Living the Resurrected Life Day 1: What difference does He make?

“We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways].”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭4‬ ‭AMP‬‬

We have recently celebrated Resurrection Sunday. So, I guess we’re done with talking about resurrection until next year, right?

Now, if you are basically any kind of Christian, your answer to that question might be: “Of course not!” But we should ask ourselves this question: “What difference has the work of Jesus Christ made in the way I am living?” Sadly, for many Christians the answer to that question would basically be things like: “I try not to curse as much anymore;” or, “I try to be faithful to my spouse;” or, “I try to do good things.” And, whereas those types of differences are not to be dismissed as unimportant, those types of things all have to do with “doing,” rather than “being,” and therefore, fall short of being representative of what the work of Jesus Christ has done for us. And—that being the case—these attempts at “doing” differently, without “being” different, usually extinguish, and we find ourselves, not only doing what we used to do, but possibly doing even worse, and feeling like a total failure.

At the point of crisis of meaning in the Christian walk, some people decide that Christianity does not meet its promises. Or, others may decide that the Christian walk is just not for them. The tragedy in all that (of course, secondary to the consequences of turning one’s back on the Lord), is the fact that we may be passing judgment on something, on Someone, we have never really experienced.

Eternity is a long time; therefore, being able to be made right with God through Jesus Christ so that we can spend eternity with Him, is not to be underestimated. But the fact remains, that is just the glorious beginning of the difference the work of Jesus Christ has made possible in our lives.

Let me first of all point out a difference between two resurrections:

When we think of the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus, we can see and know what a sign and wonder it is to bring someone back from the dead who has been dead for four days. But as marvelous of a miracle this was, when Lazarus was brought back from the dead, he was brought back to being who he was before his death and resurrection experience. That is to say, he was brought back to the same life he had before he was dead. As well, he would have to again experience death at some point.

Now, being raised to new life through Jesus Christ, is not meant to provide a new lease on life, or even a new approach to our life. What the word of God tells us about the resurrection life made possible through Jesus’ resurrection, is that we are raised to a totally new kind of life. Indeed, by identifying with Jesus’ death (illustrated in baptism), we can be raised to the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. As well, we need never die again. We need never return to our old life, ruled by the power of sin, doomed to repeat our failures over and over again, headed for a certain destruction, after a long, miserable, downward spiral, into the same.

In our opening scripture, we see that the work of Jesus Christ has truly made it possible to walk in newness of life. That is, His resurrection creates a way for us to have a new, an entirely new, entirely different, type of life.

Lord willing, over the next few days, we will go back to the basics to determine whether or not we are truly walking in a relationship with Jesus Christ, whether or not we truly understand what God has done for us through the work of Jesus. After all, if that is not the case, living His resurrected life, walking in the newness of that resurrected life, is impossible.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!