Raised to Life

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 19th of April, 2020 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service, also streamed live, due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the first Sunday after Easter and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  Jesus was raised to life once again by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  And not just to ordinary life, but to a new life, divine life, for He would soon return to heaven to be with His Father God forever.  God has promised to raise us to this new life also, if we only believe in Jesus as His Son and accept Him as our Lord, doing as He commands.  That is the new, eternal life that will follow this one, once our time on earth is finished.

But family, when we accept Jesus, the same powerful Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead takes up residence within us.  And according to the Apostle Paul, God’s Spirit raises us to a new life right then and there, a new life in Christ!  Please listen and follow along to what Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter 3 verses 1 through 17 of that letter, reading from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible…

1 You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God’s right side. 2 Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth. 3 You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God. 4 Christ gives meaning to your life, and when He appears, you will also appear with Him in glory.

5 Don’t be controlled by your body. Kill every desire for the wrong kind of sex. Don’t be immoral or indecent or have evil thoughts. Don’t be greedy, which is the same as worshiping idols. 6 God is angry with people who disobey Him by doing these things. 7 And that is exactly what you did, when you lived among people who behaved in this way. 8 But now you must stop doing such things. You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others. 9 And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.

10 Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand Him better. 11 It doesn’t matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.

12 God loves you and has chosen you as His own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. 13 Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. 14 Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.

15 Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful. 16 Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of Him.

--Colossians 3:1-17 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for raising our Lord Jesus from the dead and promising to also raise us to new, eternal life once this life on earth is over.  But we also thank You, Father, for the new life in Jesus You give us while we still walk through this world.  Please help us live righteously in Your eyes.  And help us keep our focus on You and Jesus, on pleasing You, on what You have in store for us, rather than on what this world might provide.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and thoroughly understand the message we so need in this age.  Speak to us of how we now have new life through Christ Jesus and what we should do with this new life.  This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


In a 1978 radio address, Ronald Reagan said this about Jesus:

"Meaning no disrespect to the religious convictions of others, I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all, and which is recorded in history.  No one denies there was such a man, that He lived and was put to death by crucifixion.
Where then, you may ask, is the miracle I spoke of?  Well, consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time - possibly to your own home town.  A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop.  One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop.  He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister.  He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most.
He does this for three years.  Then he is arrested, tried and convicted.  There is no court of appeal so he is executed at the age of 33 along with two common thieves.  Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing - the only possessions he has.  His family cannot afford a burial place, so he is interred in a borrowed tomb.
End of story?  No - this uneducated, propertyless young man who preached on street corners for only three years and who left no written word has, for 2000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings and emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals; all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who ever lived - all of them put together.
How do we explain that - unless He really was who He said he was?"

Scientists often use what is known as Occam’s Razor in problem solving.  Basically it states that when no direct answer presents itself, the one with the simplest solution, with the fewest assumptions, is the best solution.  Interestingly enough, this principle was coined by an English Franciscan friar named William of Ockham who employed a preference for simplicity to defend the idea of divine miracles.

I believe Mr. Reagan applied Occam’s Razor here.  How can we explain all that we know about Jesus unless He truly is who He said He is?  The simplest answer, with the least assumptions, is the best answer.


Paul opens what we call chapter 3 of his letter to the Colossians by saying, “You have been raised to life with Christ.”  Not “you will be raised”, but “you have been raised”.  We will be raised to a new life in heaven when that time comes, but Paul asserts that through our belief we already have been raised to new life in Christ Jesus.  You’ve heard me describe immersive baptism before, that when we go under the water it symbolizes our being buried with Christ, and then when we come back up it is our being raised back to life with Him.

Paul says we are a new person because of our belief in Jesus and our acceptance of Him as our Master.  And as that new person, we are becoming more and more like Him, like Jesus.  Now, granted, some of us have a longer ways to go than others, but that doesn’t matter.  All that matters is Christ, and He lives in all of us.


Jesus is all that matters.  And He set the example for us as to how we should live the rest of our lives here on earth.

The same day that Jesus rose from the dead, a number of His disciples had gathered together to talk about the empty tomb and how the Master had been seen alive again by some, including the women who went to the tomb that morning and two disciples who were walking along the road to Emmaus.  Suddenly Jesus appeared before them, alive and in the flesh.  The Apostle Luke recorded this for us in chapter 24 of his Gospel account, verses 36 through 40…

36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

--Luke 24:36-40 (NKJV)

“Peace to you.”  Jesus gives us His peace.  So why should we be troubled?  Why should doubts arise in our hearts?  Paul tells us that we should let the peace that comes from Christ control our thoughts – not the news media, not the politicians, not anyone who rejects Jesus as Lord, but only Christ.  We should not be controlled by our bodies and any immoral, indecent, and evil thoughts that arise from living in them.  We must quit being angry and hateful, saying insulting or cruel things about others.

Because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have become new persons and our focus should also be new, looking to heaven and how to please God.  God loves us and has chosen us to be part of His family, so we should be kind and gentle, humble and meek, patient and forgiving.  For we are loved, and we have been forgiven.


By the righteous act of Jesus and the example of His resurrection to new life, we too are promised to be raised from the dead and given new life everlasting.  But family, we already have new life.  We have already been resurrected.  For we were dead in our sin and now, thanks to our belief in Christ Jesus, we have been raised to new life in Him who gave His all for us!  Now Jesus is all that matters.  Focus on Him, and on pleasing Him.

Blessed be Jesus our Christ, the one true Son of God!  In the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You raised Jesus from the grave and promised to raise us to new life, too, an everlasting life once this life is finished.  And then You sent Your own Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, to live within those who believe in Your Son and accept Him as Lord.  So You have already raised us to new life by this, for now we are new persons in Christ.  Thank You, Father, for giving us new life now, and then again once this life is over.  Please help us be worthy of Your love.  Help us focus more on You and Your kingdom and less on what this world might offer.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You are all that matters.  You gave us the example of how we should live and love by how You lived and loved.  By Your resurrection back to life God promised to raise us to life again, too.  And because You asked Your Father to send His Spirit to live within us, we have been raised to new life now, here on earth.  Thank You, Jesus, for loving us so much that You wanted to assure our being reunited with God.  Please help us to follow Your example in how to live, in how to love others unconditionally.  Help us to truly be new persons, and never to return to our old ways.  And help us to enjoy Your peace, and not worry so much about what might happen to us in this life.  Help us to remember that You are all that matters.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.