He is Risen Indeed, and So Are You

Since I came to the Lord as a young adult, I didn’t grow up knowing all the peculiarities of the church. The first Easter I heard someone expectantly greet me with a peppy, “He is risen!” An awkward silence fell as I tried to respond. My gracious friend whispered the code, “You’re supposed to say, He is risen indeed.” And with the next secret verbal hand-shake—I had infiltrated Christendom. There are a number of responses I could have chosen, and a most joyous and equally true one would be, “So are we!”

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

— Colossians 3:1-3 (NLT)

Resurrection Power

Two nomads after God’s heart chased His promises into a foreign land. God had spoken the prophecy of a child through which their family line would grow to be more than the stars. Though they would wander, they were not lost. And when her age made the promise laughable, God made the deadness of her womb find life, bringing a son named Isaac into the world.

Roughly 600 years later, there were grumblings among Isaac’s descendants. Why should the people listen to Moses? Couldn’t any one of them hear God just as well as him? Perhaps they were able to, but only one ordinary man was chosen to take his place. According to God’s command twelve dead wooden rods, one from each tribe, were put into the arc of the covenant. The next day the one with Aaron’s name on it had come to life, bearing buds, blossoms, and ripe almonds.

Almost 1500 years after Aaron’s rod was born again, a Man from the line of Isaac gave His life as a sacrificial Lamb. The sky had grown dark and for the first time, He could not feel the presence of His Father. The sins of the world were upon Him as He exhaled His Spirit unto death. But when His Spirit returned, bringing life to the Man, Christ Jesus was resurrected holding the keys to the grave.

The life of Isaac came out of a dead womb. Aaron’s walking stick turned into a living tree without roots. And Christ went to hell and back so His resurrection power could pour into the world. From the creation of everything we know out of the void, and into the eternity of our promised future, our God changes death to life.

We Are Risen Indeed

“I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm!”

— Ephesians 1:19-20 (TPT)

“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.”

— Romans 8:11 (NIV)

I don’t know about you, but there are days I feel dead. I’d like to tell you I never struggle, at times though my problems and sin shout louder than my repetitions of His greater report. But there in the shadowy tomb of hopes I’ve grieved, life awaits the release of His Spirit. With His Word is the healing balm for haunting memories and forgotten dreams. Which will I listen to? The promises of God leading to faith, or the lying prophet of fear?

The God of the Living

Jesus said His Father is the God of the living and not the dead. What might we see if we dare to believe Him at His word? Despite the temptation to doubt, I am a walking testimony of the truth—He has made me dead to sin, but alive to God. I am risen indeed, with Christ. Though in times of weakness I still submit myself to lies, His Word always brings me back to this truth.

If there’s a choice you have to make, ask God to breathe life into one of the answers like He did Aaron’s staff. Are there promises of God which seem laughable to you now? His timing’s perfect and He may be waiting for you to exhaust your resources. What He raises to life is risen indeed!