Daily Devotional with Dr. Duane Brooks
October 4, 2017
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
New International Version (NIV)
               Remember the “Old Rugged Cross”?  I grew up singing about it.  I know some find the cross morbid.  Why all the focus on death and sacrifice?  What exactly was Jesus doing on the cross?  Peter understood personally that Jesus was suffering for our sins.  Notice the substitutionary component:  he was righteous and he suffered for the unrighteous.
                On the cross Jesus was bringing us to God.  Peter had run for his life, but even in dying, Jesus was bringing him back to God.  On the outside looking in, we all needed somebody with access to the Father to bring us closer to him.  Like Moses leading the people into the promised land, Jesus led us back to God.  Christ committed himself to the cross to reconcile us to God. 
                Did Jesus really die or did he just seem to?  Peter confirms Jesus death and resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit on Sunday morning.  It wasn’t just that Jesus came alive in his “spirit” but that the very Spirit of God awakened him from his sleep and raised him back to life bodily.  This offers hope for people like us who live in the “valley of the shadow.”  Death does not win.  Immediately when we die we are in the presence of the Lord.  Someday a trumpet will sound at the Second Coming and the bodies of all deceased believers will be raised from the ground as Jesus defeats the final enemy, death.  Then we will receive our new bodies and live in the New Jerusalem come down to earth.  
Pray with me:
Father, today we thank you for the cross on which Jesus was lifted up to draw all people back to you.  Lord let us come joyfully and willingly back into your presence as children come to their father.  We thank you also that Jesus was made alive.  Fill us today with the hope of the resurrection so that we do not fear death’s power.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.      
I want to invite you to join me in memorizing 52 passages this year from the 2017 set of Fighter Verses.  You can find the Fighter Verses App at the App Store on your phones or via this link  http://fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/.  As we study the Bible this year, let's look at each text and learn what it says about God. 
Joyfully, 
Duane 
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