Does the Resurrection Affect You?
As is my manner, I will be a bit non-traditional this Easter or as I prefer this Resurrection Day. On many radio and TV stations as well as in the churches, you will hear preachers far more eloquent than I do a guided tour of the Crucifixion detailing and describing each step, each lash of the whip and the hammering of the nails. Some will spend many dollars on twenty-minute pageants. That is the traditional way and I fear many have come to expect that so much on Resurrection Day that they no longer truly hear the message. It has become a ritual and things get cloudy with all the Easter bonnets and bunny things that it is a great holiday, but not really a holy day as it should be.
I have some problems with $250,000 pageants, but I am certainly not opposed to graphic descriptions. Paul preached to the Galatians so well that they felt like they were literally at the crucifixion of Christ. They could see it happening in their minds and hear and feel the agony and pain. That is some preaching. (Gal. 3:1) I only wish it were done on a day without all the religious and pagan trappings. It deserves a day all to its own when each person’s mind is focused on its own need of that sacrifice and the heart cries out as they realize that they are the ones who caused His pain.
Yes, it is a celebratory time, but it needs to be balanced with some earnest reflection and meditation upon the reason why we can celebrate. It also needs to be looked at as more than just a historical narrative. Sometimes, I feel we get so comfortable with the story that it just becomes a story that we tell without it affecting us practically. That is my question to you. Does the Resurrection affect you?
Gal 2:20 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.
(KJV)
Paul said that he was crucified with Christ. That speaks to death. No one was ever crucified and lived to tell about it except Christ. When you are dead there is nothing on this earth that appeals to you any longer. I can stick a wad of money in your face and you won’t want it. I can hold the keys to a Corvette and ask you if you want to take a spin and you won’t show any interest at all. You call the roll. What are the things you want the most in this life and work the hardest for? If you died right now, how much would they matter? Paul said that he died with Christ.
Ah, but he lives!!!! But wait a minute who is living? Looks like Paul. Sounds like Paul. Walks like Paul, but it is not Paul. He says that it is Christ living in him. Paul and all his old desires and plans are dead in the grave. Now, he can testify
Phil 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. KJV
He has already gained from being dead and allowing Christ to live in him here, so what can he get but greater gain when he dies physically? He will then be in perfect union with Christ without any of the frailties of the flesh. He lives this life by faith granted him by the Son of God who loved him. How much better then will be the eternal life he will live in Heaven with the One who loved him enough to die for him?
Yes, there is great gain in dying to self and recognizing that when you were saved you were crucified with Christ. The old man is dead as far as God is concerned and we are to reckon ourselves dead and leave the old man in the grave!! He loved us enough to die for us, do we love Him enough to accept the death of our old man and live in that reckoning?
Rom 6:11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. KJV
Paul was ecstatic that he was dead with Christ and that he was living a Christ filled life. While he had gained much and had much to gain when he went to glory, he still saw something he wanted to gain in this life.
Phil 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (KJV)
Paul wanted to know Christ. Not like us when we meet folks and say that we are glad to know them. We don’t really know them. We know their names, what they look like and where they work or a few other facts about them, but we do not really know them. Too many people only know the Lord this way. They have an image of what they think He looks like and they know where He works and a few facts about Him, but they do not really know Him. One day, He will assure them of that fact when He tells them to depart from Him for he never knew them. (Matt 7:21-23)
Others belong to Christ and are part of His Bride, but they do not really know Him. It is like a couple getting married after one date and then he is called off to war for four years. When his barracks buddies ask him about his wife, he can show her picture and say her name, but he knows very little about her. She also, has a time talking about him to the girls at work or even to the ladies in church. They spent one date night, a one-night honeymoon and all they have now is some letters that they are trying to communicate through and learn about each other.
Paul says nuts to that! He wants to know all he can about Jesus!!! He wants to walk in the power of his resurrection. The word power is where we get our word for dynamite and can you imagine the power surge in that tomb when Jesus came back into that three day decayed body! Lazarus stunk after four days and the body of Christ was there for three! Imagine the regeneration power reversing those decaying cells and taking them past being good as new into glorified!!! That power could have pulverized the stone that blocked the grave or shot it out like a rocket for hundreds of miles. Instead, it was just rolled away.
That is called controlled power!!!! Jesus walked out of there calmly though He had just conquered death and turned it from a merciless dictator into a doorman for the Kingdom of Heaven!!! Paul wanted to walk in that power. He wanted to be able to stroll past his enemies in that confidence of being more than a conqueror. He wanted to be so full of Christ that folks could feel the heat of Christ and of the Holy Spirit within his heart!
