How Shall We Then Live?

The echoes of “He is risen!” may have faded from our Easter Sunday celebrations, but the profound reality those words represent should reverberate through every moment of our lives. The resurrection isn’t merely a historical event we commemorate once a year—at least, it shouldn’t be. It’s the foundation that should transform how we live every single day.

When Reality Transforms Identity

Have you ever stopped to consider how deeply the resurrection of Christ has changed you? Not just your Sunday morning schedule or your religious affiliations, but your very identity?

“Has the reality of the resurrected Christ transformed your identity?”

When we truly grasp what happened when Jesus conquered death, everything changes—our desires, our goals, our responses to life’s challenges. The resurrection isn’t just something we believe happened; it’s something that happens to us when we encounter the living Christ.

Confidence Before a Holy God

Many of us approach God with hesitation, weighed down by our failures and inadequacies. We tiptoe into prayer as though we’re intruders in a place we don’t belong. But Hebrews offers us a radically different perspective:

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh…”

The resurrection gives us unprecedented access. The temple curtain tore from top to bottom when Jesus died, symbolizing that the barrier between us and God has been removed. We don’t need to cower or hide—we can approach with confidence.

This isn’t arrogance. It’s understanding that our access isn’t based on our performance but on Christ’s finished work. We can draw near with a sincere heart, fully assured that we are welcome in God’s presence.

The Community of the Resurrection

The transforming power of resurrection isn’t meant to be experienced in isolation. Those who have been changed by Christ are called to gather and encourage one another:

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”

Remember when COVID forced many to worship from their couches? Something essential was missing in those virtual gatherings. We’re designed for community—to worship shoulder to shoulder, to bear each other’s burdens face to face, to encourage one another with physical presence.

When we gather, we testify to the world that Jesus is who He said He was. We’re not coming together to glorify ourselves but to worship the One who is worthy of all praise.

The Warning We Need to Hear

With great privilege comes great responsibility. The writer of Hebrews doesn’t shy away from a sobering warning:

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment…”

These are uncomfortable words in an age that prefers feel-good spirituality. But true love speaks truth, even when it’s difficult to hear.

We cannot claim to know Jesus while continually choosing to live in opposition to His will. The resurrection demands more than verbal acknowledgment—it requires a transformed life.

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about direction. Are we, despite our stumbles and struggles, moving toward greater alignment with Christ? Or are we using grace as an excuse to remain unchanged?

Going Forward in the Strength You Have

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the call to live worthy of the resurrection, you’re in good company. Gideon felt the same way when God called him a “valiant warrior” while he was hiding from enemies, threshing wheat in a wine press.

When God invites us to partner with Him, it’s easy to look at our circumstances and question His presence. Like Gideon, we might ask, “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened?”

But God’s response is powerful: “Go in this your strength… Have I not sent you?”

God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. Whatever He’s inviting you into today, go forward in the strength you have, knowing that His presence makes all the difference.

Living as People of the Resurrection

So how shall we then live? Not as those who have merely heard about the resurrection, but as those who have been fundamentally changed by it.

• We live with confidence before God, holding fast to our confession without wavering.
• We gather faithfully with other believers, spurring one another on toward love and good deeds.
• We align our daily choices with the transformation we profess, not trampling underfoot the gift of Christ.
• We step forward in faith, even when we feel inadequate, trusting that God’s presence is enough.

The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just our hope for the future—it’s the power for transformed living today. May we not merely remember it once a year but embody its reality every day.

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What area of your life most needs to be touched by resurrection power today? How might your identity, relationships, or daily choices change if you lived fully in the light of Christ’s victory over death?

For more on this, listen to our sermon from Sunday, 4/27/2025, available here: