Dear Faith Family,
On Sunday, we stood together with nearly a billion fellow Jesus followers and declared in song and scripture and sacrament: "We are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did!" (Rom. 6:11)
We are dead to all those actions, attitudes, affections, and even adversaries, that suffocate true life. No longer are we bound, imprisoned, entombed by that which decays life. Rather, we are free to roam in "the land of the living"! Alive to God because we've gone through death with Jesus! Or, in the Spirit-filled words of the apostle Paul,
I have been crucified with Christ [dying to sin as He died for our sins]. It is n longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
(Gal. 2:2)
For "the Church," Sunday was a planned public reminder of this world (re)creating moment that grounds our faith. Yet, every morning since that first Easter morning, including this morning, we who are loved by the Son who gave His life so that His life might be our life, should awake to declare afresh: "I am dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did!"
Try it. Right now, wherever you are reading this email. Take a deep breath and, out loud or in your heart, declare: "I am dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did!"
Now let the truth of Jesus' affection, attitude, and actions for you settle on you for a moment. Envision the remainder of your day lived free from sin. Unbound by actions, attitudes, and affections that take life rather than cultivate flouring. Freedom not because you are trying hard, but because Jesus "will destroy all the adversaries of my soul" (Ps. 143:12). See yourself entering every interaction and responsibility set before you, whether mundane or pivotal, as one who is dead to sin (your own and that of others) and alive to God with you, for you, in you. Then get on with the day, enabling faith to come into life.
And then tomorrow, repeat this Easter exercise: DECLARE-- ENVISION -- ENABLE FAITH! And keep repeating until every morning becomes an Easter morning as we follow Jesus deeper and deeper into the life of God.
Love you, faith family! God bless.