Paul wanted to know Christ so intimately that he wanted to share in His sufferings. That is when you get to know someone. When you go through the trials and dark times of life with someone that is when you find out about them and they find out about you. Ask any war vet about the camaraderie and bond between those who fought together or spent time together in a POW camp. Few blood relatives ever bond that close.
Paul wanted to suffer with Christ. Do you? Do you want to really get to know the heart and soul of Christ or do you just want to walk in His victory parade when the saints come marching in? Do you want to sob with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane or do you just want to reap with Him when He returns? Are you willing to let them scourge you as you stand for the truth and for Him? Or do you suffer enough when you crawl out of bed from time to time to catch a church service where you spend more time complaining about the temperature of the auditorium then you do asking God to turn up the heat in your heart to melt the ice? If the negative comments are true about you, then you don’t really know Him and be honest you do not want to. He is just a member of the Prize Patrol bringing you a sweepstakes prize of salvation.
If you really want to know Him and to share in His suffering, then you are seeking the path to intimacy with the One who loves you. If you seek to serve Him, you will not have to look for your share of suffering for it will come to you. He came and served men and they abused Him and killed Him. If you are His disciple, you are not greater than the Master and they will do to you as they did to Him. Do you really want to know Him and the power of His resurrection?
Then one step remains. You need to be made conformable to His death. Paul wanted to die like Christ. Though Paul was beheaded and not crucified, I believe that he got his wish. Both their deaths were because of their message and their life. Both were public and humiliating. Both were able to share their last words. Both died that they may die no more. Both were victorious in what appeared to be defeat! Death comes before resurrection. Are you dead yet? Don’t panic, I’m not telling you to call a mortician. You see your sacrificial offering is a living one.
Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV)
You see, dying to self, reckoning yourself dead in Christ and yet, being alive in Him is a normal thing. In fact, because of the mercies of God, it is your reasonable service to be holy. Anything less is unreasonable and a sign that you have not presented your bodies as a living sacrifice. It is proof that you do not understand the story you hear each year. If you have to be begged or beseeched to do this then the resurrection is not affecting you.
Graphic proof is your life. Are you conformed to this world instead of being made conformable to His death? If I had a cookie cutter for Christians and a cookie cutter for Worldings into which mold would you fit easily? Do you think like you have the mind of Christ or are your beliefs and practices determined by the your culture or your own opinion? If God speaks to you about doing something or not doing something do you find His desire or will to be good? Do you find it acceptable or do you reject it out of hand? Do you think that the perfect God has come up with the imperfect thing for you? You are not a living sacrifice. In fact, you are sacrificing your life to dead idols as much as any Baal worshiper or animist sacrificing chickens.
Yes, Resurrection Day is about victory over death and Hell. Yes, for the believer it is a day to celebrate our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. It is much more. It is our example of selflessness, sacrifice and service. It is a reality check for saint and sinner alike.
Who Put You There?
My Lord, Who put you there;
Nailed between the earth and air?
Who caused your blood to flow so free
Upon the ground from that man-made tree?
Upon your head is a thorny crown.
Why do you not plead to be let down?
Lord, answer me, I really care!
Tell me, Lord, who put you there?
Now I know why you did not fight!
My eyes now see Thy Holy Light!
O Son of God, Thy blood did spill
To pay in full sin’s costly bill!
The Cross is the road that You have paved
So a sinner might be saved!
My God and Saviour, I finally see
Who put you there was really me!
January 30, 1976
What about it lost friend? Are you ready for the Resurrection to affect you? It can. Today can be the day your old man dies with Christ and you become alive in Him to walk in newness of life! Will you do it? Klingons say, "It is a good day to die" to show they do not fear death. What about you, do you fear death? It is a good day to die to self and be saved so you do not have to fear death. Death will only be a doorway to eternal life.
My Brothers and Sisters, it is a good day to reckon ourselves dead and to seek to walk in the power of His resurrection! Will you do it? Are you willing to kick the old man back into the grave and live a life of selflessness, sacrifice and service? Are you willing to let the Resurrection affect you? It will mean suffering, but it will be mitigated by joy unspeakable and full of glory as you get to know Him intimately. Your bond of love with Christ will take on new dimensions that you cannot possibly conceive. Are you ready to gain in this life by dying to self and to gain even more when you pass from this life? Aren’t you bored with your casual knowledge of Christ? Hunger for the abundant life that comes from intimacy in His sufferings. Be made comformable to His death by rejecting this world’s mold and your hunger will be satisfied! He is risen!!! Let’s walk with Him!!! Maranatha!!!!
