Living in the Light of the Resurrection

Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we can have:

Freedom from guilt and shame

The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23). This means that so long as Christ remained dead in that tomb, death continued to have power over Him, because the final penny of the wages of sin had not as yet been paid. By rising again from the dead He conquered the last enemy, death itself and fully paid the wages of sin. When He triumphantly appeared to His disciples and demonstrated that He was alive again, it was the ultimate proof that sin had been fully atoned for, that the ransom had been paid, and that God’s justice had been fully satisfied. Consequently all of God’s children have been reconciled in Him. There is not one sin, not even a fraction of a sin, which Jesus has not fully paid for, which means that we are truly free from all guilt and punishment. Why continue to wallow in the failures of the past and sink into the mud of self-loathing and regrets, when Christ has done all of this for you? Rejoice! The debt has already been paid and you have already been set free!

Intimacy with God

Colossians 3:1–3 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Can there be anything more astonishing than this? Can there be anything more intimate or delightful than knowing that your life is already hidden with Christ in God? This is already the legal reality, but we often don’t find delight in it, normally because we have not ‘set our minds on things above.’ How do we do that? Spend time with God in prayer. Read the Bible. Sing God’s praises. Live moment by moment, conscious that all you do is done in the presence of God.

Power to change

Romans 6:4-5 says, “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. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” The more you realise that you have been justified by a holy God, the less you will be content to merely be saved. Mere salvation, all by itself, won’t be enough because you’ll be so delighted and amazed that this holy God actually wanted to save you, that you will long to become more and more like Christ. Your true delight will be in knowing God, in loving Him, in fearing Him, in being under His control and guidance. Salvation cannot be only a delight in what you’ve been saved from, it has to be in what you have been saved to do as well.The Holy Spirit creates in us a longing for our thoughts, words and deeds to all be done for God’s glory, in delightful agreement with His will. Sin then becomes our enemy. Its cheep pleasures start to look like a con-trick and we long to be delivered from it. In turn this causes us to long for heaven, knowing that they will there behold God’s face in perfect holiness and free from sin for eternity. There we’ll be fully satisfied by thinking and behaving in Christ’s likeness as well as seeing that likeness in Christ Himself. Let this deep longing grow in you and motivate you to become more holy. Nothing other than this will enable you to both grow in joy as well as grow in your sanctification.