He’s been with God since the beginning, all the way back when God created the heavens and the earth. The final thing He created was us, His prized possession.
We are so special to God that He gave us the entire Earth. He didn’t dump us in an empty wasteland. No, He created a beautiful, abundant, life-filled earth, and then gave it to us.
We didn’t do so well with the gift. God told the first man and woman they could enjoy everything except one tree. And you know what happened, they disobeyed God.
That is when we stepped out of God’s plan and into our own. And I know this will shock you, but man’s plan ends in destruction.
God had to watch as His prized possession wallered around in sin. They were created to be like God, but they were living sick, destructive lives. Our Heavenly Father couldn’t leave us that way.
First, He made a way to cover our sins through the blood sacrifice of animals. But this was only temporary. It had no lasting impact. We needed a more powerful blood sacrifice.
In order for us to be made right with God, a miracle had to happen. A seed from God must collide with a woman’s egg to produce a man who is fully God and fully human.
But God couldn’t do this without the consent of a woman. When God gave us dominion, He meant it. He doesn’t force anything on us. We must willingly receive.
So an angel was sent to a woman named Mary. The angel prophesied what would happen through her, that she would give birth to the Son of God.
You may have never noticed this, but she had to accept what the angel said for it to pass. Take a look at her response:
Luke 1:38 NLT - Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”
What we see in this verse has always been true. For God to accomplish things on earth, a willing human must rise to the occasion by submitting to what God wants.
People love to blame God for all the evil that happens in our world. They say, “Why does God allow this? Why doesn’t He stop abortion? Why did He not heal my loved one?”
God would love to intervene, but He can’t until we do what Mary did: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come to pass.”
God will do nothing on the earth on His own. He can’t. He is bound by His Word. He gave us dominion, and He can’t take it back.
If you want to see God’s goodness in your life, look in the mirror. If we want to see His goodness in our city, our church must rise to the occasion, submit to God, and allow His power to flow through us.
That’s what Mary did, and our savior was born—Jesus Christ, fully human and full of God at the same time. The seed came from God, and the egg came from woman. Absolutely amazing!
Jesus lived life as a human, just like we do. He was tempted with all the same things we face, but He never sinned. And that’s a good thing, because a sinless sacrifice was required for our salvation.
At age thirty, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and power and went around healing all who were oppressed by the devil.
Whatever the sickness or disease, no matter the cause, even if they were demon-possessed, He healed them all.
Some people wonder if it is God’s will to heal everyone, every time. Well here’s what we know about Jesus: He only did what the Father wanted. He was in perfect alignment with the will of God.
Some things about God are a mystery, but healing is not one of them. Jesus revealed the will of God when He went around performing an endless supply of healing miracles.
You can probably come up with numerous reasons why God wouldn’t heal you. But all of them are lies. Jesus made the will of God clear, it is always God’s will to heal.
If you wash away the doubt by believing the simplicity of what I am telling you, you will be healed. And then, you will take that healing power and give it to others.
You’ll have an opportunity to receive your healing miracle here in a bit, but I need you to cooperate by disciplining your mind. Don’t allow those thoughts of doubt to continue. Trust what Jesus revealed to us: It is always God’s will to heal.
Jesus performed miracle after miracle after miracle for three years. Miracles were so numerous that all the books in the world couldn’t contain them. Only a tiny fraction of them are in the Bible.
Then, the time came. A blood sacrifice was required for the redemption of mankind. Even though this was the plan all along, Jesus still had to submit to God.
Think about this. Even after the miraculous birth of Jesus and all the miracles the power of God worked through Him, Jesus still could have used His own will to stop the sacrifice. Take a look:
Matthew 26:39 NKJV - Jesus fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Think about it. Jesus lived a sinless life. He lived in perfect harmony with God. And now, the entire combined sin of the world was to be put on Him. Who would want that?
He had the choice not to do it. He had free will just like we do. God was not making Him do anything. Yet, Jesus chose to submit to the will of God even when it was contrary to His own will.
Are you seeing a theme here? So many people think that God superimposes His will on the earth. That’s not true! God can only work through those who submit themselves to His will.
Thankfully, Jesus submitted. Shortly after this prayer He was arrested, and then beaten beyond belief, and then hung on a cross—not for His sins, but for ours.
All of our sins and penalties of sin and sickness were put on Jesus, and then He died in our place. We should have been on the cross, not Him. But He did it for us.
When Jesus died, our sin died with Him. It lost its power over us. Our sickness died with Him. It lost its power over us. Our shame, and guilt, and regret, died with Jesus.
Then, on the third day, the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead. He walked out of that grave with all authority in heaven and on earth. He was holding the keys of hell and of death. He conquered them both.
Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power over us. We are no longer slaves to sin! We have been set free from the power of sin!
