Easter Devotional - Day 09

"Test yourselves and find out if you really are true to your faith. If you pass the test, you will discover that Christ is living in you. But if Christ isn't living in you, you have failed." 2 Corinthians 13:5

We think of the resurrection as something of long ago. We sing songs about it, re-enact events leading up to the resurrection, decorate crosses, plan festivities, and celebrate special services at sunrise to commemorate the importance of that first Easter Sunday, two millennia ago. From Paul's words to the believers in Corinth, if that is all we do, we have completely missed the point of the resurrection.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not simply an event of long, long, ago. It is not just about those happenings in the garden the women were reluctant to proclaim. It is not even just about the confirmation to the disciples that Jesus was indeed who he had claimed to be. While the resurrection was proof positive of Jesus' divinity and the ultimate confirmation of his gospel, it was so much more. It had a greater purpose than confirming the past or being a point of celebration. The real point was that Jesus resurrected from the dead in order that he might live in and through us.

As long as Jesus was living in a human body, his presence was limited to those same limitations to which we are bound. His voice was limited to the range of hearing. His touch was limited to the same geographical constraints that hamper us. His attention was limited to those who could gather around him at any one moment in time. With the resurrection, all that has changed. Jesus can be more present with us than during the days of his corporeal ministry. He can be, but that presence is conditional. It is not a given.

The believers in Corinth were divided on so many issues. They were concerned over the ecstatic gifts of God, over internal personality cults, on social and economic advancement, over status—they were struggling to understand and apply the gospel as Jesus and Paul intended. Paul's clamor here was for them to review their own lives. This was no formality or trivial matter. He was concerned that among all the different emphases hampering the fellowship among the believers in Corinth was a deeper problem—they may not have actually turned their lives over to Christ Jesus at all.

James Engel (http://www.lwcf.org.uk/evangelism.pdf) devised a scale of evangelism, whereby he tried to show that people often hear the gospel and display interest. At this point, the church may baptize them, though they have not made a commitment to Christ Jesus. They may be demonstrating interest in hearing more of the gospel. It is this issue to which Paul is essentially pointing. It is one thing to associate with the gospel or a church. It is another to actually commit our lives to Christ Jesus and allow the risen Lord full access to our lives.

Christ is indeed risen. He is risen not simply from the dead. He is also risen to live with and within all those who would accept him as Lord and Savior. He is risen to live within and through our lives, so to continue his ministry in today's world. If Christ is not living in and through our lives, for all practical purposes, he is still lying entombed within our hearts. How long will we keep the resurrection at bay and not allow Jesus to minister through our words and actions?

Determine to allow Christ to rise in your life through your words and deeds.

"Lord, help me honor your resurrection by granting you room to live in and through me."


—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

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