Walk in Life: Resurrection Power for Moms
Of all the holidays, Easter is my favorite. Always has been. When I was a little girl, my dad attended grad school and there was not much money for anything but the necessities. However, my mom was determined I would have a new dress on Easter. Even into my teen and early adult years, she remained committed to that cause. And I loved it. I also love all Easter candy—jelly beans, malt ball candy eggs, chocolate bunnies, and my all-time favorite, Peeps. (If you want to know the best way to eat a Peep, leave the package opened overnight to let it get just a little bit stale and crunchy.) I love the songs we sing in church on Easter morning. And I love Easter traditions.
When my children were young, we lived on several acres with a small pond. Every Easter morning before sunrise, I slipped into their rooms and whispered, “He is risen,” into each child’s ear. After they groggily replied, “He is risen indeed,” they all stumbled downstairs, grabbed a mug of hot chocolate and a warm blanket, and headed down to the wooden dock on our little Kansas pond. The six of us sat side by side facing the pond, taking turns picking the songs we would sing as the sun rose. Rarely did we remember all the lyrics, and never did I sing on key, but those mornings remain some of my favorite memories—singing praises to the risen Son as the sun rose.
Easter celebrates the most significant event of our faith—the resurrection from the dead of our Savior. Yes, it is the crucifixion and the resurrection together that are the center of our salvation. But, as Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. . . . And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:14, 17-19).
Life for Today
The resurrection is the event that confirms and validates everything Jesus said about himself and everything he did to save us. And the resurrection of Jesus guarantees that we will one day be raised in glory with him. But does the resurrection of Jesus only impact our future salvation? No! It impacts how we live today.
Paul wrote in Romans 6:1-4:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Did you see it? Because Jesus was raised, we are called and enabled to walk in newness of life today! We don’t have to wait until the end of this life and the beginning of the next to experience new life. We can walk in our new life right now. Wherever we are. No matter how long we have known Jesus. No matter what our day has looked like so far. We can walk in resurrection life.
Life Through Death
But the thing about resurrection life is that it only comes through the cross, after the crucifixion. In the great reversal, life comes after death. Look back at the passage from Romans: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (emphasis mine). It’s important to remember that it’s not just Christ’s resurrection and life that are ours; it’s also his crucifixion and death.
One of my professors in seminary referred to death and resurrection as the heartbeat of the Christian life. A heartbeat has two parts to it—thump-thump. In the same way, Christians walk in the two-beat rhythm of death-life, die-live. We are called to die to certain things—pride, envy, boasting, slander, immorality, coarse talk, gossip, selfishness. At the same time, we are called to live to other things—gentleness, humility, patience, kindness, joy, love.
Do you struggle with either part of this heartbeat? Do you struggle to die to certain sins or to live into your new self? Yes? Me too. Which is why I think Paul’s words to the church in Rome are so helpful. He didn’t say that we are to work really hard to die to certain sins and work really hard to walk in resurrection power. He says, in Christ, we have already died and we have already been raised!
Life in Light of Eternity
Theologians like to talk about the fact that Christ delivers us from the penalty and power of sin and will one day deliver us from its presence as well. Meaning, we are forgiven and justified (declared not guilty) because Jesus took the penalty of our sin on himself. As Paul wrote in the passage above, we have died to sin; the power of reigning sin has been broken. We are no longer slaves to sin but have been set free to be slaves of righteousness.[1] And one glorious day we will be completely free from the presence of sin! But I would like to add one more word-that-begins-with-the-letter-p to that list. Today—the day that you and I can walk in resurrection power and newness of life—we need to intentionally walk away from the practice of sin.
That is how we walk in newness of life. That is how we walk in the two-beat rhythm of death and resurrection. We practice walking away from that which brings death and walking into that which brings life. What is the challenge for you today, right now? Is there anger, bitterness, gluttony, drunkenness, unforgiveness, rage, envy, boasting, or slothfulness (or anything else the Lord might call to mind!) that you need to walk away from, reminding yourself you “have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20a)? And is there joy, forgiveness, patience, self-control, humility, gentleness, love, peace, hope (or anything else the Lord might call to mind!) that you need to walk into, reminding yourself, as Paul did, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20b)?
Friends, we serve a risen Savior. He came to give us life. Let’s walk in it.
[1] Rom. 6:17, 22
