What do we do now? The Resurrection is part of us. What does that mean for our daily life? We are new in Christ, but habits and lifestyles are hard to break.
Amazing Grace -- we were lost, now we are found.
"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—" Romans 5:12
Jesus stayed on earth for 40 days after He was resurrected. Then He went to be with God in heaven. We are meant to be living with God.
"The sin in the world leads to separation, feeling lost, abandoned, disappointed, alone, unloved, despair, purposeless, wandering lost...
For us there is a better way -- we have hope. We should be the shining light in the darkness every day! Through the resurrection of Christ, we are not improved, we are reborn!
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath." Ephesians 2:1-3
It's not on us. We are reborn children of God. We don't make the transformation happen. The Spirit does.
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:1-2
Our bodies don't stop decaying. We still have bills. But our Spirits are transformed! Don't be influenced by the world. Be influenced by Jesus. We are immune to the death and sin of the world. Our lives have returned to the ownership of the Creator. I live like tomorrow is hope. Anticipation of seeing Jesus gets me excited. And He asks for you! Yes, you the one reading this!
God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us this way. It's a brand new life.
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
Go toward Jesus. Go forward. Your life will get brighter and brighter "until the full day!!"
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37
Heaven is our home. Life is not elevated, it is dead. Leave it at at the Cross.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
We are receivers and givers of grace and the Good News. The need for Jesus is everywhere!!
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Don't live like you're dying.
Pick up your cross daily...
Understand that you are loved this much! Walk forward means children of God -- boldly proclaiming His love. Share the love that you have received.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, Woodrow, it's living!"
This isn't religion and rules. It is relationship. We are new -- here and now through Resurrection.
Are you living a new life, a life of Resurrection right now? If not, what do you need to do?