MCC Family

After our sermon on Jesus words, “Rise!” I received two questions (I will paraphrase). The first, “Where do demons come from?” and the second, “If Jesus raised others from the dead during his ministry, how is Jesus’ death and resurrection different?” Here are two brief answers to these questions and I would invite comment or further questions.

I don’t know exactly “where” demons came from. The Bible doesn’t say. However, there are indications in the New Testament that in some way they work in the realm of darkness where Satan works/lives etc. There is a passage in Ephesians that says “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) I tend to think that demons are part of the “powers of this dark world” or the “spiritual forces of evil.” I can’t say for sure how it all works as the Bible really doesn’t tell us. But, one thing is for sure: Jesus has conquered this realm and reigns over it. Satan and his powers are defeated enemies of God.

On the question of the resurrection, yes, Jesus did raise people from the dead. However, those people died again. Their resurrection from the dead was a sign that God had the power to overcome death. Jesus said when he rose Lazarus from the dead, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” The difference is that when Jesus was raised from the dead, he was raised to live an “incorruptible life.” He ascended into heaven after his resurrection. Jesus will never “die” again. His resurrection signaled the final over-coming of death whereas the other folks who were raised from the dead (such as Lazarus) were not raise to live an imperishable or incorruptible life. The good news is that when Jesus returns and we are raised again, we too, will be “raised” to live an imperishable life (I Corinthians 15:50-58).

Please continue to dialogue with me on this or any other questions that come to mind.

If you would like to read more on this topic, check out the book below in OUR MCC LIBRARY under the title CHRISTIAN LIVING.

Seeing the Unseen, by Joe Beam.

Grace and peace
Charles

We had a fun family night on Friday the 13th, 2009 with what was called as a Monster Quiz. It was a quiz with different types of challenges for 9 teams that participated. There were about 70 people who showed up. Here are the pictures.
Here is the video

Here is an attempt to blog from Windows Live Writer a program where you can compose your post and publish it here. The purpose is to publish church news, thoughts on sermons, topics, and contemporary living as a Christian. We have at times tried to get together a blog which has never materialized for one reason or another. well, it’s time to get started, hopefully this time around we can get a group of people who would post on a consistent basis.