Your Life Can Be Different. When the Lord comes back, we will be changed. I believe that, and you do too. But standing there in the shadow of her brother’s grave, Martha needed to hear of a more immediate hope. In their short exchange, Jesus assures Martha that “even now” change can happen. Because she is not just standing in the valley of the shadow of death; she is standing in the shadow of Jesus, the same Jesus who calls into existence things that were not and now are; the same God who uphold the world by his power, who spoke life into existence, and shaped humanity with his own hands before breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. The same Jesus who now lives in all who call upon him as Lord and Savior; all who have accepted the Spirit of God and the forgiveness of sins in their surrender. All who died to themselves and buried their bodies in the baptismal grave. All who have chosen to die. Even now, says Jesus, I can bring life from the dead. Real life. Abundant life. And for the first time, you can begin to truly live. Jesus actually, truly, really, raised a dead man back to life again on that day (graveclothes and all); but to you and me he is echoing something deeper and better. Because physically dead men raised to physical life again will still die again. But I’m talking about eternal life—as Jesus says, “those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

The sermon today is titled "The God Who Transforms." It is the last installment in our "Good and Beautiful God" Series. The Scripture reading is from 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-19. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on October 16, 2022. All lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under Begin: A Good God.

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