Beautiful Grace - Easter 2025

3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ, 3:9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness—a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. 3:10 My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 3:11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. —Philippians 3:8–11 (NET)

Paul’s encounter with the resurrected Jesus changed his life forever.

Paul’s only goal had become to know, experience, and be like Christ.

This is what an encounter with the grace of God does to us.

The story of Easter is not significant because someone died and rose from the dead. It is significant because the ‘

’ that died and the ‘

Reveal Answer

’ it represented.

It was the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came to redeem and reconcile mankind.

To redeem: the act of

something in exchange for some form of payment or the clearing of a debt.

To

: to make one account consistent with another (to say the same thing).

Greek word translated to reconciliation in the Bible: to change completely.

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, 1:22 but now he has reconciled you by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him— —Colossians 1:21–22 (NET)

Through Jesus, our account has been changed completely.

But doesn’t the Bible display and angry God of judgement?

1: Beautiful

Reveal Answer

.

• You are created in God’s image, beautifully and wonderfully made.
• The creation of the world was for you to enjoy.
• God created GOOD things.

2: Beautiful

Reveal Answer

.

• Original sin: their eyes were opened to things not of God (shame, loss, pain).
• Heartbroken Father: His beloved children learned something they were never supposed to learn.
• Why did Jesus have to die? Why the Cross? Because of His great love.
• The life of Jesus reveals the heart of the Father and His great love for us.
• A torture device has become the symbol of love.

3: Beautiful

Reveal Answer

.

• He demonstrated His love and reconciled us to Him.
• Jesus fully gave of Himself in death and life. He has given us His perfection, His inheritance, His sonship.
• Grace: the undeserved favor of God.
• Our account has been changed from the indebted to son and daughter.
• Our debt has been paid in full and our future debts are covered by Jesus.

2:2 For I decided to be concerned about nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. —1 Corinthians 2:2 (NET)

Paul was changed because he met Jesus and experienced the grace of God.

A life without shame.
A life without fear of death.
A life full of love.

Turn to Jesus. Know Him. Experience His power. Follow Him. And you will know His resurrection.