Easter Must Happen Inside Us

Easter Must Happen Inside Us

Easter must happen inside us, or it is nothing more than a historical event.

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 self 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. (Romans 6:2-7 – NASB)

It is possible to believe in the death and resurrection of Christ and yet not fully experience the reality of it in a personal way.

God’s purpose is for Christ’s death and resurrection to not only believed, but also be re-enacted in us. I know this is an incredible thought and almost unbelievable if approached with human reason. It is, however the core of the Gospel message. If the death and resurrection of Christ happened to Him alone, then it is merely a historical event that has little impact upon our lives personally.

Jesus Christ did not just die and rise again for Himself. He did it for us, so it follows that what happened to Him ought also to happen to us – if we believe.

No other Scripture brings this out more clearly that the passage we have here before us.

There are two words we need to understand with regard to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The first is SUBSTITUTION. It means when Jesus died on the Cross He was our substitute, that is He was punished for the sins we had committed. He paid the debt of sin we should have paid.  Instead of us being punished for our sin, He was punished instead.

The other word that is just as vital is IDENTIFICATION. This word means that, by faith, what happened to Jesus in his death and resurrection also happened to me. He died, and spiritually I died with Him. My sinful life died as He died. It also means when He was raised from the dead, I was raised to newness of life. It is absolutely vital we understand this. Easter is not just a memorial service where we remember that Jesus died and rose again. Easter is a victory celebration in that we rejoice in experiencing the death and resurrection of Jesus in our personal lives.

1. When HE died WE died.

That is, our old lives and our old sin nature died with Him.

³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptised into His death?

…knowing this, that our old self 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…

If we truly believe Christ died for us, we must also believe that something also died in us. The apostle called it our body of sin, also called our sin nature. That something in us that causes us to sin has been done away with.  We no longer have to be slaves of sin.

2. When HE rose WE rose with Him

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 (v.5)

3. We Must Appropriate the Death and Resurrection of Christ for ourselves

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 – NASB)

It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians. – Francis Bacon.

Unused truth becomes as useless as an unused muscle.  A.W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian.

God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing. – Martin Luther.

Easter Happened in Me

© Friday 3^rd April 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 – NASB)

Easter didn’t just happen to Jesus;

It happened to me and to you.

By our faith when He died, we also died;

And by faith we were raised up, too.

It’s not just a lesson of history,

Speaking of an ancient event;

It’s a living, present realty –

Straight to my heart it’s been sent.

Though I live in this present, evil day,

I was also there at the Cross;

By faith I died when my dear Saviour died,

By faith all my sin I lost.

I was also there when He rose again

And the stone was then rolled away;

I was raised again to a life of bliss,

And I’m living this life, today.

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What you Love Will Change You”

What you Love Will Change You”

(Picture of Chihuahua held in hand)

 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2 – AKJV)

I heard about a woman in the advance stages of Anorexia who was on the point of dying. She had virtually given up the will to live.

This woman’s sister, desperate to do something to help her conceived the idea of giving her a pet to care for. At first her gift did not appear to change things, but gradually, as love for the animal took hold of her she began to be concerned for what would happen to her pet if she died. Fear of what would happen to her animal friend so took hold of her it overwhelmed her fear of putting on weight. She began to eat and was eventually restored to full health. Love for her pet had transformed her in both body and mind.

The above example shows the positive result of learning to love some living creature other than yourself. It can transform your life – positively.

There are, however, negative consequences of loving someone or something to the exclusion of everything else. The case of a man who becomes a workaholic in the pursuit of financial security mace end up neglecting his wife and family and may even lose them as a consequence. He may tell himself he is doing it all for them, but the pursuit of riches have changed his natural desire to provide for his family into an obsession.

Without using too many examples women may be so concerned with keeping up with fashion and maintaining their good looks that they become obsessed with it. They begin to judge others by the way they dress and how they look, instead of valuing them for who they are.

Now there is nothing wrong with wanting to look good and making a good impression, just so long as it does not have a negative influence upon your character.

Focusing on loving God, doing His will, and loving our neighbour will keep us balance, an have the end result of making us more like Jesus

Transformation

© Wednesday 26th October 2005 – by Christopher Shennan)

I’m flying straight now, Lord,

With Your Wind beneath my wings,

The crooked paths behind me,

And my wayward heart now sings.

