The Evidence of Resurrection - Easter
Every year, the world celebrates the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And most people do it out of their genuine reverence and thanksgiving to God, while for some it is a good ritual to follow and be a part of it!
What does the Resurrection experience mean to you personally?
See, for most of us, our understanding on this question is always founded on the overall story. Cause we have heard some of the classic scripture verses that communicate the love and sacrifice of Jesus for the entire world..
Today.. I hope we can really narrow down on the value, the blessings, the inheritance of the resurrection of Jesus to your individual life.. It is like using the magnifying glass and zeroing down on YOU!
Cause until you experience the resurrection power of Christ in your life, you are not really stepping in to the new life that He assures each one of us. Until then, all our understanding of the life, death and Jesus being raised from the dead is great head knowledge.
We don’t just need head knowledge.. We need a genuine heart change. The gospel message of Jesus Christ is not just some overtly intellectual literature, it is the power of God unto salvation! And every single one of us has the privilege to experience that salvation in its fullness through the person of Jesus Christ!
I want us to dive in and really chew on these few phrases and words today as we celebrate Easter. Some say this is the life message of Paul wrapped up in these words.
For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:19-20 NKJV
These are some big bold statements made by Paul as He is writing to this people in Galatia.. And this is something that God kept bringing my attention to..
“No longer I who live, but Christ lives in me”
See, a couple of days back.. we were speaking of how each one of us needs to learn to embrace death in our lives to actually live this new life in Christ.. Paul is echoing this same narrative in such a specific manner when he pens down this verse!
And I want us to see the order in which He is helping us see this.. This Resurrection Sunday Zealous…. My hope and prayer for all of us is that we get this order right in our lives!
Crucifixion precedes Resurrection
The old must go before we can fully experience the new
🔥We cannot really embrace the resurrection power of Christ until we have experienced crucifixion of our old self!🔥
Most of us are working towards finding and securing our identity, our worth and our destiny through various paths. And in this life of constant striving and constant working, we are not even aware that our soul, our hearts take a beating which goes un-noticed..
Our minds are drained out, our hearts are lost and distant.. But our body might still be willing to cope up with the daily routines and checklists..
This is where our faith and application of the gospel message changes everything. When we let go of our striving and fall into the will of God. When we let go of our understanding and intellect and allow faith to be birthed in our hearts. When we are allowing the old life to die and make way for Christ’s resurrection power in our lives..
All of this is a matter of the heart and not only the head. Christianity is a matter of the heart.. Jesus took on human form to get to our hearts. He took up the cross to get our hearts through his unconditional love. He rose again on the 3rd day and has assured comfort and a hope for our hearts
It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus, Our faith has substance!
And with this eternal truth being established.. living our new lives with this mindset of Paul is what authentic discipleship and faith in Jesus looks like..
🔥Our faith in Christ is expressed through our daily lifestyles.🔥
Learning everyday to train and teach your self to take a back seat… and allow the scriptures to lead us, the Holy Spirit to guide us towards Gods desires and plans for us.. That is what living by faith looks like..
I love what John Piper says, “A Christ follower is not a person who believes in his head the teachings of the Bible. Satan believes in his head the teachings of the Bible! A Christ follower is a person who has died with Christ, whose stiff neck has been broken, whose brazen forehead has been shattered, whose stony heart has been crushed, whose pride has been slain, and whose life is now mastered by Jesus Christ.”
See Jesus conquered death, He conquered sin, He conquered over every barrier that kept us from God.. And He did all of that to conquer your heart! His love displayed through his death and resurrection was for us to be reconciled and restored to be His sons and daughters.. To be His reflection and His witnesses to the message of His unconditional love for humanity!
To be that evidence for the people around us, that in the midst of our agony
In the midst of our pain
In the midst of suffering and loss
The love of God and His presence is creating this beautiful picture for our eternal future..
That all of us because of our faith in Christ are being transformed and renewed daily inside out..
And that the emphasis of His resurrection is not just talked about once a year, but in our daily lives, we are seeing Christ live in and through us. Christ is living in me is when I choose to put on love instead of hate. I live according to faith than fear. I subscribe to worship rather than worry
You see these are indicators of us applying the gospel message and living as a witness for Jesus.. We think the evidence of Resurrection of Christ is the empty tomb. It is the archaeological and historic proofs that we have heard of.. While all that validates the proof of resurrection…. The truth also is that…
🔥Every disciple of Jesus is the evidence of His Resurrection!🔥
When you are living as an evidence to the resurrection, you are proclaiming Jesus in all our situations and circumstances.. You are declaring His love over your situations. You are allowing Jesus to build up our lives as the church He desires to build through us..
We see this captured in Ephesians 5:25-27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV
That's what the love of Jesus at the cross and His resurrection power does for you and me. It transforms us. It changes us entirely from being wretched, filthy, nasty sinners, to being pure in His sight. It's a transformative love. And all of this is focused on you.
Zealous, this is the kind of community that Jesus longs to build.. and the best part is it involves you.. He wants to do this in you first and wants to do this through you! A radiant church, one without stain or wrinkle or any blemish… A community that is Holy and blameless.. A community that reflects and bears the image of Christ wherever we are!!
And this beautiful and life transforming journey begins when we are dying to ourselves and being resurrected with the new identity in Christ!… Let this Easter not be another informative and an intellectual moment limited to our heads, but let Gods word birth this desire to make this bold proclamation that—
“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”
Your new life in Christ is the evidence of His resurrection to the people and situations around you.
The pointers for people to experience that same transformational and unconditional AGAPE love.. To pull them out from the grip of sin and death and plug them into the new life..