April 4

Raised with Christ

        For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.  For whoever has died is freed from sin.  But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  

Romans 6:5-11

           

            Death and Resurrection are tied together.  Without Resurrection, Death is the end, the story completed and the final chapter written as the physical matter that used to be us is returned to the earth.  Without Death, there is nothing to be Resurrected from. 

            As Paul writes to the Roman church, he points out that Death and Resurrection are not just physical realities that occur when the believer’s life has finished.  Death and Resurrection are a process that the believer engages in over and over throughout their life as they move into maturity in their faith.  We entered this world with an inheritance of sin.  Every culture of the world has systems in place that isolate, oppress and drive people further away from God.  Our culture is a moving sidewalk that carries its passengers from God to Damnation.  If we simply want to remain in the same place, we have to walk upstream.  On top of the challenges that our culture presents, we were born to imperfect parents who gifted us with more baggage and scars.  On top of our culture and parents, we grew up around broken people who said and did things to us that wounded our hearts and clouded our minds.  We enter adulthood, even those of us who grew up in stable home situations, wounded and suspicious, unable to fully love or be loved.  And then we have children who need more love than we have to offer.

            Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, through His battle with Sin and his victory over Death, we have the opportunity right in front of us to be able to heal our wounds and our scars and restore our hearts so that they are able to love those around us more fully and more completely.  Spoiler alert:  the process involves Death and Resurrection.

            Jesus blazed the trail for us.  If we are ready to let go of the grudges that we have carried for so long, He has set the way.  If we are ready to release the anger and bitterness that poison our hearts and sharpen our words, He has set the way.  If we are ready to be free of the fear that paralyzes us, He has set the way.  If we are ready to set aside the lust for power and for pleasure that casts others into lives of subservience, He has set the way.

            The first step on the path involves recognition and repentance.  We see how our brokenness harms us and scars those that we love.  There are few moments as sobering as when you see your character flaws being played out in the lives and hearts of your children.  My perfectionism and fear of failure do not seem like big deals to me; I’ve learned to deal with them.  But when I see those traits flare their heads in my children and keep them from enjoying their lives or trying anything new, it is heartbreaking.

            As we repent, we offer that part of our lives to Jesus and allow Him to kill it.  It is no longer a welcome guest within our heart; it has damaged our lives for too long.  As it is being killed, we find all the different places in our daily lives that it impacts, like a weed whose roots have spread throughout the entire garden.  Every root must be pulled up in order for the weed to die.  What we find is that we are left with a hole in our hearts.  Our old strategies no longer work; nothing new has filled the gap yet.  It is an uncomfortable time of waiting for resurrection…the three days between Jesus’ death and rising while he lay in the tomb and the world waited.

            And then comes the resurrection, the new life.  In place of perfectionism and fear of failure there is joy and grace.  Instead of character flaws that pull us down and wound those around us, there are new strengths that grant us freedom and heal those around us.  Death and Resurrection.  They are painful.  They are terrifying.  They are the path laid out before us by Jesus.  And He promises that He will be with us every step of the way on the way to new life.

A moment to reflect:

What are you ready to let go of in order to experience new life?