3rd April 2023

New life in Christ

Spring is finally here, at least in the northern hemisphere. The signs are all around – daffodils are blooming, lilacs have buds, robins are singing, and of course, the days are getting longer. Growth in nature is a hopeful indicator of new life and that the seeming deadness of winter doesn’t win. Just as the cycle of the seasons repeats every year, each spring we look forward to our celebration of the most hopeful event of all – the resurrection of Jesus. 

His death, like the grain of wheat that must die to produce fruit, produced life when he rose from the grave. That same life, raised by the mighty power of God, gave us life. When he died, we died and when he rose, we rose. Our lives are intertwined with his and so are our deaths – the death of self, that is. The old self died with him and the new self rises up from the shadow of the cross to live in him and for him, producing the fruit of the Spirit and living in his joy. 

As B. McCall Barbour said in his little book, When Did You Die?: “We are not called to a process of self-crucifixion, but to the acceptance of a crucifixion of self already accomplished.” What’s left for us is to live it out every day, with a life that is dead to sin and dead to the world, but alive to God through Christ. We do this by daily yielding ourselves to him as those who have been brought back from the dead and then presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to him. 

Jesus was raised from the dead and so are we. Life wins – Jesus wins! Let’s practice dying each day so his life may blossom in us just as the flowers burst forth with new and beautiful life in springtime.

Study by Tammy Tkach

First published on 21 March 2023, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com

 

About the writer:
Tammy Tkach is the Assistant Pastor of the Eugene, Oregon, USA congregation. She is a speaker and writer, and publishes a blog at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com  

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