Resurrection Means a New Life in Time.

Make no mistake, the Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our Faith. If you look down the corridors of Time through the Long Hall of History, the Cross is the centre-point but the Resurrection is the turning point. Nothing will ever again be as it was before. There is Hope for a Life with God far beyond the walls of this world for one reason and one reason only, the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

But there’s a point we often miss in our Easter Celebrations, our glorying in the bodies that will be ours, and it’s this. The Resurrection is about so much more than a new body in Eternity; it means a new Life in Time, a new power at work within us, a supernatural courage and conviction, boldness and bravery to our witness in the world, a divine endurance to our labor and love in the Kingdom of Christ! Paul in Romans 6:4— inspired by the Spirit of the Living God— said “we were buried with” Jesus “through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new Life.”

You think he meant that or was he just being dramatic, just waxing poetic? “Ohhhhh, it’s not a ‘new life,’ it’s just a new destiny… a little ‘fire insurance’ right? Sure, He redeemed me from my slavery to sin, ransomed me from darkness and death, His righteousness dwells within me, His own Eternal Life is alive within my soul, His Spirit occupies the now holy place of my heart so I’ll never walk alone— unaided, unadvised, unaccompanied, unempowered. But, why should things change? Why should I have to submit to His will, to His leading and His prompting? Your will be done, but my will is fun!” For the moment. We all know this Story.

Why? “In order that we may live a new Life.” That’s why. “In order that we may live a new Life.” See, that’s the purpose, that’s the point …that’s the point of the Resurrection of Jesus, that’s why the Holy Spirit has now come to live inside of us. To do through us and within us what Jesus in the flesh, on the outside, could only do for us. This is exactly what He told His disciples, is it not? In John 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor [‘Another’ just like Me] to be with you [How long?] forever— the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you,” v. 17.

Because of the Holy Spirit “within” us, not just indwelling but filling, dominating, overwhelming, controlling, we’ve been ushered into a Life, welcomed into a Kingdom, not a little different or a little better than the life we once lived, or kinda like the world at work around me, Satanic Central with its schedules, its deadlines, its P & L statements, its hectic and hurried pace draining away my joy and fruitfulness, but a “new Life,” a life centred in the Son of God and lived from the Spirit of God, a radical restructuring of all we once knew, all we once considered indispensable to our happiness and well-being! This is the glory, the power and the majesty of the Resurrection. It is Life in Jesus... and Jesus in action in Life.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org