Are You Living An Easter Life?

Are you living an Easter Life? What does it mean to live a life that depicts the truths of this central Christian holiday? Easter is beautifully linked to the Jewish Passover, which is a commemoration of the Jewish people’s freedom from slavery in Egypt. As Christians, we too, have been set free from slavery—our slavery to sin (Romans 6:18). Passover is also a time to remember the victorious protection from the death angel that killed every firstborn not having the mark of the blood of the lamb on their doorframe. What a perfect depiction of the blood of Christ that delivers us from death! Not incidentally, the death and resurrection of Jesus occurred during the Jewish Passover (one of many flawless links between the Old Testament and New Testament). 

Easter is a celebration of the gift God has given us of “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3).  LIVING hope. The Greek word for living here is derived from the verb “zao,” which means “not lifeless or dead; to be active, fresh, strong, efficient, powerful, efficacious.” ¹ Efficacious means “having the power to produce a desired effect, like a remedy.” ² What does that mean for us?

Jesus is the only remedy for sin, and we have the power to share the remedy! But are we doing that? Do those words describe our faith? Is it active, fresh, and strong, or is it stagnant and lifeless? We marvel at a newborn baby and celebrate that precious new life, but if we were to never offer the child nourishment, the baby would die. How many baby Christians are walking around lifelessly because they aren’t receiving spiritual nourishment? 

The salvation of our souls is a one-time event, but the process doesn’t stop there. There is so much more. The growth, the learning to know and love God, the finding of Him in every joy and sorrow— THAT is the most exciting part! That is the LIVING part of our faith, a faith that grows. I have a friend who told me that her faith is boring because she doesn’t have some great “turn-around” story. She grew up in church and doesn’t have a dramatic testimony. Hallelujah! Even though it’s encouraging to hear stories of God dramatically changing a life, if the most exciting part about your walk with Jesus is how you came to know Him, then you are missing out! The most exciting part is LIVING that relationship day in and day out! 

When Christ was crucified and raised to life, it wasn’t just about His death and resurrection. It was about ours. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). Paul goes on in verse 11 of this passage to use that same verb, zao. “Count yourselves dead to sin but ALIVE to God in Christ Jesus” (emphasis mine). Count yourselves alive—a NEW life. Don’t let your past ever speak your name again. You aren’t that person anymore. Galatians 2:20 states it clearly, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” 

Does Christ live in you? If you’re not sure, please read the message tab at the top of my blog. If He does, is that life flourishing? The wondrous thing about the new life in Christ is that it brings fresh grace every day. Lamentations 3:23, one of my favorite verses, promises, “Yet this I call to mind [a deliberate action of intentionally focusing on something in our mind] and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

Because of His great love we are not consumed by our mistakes. We are invited into new life. Life that begins when His grace hits our soul and life that keeps growing. Even the secular icons of Easter carry an underlying spiritual message of this ever-growing life. Eggs signify the perpetuation of new life. The Easter bunny may bring a secular slant on a Christian holiday, but rabbits have a high multiplication rate. I think of how those twelve simple men, mostly uneducated dregs of society, multiplied their faith to reach all the way forward in history to bring knowledge of new life to me. I want to do the same. I want people I’ve never met—people who aren’t even born yet— to find the Easter Life. Are you living an Easter Life?

References:

1. Biblestudytools.com

2. Dictionary.com