Alive in Christ! – From Death to Life

Come Alive! A Celebration of Easter!

“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

Just as darkness precedes the dawn, death is the precursor to resurrection. Christ experienced the agony of an unjust trial, brutal scourging, humiliation, and the excruciating pain of the crucifixion. There’s no way to grasp the extent of the cruelty He experienced. Even nature blushed with humiliation as the sun darkened and the earth shook with shame on that afternoon of sacrifice. There was nothing pretty about Calvary and no pleasure in His pain.

In our celebration of the resurrection there is no attempt to minimize the pain of the passion of Jesus. The beauty and glory of the cross is found in the result of the sacrifice. Even Christ endured the cross and despised the shame “for the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). When we rejoice in His suffering it is with thanksgiving for His sacrifice. We know the story did not end on Golgotha or in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea. The intensity of His dying and death was but a triumphant herald to the glory of His victory to come. The empty tomb proclaims the power of life and His triumph over the tyranny of death.

The Gospel of Christ was made effective through His death, burial, and resurrection. When we approach God in faith and according to His word we can experience the Gospel. Our death is accomplished through repentance. We are buried in baptism and are raised by the power of the Spirit. We can rejoice in the resurrection because we have experienced it through His Holy Spirit!

Every resurrection is preceded by a death. If there is no dying, there will be no celebration of living. The glory of salvation requires a death to sin, but the fulfillment of the Gospel is that we can rise up to walk in a new life!

May the message of the Gospel bring us to the scene of death. Let our old nature die. Crawl into the watery grave, and get ready to really live!