Christ Alive in Us – the Easter Fulfillment
Christ Alive in Us – the Easter Fulfillment
by Sherri Bergmann
Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, is the Christian belief and celebration that Jesus was crucified and died, however, he rose from the dead and is alive today, and forevermore.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO US?
He’s active in our lives today. He’s not waiting for us after we die, He lives in us now to help us.
Consider his prayer before he was arrested in John 17:20-26:
Jesus said, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
JESUS’S FINAL REQUESTS
If you knew you were going to die, and to pray your last prayer to God, you would choose your words very carefully and deep from the heart, wouldn’t you? This prayer may include a very, very special plea because it’s your final request, right? Even though He was going to be with God forever, he said, “…I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”
He initially prayed for His beloved disciples, but he extended his prayer for all believers – Us. Catch what Jesus specifically requested for us*:
He could have asked for anything. His deepest desire was to be intimately involved in our lives while we live on earth, and to be with Him forever. He died for US to reconcile us to God, and to personally walk with us. He walked with us over a thousand years ago to guide us. Now he walks with us every day – when we are willing to walk with Him.
As parents we want to be with our children all their lives to guide and help them every step of the way, to protect them, to have a deep connecting relationship with them, but once they are of age, we have to let them go, and turn them over to God. We can be there when they want our help and when they spend time with us.
FARTHER AND HIGHER
Jesus took that further with God. His plea was to be IN us 24/7, and for eternity. To guide us, to say the right thing instead of the wrong thing, to make the right choices instead of what will harm us, to show love instead of hate, to have the spirit of patience instead of impatience, to feel peace instead of anxiety, to feel courage and confidence instead of fear, to have joy instead of depression, to extend kindness instead of harm, to have self-control instead of being out of control, to be gentle instead of abrasive, to be merciful instead of wrathful.
What passion, what love! He wants us to share the experience and blessings that come from being in unity with Him. He paid the price to have the special one-on-one personally with us ALL the time that parents don’t have the privilege of. And that’s a good thing.
We only can have these attributes if we allow Him to live in us and follow Him. How long we choose to spend time with Him is up to us. Christ’s constant words to his disciples and others then, and now, are: “Follow me.”
Christ asked to live in us to help us to live, and to feel alive despite the destruction and decay that Satan brings in our lives and homes. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Christ’s obedience to go through a death bearing unimaginable pain and taking the wrath of God upon himself instead of us demonstrated His love for us. His resurrection so he could conquer death and to live in us now, and for all eternity, fulfilled His love for us.
by Sherri Bergmann
Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, is the Christian belief and celebration that Jesus was crucified and died, however, he rose from the dead and is alive today, and forevermore.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO US?
He’s active in our lives today. He’s not waiting for us after we die, He lives in us now to help us.
Consider his prayer before he was arrested in John 17:20-26:
Jesus said, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
JESUS’S FINAL REQUESTS
If you knew you were going to die, and to pray your last prayer to God, you would choose your words very carefully and deep from the heart, wouldn’t you? This prayer may include a very, very special plea because it’s your final request, right? Even though He was going to be with God forever, he said, “…I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.”
He initially prayed for His beloved disciples, but he extended his prayer for all believers – Us. Catch what Jesus specifically requested for us*:
- That they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.
- I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory.
- I will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
He could have asked for anything. His deepest desire was to be intimately involved in our lives while we live on earth, and to be with Him forever. He died for US to reconcile us to God, and to personally walk with us. He walked with us over a thousand years ago to guide us. Now he walks with us every day – when we are willing to walk with Him.
As parents we want to be with our children all their lives to guide and help them every step of the way, to protect them, to have a deep connecting relationship with them, but once they are of age, we have to let them go, and turn them over to God. We can be there when they want our help and when they spend time with us.
FARTHER AND HIGHER
Jesus took that further with God. His plea was to be IN us 24/7, and for eternity. To guide us, to say the right thing instead of the wrong thing, to make the right choices instead of what will harm us, to show love instead of hate, to have the spirit of patience instead of impatience, to feel peace instead of anxiety, to feel courage and confidence instead of fear, to have joy instead of depression, to extend kindness instead of harm, to have self-control instead of being out of control, to be gentle instead of abrasive, to be merciful instead of wrathful.
What passion, what love! He wants us to share the experience and blessings that come from being in unity with Him. He paid the price to have the special one-on-one personally with us ALL the time that parents don’t have the privilege of. And that’s a good thing.
We only can have these attributes if we allow Him to live in us and follow Him. How long we choose to spend time with Him is up to us. Christ’s constant words to his disciples and others then, and now, are: “Follow me.”
Christ asked to live in us to help us to live, and to feel alive despite the destruction and decay that Satan brings in our lives and homes. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Christ’s obedience to go through a death bearing unimaginable pain and taking the wrath of God upon himself instead of us demonstrated His love for us. His resurrection so he could conquer death and to live in us now, and for all eternity, fulfilled His love for us.
*Italics by the author.
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