“When You Need A Comeback”
Text: 1 Corinthians 15:9-11
Romans 8:11. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit, who lives in you. (NIV)
1. Be honest.
1 Corinthians 15:9, For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (NIV)
1 Timothy 1:15, Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. (NIV)
1 John 1:8. If we claim we have no sin we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. (NLT)
1 John 1:9, But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (NIV)
2. Accept the grace of God.
1 Corinthians 15:10a, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. (NIV)
grace – charis - “favor” or “kindness” or “blessing.”
When it’s used in connection to God it means God chooses to show us His favor and kindness. He chooses to bless us rather than curse us. Because we’re sinners, we deserve to be cursed. But when we accept His grace, we receive the blessing of having our sins forgiven.
“How’s that working for you?”
To experience real change in our lives (to experience a comeback) we have to accept the grace of God. And the grace of God comes through Jesus. He delivers God’s grace into our lives when we put our faith and trust in him.
3. Ask for help today.
We read 1 Corinthians 15:10a, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect… The rest of the verse reads like this: No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was in me. (NIV)
God wants to pour out his grace in your life. He wants to change you through and through. He wants to give you victory over sin, and the power to live a new life.