Made New By The Blood

Dear church family,

I want to share some thoughts for you to meditate on this week of Easter. This is a foretaste of some of the things I will be sharing this Sunday.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new". You and I have been made new by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior). Verse 21 of 2 Corinthians 5 says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him". E.W. Kenyon gives this definition of righteousness, "the ability to stand in the presence of Father God without the sense of guilt or inferiority". He goes on to say the it is "the nature of the Father imparted to us". You and I, as believers, will never get any more righteous than we are right now. Death itself will not even make us more righteous--glory to God! We have been given much because of the blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 9:12 says, "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption". The Bible is referring to what Jesus did for us in Hebrews 2:10 when it says, "bringing many sons to glory". In Romans 8:29 Paul referred to Jesus as "the firstborn among many brethren". Verse 30 in the amplified says "...raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being". That's talking about you and I. Hebrews 12:10 says that we have been made "partakers of His holiness".

Friends, we have a lot to be thankful for. Let's go out and tell the world about Jesus. Bring two or three people to church with you this Sunday if you can and let them hear the good news of the gospel. God bless.

Pastor Jeff