‘The Power of New Life’ is the appropriate theme for this month as we celebrate Easter and the resurrection power of Jesus. Our goal is to focus attention on the most crucial need anyone has — to experience the new life that comes only through faith in Jesus.
Chip Hutcheson
It is because of the resurrection power of Christ that those who trust in Him find atonement for their sins. When trust is placed in Christ, the person is redeemed — saved from death unto life. We rejoice in the reality that the same blood which justifies us by taking away sin then quickens our new nature and prompts us to follow biblical instruction.
Charles Spurgeon said, “There is no motive for holiness so great as that which streams from the veins of Jesus. Precious — unspeakably precious — is this blood because it has an overcoming power. It is written, ‘They overcame through the blood of the Lamb.’ He who fights with the precious blood of Jesus, fights with a weapon which cannot know defeat. The blood of Jesus … sin dies at its pretense, death ceases to be death, heaven’s gates are open.”
Sadly, millions in our world today are living their lives apart from the saving knowledge of Jesus. They are as inmates living on death row, rather than being free and enjoying the abundant life Christ promises His followers.
May we as Christians remember the time that we moved from death unto life by placing our faith in Christ. Some have testimonies of coming to faith in childhood while others may have had a “Damascus Road-type” experience as an adult. Regardless of when that change occurred, it reminds us to be diligent to tell others of their need for new life in Christ. May we encourage them with the words, “It is time to seek the Lord.”
Scripture is filled with testimonies of people who have experienced the new life that Christ provides. Matt. 9:20 tells of a woman who had a blood disease for 12 years, but she believed that if she just could touch the hem of His garment, she would be healed. When Jesus saw her, He said her faith had made her well.
This sick woman understood that Jesus was the only hope she had. There was no one else and no other way to rid her of this long-term disease. Every person must come to that same conclusion regarding the sin that exists in everyone — new life through Jesus is the only thing that meets our needs and satisfies our hearts.
Jesus has time for every person. This blood disease had dominated the woman’s life for 12 years, but in that instant of trusting Jesus, the pain and misery of the past disappeared. We are encouraged by the words of Lamentations 3 which says, “You drew near when I called on You; You said, ‘Do not fear.'”
That is the message of hope we explain to those who do not know Jesus. We desire them to see Jesus and experience His saving power. Seeing the resurrected Lord led John to declare, “We have seen His glory,” to two disciples on the Emmaus Road saying, “Were not our hearts burning within us while we talked?” and Peter proclaiming, “We have seen His glory.”
May we live out the words of the 1924 hymn Let Others See Jesus in You. May our lives be a continual testimony to the power of new life that comes only through Jesus.
Chip Hutcheson is interim managing editor of the Western Recorder, the monthly magazine of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. You can email him at chip.hutcheson@kybaptist.org.
Correction
Two articles in the March Western Recorder magazine were inadvertently attributed to the wrong person.
“Power of prayer is vital to evangelistic efforts” was written by Curtis Woods. “How long can you hold your breath?” was written by Dean Clark. The articles were correct in the e-edition.
Chip Hutcheson