Easter Facts (Part 3)

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Wednesday March 12, 2008

Many Christians believe that the New Testament Church was born on the day of Pentecost. The Bible, on the other hand, states that the New Testament Church was born on EASTER! Easter was the first Biblical account of people being born again!

John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus appeared to the disciples on the very day He arose from the dead:

John 20:1,19,22 (NIV)
1. Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
19. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
22. And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

We can tell by these three verses that the disciples were born again at this point, because the Biblical requirements for being born again were met!

Romans 10:9,10 (NIV)
9. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Romans 10:9 uses the word "saved", but we know by Titus 3:5 that when someone is "saved" he experiences "rebirth":

Titus 3:5,6 (NIV)
5. he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6. whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior

This rebirth is done by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of every believer:

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

First of all, the disciples had never believed that God raised Jesus from the dead until then because He hadn't risen from the dead yet! They had spent the last three and a half years confessing Jesus as Lord, so now that they believed that God raised Him from the dead, the requirements of Romans 10:9 for salvation were met!

Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them just like God breathed life into Adam in the beginning, and the disciples became the first people ever to be born again! They did not pray a "sinner's prayer" and they were not baptized with water; because neither of those things is a requirement for being born again!

The New Testament Church was born on EASTER!!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your wonderful salvation, by which I was born again and received Your life. Help me to remember the great blessing I have received and not take it for granted.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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