Why the Resurrection Matters

Half a Gospel?

“Jesus died on the cross for your sins”, full stop

Forgiveness is great and all

But this can suggest “you can get away with whatever you want”

Or, more likely “it doesn’t really matter how you live”

I get it, saying

“Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and rose from the dead 3 days later so that you could live a whole new life”

is quite a mouthful, not to mention, the second part is not as clear as the first

How does Jesus’ resurrection mean I get a whole new life?

Why did Jesus even need to rise from the dead anyway?

Plenty of passages in Scripture tackle this (see, e.g. Romans 6–8; 2 Cor 5:14; Gal 5:24), including our passage today

It’s important for us to be reminded again on Easter Sunday that Jesus’ resurrection is an absolutely essential part of the Gospel

We can’t have Good Friday without Easter Sunday — and vise-versa

The Resurrection means new life in many ways, but this morning we’re going to look at 4 of them

The resurrection of Jesus changes us in at least 4 ways:

It gives us a new identity

It gives us new desires

It gives us a new mindset

It gives us a new future

A Change in Identity

Col 2:11–14

We live in a world where identity is “discovered” or chosen, and not “given”

There’s a lot of appeal for choosing our own path, our own identity

Yet no matter how hard we try, people are going to see us who we are and not who we want to be

Yet try we do, because there are things about us we don’t like or would rather not have

A new identity? We can all relate to this desire

We want a life “do-over” / second chance

Illustration: Movies / Witness Protection

These people are usually running from something/someone

I’m sure we’ve all wished at one point in time that we could do that: just disappear

Jesus says / the Gospel says: you can have a new identity

but this is not an identity you hide, or that helps you hide

This new identity changes our relationship to God / our standing before Him

So we don’t have to hide from Him anymore (see: Garden of Eden)

This new identity gives you ultimate confidence

This new identity gives you a “do-over”

This new identity is a gift that you must use wisely

Look at the language Paul uses to describe this new identity:

Read Col. 2:11

This is incredibly grotesque!

The symbolism of circumcision in the OT

Paul later talks about what the “self ruled by flesh” looks like in Col 3:5–10

Important: Paul is NOT saying the body/flesh is evil

The ‘debt’ of our “old self has been wiped out and nailed to the cross (Good Friday)

Not only has our “old self” been discarded, it has been “buried” (v. 12)

Read Col 3:12–13

Also, our “new self” has been raised with Jesus

Through faith (with infants: the parents’ faith)

“Individualism” is foreign to the world of the Bible (again: identity given not discovered)

Through baptism - God’s work

“a circumcision not performed by human hands”

“When you were dead in your sins … God made you alive with Christ”

“You died” (Col 3:3) and now “Christ … is your [very] life” (Col 3:4)

We now have a completely new identity because Jesus was resurrected (Easter Sunday)

This new identity, first of all, brings about ...

A Change in Desires

As already noted, this is not just a “clean slate” for us

i.e. if somebody Googles our name they won’t find a trace of us (old self)

That’s only half the story / half the gospel

It means a whole new life, a changed life

Read Col 3:1

“raised” (v. 1) is mentioned before “died” (v. 3) = emphasis on the new life

“where Christ is” = authority (the seat of power)

The “old self” was ruled by selfish desires

The “new self” is ruled by Christ

“above” = upward and forward (more on ‘forward’ later)

cf. Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

“set your hearts on” = better “keep seeking”

To have unchanged desires would be like the person going into witness protection

Having a very similar name, the same job, the same car, the same birthday, etc.

“No” Paul says, “that’s not who you are anymore”

As those who have died with Christ, our desires are fundamentally changed

Not to say selfishness is simply gone

“Putting to death” the old self and its desires is a daily battle

Which is why I wonder if it’s signficant about Paul’s word ordering here: the more focused we are on Christ and the new life we have in him, the less the “old life” appeals to us

“Stop worrying about who you used to be or who you think you should be, know who you are in Christ”

That’s our task as parents and as a church—the vows we spoke today:

Telling each other: know who you are in Christ

Important to note: nearly all the instances of “you” are plural

Paul didn’t hand out Bibles to individuals and tell them to read them at home

“Don’t even think about going back”, Paul says, instead you have a …

A Change in Mindset

Our new identity changes what we desire, but it also changes how we think

and what we choose to think about

Not only are we to “keep seeking the things above”, but

Read Col 3:2

How we view the world has been fundamentally changed

We see sin for what it is

We don’t have the same opinions or beliefs as the world around us

We don’t focus our attention and thoughts on “earthly things”

Again, this is not something we do on our own

And it’s not restricted to an hour (or 25 minutes) on a Sunday morning

As the church—the family of God—we think differently, and help one another to do so

It’s not optional, it’s ingrained in who we are: our identity as in Christ

Paul doesn’t just write these things as an abstraction, he has lived them

Acts 26:1–29

esp. Acts 26:24–29 “At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.””

In other words, we don’t think about or long for the things of our old identity

We are completely focused on our new identity, which is “in Christ”

See also, Colossians 3:10 “and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

In short, we see the world differently now, because we see it with the eyes of our new identity and our new future

A Changed Future

The Bible is clear that we don’t fully experience this in the here and now

Our true self, our new self is “hidden with Christ in God” (which is “above”)

The future of our “old self” was bleak: (eternal) death

Colossians 2:13 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Colossians 2:14 “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”

But because of Christ’s resurrection, we have a new future

Read Col 3:3–4

“appears” = revealed / in other words: made known completely

His “revelation” is also our “revelation” “in glory”

For someone with a new (human) identity: the future is open and uncertain

For us with a new (heavenly) identity: the future is glorious and assured

That should (and would) absolutely change everything about how we think and act today