Ministry Resources
Lesson 3 – New Believer Course

Lesson 3 Video

Lesson 3

Even more central to our hope is knowing that Jesus rose from the dead and is alive forever. If Jesus were still dead, we could not experience his life. Yet his Spirit living inside us is one of the greatest gifts he offers.

Life with God is made possible in part because his death made us clean in his eyes, but it is made real by him rising from the dead and living forever in heaven and in us. This is how we are promised to live forever after we die, because we will be stripped of our broken life and left with only his never-ending life.

Jesus is truly God, and truly a man. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, were made to live forever, but their evil decisions killed them. Evil is what will kill us too. Evil is why we all die, but Jesus lives forever because he never did anything evil. This shows he was God because only God is perfect.

Even though Jesus died, evil didn't kill him. He voluntarily gave up his life, and death couldn't hold him because he never messed up. His purity gave him the right to take his life back.

So, that's what he did.

Jesus came back to life, showing his power, divinity, perfect humanity, and ability to give us life and bring us back from the dead. But more than that, he came back so we could live in close friendship with him forever.

Lets think about this for a bit.

We don't ever have to be lonely because he lives inside us. We have access to him every moment of every day. We can pray to him and feel his emotions stir in our hearts. He knows our thoughts and loves us. He gives us power to live pure. We can live in his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. He offers us life to the fullest, when we find our life in him.

The Bible says that our reason for existing is to live in close relationship with Jesus. To live closer to him than to any other person on the planet. To love him more than anything or anyone else. And to gladly obey and worship him forever.

Because we exist to love Jesus and live with him, the Bible calls Christians “the bride of Christ.” The Bible also says that anyone who denies him stands condemned. Our destination is the arms of Jesus. No one who hates Jesus will end up in his arms; instead, they will be separated from him forever.

This is a horror few can imagine. Not many realize that any life or joy we have comes from God. In life, we have access to simple pleasures because he has made them available to us. When we die, all of that will be stripped away, and either we will be left with Jesus and endless joy, or with the horror of separation and agony.

We begin to see that the arms of Jesus is the greatest destination in the universe. The fact that we can experience peace and life with him now is the greatest pleasure in life. Any person who has lived in real closeness with Jesus will show you he is better than everything.

At first, letting him into our souls feels terrifying because he exposes our evil and pushes us to surrender. But as we surrender, he brings sweet healing and gives us strength to endure and grow.

If you pursue Jesus and surrender to him, he will become your greatest pleasure, and he will change your life and purify you.

Then, after you die, you will fall into the paradise of his arms.

Dig Deeper

Read Romans 1:1-7, 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, and Romans 10:9-10. These are details about the resurrection after the resurrection happened. Then read Daniel 12:2, Job 19:23-27, Isaiah 26:19-21, Hosea 6:1-2, Numbers 21:9 (also read John 3:14-15 to make sense of this reference), Psalm 16:9-10, and Psalm 71:19-24. These are details about the resurrection of Jesus and those who die faithful to him, written long before Jesus walked the earth. Write down what Jesus' resurrection means to you, and why you think him being raised from the dead is important. If you have questions, talk through them with another Christian.