And since we died with Christ, we know we also live with Him. We have been made right with God and guaranteed the gift of eternal salvation through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
If you are unsure of your salvation, let’s take care of that right now. You don’t have to get everything together first. You don’t have to clean up your life first. Salvation cannot be earned.
Salvation only comes through faith in Jesus Christ. You must believe what I’ve told you, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He died for our sins, and He rose again.
If you are unsure of your salvation and want to solidify it today, there’s only one more thing you need to do. You seal the deal by speaking what you believe. Say this.
“Jesus Christ, I believe you are the Son of God. When you died on the cross, I died with you. I am now free from sin! When you rose from the dead, I rose with you. I now have new life. You made me clean. You made me pure.”
Now, on this Easter Sunday, Jesus wants nothing more than for you to access all the benefits of your salvation. I am talking to both those who just got saved and those who have been saved for a while already.
There are four main benefits to your salvation. Jesus wants you to receive all of them today. Don’t leave anything on the table.
Salvation is more than forgiveness of sin. It is freedom from sin. You don’t have to sin anymore!
You will still be tempted to sin, but now you have the power to overcome every temptation. Because for every temptation, God provides a way out.
Jesus faced all the same temptations we do. There’s not one temptation you face that Jesus didn’t face. The difference is, Jesus never sinned. He was tempted, but He never gave in.
People who don’t struggle with the same temptations you do tend to hold it over your head. They say things like, “I just don’t even understand why you struggle with… fill in the blank.”
Jesus never says that. His response is always, “Yep. I know about that one. And I know the way out, so let me show you.”
If we have been freed from sin, why do Christians still sin? Easy. We still have free will. God doesn’t make us do anything. We can still choose to sin, and many Christians do.
Most Christians who continue to struggle with sin do so because they have yet to align themselves with the truth. The church has lied to them and told them they will always sin.
That’s not what the Word of God says. Let me show you:
Romans 6:11-13 NLT - So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
All you have to do is CONSIDER yourself to be dead to the power of sin. Once you align yourself to this truth, you’ll find that you live free from sin.
When you face temptation, you have not sinned; you have only been tempted to sin. You have not sinned until you give into the temptation.
So, what do we do when we are tempted? Run to God with great boldness and ask for His help to overcome temptation. He shows us the way out every time!
When tempted, reckon yourself to the truth, “I am dead to sin. I have no obligation to give in to this temptation. God has already shown me the way out.”
Listen carefully. You don’t have to sin anymore! Sin is no longer your master. You have been completely freed from the power of sin.
Never give in to temptation again. God has already given you the power you need to overcome, and He is always there to help you when you need it most.
One of my greatest testimonies is that Jesus freed me from homosexuality more than eighteen years ago. Since then, people often ask, “Are you ever tempted to go back?”
What does that matter? Does temptation mean that we are not truly free?
When we ask people a question like, "Are you ever tempted to go back?”, we are actually speaking for the enemy. The enemy wants you to believe facing temptation means you are not free.
That’s a lie from the pit of hell and I break it off you right now! You will face temptation in this life, even as a saved person. But for every temptation, God provides a way out.
Don’t give in, and don’t give up when you are tempted. Face that temptation with great boldness and say out loud, “I am completely free from the power of sin.”
I’m not saying you must live perfectly to earn God’s approval. If that’s what you hear right now, it’s a lie. I’m simply telling you that you can live a sinless life by the power of God.
His forgiveness is readily available when you sin. But isn’t it better to not sin in the first place? Let’s take the better. This is one of the benefits of your salvation: freedom from sin. Here’s the next one:
You’ve done some things wrong. Actually, you’ve probably done a lot of things wrong. And for all of it, there’s a consequence, there’s a curse that belongs to you for what you’ve done.
There are actually curses that belong to you because of what your father did wrong, and your grandfather, and your great-grandfather.
The wages of sin is death. Sin has miserable consequences that ultimately end in death. You fully deserve every consequence.
I know I don’t have to work hard to get you to understand this. Most of us already know we deserve to suffer for what we’ve done.
What many people fail to realize is that Jesus Christ already fulfilled these consequences. Not only did Jesus set you free from the power of sin, but He also set you free from the consequences of sin.
This is one of the benefits of your salvation! Everything you’ve done wrong, the consequence has already been fulfilled. The curse has already been eliminated.
If you abused your body with drugs or sex or bad eating habits and are suffering the consequences of your sin, I have good news for you today. Jesus fulfilled the consequence. You can be completely healed! You don’t have to live sick.
If you suffer under demonic oppression because you got into witchcraft or sorcery or some other demonic nonsense, I have good news for you today. Jesus fulfilled the consequence! You can be completely free.
If you’ve ruined every relationship because of your bad choices, I have good news for you today. Jesus fulfilled the consequence! Those relationships can be restored!
The blood of Jesus paid for the forgiveness of sin. He set you free from sin. And He fulfilled the consequence of sin.
