Easter Exhortation: Living Resurrected Lives

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

What does it mean to live a resurrection life? What does it mean to live with the hope of the resurrection? Paul seems to deal with this question extensively in I Corinthians 15. In fact, he ends that long passage by stating that our labors are not in vain in the Lord. We are called to pursue all that we do with gusto. We ought to labor with our eyes fixed in the gospel. Because all that we do ultimately is for the sake of the world; our marriages, our parenting, our obedience as children, and our relationships. When we leave this family this morning, we will go into our separate families and live as individual families the gospel of the resurrection.

One of the main differences between our living and the unbeliever’s living is that we live as if there is a future resurrected life in the New Heavens and New Earth and they live in disbelief of this future life. If you have no belief in a future life, then there is room for immorality and unethical practices. In the words of Matthew Henry, “we can live like beasts, and eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” But for us in covenant with God, every time we fall into sin, it is a sign that we are disbelieving the resurrection with our actions. We have the resurrection, because we are resurrected saints, baptized in the Triune Name, created unto good works. To live the resurrection life is to live it with our heart, mind and soul. So, let us labor in the Lord, then we will eat, drink, and feast for when we die we will live forever in the presence of our Resurrected Savior.

Prayer: Our Reigning Lord, our labor will not be in vain because you have been raised from the dead and thus been vindicated by the Father.