Eastertide

May 12, 2023

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-22
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

[Christ] was made alive in the Spirit. The idea of the Spirit of God is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I have read books on it and even attended classes where it was taught. I do not know what I think about the Trinity. I remember one class where the teacher tried to help us understand the various theories about the Trinity by drawing triangles and arranging them differently to illustrate various ideas. While such a study is intriguing, the question of God can only be answered by faith. I tend to think music might give us a better understanding.  

Hymn

I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know eternal life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand.

Chorus
I know, I know that Jesus liveth,
And on the earth again shall stand;
I know, I know that life He giveth,
That grace and power are in His hand*.

Handel

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day
Upon the earth. And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God
For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that
Sleep**

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Prayer: Lord, fill us with your Spirit that we me know you more clearly and serve you more nearly. Amen.

*First verse and Chorus of the hymn I Know that my Redeemer Liveth by Jessie Brown Pounds. See at https://hymnary.org/text/i_know_that_my_redeemer_liveth_and_on

**A segment from I Know That My Redeemer Liveth by George Frideric Handel’s The Messiah

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.