"Behold, I Am Alive For
Evermore!"
Revelation 1:18
Our dear Savior is alive! Meditate on that
fact and adore your living Redeemer. Christ, the great God-man who lived and
died as our Substitute, is alive in heaven today; and
he is the same now as he was when he walked upon the earth and died on the
cross. It is true, he has undergone the great change of glorification, but he
is essentially the same (Heb. 13:). He who is now
clothed with majesty in heaven is the very same Christ who bore our sins in his
own body on the tree. His love for us has not changed! His tender mercy has not
changed! His sympathy, compassion, and care have not changed! His grace has not
changed! His willingness to forgive our sin has not changed!
Christ's work of redemption as our
Substitute is finished! He once died. And his death was the death of death for
his people. But he who died for us is alive. That fact assures us of these four
things:
(1.)
The death of
Christ made a
complete, final atonement for the sins
of his people
(Heb. 10:10-14).
(2.) The love which compelled Christ to die for us is the love which rules
the heart of him who rules the world (Rom.
(3.) The purpose for which Christ died will certainly be accomplished (Isa. 53:10-12).
I am not among those who think that the
results of Christ's death hang in jeopardy. I believe, according to the
scriptures, that everything our Lord intended to do by his death shall be done.
There shall not be one soul lost whom Christ died to save. He has paid the debt
for his elect; and his elect cannot be charged with their sins (Rom.
(4.) The merit of
Christ's atoning sacrifice
is eternally effectual (I
John 1:1-2).
Our Savior died once, two thousand years
ago, but his blood is just as fresh, meritorious, and acceptable to God for the
justification and salvation of sinners as if it had been shed two minutes ago.
If you come to God upon the ground of Christ's shed blood, through faith in his
blood, you cannot be turned away. God, for Christ's sake, still receives
sinners, forgives their sin, and saves to the uttermost all who
come to him through Christ Jesus.
Don Fortner