The Resurrected Life: Living Life a New Way

The celebration of Christ's Resurrection is not simply remembering a miracle that happened to Jesus. In celebrating Easter, we proclaim that existence has fundamentally changed. The cosmos has shifted. Life is no longer limited by death.

For Christians, this understanding informs our whole identity - our thinking, our self-image, our choices, our decisions, and our perspectives. We don't have "all the time in the world." Our time on earth is relatively short. Our time here, in this life is a gift. But it's a gift meant to be given away, especially since we have all eternity afterwards.

From a resurrection point of view, Jesus' teachings make a great deal more sense. Living in fear seems obsolete when we know how our earthly story ends. (It ends in restoration and resurrection.) Living selfishly seems unfathomable when we have such a short time on this earth to share with those who have such great need. (We know all needs will be met in God's perfect time, especially in the hereafter.) Power, fame, and riches are so fleeting, especially when they are based on a corrupt culture that is dying away. (Christ tells us to base our lives on eternal values that will never fade.)

In the next 50 days (Yes, that's right. The Church celebrates Easter for 50 whole days!) we'll be anchoring ourselves in the Resurrected identity. We'll be unlearning the lessons of mortality and learning to think and act as God's immortal children, for that is what we are, in this life and the next.