Are You Walking in Resurrection Power?
Do you think about the lyrics of the songs you sing in church?
“Because He lives I can face tomorrow; Because He lives all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives” (Gloria Gaither and William J. Gaither).
Are You Walking in Resurrection Power?
Do I really believe that message, on my best day and on my worst day? Do I really understand the power of the resurrection and its impact on my life? Do I live each day with the knowledge that because He lives, my life is forever changed?
Because He lives, we have been given a new birth.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:3, NIV
As I prepared for our Sunday school lesson last week, I began to think about where God brought me from. I was a young adult in college, feeling the effects of rejection, abandonment, bullying, and loneliness, and looking for love in all the wrong places.
I so wanted to fit in, to be part of the crowd, to be beautiful and popular. But those desires led me down a path of sin and heartache. Sure, it was fun for a while, but every time I thought I was gaining what I wanted in life, it would be snatched away.
That’s how sin is. It lures us away with the false hope of something better, only to take us down a path of heartache, pain, and loss.
But Jesus saw me!
He saw me in my struggle. He saw my pain and confusion. And He reached down and saved me–not because I deserved it, but because of His love for me.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
He gave me a new birth. It was like I got to be born all over again into a whole new life, a new story, a new chance to walk down an entirely different path.
I am no longer a slave to death, because Jesus conquered the grave. His resurrection power now lives in me, and I, too, will conquer death and live forever.
“This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
2 Timothy 1:9b-10
Because He lives, we have been given a new life.
“We were therefore buried with him 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.”
Romans 6:4
As I thought about my salvation experience in college, I shared with our Sunday school class how I struggled with sin, even after I got saved. For a while I walked with one foot in the church and one foot in the world.
Only the Word of life, being poured into my heart every day, gave me the power I needed to overcome sin in my life. Day by day, the Holy Spirit did the work of sanctifying me as I learned how to cooperate with Him.
Sanctification is a daily process of being set apart and made holy. But it’s not something we can do on our own. Only the resurrection power of Jesus could renew me and make me into the image of Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17
I think it’s good to go back and remember who we used to be–not so we can dwell on our mistakes and the failures of our past, but so we can recognize how far God has brought us.
Because of His resurrection power, I am free from the power of sin in my life. I may still fight the sinful nature, but it doesn’t control me. That’s the life and power of God living on the inside.
Because He lives, we have been given a new hope.
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms….”
Ephesians 1:18-20
I no longer have to worry about my future or just wish for things to get better. My hope is in the glorious inheritance that awaits me. I’m no longer a citizen of this world–I’m just on a journey to my future home. While I’m here, I want to serve my Master and be on mission with Him.
I no longer have to struggle with my weaknesses, for the power that raised Jesus from the dead lives on the inside of me. Hallelujah!
How about you? Are you walking in resurrection power? Do you take time to think about what God saved you from and how far He has brought you? Do you know Christ and the power of His resurrection?
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:10-11
Yes, Christ suffered for us, and we will share in His suffering. We will still suffer the pain of life in this world. But Jesus lives! He overcame the world. The grave is empty. His truth and power reign.
And because He lives, we have new birth, new life, and a new hope.
Let that truth deep down in your heart as you celebrate His resurrection today and every day.