The resurrection of Christ Jesus—indisputably, it’s the most tremendous event in all of human history.
The Bible leaves no room for doubt, as it proclaims the resurrection’s authenticity.
Jesus spoke of the event before it happened:
“And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.” (Matthew 20:19)
To prevent a hoax, His tomb was sealed with a huge stone, and soldiers kept watch:
“So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.” (Matthew 27:66)
He appeared to the apostles many times over the course of forty days:
“To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3)
He proved that He rose physically and bodily, as He showed the apostles His wounds, allowing them to touch Him:
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39)
and He ate food in front of them:
“And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.” (Luke 24:41-43)
He was also seen by over five hundred people at one time:
“After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:6)
And was seen by His apostles as He ascended, bodily, up to Heaven:
“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is absolutely essential for the Christian faith. Because by His resurrection, Christ Jesus declares His Godhood, and His power is made known.
“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4)
And what exactly is this power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead? We just can’t understand it. It is impossible to comprehend with our human minds.
As believers and followers of Christ Jesus, all we can do is believe, and attribute this resurrection power to the power of God.
And because it’s the power of God, we see it as being beyond us. Just as we avoid touching an electrical power line, we leave it to the professionals—and admire this power from a respectful distance, as we worship the Holy and Almighty God.
So we go about our days, weeks, months and years treating this power as untouchable. Unreachable. Not to be accessed by our mere humanity.
We rightfully attribute the power to God. But we tend to forget that this very same power is not only accessible to us, but is actually within us.
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Yes. The resurrection power—the very same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead—lives in me, and it lives in you.
Let’s take a look at the resurrection power within you, and how it affects who you are.
You are alive in Christ, and sit in His place of authority.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-6)
Christ’s story didn’t end at the cross—and neither does ours. Jesus was crucified on the cross, raised up to life in His resurrection power, and now sits on His heavenly throne. Astoundingly, these verses demonstrate that the very same thing happened to us, as believers.
Many read these verses, and others like them, as symbolic. But there is nothing symbolic about these concepts. They are facts.
In order to wrap our heads around these facts, we need to look at them through the lens of the eternal nature of God. God, who is not bound by time, has placed us—in a supernaturally-literal sense—at the cross, at the resurrection, and in the heavenly place of Christ Jesus.
At the cross: We came to Christ Jesus, putting our trust in His work on the cross—and our spiritually-dead selves are now crucified there, with Him. Our faithless flesh no longer lives.
At the resurrection: We are infused with His resurrection power, which overcame death—we receive His life, and are “quickened” (made alive) together with Him. Christ lives in us, and we now live by faith in Him.
In Heavenly places: This is the hardest fact to comprehend. Somehow, we are still here on earth, yet we “sit” there—in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. We are “raised up.” We are on another level. We sit in authority, through His authority.
What does this all mean, in a way our earthly minds can understand? It means this: Because He has overcome everything for us, we have also overcome with Him. This means that I am an overcomer, and you are an overcomer.
We have overcome! I want to live like an overcomer, don’t you?
Through His strength, we can do this. It’s just a matter of remembering who you are!
Sin has no power over you.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon (make the decision) ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Romans 6:6-12, parenthesis mine)
The person you used to be is crucified with Christ, and your sinful nature is destroyed. Think about that.
The old person is dead with Christ, and a dead person can not sin. The new person is alive with Christ, and sin’s result—death—has no power over them.
Jesus Christ died once and for all, and was raised to life once and for all. We share in His victory every time we make the decision that we are also dead to sin, and alive in His resurrection power.
I wish I could walk as perfectly as Jesus did, when He walked in human form on this earth. But He knew I couldn’t. He knew that I desperately needed Him to win this thing for me.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Sin is always a choice. In a moment of weakness, we choose to sin.
But sin has no power over us. The devil would have us believe otherwise. But the truth is that sin’s effects on a Christian are not of power, but of pretense.
We sin—and fall for that deceiving lie, which says we have lost. The pretense—that cloak covering the truth—which says we are defeated.
The truth is that sin does not reign in us. So don’t allow it to.
Tear off it’s cloak of defeat, and proclaim the truth of what Jesus has done for you. Walk in the victory that He won for you, making the very best effort you can.
And in your weak moments, run to Jesus. Fall down before Him, and draw from His strength—the strength of His resurrection power.
Remember who you are—a new person, alive in Christ. Then get up, and walk.
You share in His glory.
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22)
The idea of sharing in Christ’s glory can certainly be puzzling. After all, we don’t walk around like Moses, after he came down from the mountain, with a shining face. And we don’t yet present ourselves, as Jesus did after the resurrection, with a fantastic, glorified body.
“Glory” sounds so heavenly, that we tend to think that it won’t be ours until Heaven. But it is apparent in this verse that Jesus purposed to share His glory—with us, now. While we are here on this earth.
So what is this “glory,” that we share with Christ? It is supernatural, and yet it given to the mortal. It is eternal, yet it is for the present.
The Greek word for “glory” in this verse indicates the highest recognition and honor ascribed to the character and nature of God—and the fact that this character is expressed through Christ Jesus. And because Christ Jesus lives within each one of us, this character and nature is also expressed through us, His church.
And since we possess and express the character and nature of Christ, He has given us the very same glory that He receives, as One of the Godhead.
I don’t know about you—but for me, this is a very sobering thought. As imperfect an individual as I am, Christ Jesus has bestowed His glory upon me. He is willing to overlook, bypass and forget about all of my defects, faults and failures. The fact that He lives within me, and expresses Himself through me, is good enough for Him.
It makes me want to return the Honor to the One who has chosen to honor me. And there is only one way to do that:
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
I will follow Him.
I will choose to live by faith in the fact that I am crucified with Christ, and that His resurrection life lives in me.
I will take up my cross, proclaiming that my flesh and sin are crucified, with Him.
And from my seat of authority in heavenly places, I will demand that my flesh step aside, and allow the resurrection life of Christ—with His character and nature—to shine through.
I will not react to others with my human nature, but will instead give opportunity for Jesus to respond through me—in my words, my actions, and even my thoughts.
The glory of Christ Jesus—it’s mine, and it’s yours. We certainly don’t deserve it. The resurrection power of Christ is the only reason that we share in it.
What an honor! May we—in return—honor Him, who has honored us.
Let’s step aside, and allow the character and nature of Christ to shine through, in our every interaction with others.
You are not of this world.
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” (John 17:16-18)
Here is Jesus, praying to the Father, saying “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” It’s just so astonishing, that I find my eyes going over these words, again and again.
I am not of this world. You are not of this world. To the extent that Christ Jesus Himself is not of this world!
Yikes!
Thank God for His prayer, for us to be sanctified (made holy and set apart) by His truth. And what is His truth? His word. We need to feed ourselves with it, daily.
Jesus has sent us—as we live and walk in His resurrection power—into the world. Just as God the Father sent Him into this world.
Are you feeling the weight of responsibility right now, as I am?
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)
We are risen with Christ. And since we’re sitting right next to Him in heavenly places, let’s ask Him to change the desires of our hearts. Let’s ask Him to show us those things which concern Him.
Friend, we have a job to do.
And we have all of the power we need to do it.