He Is Risen! So What Does That Mean to You and Me?

These words from Hillsong United's song The Stand summarize the response of a heart touched by God's grace, 

"So what can I say, what can I do, 

but offer this heart, O God, 

completely to You."

When Jesus died on the cross, eternal life was made available to all. His sacrifice was perfect. His self-giving love unmatched. 2 Timothy 1:10 tells us that, on the cross, Jesus "destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." In 1 Corinthians 15:26, the apostle Paul calls death "the last enemy to be destroyed." What Jesus did for you and me on the cross impacts everything. His unequaled sacrifice deserves a response.

As I reflect on the depth of Christ's love,  Paul's prayer to the believers in Ephesus intrigues me,

"I pray that out of His glorious riches 

He may strengthen you with power 

through His Spirit in your inner being, 

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 

may have power, 

together with all the saints, 

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep 

is the love of Christ, 

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

(Ephesians 3:16-19)

According to Paul, we need power to grasp Christ's love for us! Perhaps he means that, if we grasped it fully, it would blow us away. We couldn't take it. If we could assimilate the magnitude of Christ's love, it would surpass every experience we've ever had and all the knowledge an eternity of books could hold.

Christ's love is a river of mercy and grace - precisely what we need most! Because of His sacrifice on that lonely cross two thousand years ago we can live free from the grip of sin and safe from the power of death. Christ's love is stronger than death itself. And His love endures. His love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). His love never ends (Psalm 106:1).

So what can I say to that? And what can I do? I can give Him this thankful heart - completely, surrendering all to the One who is trustworthy and good.

When I open my heart to Christ's river of mercy and grace - by the Spirit - His enduring love pours in like a flood. When I say yes, He moves in. Even death could not hold Him and, since He now lives in me, that means death cannot hold me. That means sin has lost its grip on me. That means I have a new life.

Indeed, when I say yes to Him, I am born again!

Jesus is risen! With Him and because of Him, we can rise and walk out of every grave unto new life. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Because of what He has done, I am a new creation! Alive. Made new. Loved.

And so are you.

He is Risen, that we may have life! Hallelujah!

May we all have a blessed and meaningful Easter celebrating our Savior and our Lord!
Dr Mari

For more Holy Week reflections, read What's So Good About Good Friday?

Song (I Am New) and the Hopeful Truth Behind It

As I listened to Jason Gray's song I Am New today, I noticed how thoroughly Scriptural the lyrics are. He speaks of being made new, no longer who he was and not even who he thought he should be. "I am new!" he proclaims. Forgiven, beloved, hidden in Christ. Made in the image of the Giver of Life. And, in Him, righteous and holy. Reborn and remade. Accepted and worthy. New!

Enjoy the song and the Scriptures behind it that give it meaning and fill us with hope.

New!
Dr Mari

Forgiven: "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you." (Acts 13:38)

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

Beloved: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34)

"Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Hidden in Christ: "For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3)

Made in the image of the Giver of Life: "...for in the image of God has God made man." (Genesis 9:6b)

Righteous: "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One man the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19)

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:18)

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24)

Holy: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own." (1 Corinthians 6:19)

"For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." (Ephesians 1:4)

Reborn & remade: "In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.'" (John 3:3)

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)

Accepted: "God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us." (Acts 15:8)

Worthy: "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Luke 12:7)

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1)

"They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers." (Revelation 17:14)