Daily Bible Verses for 5/4/2017

Jesus Raises Us to Praise and Follow Him – (Ephesians 2:6-7)

Daily Verse(s)
And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Reading Notes
We are raised with Christ, no longer do we suffer the penalty of death because of our sins. Jesus has reconciled sinful man with a Holy God. And that’s the message at the heart of these passages! Paul explains that because of what Jesus did for us and our faith in Him, we are raised up and can now come before a holy God. We have been raised up because we have received the imputed righteousness of Jesus through His sacrifice for us, thereby making us righteous in the eyes of God. Through the grace of God, we have Jesus has our mediator! He represents God to all of humanity and represents humanity to God through His blood shed for us at the Cross of Calvary. Jesus is our faithful High Priests and He took on the cross, died and shed His blood for the remission of our sins. And through our faith in Him alone, Jesus has also raised us up into the heavenly places. Because of our faith in Jesus we have become children of God adopted into the family of God and joint-heirs with Him in the kingdom of God. Because of what Jesus did for us at the cross, His righteousness has been imputed or freely credited to us, because of our faith in Him. Therefore, through faith alone, in Jesus alone, we become righteous in the eyes of God and children in the kingdom of God.

Moreover, we receive the gifts of our salvation, which include the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who helps us to better understand scripture in light of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. In addition, we receive spiritual gifts along with the power of God working in our lives, as we live for Jesus on a day to day basis. We do so through our daily submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And if that were not enough, God tells us in His word, that we will rule and reign with Christ in His kingdom, and we have a new spiritual life now, along with the ability, through the Holy Spirit’s work in us, to live life in this world more abundantly for the kingdom of God. It’s the Holy Spirit through His work of sanctification in us, which prepares our hearts and minds to live a life pleasing and fruitful to the Lord. It’s the Holy Spirit who not only strengthens us for God’s work, but also fills our hearts with an indescribable joy. A joy which comes from having a relationship with Jesus. And when we step into eternity, we will receive glorified bodies as we meet Jesus face to face. Where because of God’s riches, we will eternally praise and glorify Him, as He eternally bestows His blessings and love upon us. Dear believer, why is this so important to remember? Because the culmination of God’s plan of redemption is to bring all of creation under the lordship of Christ Jesus, to the glory of God the Father.