The "Power" of Christ

First of all, I do not consider myself a "writer", but sometimes I feel inspired to write. This is a writing that I now feel inspired to pass on.

But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. -Phil 3:7-10a [CEV]

What Passion! Paul had this PASSION, to the point; some might even say it was an obsession. He completely devoted everything he once valued as worthless to find and know the power of Christ. He was driven and committed by that desire. His passion was to know Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection.

I find myself fascinated with this subject of the POWER of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just what is the power of His resurrection? Not just in the in the historical context, but the real power it has. There have been several significant of world events over the course of history, but there has been nothing quite as significant or had such an impact, as this particular “power”. So, the question becomes this: What is this power of His resurrection that has impacted us today?

I have contemplated this question for the longest time, and the best I can summarize the answer is this: THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE POWER TO LIVE. The Resurrection is all about life. It is about conquering the enemy of life, which is death.

But the Resurrection addresses more than the quantity (or length) of one's life; it also addresses the quality of life. I have come up with four distinctive powers that give us “power” to live:

Apart from Jesus Christ, there is no life. Those without Him are dead. Life begins with Him. By paying sin's debt and conquering death, Jesus has forever established Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life”.

I hear people say, "I am not a Christian because I just don't think I can live it.” And they are right. They cannot. Neither can I, and neither can you. Neither could Paul, who admitted as much when he confessed that he often did things he wished he hadn't, or failed to do things he wished he had. The plain fact is that if we could live the Christian life apart from Christ, Calvary is unnecessary. But we cannot. It is the power of the risen Christ living in the believer that makes it possible for us to be conformed to His image, to live like Him [Rom.8: 29]. This process, known as sanctification, is one aspect of the POWER of His resurrection.

This is the power of PURPOSE. The risen Savior gives purpose and meaning to the life of the believer. To live for Christ means to live to fulfill His purpose in this world. It means to live a life that glorifies Him [1 Cor.6: 20].

The first three aspects address life here and now. This one addresses life hereafter. Christ came to give us abundant life on earth, yes. But He also came to give us eternal life. He came to provide the way for us to live forever with Him [Jn.14: 1-4].

For me, this has helped me realize that everything we believe everything we do, everything we are as Christians is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ and built on the power of His resurrection. Now, I am not a preacher, nor am I suggesting anything other than just give it some thought.