resurrection power is yours to take home. Christ died once for all it was OTD. One Time Death.

FOLLOWING JESUS HAS ETERNAL RAMIFICATIONS: Here on this crazy chaos between two poles, lesser people give vent to their fave faces in various fields by following them on social media. Instagram measures the popularity graph of an icon by the likes and the followers a celebrity can garner.

But this is an exercise in futility. It only feeds the worthless part of the soul. The fans follow the star with a zeal of madness only for the star to gain in tinsel stature. Fan-following makes a star a super star but the loyal followers remain obscure 'mini-stirs.'

Feelings involved in this brattish rat-race are not real. Neither of the parties in issue has the power to sustain fame. Elvis Presley had an insane fan-following. The dizzy mass-adulation craved for more fame. His pelvic poses ended up in drug-overdose. Global name dug an early grave for the vocal phenomenon.

In contrast, Salome, the mother of James and John desired eternal 'stardom' for her two sons, James and John. Matthew 20:21, "She said unto Him. Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on the right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom."

The sons of Zebedee, on their part, humbly obeyed the Son of God. When Jesus called them, "They immediately left the ship , and their father and followed Him (Matt. 4:22)." In doing so, the sons of thunder secured a place for themselves in heaven. James was put to death first (Acts 12:2), among the disciples, and John died last.

In a semi-circle sitting arrangement in heaven, the two brothers would have sat, one on the left, and the other on the right, of their Master. A good mother's lofty wish was fulfilled. Let's stop following fleshly celebs that invites heavenly troll. Let's follow the Saviour and save our souls.