Winter is yet straining to hold its grip as the temps at night have dipped into the upper 20’s - but we get brief and hopeful glimpses of spring. As we move into April, we’ll finally see the conquering of the coldness and deadness of winter with the budding, the blossoming, the warmth – the new life of spring! After a year like no other with the Covid caused life disruption and upheaval, the thought of spring speaks to more hope and opportunity than normal. The seasons not only have purpose for God’s natural order, but also obviously serve as meaningful metaphors for God’s spiritual order. Spring is a metaphor – a sign – of the new life available to us in Christ through His resurrection from His winter – death. 

 Obviously, it is appropriate that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the spring. Spring speaks literally and figuratively of new life and fresh hopes. Jesus’ resurrection shouts with an unmistakable and loud voice, that reverberates around the world and in the hearts of men, that new life and fresh hope is here…winter is fading and spring is arriving! 

So the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just symbolic of new life…it is the only basis of new life and hope. It is at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian. As John Stott said, “Christianity is in its very essence a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. If you remove it, Christianity is destroyed.”  However, how does the resurrection of Jesus bring about new life and hope? Volumes of material could be written on the benefits of the resurrection to the believer, but here are a few.

 First, obviously the resurrection brings regeneration – the new birth. Jesus referred to this as being “born again” in John 3. This act of God occurs through the resurrection of Jesus. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).  The resurrection provides more than new aspirations or ways of looking at life – it provides a new divine spiritual transformative life that changes everything! Those who were once spiritual dead have been made alive through the resurrection.  The result is a new heart implanted in us by the Holy Spirit!

Second, the resurrection means justification. Justification gives us legal status before God as righteous. We are not righteous in ourselves, but we have been given Jesus’ perfect righteousness, i.e., His perfect righteous has been credited to us. That’s what the resurrection does for us. The Cross takes away our sin; the resurrection gives us imputed righteousness. Paul said, “Jesus our Lord . . . was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”(Romans 4:24–25).  

 Third, resurrection life gives us freedom to serve. Before we knew Christ, we were bound to the law and the law brings bondage and death (Romans 8:2). However, through the resurrection of Jesus, and our resurrection with Him, we have been freed from the law and bound over to the resurrected Christ. Again, Paul writes, “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4). It is only as we have experienced the liberating power of resurrection life that we are truly free to serve God in joy!

Fourth, His resurrection gives us authority. Paul says God has already “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). In a mysterious, but real way, believers are already in heaven sharing in Christ’s authority. We are not defenseless victims of the wicked spiritual forces that are raging against us…we share in Christ’s authority to trample over all the forces of evil. Jesus said, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

Finally, new life of resurrection means union with Christ. Believers through the resurrection are one with Christ. That is, everything that belongs to us became His (our sins) and things that belong to Him became ours (His righteousness, spiritual blessings). That is, through our union with Christ, He received some things He did not deserve (death and punishment), and we receive some things we do not deserve (resurrection and approval of God). All the blessings and privileges of being a child of God are ours - “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Through our union with Christ, we have all that we need “for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Salvation is more than just believing facts about Jesus, but it is living in vital unionwith the resurrected Christ!

These are just some of glorious benefits of new life that come to us through the resurrection of Jesus. The spring like new life comes to us not only for our benefit, but also for the benefit of others. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). We’ve experienced resurrection life not to selfishly bask in all of salvation's benefits, but to share this new life with others. As we move into this season of new life – of Easter hope – of post-pandemic life (not there yet, but it’s coming) - let us who have experienced resurrected life, passionately proclaim it to others!

In His Service,

Dr. Wes Rankin

Director of Missions
Concord Baptist Association
219-615-9774
615-890-6409
wes.rankin@concordbaptists.org
concordbaptists.org