A New Lease on Life
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
There are some people on planet Earth whom I’m certain that none of us would want to meet in heaven – people so vile, so evil, that they couldn’t ever, possibly, make into heaven … surely not!
Purely as a hypothetical, if Adolf Hitler had prayed for God’s forgiveness before taking his own life, would you want God to have forgiven him? Not me!
Back in the 18th Century, John Newton lived a life marked by moral decay. As a ship’s captain, he participated in the horrific trafficking of slaves to supply the market in England.
On a perilous sea voyage in 1748, facing the threat of death during a violent storm, he called out to God for mercy. He’s best known today for penning these lyrics:
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see.
It seems that God has the power even to take a brutal slave trader and give him a new life. How can that be? Writes the Apostle Paul …
Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (NRSV)
The moment our hearts turn away from moral decay toward God through a faith in Jesus, He breathes new life into our mortal bodies … no matter what we’ve been guilty of in the past, because Jesus paid the price for those things that we should have paid. Let that sink in.
He who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal body too through His Spirit that dwells in you.
That’s God’s promise. That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
Blessed by this devotion?
Share it with a friend!
Respond