You don’t have to live in shame. You don’t have to live in regret. You don’t have to live sick and lonely. You don’t have to pay for your sin. You don’t have to live out the consequences of your sin.
Galatians 3:13 NLT - But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
Jesus rescued you from the curse you deserve! This includes generational curses. Every curse was broken off your life when Jesus hung on the cross two thousand years ago.
The only curse that is able to remain active in your life is the one you allow. It has to have your permission. Remember, God has given you dominion. If you welcome a curse that doesn’t belong to you, God can’t take it away.
So, how about we honor Jesus today by kicking out every curse. If you’ve been living in bondage because you thought you had to but you are ready to be free today, say this.
“Jesus Christ rescued me from every curse. He fulfilled every consequence of my sin. With the authority of Christ, I destroy every curse and consequence. I will no longer allow any curse to operate in my life.”
This Easter, we are receiving all the benefits of our salvation. We receive freedom from sin. We receive freedom from curses and consequences. Here’s the next one:
Through our disobedience and sin, we were all enemies of God. We rebelled against Him by living our own way, doing our own thing.
Just like the song we sang earlier, Sin separated us from God. The breach was far too wide. But from the far side of the chasm, God held us in His sight.
So He made a way across the great divide. He left behind Heaven's throne to build it here inside. And there at the cross, Jesus paid the debt I owed. He broke my chains, freed my soul, and gave me hope.
You are no longer an enemy of God. You are now His prized possession. In His eyes, you are completely holy and without fault. When He looks at you, He sees the perfection of Jesus.
Jesus provided the perfect performance and attributed the applause to us.
We don’t have to wonder how God feels about us. We already know. Just like He said to Jesus, He says to you, “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. You are my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.”
We have peace with God. Not because of what we’ve done but because of what Jesus did. That’s great news because it means that you can’t mess it up.
God is always smiling at you because when He sees you, He sees the perfection of Jesus.
Let today be the day that you take hold of all of the benefits of salvation: freedom from sin, freedom from curses and consequences, peace with God, and here’s the fourth:
Some people think that God uses sickness to make you more like Jesus. They say He allows it in your life to develop character and patience and to give you compassion for others who are sick.
I’m not sure why we buy into this. I mean, how can sickness make you more like Jesus when Jesus was never sick?
If God uses sickness as a tool of development, why do we not have a record of Jesus saying, “Oh, I’m sorry! You can’t be healed quite yet. God is not done building character in you.”
Oh, but what about Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Well, that’s not even a mystery. The Bible tells you what it is in the same sentence: a messenger of Satan.
In other words, Paul’s thorn was people who delivered a message from Satan trying to undo the message He preached from the Lord.
You can even get more through and read the whole chapter where the thorn is mentioned, including the previous chapter, and find out that sickness is never mentioned as one of Paul’s trials.
Oh, but didn’t he have some kind of eye disease? I can prove to you that Paul did not have an eye disease. Here’s how we know for sure: Timothy let Paul circumcise him.
That’s proof enough for me. Even if you need more, study the scriptures and realize how much speculation is required to support the theory that Paul had some type of eye disease.
What about Job? Yeah, we know that satan made him sick. But it ended in complete healing and restoration. So, if you want to be like Job, be like Job and be healed!
But what about all the people who wanted to be healed but then died? Well, it would be quite foolish of us to determine God's will based on other’s circumstances.
We tend to look at notable people who did notable things even while sick, or blind, or deaf, and determine that God must have used that sickness to make them great.
Really? Because I know many more people who lived pitiful lives because they were sick. Therefore, I am happy to report, that this theory about sickness making us great has no leg to stand on.
What about the healing evangelists who died from sickness? I don’t what happened with them. But I am sure not going to use their circumstance to determine the will of God.
No one has revealed the will of God except Jesus. He is the only one we should be looking to. And when it comes to physical healing, the will of God is no mystery. Jesus made it plain and simple:
Matthew 4:24 NLT - Whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all.
Notice that the type of sickness or disease didn’t matter. Also notice that the cause of sickness or disease didn’t matter. Whatever the sickness, whatever the cause, Jesus healed them all.
Maybe you caused the sickness. Jesus wants to heal you today.
Maybe you were born with sickness. Jesus wants to heal you today.
Maybe you have a terminal disease. Jesus wants to heal you today.
Maybe you’ve been trying to get healed for years. Jesus wants to heal you today.
Maybe you’ve been healed before, but then it came back. Jesus wants to heal you again today.
Physical healing is one of the benefits of your salvation. It is always God’s will to heal. His answer is always yes.
The date for your healing miracle is today. You don’t have to wait. Healing is readily available in Christ. The Holy Spirit is ready to bring a continual flow of healing into your life.
The only condition for your miracle is faith. You must truly believe He wants you to have it.
At this very moment, God is holding out His healing power. It’s yours for the taking. Recieve it.
