Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!

This is the exuberate exclamation of Jesus’ followers during the Easter Season!

Do you have one of these? Though requiring a lawyer to decipher the legalese, the elementary components of a life insurance are unpretentious. After the policy is purchased the insured remits monthly payments to the insurance company. Though the policy may offer a sense of well-being in the present, the big benefit, a predetermined sum of money, is experienced only upon the death of the insured.

For most Christ-followers the resurrection is believed as illustrated above. On the cross Jesus purchased a “paid in full” Life Insurance Policy. “God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.”[1] Certainly the “Jesus Policy” offers a sense of comfort here and now. “In the Father’s great mercy, he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.”[2] But, the full impact of the policy is experienced in the future upon death. So, the historic creed of the Christian church affirms: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”

Paul methodically explains the Life Insurance Policy in 1 Corinthians 15, his opus magnum about the resurrection. Curiously, Paul elsewhere reveals that, whereas this perspective is accurate, it is nonetheless woefully incomplete. So, throughout his writings he almost exclusively focuses on the impact of the resurrection for daily life here and now. This is the subject of our Easter exploration. The roadmap is as follows:

E   >   Energy

Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray that God will give you spiritual insight to know how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God. That power is the same divine power which was demonstrated in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

A   >   Attitude

Philippians 4:13 I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.

S   >   Success

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who keeps giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

T   >   Transformation

 2 Corinthians 3:18 All of us, all the time, we are being transformed to look like Jesus, with more and more of His shining-greatness. This change is from the Lord Who is the Spirit.

E   >   Excellence

1 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.

R   >   Rejoicing

Psalm 30:5 At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate.

Please join me as we explore the impact of Easter for the present day journey with Jesus!

[1] John 3:16 (CEV)

[2] 1 Peter 1:3 (NCV)