IN THE AUTHORITY OF HIS NAME - PART 1

WEDNESDAY 03 APRIL 2024

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He addressed their unbelief by saying to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence.

Beloved, there could still be little doubt lingering in their minds, after an effort was made by the Lord Jesus to demolish their sense of unbelief; so He went further to prove His resurrection by asking them for a broiled fish. After He ate it in their presence, they were in a tacit position to accept the truth of His risen status because He spoke to them from a treasured standpoint of His eternal testimony of victory over death - in a bodily form.

Reference: Luke 24:46 New Living Translation (NLT)

And He said, "Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: 'There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.'"

The idea of a progressive development from law to grace is elaborated by the Lord Jesus Christ within the versified statements below which precede our referenced Scriptures above.

Jesus said to the disciples, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:44-45 NIV).

Beloved, the Logos incarnate is not just risen; He's alive forevermore, and His presence was witnessed by His disciples as He appeared to them, which implies that they had a conscious experience of the exhaustless evidence of His manifestation after resurrection. Having come to fulfil what was written concerning Him, He reminded them that it was written long ago that the Messiah (Himself) would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day, and in His name, REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS OF SINS would be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

Jesus Christ is full of grace and truth, and from His fullness we have all received GRACE upon GRACE. So we function in this present world, full of overwhelming confidence that Jesus is alive and His life is evident in those who have received Him as Saviour and  Lord, and are now a society of persons, known as association of Supreme Deity because God raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!

If you have not been functioning fully on earth on the basis of salvation and eternal life in Christ, or if you have not had an individual contact with the revelatory encounter of the risen status of Christ, humbly declare the prayer of salvation below so as to make the Lord Jesus your personal Saviour and Lord as a starting point.

Stay tuned for the successive parts of this wonderful topic. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - John 16:33; Philippians 2:9-11; Acts 4:12; Revelation 1:18.

Guided Prayer:

I acknowledge today that God demonstrated His unconditional love for me in this: While living without Christ, He sent Him ahead of time to die for me. Therefore I repent and renounce the nature of sin and I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I believe and confess with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of the true living God, who died for me and was raised from the dead on the third day by God. I affirm that Jesus is risen and He's alive forever. I accept Him into my heart and I declare His Lordship over my life forever. I'm now born again as a new creation. I have eternal life: my present-moment reality. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me and taking full charge of my life, as my Lord. GLORY TO GOD!