“Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ~John 11:25-26

It’s Easter. Resurrection Sunday. The day we celebrate the miracle of the Christian faith.

Which brings us to the question, what is the miracle of our faith? Jesus died, remained dead for three days, and rose back up to walk out of his own tomb. He died. Legitimately died. No breathing, no heartbeat, only a corpse. For a full three days. There was no “oops we put someone in the tomb who wasn’t really dead” moment. He was legitimately dead for three days. Then he came back to life, and has remained alive ever since. He’s alive and ruling in Heaven, and He’s alive and ruling in our hearts.

But at church today I heard the pastor say something that put it into even greater perspective. He said, “the miracle is not that Jesus was dead and came back to life. The miracle is that I have life.”

And it’s true. The miracle of the Christian faith is not that God can conquer death. God created life and death; of course He can control it. He can walk on water when nature says He should sink. He can heal the sick when nature says they were born with a deformity. He can take a loaf of bread and turn it into many, when nature says bread must be baked from more ingredients. He can raise a person from the dead, when nature says death is permanent. The fact that He raised Himself is really no more surprising than anything else He died. He defied the known facts of the world, because He created it.

But the real miracle here is that we are raised from the dead. Because of the blood shed 2,000 years ago, we have eternal life. We, if we live in Christ and believe in the salvation He gave us, will not die.

Think about that for a second. We will never die. We. will. never. die. Sure, our bodies may die, and there may be a certificate that says a time of death, but since when has the flesh ever been important? As Christians we are meant to live in the spirit; we’re citizens of Heaven, not the world. So our flesh may well shut down and decay; but by the time that happens, we won’t be part of it. We’ll be rejoicing and worshiping and basking at the feet of our Lord, Father, Husband and Savior. He died, that we would live.

So spend time with Him this week. When you wake up in the morning, thank Him for His sacrifice. Thank Him for the eternal life He gave you. Thank Him, and take a second to dedicate your day to Him. Yes, you are still flesh. But you’re also spirit. And He gave you your life for eternity; there’s no reason why eternity can’t start today, here on earth, right where you sit. So dedicate your life to Him. It may be a moment by moment dedication. You may have to say every morning “Lord I give you today in my life”, or even break it down further with “this conversation belongs to You, Lord”. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just that you do. You know that if you live in Christ, you’ll never die. So go ahead and start living in Him with new focus and new dedication. Claim your eternal miracle.

God bless!

~Rebekah A