It sings because the secret

Was whispered from above:

“You’ll always be transformed

Into what you truly love.

“It’s a law of life unchanging,

It’s a principle so true,

That whatever you love and cling to,

Will end up changing you.

Be it idols you have cherished;

Be it wealth, or fame, or pleasure,

Will cast you in its likeness;

            You’ll become a blight, or treasure.”

So I seek to choose more wisely

What I set my heart upon,

The thing I choose will change me

Into what I focus on.

So I set my love upon

The beauty of my King,

And trust tin time my life

Will be a lovely thing.

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Chihuahua Puppy by Jose Antonio Tovar. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this link. No changes were made to this photo.

Seeing People as Trees – CONFESSING to it

(Picture credits at end of post)

Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.”  (Mark 8:23-24 – NASB)

Jesus waited to complete the miracle of full sight until the man told him what he saw after the first touch.  He had to tell Jesus exactly what he saw. Likewise, the miracle of full sight will only happen to us after we admit that when we look at people they don`t appear more important to us than trees.

Once we come to that place of total honesty, Christ will take us to the next level  and cause us to see people as they are, living, breathing creatures of God, with real needs and desires.

As a result our hearts will, like the heart of Jesus, be moved with compassion, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd.

What do you really see when you look at people? Are they simply part of the scenery, part of the background to the life that is really important to you – your own? Sure, Jesus has touched your life, but still, you can relate to your own loved ones, your own children, your own kin, but the rest of humanity is of no real concern to you. Perhaps it is time for you to come to Jesus for a second touch and admit to Him you see people merely as trees.

Ask Jesus to give you the ability to see people as He sees them – as sheep without a Shepherd and as precious souls upon whom God longs to bestow His Love and Grace.

I had to Confess

(© Monday 19^th January 2025 – by Christopher Shennan)

And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.”

                                                                                        (Mark 8:24 – NASB)

I had to confess what I saw:

I saw people merely as trees,

To be used and admired and then,

Forgotten or not as I pleased.

Before I confessed what I saw,

No hope of correction was there;

My blindness continued to be,

Until I confessed it in prayer.

Once it was out in the open,

My Lord, in His mercy and love,

Touched my blind eyes with compassion,

And full sight came down from above.

So, if you see people as trees,

And are blind to what they are worth,

Just tell God and ask Him to grant

His power to correct your soul’s dearth.

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Photo by Joe Mabel. Copyright. Used under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; please note the Disclaimer at this final link. No changes were made to this photo. Photo also used under the GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2

A Listening Ear

A Listening Ear

 

Read: Luke 8: 16-18

And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.

²⁵ For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. (Mark 4:24-25 – KJV)

Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. (Luke 8:18 – KJV)

Mark reports Jesus message as being careful what we hear, while Luke reports Him cautioning us to be careful how we hear.

Both what Mark reported and what Luke reported are vital maxims for followers of Christ. We have to be selective in what we allow ourselves to hear, and we have to be careful of the manner in which we hear what God has to say to us.

First we have to select what is worthy of our attention, as the apostle Paul urges in his letter to the Philippians:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8 – KJV)

Once we have decided what is worthy of our attention, we need to go one step further: We need to give attention to how we hear what we have decided is worth listening to. We must take it seriously; we must make sure it does not slip from our grasp.

The worthy things must be applied to our lives, or they become nothing more than sentimentality. We end up loving the words, but neglecting the work those words are designed to accomplish in our lives. We are deceived into imagining we are growing spiritually, when all that has happened, is that we have given mental assent to the words worthy of our attention.

If we are serious about following Christ, we need to do more than that; we need to ruthlessly apply the truth we hear to specific areas of our lives that need attention.

Give Me Ears to Hear

(© Tuesday 5^th May 2014 – by Christopher Shennan)

Give me ears to hear that filter

All of the worldly chatter out;

All of the vain philosophy

The world is excited about.

 

Give me ears that can discern

What is false and what is true,

So my heart can be directed

To the path that will lead to You.

 

Yet once I know what is worthy,

I need to know just one more thing;

Know just how to apply it, dear Lord,

To the path I am following.

 

I want the words I listen to;

Those that have been tried and are true,

To be the words that are changing,

And making me become like You.

Picture by Joanne Shennan

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