He is Risen

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. Romans 6:4

I would be hard pressed to think of any significant misdeeds that I have committed in life that were out of simple ignorance. All of the wrong I have chosen has not been because I thought I was doing right – I knew I was wrong. I chose wrong simply because I wanted wrong more.

This is our desperate condition and it is why Christ died for us. Our flesh nature is broken and contains desires for those things that cause us destruction. Whether it is anger, lust, greed, pride, gluttony, intoxication or selfishness, we all have some way in which we simply want wrong more than we want right. This rebellion has separated us from God but because of His great love for us, Jesus Christ died so that we may be restored to Him. God has forgiven us, and we bear the weight of our sin no more if we put our faith in Him.

Preference though, again stands in the way of our faith. We want God, but we do not want to give up our way of doing things. Anyone counting the cost of following Christ will see what that means to the old life. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23). Following Christ means death to the old life.

But I still want to be in control. I still want to follow my dreams and desires. We know we should follow God, but we prefer to follow self. We fear that following God means giving up the life we want.

To this, Paul provided this argument: Yes, we do die to ourselves in following Christ. The old gets buried, but just as Christ did not stay buried, we do not either. Christ has risen and so too, do we. We now may walk in the newness of a resurrected spiritual life.

Christ died and rose, so that we may die to the old way of life and be resurrected into a new one. To those who still long to follow self, this will not be a palatable option. They will still prefer the old life. To those of us though, who are sick of the destruction of our old life, Christ’s offer is blessed hope for the real life for which we have been longing. He is risen and if we have faith in Him, so too are we.