With the finished work of Jesus Christ, our stories were rewritten.  Once we were lost, but now, we’re found.  Once we were bound, but now, we’re free.  Once we were of no use to Him, but now we, can confidently say, “Here I am! Send me!”

He gave us beauty for ashes.  He turned our mourning into dancing.  He gave us the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.  He called us trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.

This is the finished work of Jesus Christ:  The Cross were He suffered is for our Redemption.  In the Burial, along with it came the promise of New Life.  The Empty Tomb is His Resurrection that empowers us to walk in victory.

What Jesus Christ finished and us receiving Him as our Lord and Savior is our NEW BEGINNING! 

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a NEW THING;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.”  (Isaiah 43:18-19)

It is only by grace through faith is this promise made possible. It is impossible for us to make ourselves new. Even our own new year’s resolutions eventually come to an end if we do them in and of our ability. But, if we set our eyes on Jesus Christ, we become overcomers and more than conquerors. We remember Him Who paid our lives with His life once and for all and it is He Who is the Author and the Finisher of what He has began in us.

The finished work of Jesus Christ made us holy and blameless in the sight of our God.  He sanctified and justified us to be tabernacles of divinity. He called us to be the temples of the Holy Spirit after being washed by the Blood of the Lamb Who paid the price to make us worthy vessels.  It is never by our own works that merit us to be one.  The Scriptures said, “Therefore, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATION; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

He did not stop there when He called us His vessels.  He desired to fill and flood us with His Spirit Who is our Divine Enabler. “We have this TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) 

I love how the Voice translation says, “This beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us.”  Indeed, it is He Who is all the while effectually at work in us, energizing us, empowering us both to will and to do according to His pleasure, delight and satisfaction.  What He called us to be and do, He gave us the ability by the Holy Spirit resident in each one of us. 

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from Him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.  Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” (Ephesians 4:21-24)

In Christ, we cannot TRY to be worthy before His eyes nor do things on our own!  We are called to TRUST Him with all of our hearts and lean not on our own understanding.  In all of our ways we acknowledge Him and it is He Who will direct our paths. His Word says, “BLESSED is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8) Although faith involves risk, we can rest in His goodness and faithfulness that what He has spoken and promised to us, He is faithful to fulfill it. 

Faith’s definition in the Amplified Classic of Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now FAITH is the ASSURANCE (the CONFIRMATION, the TITLE DEED) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].” 

Assurance refers to the high degree of certainty that something is accurate, complete, and usable.  It is a state of being certain in the mind, freedom from self-doubt  or uncertainty.  We know that the assurance of the outcome is set when His now word is released from His mouth.  It will not come back to Him void, but it shall accomplish and flourish what He sent it forth.  Not a tittle nor a jot shall fall to the ground without it being gloriously done.  His Word is truth!  His Word is Living and Powerful.  His Word is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

When we are filled with the truth, no amount of lie of the enemy can earn a territory in our minds and hearts.  We are not to “copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform us into a NEW PERSON by changing the way we think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NLT)

This is how God rewrites our stories.  It is never by our own sheer will.  It is never by our own might nor by our own power, but by the Spirit of God.

When I went to Israel a few years back, they took us to The Garden Tomb which was a cut in the rock.   It is the place believed to be where Jesus was buried.  The Bible says, the Chief Priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate to give an order to secure it with a great stone at its entrance.  They feared that Jesus’ disciples will go and steal Him away and tell the people, “He has risen from the dead.”  And so it was made secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

On the third day, there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.  For fear of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men.  But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus Who was crucified.  He is not here, for He has risen.”

Until today, the stone is still telling the powerful story of our Risen Savior and King Jesus!  No matter how big, great or heavy stone they used to secure and seal the tomb, nothing could ever stop it from being opened!  Nothing and no one can stop Him from being risen and be alive forevermore.   The Resurrection Power of Christ has all the power to conquer anything and everything.

