Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Most Important Aspect of the Resurrection


     What is the most important aspect of the resurrection for the contemporary Christian? I believe it is this: Jesus is alive. Because He is alive faith leads us not to a system of belief based on ancient texts, nor an ethical persuasion based on certain acceptable moralisms, but to a living, breathing, loving relationship with Someone who can receive our love and respond with love at all times and in every way.
      If Jesus were not alive, it might not be so important that I discover what his actual will is for me in the moment. If he were not alive I might be excused if I settle for a bit of self-interest and human wisdom when it comes to determining the values and course of my life. But Jesus is alive. That means, if I am to have a real and worthwhile relationship with him (him being God and all) I need to actively pursue his interests in my life. I need to seek out his opinion, his direction, his purpose for me and the life we live together. Because Jesus is alive I cannot in good conscience ignore his personal interest in our relationship, nor can I relegate his will to a mere passing consideration. If Jesus is alive (and he is), and if he is God (and he is) and if I have a relationship with him (and I hope you do), then I must bend my will to his, make his heart mine, and live and love as he does.
      If Jesus is alive (and you know he is) then he cannot be disregarded as a personality from history moldering in a grave somewhere, nice to think about but not particularly relevant to the current situation. If Jesus is alive, then by virtue of who he is, he must be first and foremost in the lives of his disciples. If Jesus is alive then he should be sought and found and surrendered to. If Jesus is alive, then those who put their trust in him must honor him as their living, current, present, active Savior and Lord.
     Jesus is alive. If you are married and your spouse lives, tell me, do you treat them as if their opinion is irrelevant, as if their presence were annoyance, as if their desires and hopes for your marriage are nothing more than a wearisome burden to be discarded and disregarded at will? Of course not! Why then would we treat Jesus as if he were only some old dead guy when in fact he lives? Why treat Jesus as if he is merely a bit of theological theory rather than a real, current, vital, vibrant living Person with whom we are deeply engaged in a meaningful and substantial relationship? We might treat him in such a way if he were entombed somewhere in the environs of far away Jerusalem, but he is not. He is alive. Jesus is alive.
      Jesus can be known. He can be loved. He can speak and be understood. His heart can be felt, obtained, and communicated. His thinking can be adopted in this day because Jesus is alive today and therefore relevant to a living world. Some live as if Jesus were dead and buried, depending on themselves and their thinking and their efforts. Some live as if Jesus is dead and cannot build the church, the nation, the Kingdom, or even a renewed heart and spirit. Some live as though Christ is dead and cannot function in the real world anymore leaving the path of accomplishment up to them.
     The greatest truth the world has ever known, and the most important aspect of the resurrection for contemporary lives is this: JESUS IS ALIVE! And his goal is to live in His people and in his church until the day he comes again. Look for it, because Jesus is alive.