Resurrection Life

​Easter. Resurrection. Jesus is alive!

​Last weekend, all over the world, Christians joyously celebrated Christ’s powerful, glorious resurrection from the dead. My heart was stirred deeply once again as I focused on the Cross and empty tomb. What a Savior!
What is incredible to me, as a follower of Christ, is that the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead resides in little old me. See Romans 8:9-11.
 Resurrection life and power is mine. Glory to God!
As I reflect on Easter 2024, I am pondering what resurrection life means for me and what my responsibility is to share my life in Christ with people who do not know Him.
I would like to share some personal thoughts about my Christian witness to America.
I love my country. I am a citizen patriot who proudly flies the Stars and Stripe at my home every day. I served as a Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy during the Viet Nam War.
 I firmly believe in the foundational principles of our nation that our forefathers, most who believed in God and His Word the Bible, established in our Constitution and Bill of Rights almost two hundred and fifty years ago.
Without question, the world has never known a country like ours. America has been an exceptionally great nation, a beacon of light, life and hope, bringing untold blessing to the world when it has adhered to its Judeo-Christian roots. But sadly, our spiritual/moral light has dimmed, our hope is waning, and life, the way our Maker designed it, is slowly but surely slipping into an abyss of death.
America is fast becoming a culture of death.
A spirit of darkness and Satanic evil hovers over our nation. If you do not believe me, what about the thousands of babies’ lives we terminate in their mother’s wombs every single day? What about the fact that the United States has one of, if not the highest, murder rates per capita of civilized nations? How “civilized” is that?
What about the multitudes of Americans who die agonizing, horrible deaths from drug overdoses? What about our embarrassingly high divorce rate, in our “enlightened” society? A divorce decree delivers death to family relationships. Walking out on loved ones, instead working out issues is far too commonplace.
Do I need to tell you about violent home invasions? Terrorism in our churches, malls, schools, hospitals, places of employment. Foul, filthy, profane language, which is becoming the norm, demeans people and speaks death into the lives of all of us made in the image of a Holy God.
Domestic violence, perversion of sexual relationships, sexual abuse and assault, corruption of power, disrespect for lawful authority, ambushing and killing of police officers, evil-based blockbuster movies and entertainment venues, anti-Christian talk shows, pop culture music, and video games focus on death, not life.
What troubles my heart most is that so many people, who have bought into the deceptive, death producing lies of the evil one, participate in the above. What is really disturbing, and grieves my spirit, is that some “professing” Christians behave no differently. This should not be.

• The root of a death culture is sin.

Yes, sin. Plain old defiance of God. See Romans 3:10-18, 23.  Individually and corporately shaking our arrogant fists in His holy face, willfully choosing to reject His standards for our lives. Rebellion against our Creator and defiance of His Word, instead of reverence and respect, distances men and women from life.
Death and dying is the new normal in America. Breaks my heart. What can be done?
The Bible, God’s Word, has the answer. Jesus removed the distance between death and life when He sacrificed Himself on a cruel Roman cross for our sins.
Before His death and resurrection, Jesus’ friend Lazarus had died. Standing at the foot of Lazarus’s tomb, weeping with his sisters Mary and Martha, Jesus declared to Martha “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
What a word for grieving, hurting hearts. Death is not the end. Life is. Resurrection life. It comes through believing in Jesus who said “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6). Jesus paved the way to eternal life through His resurrection.
My friends, all of us must answer Jesus’ pivotal question to Martha “Do you believe this?”

• Steve Roll believes this. How about you?

If you are alive in Him, do not hide or hoard it. Boldly, unashamedly, unapologetically declare it. Lovingly share your faith in Jesus Christ. People are dying in the darkness. Headed for hell. Folks for whom Jesus died need to see His light in you and me because the Lord said you and I are the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14-16).
May the resurrection life of Christ in you and me shed bright, redeeming light into the hearts of precious people who, though they are stumbling in the darkness and confusion, are searching for lasting answers in these evil days.
Truth is: You and me are Christ’s Goof News ambassadors sharing eternal life through faith in God’s Son.
May we be found faithful in these challenging days.
 “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to his death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11
A Word For Your Week: Share resurrection life in Christ with those who have lost their way.