Resurrected Living

Resurrected Living

We last looked at the lives of men in the Old Testament (Abraham, Moses, David, Joshua, and Caleb) and how they found that God was sufficient, as they chose to put their faith in Him.  It is always very encouraging to look at their examples. But as we look at these Old Testament saints, it is easy to forget that they were just people like us. But they were people who chose to set their eyes on God! They sought the Lord, turning away from the physical things around them.

They put all their thought and attention into knowing and following God. That is where their power lay. That is why God was able to use them so incredibly.

Today we are going to be looking at how we have access into the same victory, triumph, and power of God in our lives.  In fact, through the resurrection of Christ, we have even greater access into the same spiritual resources they had.  The veil has been torn, and we can go to His throne of grace through the new covenant that God has put in place.

As Christians, we have the power of Christ’s resurrection.

“‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)

For the Christian, there is no more sting in death, hell does not have victory, and we are no longer in bondage to sin!  What great victory we have through Jesus!  Christ conquered the power of sin and the power of death. When we believe in Him, He gives us this victory as well. This great triumph He has achieved for us, enables us to actually walk in it, practically, in our daily lives.

The more we understand what the Bible teaches us about where we stand through Christ, the more we will walk in these truths daily.

And as we saw earlier in 2 Corinthians 2:14, Christ leads us in triumph…in all things. In all trials and circumstances! The New Covenant has brought us resurrection power. We still will suffer because our Lord suffered; we still die to self daily, yet, we have fellowship in His sufferings, and He will give us victory over anything that comes against us. Since we have this victory and power in our lives, we can be steadfast and abounding in the work of the Lord.  We can know that our labor is not in vain.

1 Peter 1:3 states that we have been born again “to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”   We have a hope that is alive; it can transform us. It enables us and changes our lives. It is through Christ’s resurrection that we access this living, empowering hope.  The world wants to offer us its resources to get through trials and difficulties. But when we are born again, it is into a living hope!

We need the power that raised Christ from the dead to get through our trials and difficulties.

How wonderful that we have it available to us through Jesus and our relationship with Him.  Let us seek this living hope in all our trials!

A lot of us either forget, or aren’t aware of the biblical truths and heavenly resources available for us to tap into, moment by moment of our day.  Ephesians 1:18-20 explains: the same great power, that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the heavenly places, is available to all who believe, day by day.

Oh, how I want to live my life by the amazing resources of God–by His resurrection power. This is the great power that can enable us to live a godly life in the middle of storms and trials. This is the power behind sanctification. This is the power that enables God’s children to go through deep troubles while serving Christ and come out the other side with more victory and power in our lives, because we are living by a strength that is not our own. That is the power of resurrected living!  Even when we walk in suffering, and when our trials, fears, and frustrations are producing a “death” (death to self, or the fellowship of His sufferings).

Know that as we know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, we will know Him in the power of His resurrection!

Remember that resurrection power sources in our God!  It is His power.  He is an awesome God!

“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us…(2 Corinthians 1:9-10)”

There is no question that life is full of trials, storms, and difficulties. As Christians we have opposition: the world, the flesh, and the devil all coming against us. We don’t have the strength to win these battles, but God does. Am I consistently trusting Him when trials come?  Do I seek out the biblical truths of His power and victory to fix my attention on in the storm? There will be times when we fail, or realize we have been relying on our own strength, but we can always begin anew, trusting in the Lord.

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