All around us we are witnessing the rebirth of life. Every spring, the world comes back to life as flowers bloom, trees put out their leaves, and birds begin nesting. It is beautiful the way God designed the rhythms and seasons of the earth. We know that God is the true Giver of life and we get a beautiful reminder of that every spring. Spring is also significant because it is when we celebrate Easter. We celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus every Sunday with the communion, but very early in Christianity the church also began a yearly celebration of Jesus’ resurrection around the time of the Jewish Passover feast, when Christ was crucified.
And Jesus’ death and resurrection is truly something to be celebrated! But for those of us who have grown up knowing the facts about Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is so easy to forget the significance of those events. Because of how easily we forget its significance, we need frequent reminders of the gospel. We constantly need to be called back to marvel and wonder at God’s love for us seen in the fact that he would choose to send his Son to bear the punishment we deserved. We constantly need to be reminded of the significance of the resurrection for us—it is the only reason we can have salvation and it is the foundation of our hope in God. And we also need to be reminded that we are living with resurrection power.
Paul mentioned this resurrection power in Ephesians 1:17-21 in his prayer for the Ephesians. He prayed that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…” The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that is at work in believers today. No one and nothing can challenge God’s power—not even sin and death. You, Christian, are living with resurrection power working in you. There’s nothing that God’s resurrection power cannot overcome in you. So today, remember the resurrection of Jesus. Marvel and give thanks to God that the same power that raised Jesus from the grave for our salvation is the same power that is now at work in us.