Many people in the world worship leaders who founded religious groups or at least follow their teachings. Those leaders are in the grave. They’re dead. But Jesus is alive and well! His grave is empty. And the blood He shed on Calvary still pays for your sins and mine, and the sins of anyone else who will accept it.
The Bible says, “…without shedding of blood is no remission [of sin].” (Heb. 9:22) Without the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood, there is no justification, and you’re still in sin!
But in Romans chapter 5 we read, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ….” (v. 1) and, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (v. 9) In chapter 8 we are told, “… whom he called, them he also justified….” (v. 30)
We are justified in Jesus—in Him who rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God. (Luke 22:69; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 8:1) And we are justified by faith. In Romans chapter 4 Paul writes, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (v. 5)
In that same chapter we read that Abraham’s faith was imputed unto him for righteousness. (vv. 9,22) And so is ours. (Rom. 4:23-5:2) When the poor lost sinner comes to Christ, the great miracle happens: The sinner becomes justified.
When he accepts Jesus as his Savior, he stands pure and clean before God the Father as though he had never sinned. You may not really understand that. I don’t, either, but I know it’s so. The Bible is my final authority.
Justified By Faith
When we are justified by faith in the risen Christ, something else happens that we in our humanity have trouble understanding. Not only are our sins pardoned because of Jesus’ blood, but our guilt has been erased.
The words of the great hymn aptly describe it: “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins; and sinners, plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains….”
It doesn’t matter what you have done—what sins you have committed. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, those sins don’t exist! They’ve been obliterated!
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has wiped them out! You stand pure before God Himself. That’s why we can go boldly into the throne room of God. (Heb. 4:16) We are pure before Him.
Not only that, but when we slip and make a mistake after we are born again, the Apostle John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) That means when we admit to God we have sinned, and we repent, He puts us right back into the state we were in when we were first forgiven!
Resurrection
Jesus’ resurrection also proves that He is who He said He was. Jesus claimed to be God’s Son, at one with God. And He claimed to be the only way for people to come to God. He said, “I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30) and, “… no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) How can we believe Him?
We see that Jesus Christ rose from the dead—that He came out of the grave, as He said He would. So we know He will come again and do the rest of what He said He will do. We have no trouble believing He Himself was God. No one else claimed to be able to return from the dead and then did it.
Jesus told his disciples and others that death could not hold Him. Only God could say, “… Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19) and then make good on that promise. Jesus was not referring to a building.
Scripture says, “…he spake of the temple of his body.” (v. 21) And after Jesus rose from the dead “…his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” (v. 22)
Jesus’ resurrection not only proves that He was who He claimed to be, but also assures us that we will rise from the dead as He did. Job asked, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14) Paul answers that question in First Corinthians chapter 15: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” (v. 20) Jesus, the Son of Man, died, arose, and lives again, and He is “the firstborn from the dead.” (Col. 1:18)
When the Father is ready, He will lean over to Jesus and say, “Son, go bring the rest of the family home!” Friend, we’re going home! We’re going to our real home one day. Thank God for the homes we have down here, but they are, at best, little shacks compared with the mansions awaiting us in Heaven.
Heaven is more than a beautiful place. Heaven is home! And I’m going there. How about you?
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Kenneth W. Hagin, President of Kenneth Hagin Ministries and pastor of RHEMA Bible Church, ministers around the world. Known for calling the Body of Christ to steadfast faith, he seizes every ministry opportunity to impart an attitude of “I cannot be defeated, and I will not quit.”
Rev. Hagin began preparing for his call to ministry—a ministry that now spans 50 years—at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. He graduated from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and holds an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Faith Theological Seminary in Tampa, Florida.
In his early years of ministry, Rev. Hagin was an associate pastor and traveling evangelist. Later, he went on to organize and develop RHEMA Bible Training Centers in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and in other countries around the world.
Kenneth W. Hagin’s array of responsibilities also includes International Director of RHEMA Ministerial Association International. He hosts the annual A Call to Arms® Men’s Conference, and with his wife, Lynette, cohosts RHEMA Praise, a weekly television program, and Rhema for Today, a weekday radio program broadcast throughout the United States. They also conduct Living Faith Crusades, spreading the message of faith and healing around the world.
Recognizing the lateness of the hour before the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. Hagin has expanded his speaking schedule beyond his regular pastoral duties. To fulfill the urgent call of God to prepare the Church for a deeper experience of His Presence, Rev. Hagin delivers messages that reveal key spiritual truths about faith, healing, and other vital subjects. He ministers with a strong healing anointing, and his ministry leads the Body of Christ into a greater experience of the glory of God!
Kenneth W. Hagin and his wife live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is the son of the late Kenneth E. Hagin.