Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord!

So what is the meaning of Easter for us today?

The crucifixion, which plays a pivotal role in the victory of God, is not the end. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead he would have been forgotten. He would have been another of a long line of Jewish prophets and political agitators, and we wouldn’t know of him today. But we do. Something incredible happened, the culmination of Jesus’ work on earth led him to be raised again after three days of death. This is the greatest rebuttal to those who don’t believe that Jesus rose again. If it were untrue, why is it still remembered today – why is it the turning point of the Jesus movement which turned into the global church today? Something amazing happened.
The resurrection represents the vindication of Jesus by God and the power of the two statements - Jesus lives and Jesus is Lord!

Jesus Lives
The resurrection at its most basic point is a miracle. The greatest miracle that has occurred. Jesus was dead – and the he was alive. The witnesses saw a tomb that was empty. Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. The power of the resurrection exists in the fact that it is also a metaphor for us. We too must die to our old selves to be raised anew in Christ – this is the basic act of being a Christian. This is the power of Easter – this is where we say ‘Jesus Lives’. Jesus lives in us because not only did he rise from the dead, but he lives in me and has raised me from the dead. The death of my old life, the old way of doing things. The old way of living. And now I’m alive in Christ and Jesus is alive in me.

There is something genius in the idea of transformation – in the reality of the experience of being raised into a new life with Christ. This genius lies in the fact that transformation not only requires belief and acceptance of the supreme love and rule of God in our lives, but that there is new action that takes place too. If a butterfly tried to crawl on the ground like the catepillar it was, it wouldn’t survive. So too our lives with Christ, our rebirth will falter if there isn’t a change in how we act.

Many of the people we walked with in their recovery from addictions would come to believe in God at some point. But this didn’t result in a change of action and perception of themselves, which would unfortunately result in them returning to their old life. But when transformation impacted action amazing things happened.

This new life, this transformation is echoed throughout the new testament as Paul writes – ‘its no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me’ and ‘If anyone is in Christ there is a new creation.’ In the gospel of John he talks about being born again. It is this that leads us to salvation and Jesus is the path to salvation.
Salvation is often thought of as being ‘saved for heaven’, and while this is a way of understanding it, in the Bible, salvation is mostly concerned with something that happens in this life. Even in the New Testament, the primary meaning of the word "salvation" is transformation in this life. One can see this in the roots of the English word salvation, which comes from "salve," which is a healing ointment. Salvation is about healing. We all grow up wounded, and salvation is about the healing of the roots of existence.
Salvation is about light in the darkness, liberation from bondage, return from exile, or reconnection with God. It's about our hunger being satisfied, our thirst being quenched.
This salvation can only be experienced through the death of our old self and the raising of our new lives in Christ.

Jesus is Lord

While it is a basic statement, it’s a statement that has many implications. You see if we say Jesus is Lord then we are saying that everything else in our lives isn’t. Our job, family, friends, hobbies and political leanings are not what is Lord of our life. Jesus is. And with Jesus as Lord we must then follow and participate in what he was passionate about, which takes us to being builders of his Kingdom on earth.

Jesus had been executed by the imperial power of Rome. And God had said no, you cant kill him. Because Caesar isn’t Lord – Jesus is Lord. As Colossians puts it: ‘God disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in the cross.

If we are to be a Jesus is Lord Christian, a prophetic Christian, we are to have a faith and practice that is not adjusted to greed hatred and fear and that bears the fruits of justice, love and hope.
We need to make sure that the message of the cross and the reality of the resurrection doesn’t become diluted in a world that doesn’t look favorably on words such as sacrifice, grace, justice and peace. As a Jesus is Lord Christian we need to make sure that every part of our life is connected to something bigger then ourselves – is it connected to what God wants you to do? Ultimately is it connected to prayer? Not the type of prayer that says ‘what can you do for me or lets make a deal’, but the prayer of Jesus in the Garden, the place of Victory. The prayer of ‘let your will be done’. Don’t move the mountain Jesus, give me the power to climb over the mountain.
If we say Jesus Lives and Jesus is Lord, we are making very profound and powerful statements. Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow him. To lead a life that lets love rule, to have as our very core the principles of the Kingdom of God. A life that can be transformed continually as our relationship and awareness of him continues to grow.

Today I thank God for walking the path of the cross, for standing before all of the sin, the anger, the hatred and violence of the powers that be, and conquering them all with love. Today I also am fearfully awed at his call to follow, and to take up the way of the cross (John Jensen via Facebook)