The resurrection is not simply an Easter sermon. It is the reason the good news is good. There is only one Jesus that saves, delivers, heals, rescues, and gives new life, and that is the risen Jesus, seated at the right hand of God.
- Baby Jesus is good news but it is not good enough.
- Jesus the friend of sinners is good news but it is not good enough.
- Jesus dying on the cross is certainly very good news but it is not good enough. A dead Jesus saves no one.
If Jesus had not been raised to new life, then everything he did was for naught. How do we know that all our sins – past, present, and future – have been eternally forgiven?
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom 4:25)
There are those who teach that He was raised, so that we can become righteous. The verse does not say, „He was raised so that, in the future, we can become righteous.” But the verse is saying, ‘when your sins was borne by Him at the cross, and He died to the imputation, the guilt and all the consequences of sin, you were justified in Him. God declared you not guilty; God acquitted you. God pronounced you righteous. Now, the moment God pronounced you righteous, God raised Jesus from the dead, because you were declared righteous.
I like The Young Literal Translation how it convey this: ‘who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised up because of our being declared righteous.’
The moment God declared us righteous, He raised His Son from the dead. The implication is that if we were not declared righteous [if that’s not settle before God], Jesus would not have been raised from the dead.
So today when we think of Jesus being raised from the dead is not just to conquered death – as wonderful as that is. The main truth is that’s a declaration that you are acquitted. Because the same body – Jesus body – that bore all our sins, all our curse, our judgment and our quilt now rose from the dead and cleared us for them all.
It is because Jesus has been raised from the dead that you have been justified and made wholly righteous by God. This is the good news. If you get this, you’ll walking in the resurrection power.
Another good news is that, at the moment of your new birth, the same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead was born in you [simple_tooltip content=’19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,’](Ephesians 1:19-20[/simple_tooltip]; [simple_tooltip content=’Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,’]3:20[/simple_tooltip]). You have been raised out of death’s domain and into a new life filled with the Holy Spirit and power.
Because you have been filled with the God-kind of life (Greek: zoe), you are now free to live by the laws of the spirit of life in Christ, overcoming the laws of sin and death [simple_tooltip content=’For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.’](Romans 8:2)[/simple_tooltip].
Once you realize that you are born of God, filled with His zoe life, you start to understand that the same power that worked in Jesus when He walked on this earth will work in you. Your strength and effectiveness will then begin to increase to the degree that you focus on the life of God within and meditate on who you are in Christ.
You have received supernatural life. You stand in the righteousness of God, and you have the love of God deposited in your heart. In fact, you have received more than enough to stand victorious over any enemy or attack that could ever come against you.
3as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
All things pertaining to zoe life have been given to you. As you stand firmly planted in the life of God, you possess all the power you need for any challenge you face or any assignment you are called to fulfill.
[simple_tooltip content=’10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’]Romans 6:10-11[/simple_tooltip] says, likewise [in the same way] He died to your sin once and for all and rose before God, likewise [in the same manner] reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin, cleared from the imputation of sin; no charge of sin can be brought against you. Have that kind of life. Have that kind of attitude – reckon, act like it… that you are someone that cannot be charged with sin, but a person who has the God-kind of life in her and is living for Him.
As you meditate on the significance of Easter, take time to remember Jesus, His immense love for us, and His perfect, finished work for us at the cross. Learn more about and experience the resurrection power and life of our Lord Jesus, so that you can walk in a greater and greater measure of redemption’s blessings—divine health, restoration, peace and provision.
Also, keep in mind that resurrection power isn’t just in Jesus’ hands; it’s in yours too. Claim the authority that rightfully belongs to you, and give the world something to talk about. You’ve got the power!
