Daily Resurrection
As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to new life. What a blessed privilege! And although the pathway to this new life is counter-intuitive, it makes sense to us spiritually. Are we able to get past the hurdles that keep us stagnant in our old life and receive the offer of new life that Christ died to purchased? #resurrection #ChristianBlog
Death and resurrection. It’s an interesting concept. I say it is interesting because it is a somewhat universal concept, even among those who doubt the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
C.S. Lewis spoke in his book, “Mere Christianity,” of his belief that God gave to all peoples in the world what Lewis calls, “Good Dreams.” He believed, and I’m inclined to agree, that even the strangest religions out there have a glimmer of the truth tucked away in them. It’s as though, at the heart of every human, there is a whispering hint at the truth of God and His plan for salvation.
Take, as an example, the erroneous concept of reincarnation. As a Christian, I know this is completely false, yet I can see that there is a hope hidden there. I believe it is the hope that death is not the end, that we can eventually be better than we are, and that there is some mysterious connection between death and resurrection and a way to salvation. And, lo and behold, by Jesus Christ, I know that death is not the end, that He desires to perfect me and that He died and rose in my place that I might be saved.
Even as I live my life, I hope for daily reincarnation. (Bear with me – I’m not going off the deep end!) I daily hope to die to myself and be raised again – better and closer to looking like Jesus than I did yesterday. I long for improvement and becoming a clearer reflection of the Lord that those around me may see Him, not just me.
When my Grandmother was dying in hospice, we were given information on the dying process. Though it was many years ago, some of that information has been held in my heart. Primarily I recall that we were told that as a person approaches death, they begin to feel that their body is just a weight that they desire to lay aside. What a beautiful picture and how it points to the truth that there is something inside us that will live on forever after this body is dead.
If we are truly disciples, this death should be our daily prayer in a spiritual sense. We should desire to be done with this flesh and desire deeply to let it go, to shake it off like a heavy, grimy outer wrapping. Once recognized, the stench of our own flesh becomes increasingly repulsive. Let’s shed it like an old cocoon, holding on to nothing, for we know that resurrection is waiting on the other side of death.
I can understand why the Apostle Paul said, “I die daily.” I thought I took up my cross and laid down my life a long time ago! But as long as I’m alive, it never ends. This daily death is heavily on my heart and mind at this time of year, as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. I am committed anew to daily death and the belief that my Resurrected Lord will resurrect me a little closer to His glory.
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Romans 8:11
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