Christ Jesus is risen and that means you’ll be raised, too. Your resurrection is guaranteed by the One who’s gone before. Jesus says, “Because I live, you also will live!” We can possess and experience right now today the power of Christ’s resurrection as lean into it and yield ourselves to it. And live it.

If we’ll embrace the resurrection, if we’ll claim the promises of the resurrection as our own, it will radically impact the way we see ourselves, the way we view others, and the way we interact with the world around us. We will have no problem risking our well-being, our reputations, and our very lives for the sake of our Lord.

The resurrection means we’re not afraid of death. So my first priority is not my personal security, it’s not preserving the institutions or saving the country. No, it’s so much bigger than that! And if we’ll own it, we’ll not worry so much about temporary things, and we’ll devote more of our resources and energies to eternal things.

Because of the resurrection, we’re not scared. We’re risk-takers. We have a clear vision of what’s important and what’s not and we’re not afraid. And that makes us dangerous.

A Christian hospital can accept more welfare patients than might be economically advisable because it knows God’s love for the poor does not depend on its continued existence. A Christian business can hire ex-cons and former felons because it knows God’s grace and forgiveness doesn’t end if their business goes under. Professors at a Christian university can call for total disarmament during a cold war because they know the future of the world does not depend on the survival of their nation. Christians can risk their lives because we know this life is not the end!

The resurrection invites all of us, it calls us, to walk through the door into a brand new world where the ultimate reality is not death, but eternal life in the One who brought our Lord out of the grave. To know the resurrection, to live the resurrection, means to act with boldness and courage. No fear. Brakes off. Full steam ahead.

Because of the resurrection, a Christian church can take bolder risks in evangelizing our neighborhoods, bolder risks in ministering to the homeless and hungry, bolder risks in loving our enemies and forgiving those who hurt us, bolder risks in protecting the helpless and defending the weak. The resurrection means we say Yes to bigger Gospel dreams and we say No to maintaining the status quo.

We can risk anything and we can give everything in denying self and sacrificing self, knowing that the salvation of the world and the salvation of my body and soul is in the powerful and loving hands of the God who promises and delivers the resurrection. We can be a Resurrection People who live to give life to others. And that will bring everlasting glory and praise to our God.

Peace,

Allan