Hebrews 10:11-14New International Version (NIV)
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
As we begin our service, I would like to begin with these greetings for Easter Service;
May Lord bless you on
this Joyful day of Easter,
and May it be a new beginning
of greater prosperity,
success and happiness.
Wish you a Happy Easter!
In Hebrews 10:14 we see this remarkable statement: ¡°For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy,¡± in another version ¡°For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.¡± How is this possible?
Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth answers this question.
Since being ¡°good enough¡± through personal efforts is useless , only a transfer of account from a righteous person to a sinner could remedy the problem. ¡°He made (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him¡±(2 Cor.5:21). Christ¡¯s atoning death on the cross appeased the wrath of God.
In Romans 3:24-26
24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[a] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus, and His righteousness was attributed to us that we might be declared justified before God.
We know that Jesus died once for all (Rom. 6:10; Heb. 10:12) and, of course, rose from the dead once. Three days after paying the penalty of our sins on the cross, the sinless Jesus conquered death by rising from the grave and breaking the power of sin. It was this final sacrifice of blood that opened the only way for us to have a relationship with God now and a home with Him forevermore. This is the perfect assurance we can hold in this life.
¡°Christ died for our sins, . . . He was buried, and . . . He rose again the third day¡± (1 Cor. 15:3-4). He has promised that He is preparing a place for us (John 14:1-4), and He will someday return. One day we will be with our risen Savior.
That¡¯s why every year at Easter time—in fact, every day of the year—we have enough reason to celebrate His resurrection.
As Psalms 34:1 says. ¡°I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth¡± Yes, we have enough reason to bless the Lord at all times since Jesus Christ has opened the gate of Heaven! Praise the Lord!
Let us celebrate with joyful and grateful heart by declaring His Resurrection today and live in the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ!
He has risen indeed!
Amen.