As I arose early this morning for prayer and reading the Word, I became excited thinking about the resurrection. I reread the story of how on the first day of the week, early in the morning Mary Magdelene had gone to the tomb of Jesus to find that the stone had been rolled away. Now here is the exciting part. Jesus did not need the stone rolled away in order to get out of the tomb. The stone was rolled away so that others could see that He was not there! You see, the power of the Holy Spirit not only raised up Jesus from the dead but changed His body to pass right through those rock walls! Paul said in Romans 8, "...the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead ... shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (v.11) WOW! The Power of the Holy Spirit "quickens" which means to make alive! There is a chorus we sing in our church that says "I live, I live, because He is risen. I live, I live, with power over sin. I live, I live, because He is risen. I live, I live, to worship Him. Thank you Jesus. Thank You Jesus. Because You're alive, because You're alive, Because You're alive, I live!" Isn't that exciting? That same resurrection power that raised up Jesus from the grave, wants to live in me and occupy my life and help me to overcome the power of sin. The result of His living in me will be evident by signs of righteousness which simply means right living. Woohoo! That is exciting to me! Next time you think of Christ raising from the grave, remember that the same power wants to take up residence in you. That is awesome! What a priviledge and what a responsibility. Peter said, "As it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" 1 Peter 1:16. The only way we can live these holy lives is through the power of His resurrection. And finally, that resurrection power will one day soon change these mortal bodies of ours and we will have a new body like Jesus. John said, "...but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" 1 John 3:2 . "Even so come, Lord Jesus" Revelation 22:20.
