After all the amazing goodness that I have been learning through the Advent bible study by John Piper, I just had to share!
I always knew that Jesus died for us because He loved us and wanted to make a way for us to go to Heaven. He had to take our sins because He is Holy and therefore the only one fit to do it. But this morning I learned that He had to die and then come back to life in order to defeat the power of death, better know as Satan. By doing this, believers no longer are held in bondage to their sins. We no longer have a fear of Gods wrath and judgement! It is like we are exempt. It is sort of like standing before a judge and having them say not guilty even though we are, but the judge is our father so the same rules do not apply. Since believers have this relationship, we do not have to worry about our punishment (Romans 8:15,) and therefore do not have to worry about death! If you took a survey of 10 random people, I bet 9/10 would say they are afraid of dying. It can be a scary thing if you are not in Christ. You do not get to look forward to getting a new body, treasures, and endless joy.
This whole thing just shows how much He loves us. He created us. We turned to sin. He had to die to get us back. It blows my mind that the God of the universe would do that for us. I am so thankful for His endless mercy, grace, and love!
