What Difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 6

 

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For zone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:5-11 ESV).

 

The fourth result of the resurrection is that we now possess the power to live righteously. The Apostle Paul calls this “newness of life” (v. 4). In union with the risen Christ, there is new power for defeating sin and walking in righteousness. And the key text is our reading today; indeed, just about the whole chapter and the first part of chapter 7 are all about this. He writes, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too walk in newness of life.” This is a right now benefit, not just later.

 

Springtime in Texas is always an interesting mix of the experience of beauty and the dread of storm. The wildflowers have already begun to bloom. Our roadsides and fields are full of bluebonnets, paintbrushes, and other beautiful flowers. However, we also contend with the possibility of extreme thunderstorms containing cells of hail, high winds, or tornadoes. In our part of the state we always welcome the rain, but the dangerous weather that usually accompanies it is unsettling at times.

 

Our spiritual journey is sometimes like that. Temptation to sin is always lurking at the edge of the beauty of our path. We still live in a fallen world without the perfection of the rule of Christ. However, Jesus has already begun the work of perfection in our lives. We are now empowered to resist these destructive temptations. Consider the resurrection as your “safe place” in the midst of the storm. The storm still comes, but it cannot harm us when we seek shelter in Him. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote: “Do not present your members [that is, your tongue, your arms, your legs, your sexual organs, your eyes, your ears] to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.” (v. 13). So, in union with the risen Christ, we have a new power for holiness and love.

 

What difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 5

 

[Jesus said] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me swill be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:18-21 ESV).

 

The third result of the resurrection is that we now experience unceasing help. Perhaps your life has been different than mine. I have found myself in circumstances when I had no control over the outcome and felt like I was “at the end of my rope”! Common wisdom would tell us to “tie a knot on the end and hold on.” Well, when I’m at the end of the rope, I’m usually dangling over certain destruction, clinging to the rope with both hands. I’m certainly not going to try and take my hands off the rope to tie a knot! Besides, even with a knot on the end, I’m still dangling over certain destruction. Our reading today gives us another perspective… let go of the rope! It won’t save you anyway. Only Jesus can do that. And, He has promised to do so!

 

In union with the risen Christ, we have a new, living, present friend helping us all the time. Jesus said to his disciples before he died, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (v. 18). And at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, in the very last verse, Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). So, we experience the presence of the risen Christ by his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. “Your true identity is hidden with Christ in God, and it will be manifest in spectacular glory at his coming.”

 

In John 7:39, before Jesus died and rose, John describes how the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus was not yet glorified, not yet raised and glorified. Now, I think what he meant was not that the Holy Spirit was not at work in the world before the resurrection of Jesus, but that the Spirit had not been revealed or experienced or known as the Spirit of the risen Christ himself. That’s what’s new. That’s our Christian privilege: the risen Christ is in us, with us as our friend, our helper, all the time, all the way home. We don’t need a rope… we need Jesus!

 

What Difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 4

 

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4 ESV).

 

The second result we experience of being joined with Christ in the resurrection is that we receive a new identity. You may remember that I recently had eye surgery to remove the cataracts that had developed over the years. With the new lenses implanted I now have 20/20 vision and do not require any prescriptive correction. I no longer wear glasses! That hasn’t been the case since I was ten years old! So far, the reaction to the “new look” has been universally unsettling for most people. In fact, Mary is not sure she can get used to me without glasses! She suggested I get the optometrist to just give me glasses with no correction so I won’t look different (LOL!). I will admit I am still getting used to not wearing them. Sometimes I’ll catch myself reaching up toward my eyes in an unconscious effort to adjust glasses that aren’t there any longer. I have a new identity of sorts.

 

Well, we have a new, unshakable, glorious identity in Christ. The world looks at us after our conversion to Christ, and outwardly there’s nothing very spectacular. We’re not really physically different. Our true life is hidden. You are a son of God. Let that sink in… we are a son of God. Yet, that heritage is hidden. Listen again to the Apostle Paul: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ [the risen Christ] in God” (vv. 3-4). That’s where you are; that’s who you are. “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also [the real you] will appear.” That is, you will be finally manifested to the world. You will be glorious just as He is glorious! To the church in Corinth, Paul says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV).

 

So, in union with the risen Christ, you are not a mere mortal. Your true identity as a child of God is hidden with Christ in God now… but then it will be manifest in spectacular glory at his coming!

 

What Difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 3

 

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. (John 11:17-26 ESV).

 

There are at least five specific results of our being joined with the Risen Christ. I am going to just write about one of these in each of the next five days. These are very personal to each of us as we face life and its challenges. However, the certainty of our own future resurrection results in the same experience. First, we share in Christ’s indestructible life. Believe me when I write that I am well aware of how unbelievable that statement seems. As I have aged, I have discovered how fragile my body is becoming with each passing day.

 

However, we cannot deny the new security and confidence of hope in our lives that comes with the truth of our reading today. Christians are, in a profound sense, immortal. We will never see the full destructive power of death. Listen to Jesus again as he speaks to the grief-stricken sister of Lazarus: “I am the resurrection and the life… everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). There is is… we shall never die!

 

The effect of this certainty in the future is to make our present experience in this world joyful. It is a joyful freedom from fear and a full security, confidence, and hope. Here’s what the Apostle Peter said: “[God] caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).  All of us know there’s a world of difference between living right now in despair, uncertainty, insecurity, and fear or, on the other hand, living right now in security, in confidence, hope, joy, and freedom from fear because we share an indestructible life. This is the result of sharing the fullness of the resurrection life of Jesus. That’s the first effect of Christ’s resurrection on our present experience. There are four more!

 

What Difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 2

 

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:1-5 ESV).

