by Rev. Steve Nickodemus

An Open and Shut Case.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.  What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.”
Revelation 3:7b

When I became pastor at Trinity, one of the first things anyone did was give me a master key to every door in the building.  With it I could unlock every door, or lock every door.  That key represented a lot of authority and responsibility.  I could let people in, and I could shut people out!

Jesus, by His death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb, has been given the key of David, the keys to Death and Hades.  By His sacrifice He has paid your debt of sin, and by His rising He has flung open the prison door of sin that held you captive.  Because of the Lord Jesus, the devil cannot hold you captive and death no longer has any real fear.

With the keys of the kingdom that Jesus has been given, even the gates of hell will not prevail against Him.  He has unlocked the chains that held you, and freely invites all who would follow Him to find out what true freedom is.

He gives you and me as believers these keys of the kingdom, that we might offer freedom in our Lord Jesus Christ to all who would repent and believe on Him.  To a world held captive by sin, death, and the devil this is unbelievably good news.  We are prisoners set free by Jesus, who are constantly encouraging more prisoners to take advantage of a royal pardon!

“Vain the stone, the watch, the seal; Christ has burst the gates of hell.
Death in vain forbids His rise; Christ has opened paradise.”

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado