SUNDAY 27TH MARCH,2016

TOPIC: THE BLESSED HOPE
TEXT: Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”

The blessed hope of the resurrection is not like a lottery where only one person out of millions will hit the jackpot. More so, it’s not a wishful sentiment offered at gravesides to comfort the grieving. It’s a hope built on certainty. Jesus said, ‘…Because I live, you will live also’ (John 14:19 NKJV). Paul puts it this way: ‘…There is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when He comes back’ (1 Corinthians 15:23). Paul was writing to the Corinthian Christians who’d been schooled in the Greek philosophy of a shadowy afterlife. Someone was trying to convince them that corpses couldn’t be raised, neither theirs nor Christ’s. Amazingly, the apostle couldn’t bear such a thought. So with the brilliance of a great attorney in his closing argument, he reviews the facts: …”(Jesus) was raised from death on the third day…He presented himself alive to Peter…his closest followers…more than five hundred…James…the rest of those He commissioned…and…finally…to me’ (v. 4-8). How many witnesses were there? A handful? No, hundreds! They didn’t just see a phantom or experience a sentiment. Graveside eulogies often include phrases like ‘She’ll live on forever in our hearts.’ This isn’t what Jesus’ followers were saying. They saw Him ‘in the flesh’. And if you’ve trusted Christ as your Saviour, one day you, too, will see Him in the flesh. At death, your spirit will go to be with Him, and at His return, your resurrected body will rise to meet Him in the air. ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord’ (1 Thess. 4:17). Awesome, absolutely awesome!

MEDITATION: Col. 1:5; 2 Tim.4:8

STUDY THE BIBLE
MATT 23:1-12/NUM 22:41;23:1-26/SS 3:6;5:1