Luke 24:5-6

Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; he has risen!

Easter has come and gone, but let us not forget what the resurrection means:

Jesus is alive… Sin is defeated…Everlasting Life is available to all who believe

For those who believe, Death has no victory, Death has no sting.

For those who believe there is freedom and victory in this life and in the next through the blood of Jesus.

Believing Jesus is much more than right and wrong, dos and donts, church pews and bar stools.

Believing Jesus means:

Righteousness (Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.)

Knowledge and Understanding (Isaiah 43:10-11 You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.)

Justification (John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.)

Met Needs (John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.)

Yet the BEST benefit of belief is the assurance of eternal life

Life After Death John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life… John 5:24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life… John 6:40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”… John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life… John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies… Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him… Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved… Galatians 3:7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham…1 Thessalonians 4:14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him… Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved… 1 John 5:5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God… 1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

So its pretty simple really. The benefits of belief are that Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive, which means he has the power to raise the dead. If you believe him, he gives you his Spirit and on that last day of life on earth, you will wake up in paradise.

This is the most comforting assurance. Actually, I think its called Blessed Assurance…

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight; angels, descending, bring from above, echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.