 

Those of you who have known me for any length of time also know my “go-to” portion of the Bible for theology is the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Roman believers. Our reading today comes from that book. It starts by teaching us that what happened to us in our conversion to Christ, in our new birth, is that by faith we were spiritually united to Jesus Christ. God established a bond, a union — a living, unbreakable attachment — to Jesus Christ, and the point of this union, this bond, was that Christ’s death and Christ’s resurrection would count as our death and our resurrection.

 

And the key verse of our reading today is “If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (v. 5). I can imagine there would be listeners who say, “Whoa, okay, you say we’re united; I don’t know where to look in my experience for that.” If you ask, “How do I personally experience a union with Christ in his death, in his resurrection?” the biblical answer is: by faith in Christ. When the Holy Spirit brings about your embrace of Christ — your believing in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and Treasure of your life — that is his way of establishing the union between you and the risen Christ.

 

The Apostle Paul explains this even more in his letter to the Galatians when he writes, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). So, there’s the union. I have been united with Christ in his dying. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ [the risen Christ] who lives in me.” And now, here comes the conscious experience of that as Paul describes it: “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” So, by faith, power of God is transferred into our lives through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That secures our future resurrection. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies” (Romans 8:11). So, if Christ is in you now, if the risen Christ is dwelling in you now, you will be raised from the dead. There is the great truth that enables us to face every experience in life with the attitude of an overcomer. Even death has no hold over us any longer. Jesus conquered death and so shall we!

 

The answer to the often asked question, “What’s the worst that can happen?” is not “They can kill you.” Go ahead… kill me… you will only open the door for me to enter into heaven! That’s the difference the resurrection makes!

 

What Difference Does Easter Make? - Pt. 1

 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV).

 

I hope you were encouraged with the past few devotionals dealing with the proof of the resurrection; however, I wonder if you may have come away with a sense of “so what?” Recently I received a message from a reader asking that question. They wrote: “I believe in Jesus whether He was really resurrected or not. Does it really matter?” So, for the next few days I want to explore some differences that the resurrection means for every believer.

 

We can say so many things about the effect of Christ’s resurrection on our present life as Christians. No one has truly exhausted the possibilities of what God may be willing to do in us and through us because of the power of the resurrection of Christ in us. This is what the Apostle Paul referenced in our reading today. Read it again: “[God] is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (v. 20). There’s the connection between this verse and what he said earlier in the letter (cf. Ephesians 1:19): the power that makes it possible for us to do far more abundantly than we even dream we could is the very power of God that he worked when he raised Christ from the dead. This is the power for the abundant life Jesus came to give us (cf. John 10:10).

 

Every other religious sect depends largely on the individual’s effort and leaves them powerless in the face of life’s greatest fear, which is death. Jesus’ work on the cross and his resurrection changes all of that. We have a God who does for us more than we could even dream of, including the elimination of death’s grip on our life. And that’s just the beginning. The resurrection matters enormously! Embrace it! Celebrate it!

 

Prove It! - Pt. 5

 

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. (Acts 1:1-5 ESV).

 

Sometimes we have failed to understand one of the greatest affirmations of the resurrection of Jesus is simply the existence of the Christian church. However, it is one of the strongest proofs for the resurrection. Even the most skeptical NT scholars admit that the disciples at least believed that Jesus was raised from the grave. I like the way William Lane Craig gives us three possible causes: Christian influences, pagan influences, or Jewish influences. We should spend a bit of time looking at the plausibility of each of these.

 

First, shouldn’t we ask if it could have been later Christian influences? Craig writes, "Since the belief in the resurrection was itself the foundation for Christianity, it cannot be explained as the later product of Christianity." Further, as we saw, if the disciples made it up, then they were frauds and liars--alternatives we have shown to be false. We have also shown the unlikeliness that they hallucinated this belief.

 

Second, what about pagan influences? After all, it is true that there were many myths of dying and rising savior-gods at the time of Christianity. Some have suggested that the disciples were simply deluded by those myths and copied them into their own teaching on the resurrection of Christ. However, serious scholars have almost universally rejected this theory since WWII, for several reasons. It has been shown that these mystery religions had no major influence in Palestine in the first century. Also, most of the sources which contain parallels originated after Christianity was established. And most of the similarities are often apparent and not real. They were a result of sloppy terminology on the part of those who explain them. For example, one critic tried to argue that a ceremony of killing a bull and letting the blood drip all over the participants was parallel to holy communion. Last, the early disciples were Jews, and it would have been unthinkable for a Jew to borrow from another religion. For they were zealous in their belief that the pagan religions were abhorrent to God.

 

Jewish influences cannot explain the belief in the resurrection, either. First century Judaism had no conception of a single individual rising from the dead in the middle of history. Their concept was always that everybody would be raised together at the end of time. So, the idea of one individual rising in the middle of history was foreign to them. Thus, Judaism of that day could have never produced the resurrection hypothesis. This is also another good argument against the theory that the disciples were hallucinating. Psychologists will tell you that hallucinations cannot contain anything new; that is, they cannot contain any idea that isn't already somehow in your mind. Since the early disciples were Jews, they had no conception of the messiah rising from the dead in the middle of history. Thus, they would have never hallucinated about a resurrection of Christ. At best, they would have hallucinated that he had been transported directly to heaven, as Elijah had been in the OT, but they would have never hallucinated a resurrection.

 

These things ultimately point us to the beginning of the Church with the First Pentecost with the Jews and continuing with the Second Pentecost with the Gentiles. From that beginning the Church began to grow expanding through the years to the entire globe. This could not have been sustained for this length of time and with this magnitude of belief. Jesus is indeed risen!