O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.  But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corithinans 15:55-57 NIV)

Jesus Christ did not come as a Man to suffer, die and resurrect for Himself.  He did it for you and me, so our life in union with Him, our fellowship and intimate relationship with Him, will be infused with His presence and power to overcome.  Christ in us, the hope of glory, is the One Who overcame all in the flesh so we can overcome our flesh by the indwelling of His Spirit in us.  It is the Spirit that gives life.  Our flesh profits nothing.  When we are ONE with Him, we in Christ and Christ in us, we are flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. He give us power and authority in His Name. 

“And THESE SIGNS shall follow them that believe; IN MY NAME shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”  (Mark 16:17-20)

This is who you and I are defined to be when we are in Christ.  We are not alone!  The Holy Spirit  helps us in our weakness.  He intercedes for us when we do not know what to pray.  He intercedes for us according to God’s will for us.  We are called according to His purpose and that is to bear the image of His Dear Son, Jesus Christ.  As He is, so are we in this world.  How Jesus walked on earth anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, He empowered us to do the same.  In truth, He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and GREATER WORKS than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”  (Romans 14:12-14)

Many may say, oh, but was Jesus!  Hmmmm …. Jesus did not say, “you cannot do it!”  He said, greater things we can do if we believe in Him.  We can do ALL THINGS through Christ Who strengthens us.  Our victory over our circumstances is never independent of Him. We fight from the victory that He won for us.  The demonstration of His presence and power in our lives is the fruit of our  intimacy with Him. 

All unceasing fruitfulness comes from our continuous connectedness with Him.  Just as a branch cannot live, let alone bear fruit apart from being connected to the Vine, we, too, are the same. We are in perpetual need of Him.

The fruit of the Spirit in our lives are tangible and visible to the world around us.  These are the testimonies of God’s goodness.  When fruit is tasted and seen, those who consumed from our tree, they will seek and long for more because they have found satisfaction that they have been longing for which cannot be found anywhere else but IN CHRIST ALONE!   He is our ALL in ALL!  ALL we need, HE IS! And all who know Him intimately will testify of His all-sufficiency.

It is all about JESUS!

Know that “If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you.” (Romans 8:11 Voice)

The Resurrection Power of Christ lives inside of us and is quickening us to do what only He can do in and through our lives. 

Just as I said earlier, the tomb stone is still telling the story of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection.   Even with the world today, stones tell a story.  I’m sure we know many of them.  Here are two famous ones that surely tell their own stories.

Look at the Pyramids in Egypt! They carry a story. When one goes there, there will be tour guides to relay all about them.  (Photo: CTTO)

Look at the Stonehenge in England! These stones also tell a story. (Photo by Binky Tolegida)

After the people of Israel supernaturally crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, God commanded Joshua to “choose twelve men, one from each tribe. Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight’”(Joshua 4:2-3).  These stones of remembrance would serve as a permanent powerful reminder and a memorial to future generations of the miraculous river-crossing.

The stones of remembrance of Joshua are just one in a series of memorials commemorating the mighty acts of God on behalf of the people of Israel.  To everyone else, the stones were just a heap of rubble, but to the people of God, they were a constant reminder that the Lord their God was a personal and powerful God, working wonders on behalf of His people.

In Christ, you and I are “living stones that are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)  We are called to tell our divine-orchestrated stories. You may have a journal of God’s powerful move in your life just as I do. Even the scars that we have on our bodies tell a story. You see, the earth is groaning for the revealing sons and daughters of God Who are taking their rightful places in Christ.   In the coming days, there will be miracles after miracles that will be seen in and through us. 

At the triumphal entry of Jesus to Jerusalem, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:

“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40)

Would we like to be outdone by the stones around us in our gardens, on the side streets or wherever they may be, in proclaiming God’s goodness and praising Him for all that He has done, all that He is doing and all that He is about to do in our lives?

 Why not start now?  SURELY the Lord has done great things for us individually.  They may not be spectacular, but they are our personal miracles engraved in the tablets of our hearts, and out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths will surely speak. 

GRACE INDEED REWROTE OUR STORY!  Thank You, Jesus!