Every day is Resurrection Sunday now

Jesus is risen every day!

So as some of you know, I have been doing a stint substitute teaching at my kids’ school while the regular math teacher has been on pregnancy leave.  She’s back next week, so I am wrapping up my stint this Thursday.  It’s a Christian school so they have Friday off for Good Friday.

Anyway, I have a homework board in the classroom, and for this Friday I wrote the words “He is RISEN!”.   Well, wouldn’t you know it, one enterprising young man raises his hand today and informs me that I in fact made a mistake.  Don’t I know that Jesus dies this Friday; He doesn’t rise from the dead until  Sunday! 

Silly me!  But of course that is simply not true.  Here is the truth:  our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead that first Easter morning two days after Passover sometime around 33 AD. And He has stayed risen ever since!

And because of that, for us Christians, every day is Resurrection Sunday.

Jesus is risen from the dead every day.

That means that His resurrection power and His resurrection life are available to us every day.

And that’s one great thing that the Resurrection means to me - to all of us.

Paul nailed it when he wrote the fifth chapter of the book of Romans.  Actually the entire book of Romans is a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and what He means to Christians and to the world.

After all, the letter begins with this statement:

ROM 1:1-7
1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

Christ’s resurrection means we’re justified when we believe in Christ

But when it comes to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and what it means to us, Paul really gets going at the end of chapter 4 of Romans.

ROM 4:22-25
22 Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him (Abraham), 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

We were sinners- so Jesus died on the cross for us.

We are justified by the Father - so Jesus rises from the dead.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the sign that we who believe in Christ have been declared righteous forever by God the Father.

And that’s only the beginning of what the Resurrection means to me - and to all of us.

 

Every day now we stand in the fountain of God’s grace

We turn the page and enter chapter 5 and are greeted with this amazing news:

ROM 5:1-5
1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3  And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

And this is true for us every day.

Every day now, we are still justified. 

Every day now, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

Every day now we stand in the fountain of the grace of God for our lives.

Every day now, we exult in hope of the glory of God.

Because every day is Resurrection Sunday.

 

Every day we can reign in life now

Later on in chapter 5, Paul tells us even more:

ROM 5:10
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The life Jesus lives now, He lives to God. He lives that life every day. Every day when we wake up in the morning is another resurrection day, because the resurrected Christ lives every day before His Father and ours in heaven.

ROM 5:17
17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Every day is resurrection Sunday.  Because every day we receive the abundance of the grace of God. Every day we get to live in the gift of righteousness.

So every day God wants us to reign in life. And we do that by living through the One and only Jesus Christ, who is risen from the dead -every day.

So every day is Resurrection Sunday.

 

Every day is a day before the throne with the Risen Lord

Because Jesus lives now at the Right Hand of the Father, every day is a day where we get to come before the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace whenever we need it. And we'll need it every day too!

Every day is a day where grace reigns in our life instead of sin and death. And grace will reign through righteousness all the way to eternal life.

ROM 6:3-11
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old  man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

And all this is available to us every day.

 

Every day is a day we share in Christ’s victory over death

Every day is a day where we get to walk in newness of life.

Every day is a day where we are freed from sin.

Every day is a day to know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer is master over Him. And death is no longer master over us!

Jesus Christ conquered death on the first Easter morning

And we share in that victory over death.

And that is a victory that accrues to our account …every day.

Every day is a day we get to make count as a day where we realize we are dead to sin and alive to God. Because Jesus rose from the dead and stays risen!!!

ROM 8:1-2
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Every day is a “no more condemnation” day.

Every day is a day where we have an opportunity to realize that God loves us even more than we thought He did yesterday.

Every day is a day where we can allow God’s perfect love for us to cast out any fear we still have in our soul that we are not worthy.

Every day.

Because every day - is resurrection day for us now.

Every day.

Every day is a day where God is causing all things to work together for good in our life.

Every day is a day to experience how God is for us, not against us.

Every day.

Every day is a day to realize that we are with the resurrected Christ and that means that God is going to freely give us all things.

 

Every day is Resurrection Sunday

So every day is Resurrection Sunday now for us.

ROM 8:33-39
33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,

"FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every day is another day when Jesus Christ will be at His post at the Right Hand of the Father, the risen Lord, interceding for you and for me.

Every day is a day where nothing can separate us from the love of the Risen Christ.  Every day.

Every day is a day where even if we face tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness even, or sword or peril, or depression, or sadness, or frustration, or job loss, or friends that betray us, or failure, or discouragement, or a health setback, or whatever else may tempt us to fear again or think the love of God has left us….

Even in the most evil of days, He is with us, and He will never leave us or forsake us, ever, and He waits for us to cast all those cares on Him, because He cares for us and loves us beyond our wildest dreams or imagination.

And those are just a  few of the reasons why in fact, whether we realize it or not, every day now is another resurrection day.  Like today.  Like tomorrow. And the day after that.

He is Risen Indeed!