The Power of His Resurrection

Introduction

Today as we celebrate the resurrection of the savior we are grateful for the salvation that His death and resurrection secures for us, but we need also to consider the power of His resurrection on our present life.

The resurrection not only gives us hope for the future but also gives us the power to live for God in the present.

How do we access this power?

We must first...

Die to Sin and Self (Vs. 1-3 & 6-7)

Resurrection to life is not possible until we have died. In salvation we are identified with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection.

Where once we were sinners and we lived for self, now in Christ we are dead indeed unto sin. This does not mean that we are sinless but that sin now has no authority in our lives.

The power of sin to control and enslave us has been eliminated.

Our water baptism is intended to serve as an illustration of our baptism into Christ when we died and were buried with Him.

We are no longer bound as servants of sin but have now in Christ been set free from sin.

The scripture here states that our old man (what we once were) has been crucified with Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:31 KJV 1900

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

We must make a daily choice to die to sin and self, to take the spiritual reality of our identification with the death of Christ and allow it to become a practical reality as we consider ourselves to be dead.

It is wholly contradictory to the new nature for a person in Christ to live in sin.

Once we have died, we are ready to be...

Raised to New Life (Vs. 4-5 & 8-10)

When we are willing to count ourselves dead to sin and self we are now ready to be raised to walk in newness of life!

In Jesus Christ we find new life, we find that we are now able to live for God in a manner that is pleasing in His sight.

Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ this would not be possible.

We are set free from sin not so that we can then return to it, but so that we can have liberty to live unto God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV 1900

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:15 KJV 1900

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Jesus did not die and rise again so that those who believe could then live as they please unto themselves. He died and rose again in order that we may put to death the old man and that we may now live for Him.

The power of the resurrection is what allows us this wonderful chance to live according to God’s plan for our lives and not our own.

No man can live for God of his own accord or in his own strength but the power of the resurrection affords us the opportunity to do what we could not otherwise do.

Romans 3:10–12 KJV 1900

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

You and I will never be able to live as we should until this great truth is realized in our lives.

Galatians 2:20 KJV 1900

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

These truths will only become present realities we must...

Personalize Them (Vs. 11)

We are dead to sin but unfortunately there are some believers who still choose to live in sin .

We are alive unto God through Jesus Christ, but unfortunately some still refuse to reckon this truth to be so in their lives and they go on living for themselves.

Colossians 3:1 KJV 1900

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

We must allow our life in the present to be impacted by this resurrection power. We must yield to God and allow Him to have full control in our lives.

Romans 7:18-25- The apostle Paul recognized this struggle to yield to God rather than yielding to the flesh and to sin.

It will be a struggle for you and I as well, but the good news is that Christ guarantees us victory.

I must decide that I will not yield to the flesh, and that I will indeed yield to the Spirit’s control that I might live for God by His power which works within me.

We must come to believe that these truths are effectual in our life and that we can indeed live unto Christ and resist the temptation to sin.

When we choose to act upon these truths, only then will they become present realities.

Conclusion

Are you living in the light of these wonderful spiritual truths?

Jesus Christ came to give you not only eternal life but a new life now!

Will you die to sin and self, and then allow Him to raise you up to walk in the newness of life?

Is His resurrection power actively at work in your life? Are you living unto Him or are you still attempting to live for yourself?