RESURRECTION LIVING

                We are only nine days past Easter, yet the glory of that day has already begun to fade. We have settled back into the routine of life. Routine is important for us, because it acts as a buffer to the many challenges of life. Imagine what it would be like without a certain amount of routine in your life. You would have to constantly think about and make a decision about everything that you do. It would be like being an infant all over again. How do I brush my teeth? How do I get dressed? What goes on first? How do I take a shower? How do I start the car? How do I get to work? What am I supposed to do at work? You can see that without routine, our normal lives would be overwhelming.

                Routine is a healthy aspect of our lives, but it can also dull our senses. Routine can allow us to live life on auto-pilot, without really thinking about what we are doing. It can hinder us from being intentional about things that are really important. Routine can so fill our days that, when we get to the end of the day, the activities of our day are a fuzzy blur. Routine can keep us from examining our lives. It can keep us from asking the question, why am I doing what I am doing? What is its purpose? Are there more important things in which I should be investing my energy?

                The resurrection of Jesus changed the dynamics of life. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we no longer have to live in bondage to sin. Instead, we have been called to live new lives in Christ; resurrection lives. That means that we need to break free from some of the old patterns of life that we are so comfortable with, and live differently. It means that we are living for a higher purpose than getting through the day. The Apostle Paul addressed this challenge in Romans 6:1-14.

    What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

    If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

    Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

    In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

                There are several implications of Paul’s teaching in Romans 6. The first is that, if we are followers of Christ, we can no longer go on living in the old routines of life. We have been called to live new lives in Christ, and that means breaking free from some old, sinful patterns.

                The second implication is that we need a better understanding of sin. We tend to automatically think of sin in big terms: stealing, immorality, lying, dishonesty, etc. For most of us, these are not real issues, yet sin is an issue for all of us. Sin in our lives is much more subtle and well entrenched. It is so much a part of our normal routine that we don’t recognize it. So what does sin look like for most of us? It is living primarily for myself, rather than to honor God and serve others. It is seeking prosperity over meaningful purpose. It is going with the flow of society, rather than living intentionally for Christ. It is seeking my pleasure over fulfilling God’s plan for my life. It is holding a grudge and allowing bitterness to take root in my life, rather than forgiving others and seeking genuine reconciliation. I think you can get the picture.

                The third implication, then, is that we need to be much more intentional about the way we live our daily lives. We need to develop new patterns of living that become our new, godly habits. We need to be aware of what is going around us spiritually, and seek to respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We need to honor God with more than just our mind. We need to intentionally honor God with how we act in our tangible, physical world.

                If we are followers of Jesus Christ, we died with Him on the cross, and we have been raised with Him to new life. Therefore, our lives should be radically different from the world around us. We are no longer dead in sin. We have been made alive in Christ. The way we live our daily lives should reflect that new reality.