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The Spirit’s resurrection power in you.
The unchanging truth from God’s word is that His grace takes you to a place that is higher than where you are right now in your life. Grace lifts you up, you will never be beneath but always be above, reigning in your circumstance.
Jesus Christ is the source of all grace, and His Holy Spirit in you becomes your secure, unlimited source. He is the Living Waters that flows out of your innermost being, transforming any barrenness or dryness, changing the scenery of your life into one of lush green fullness and fruitfulness. It all depends on what comes from within you, the internal and not the external.
How it works out in your life –
If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. [Romans 8:11] Sin separated you from God, but salvation in Jesus Christ has brought you back to God. The Spirit of God indwells you now. So you can hear Him speak to you today. We serve a risen Saviour, and the Spirit of God who raised Him from the dead is in you, giving life to your mortal body.
Resurrection works in two ways –
1. The final resurrection –
Your physical body is not designed to live forever, but it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It has been purchased by the shed blood of Christ. Therefore the grave is not the end. For at the second coming of Christ the Holy Spirit will raise your body from the grave, as mortality puts on immortality. Knowledge of this truth will lead you even now to glorify God in your body, in worshipping and serving Him wherever He has placed you.
2. The present position –
When the Spirit gives life to your mortal body as you live in the world now, you are obligated no longer to live according to the flesh. [Romans 8:12]For the Holy Spirit will revive, renew and become your source, giving you life in abundance to live for the glory of God And He is able to do far more abundantly than what you ask or think according to His power at work within you. [Ephesians 3:20] I labour with His energy that He works powerfully within me, declares the apostle Paul once again in the book of Colossians. [Colossians 1:29]
This power that is at work is not an influence but a person, the person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. You may not understand all that is happening around you, but He does. And you can now live in His strength, power and guidance. And the word of God shows how it is a very logical process, as Paul describes with utmost clarity in the book of Romans, where he asks the question and then immediately gives the answer in the very next verse.
Dead to sin, alive to God –
For the death He [Jesus] died, He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God. [Romans 6:10]
It is the message of the Cross – Christ, who is now the risen Lord.
But then, how does it affect you ?
Paul gives the answer in the very next verse – So you also must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. [Romans 6:11]
Consider – Calculate:
Even so consider yourself the word of God declares, for all that Jesus has accomplished is for you and I. He came to die, so that none should perish. The wages of sin is death. But He, the sinless one died to sin once and for all, and rose again. Now, as He lives for God forever, you also can live for God forever.
How can you live for God forever –
It is possible, for the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now lives in you forever. You now have the Spirit who empowers you to overcome sin in your life and live for God.
How it works –for by understanding you stand:
It is sin that condemns you. But Christ has overcome sin and death on the Cross, Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. [Romans 8:1-2]
Understanding the laws –
The law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death are two principles of operation, and you need to understand how they work, in order to appropriate and walk in the truth that releases you from bondage and fear. In the physical world the law of gravity is defied by the aircraft that soars in the sky. Scientists by studying and understanding the law of gravity and the law of aerodynamics that can overcome it have been able to build aircraft that have the power to mount up on wings like an eagle. Understanding is power that will see you soar above and not be below in your life.
As in the natural world, in the spiritual realm the law of the Spirit of life is at work. And a right understanding of it will see you be above and not injure yourself, but enjoy God and also experience an enjoyable life yourself that will bring glory to God. For the Holy Spirit is in you to enrich and not injure you.
Law of sin and death –
Sin can be broadly classified as –
a) Sins of commission – doing what should not be done
b) Sins of omission – not doing what ought to be done
c) Sin of attitude – Lord Jesus went deeper to teach that sin begins inside you, the wrong and vengeful thoughts.
d) Anything that does not proceed from faith is sin. It is when you think you can do it all yourself without leaning on God and His word.
Sin is missing the mark. It is falling short of the glory of God and it will always bring you down.
The sinful nature –
The world associates sin with actions, but the truth of God’s word shows how it is internal, within you, your attitude. It is the fallen nature inherited from Adam. And it is why you do not have to teach a small child to throw a tantrum, disobey or misbehave. The law of sin is at work in every human being, for he is born a sinner.
A dog is a dog even if it does not bark. In the same way, man is a sinner even if he does not go around committing sinful acts. But Christ has subdued sin on the Cross. And when He begins to do a work of grace in your heart, you will know and experience the truth that you do not have to be under the law of sin anymore.
The higher law – The Spirit of Life:
You now have the law of the Spirit of Life to defy and overcome the law of sin, the sin principle in you. And the knowledge and understanding of the higher law that is more powerful, sets you free from the law of sin and death.
There was a time in the history of man when he thought that that only birds could fly. Then as he began to study and gain understanding of the mechanics of flying, he was able to build the aircraft that now transports you in the air, seemingly effortlessly and swiftly.
Even in your life, though you live in a sinful fallen world, you need not bow down to sin. Rather you can overcome and stand. The law of the Spirit of life has set you free to fly, for He who is in you is greater than he that is in the world. It is for freedom that Christ has set you free, free to dominate over the power of sin in you. You can be free from the penalty of sin which is condemnation. God has set you free. Be free.
The Spirit of Life changes your character not conduct –
Psychological intervention of any kind attempts to achieve behavioral correction in a person. It can never change the nature of a person. But when the Spirit of God comes to reside in you, He does something deep within you, and you only have to work out what He has already worked in you. There is no need for you to manufacture anything on your own. You can defy sin and death in you because the Holy Spirit in you is more powerful. He will give you the power to overcome your troubling situation that threatens to bring you down, make you fall.
Christ in you – a transformation –
Do not be conformed, but be transformed, declares the word of God. [Romans 12:2] Your conduct and perspective is transformed from within. The word ‘transformation’ comes from the word ‘metamorphosis’ that describes how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. It is a total transformation. What was crawling on the ground now flies flitting from flower to flower gathering honey. What was colourless is now colourful, beautifully adorned with wings the colour of a rainbow. What a majestic transformation. And to prove that it is a lion, all a lion needs to do is to be a lion. It’s that simple.
Easter – the true celebration –
Grace is more powerful than sin. The Holy Spirit is more powerful than death. He will bring about a total transformation in you to be transformed from within to become more and more like Christ. It is a lifelong celebration of Christian living to the glory of God and you will never be below, but always be above. The culmination will be when you see Him face to face one day. The law of the Spirit of Life has set you free from the law of sin and death, Amen.
