Live Born and Resurrected: Three Ways to Live Alive
Have you ever planned a special event? Maybe it was a birthday party, 4th of July gathering, a one-year-old birthday party. Maybe months and hours went into this planning. The event happens, everyone is wowed, and then it is over in a few hours. Your months or weeks of planning done in a few hours. And then life goes back to the way it was. Seems a little anti-climatic, huh? But what if some events became a way of living? How different would those days be? How different would you be?
More than Holidays
There are at least two special events we often spend months preparing for: Christmas and Easter. We gather presents, pick out matching outfits, get baskets ready, dye eggs, and do all the things. And within a few moments presents, eggs, and baskets have been ravaged. And then it is over. But what if it was not over? While Christmas and Easter are celebrated in one day, they are anything but one day events. They are a way of living.
Jesus’ birth was simple, humble, but majestic. The Son of God did not come as so many anticipated he would. He came through flesh. He was both sent by God and born of woman, fully human and fully God. He came to this earth with power that only he could wield. Wise men travelled far to shower this baby with love and acknowledgement as the Son of God. And His birth gave us the opportunity for a rebirth. No longer was the birth of humanity the start of death. Jesus’ birth provided us everlasting gifts: reconciliation to God, forgiveness, eternal life, and more.
But the gifts and power did not stop with his birth. With that power that flowed through his veins, Jesus exhibited meekness and humbleness; however, that same power not only sustained him in the desert for forty days, but also on the cross. He could have used his power to rescue himself. He could have debated with his Father in the garden to find another way. Yet, knowing all the pain he would face, he submitted to the will of God not for his own sake, but for ours.
That power, that love not only allowed him to endure the cross, but also it allowed him to conquer all of death and hell! He rose from the grave shattering all the enemy had hoped for. And that same power lives in us!
Three Ways to Live in Power
1) Dwell on the manger
Jesus’ birth was the start to reconciling us to the Father. God loved us enough to send His son to this earth, to be born in a manger, to live a life not fit for a King so that we could be cleansed of our sin and be with the Father for eternity. That is not a one-day event we celebrate; that is transformed life we live.
Because Jesus came to this earth, we have an opportunity to claim our son and daughtership to the one true King. We can be born again in Christ and accept the “great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).
2) Remember whose you are
When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we cannot be plucked from the Father’s hand (John 10:28). We are forever his! We are sons and daughters of the King, “a royal priesthood belonging to God” (I Peter 2:9). Are we living like it?
It is easy for this world to enamor us with anesthetic remedies, quick fixes, and half truths that lead us to believe we can do this life within our own power. But that is one of the many lies and tricks the enemy likes to use. These lies and tricks often lead us to fear, hurt, and disappointment. This, in turn, clouds our vision of whose we are.
However, when we recognize our true value and worth, we live in the power of Christ, knowing we are his and nothing can snatch us from the Father’s hand, we can have the power to overcome the pain and fear we are facing without the world’s remedies. We can face the hard, because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, his children!
3) Remember the Cross and the Resurrection
Jesus’ death was not the end of life, but the beginning of it. The power that was felt upon his last breath tore the temple veil from top to bottom, the earth shook, and even skeptics believed this was the one true God. That power did not stop at his death. Three days later, that power surged! Jesus rose conquering all of death and hell for eternity!
This power that brough love in a manger, this power that gave Jesus the endurance for the cross, this power that shattered the tomb, this same power is ours to have! And it is not just present on Christmas or Easter. It is within us at all times.
It is within us when we face the terminal diagnosis; it is within us when a loved one dies; it is within us when we face another heartache. This power does not make us exempt from pain. It did not keep Jesus from the cross. But this power did allow Jesus to endure all that was ahead of him from the manger to the grave. And that power lives within us DAILY.
Final thoughts
We do not have to live Christmas and Easter just for one day. We can live it out 365 days a year. We can live in the power of Christ as his sons and daughters for we are “God’s people, holy and loved” (Colossians 3:12). Now go live alive!