WE ARE RISEN WITH HIM, OH YES WE ARE RISEN WITH HIM INDEED!

In this glorious season of celebrating the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, I want to reflect on the reason for our Lord coming into the earth in the first place… it was for OUR SAKE.

On Easter or Resurrection Sunday, the Orthodox, Catholic, and other liturgical churches greet each other with, “The Lord Is Risen” and the other person responds, “Yes, the Lord is Risen Indeed!” Gotquestions.com stated:

 “The words are sometimes accompanied by the exchange of three kisses on alternate cheeks, depending on the church. In the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the greeting is called the “Paschal greeting” and is a very old custom.

The greeting is ultimately based on Luke 24:34. Translations throughout church history, from the Latin Vulgate (c. AD 400) to the ESV (2001) have translated this verse nearly identically: “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” (ESV). Exactly how the saying became a standard greeting in the church is not known, although there are various theories regarding how it came into common usage.”

What a beautiful greeting to say to each other, but something is missing… US! As Jesus was dying on the cross, He told His Father, the Holy Spirit, the angels, the whole world, Satan and his demons, “IT IS FINISHED!” He was declaring His purpose for leaving the heavenly realm with His Father, coming to live in a human body, and becoming as a man; His work was accomplished. He was saying, “Father we did it, now I can return back home!” To understand His message, let’s look at a few passages of scriptures, taken from the Amplified Bible:

JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED – WE WERE CRUCIFIED WITH HIM

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified WITH Christ [that is, in Him, I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

When Jesus died on the cross, we were with Him and In Him, just as when Adam sinned in the garden, we were In Adam. But the difference is, we didn’t get to choose to follow Adam as a sinner, but we do get to choose to follow Christ as a believer.

JESUS DIED – WE DIED WITH HIM

Romans 6: 3 – Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 

When we gave our hearts to our Lord Jesus we were baptized spiritually into His death. The water baptism we experienced was an outward sign to what had already taken place to us spiritually the moment we said yes, to our Lord.

JESUS WAS BURIED – WE WERE BURIED WITH HIM

Romans 6:4 – We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in NEWNESS of life [abandoning our old ways]. 

In our death and burial, we said “goodbye” to our old life and ways of trying to make life work in our own strength and efforts. We made Jesus the Lord or ‘Boss’ of our life so that He could fulfill all the desires of His hearts and the plans for what our Father intended when He created us.

JESUS WAS RESURRECTED – WE WERE RESURRECTED TO A NEW LIFE IN HIM

Romans 6:5 – For (SINCE) (TG) we have become ONE with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection.

On the third day, Jesus arose from the grave, declaring ALL POWER IS IN HIS HANDS! He held the keys to death, hell and the grave. We have been made ALIVE IN CHRIST!

But greater still is this:

THE LORD’S PURPOSE FOR CRUCIFIXION, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION

Romans 6:6-7 – We know that our Old Self was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be DONE AWAY WITH so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. ⁷ For the person who has died [with Christ] has been FREED from [the power of] sin.

JESUS DIED AND HAS SET US FREE TO LIVE IN HIM!

• FREE from sin, flesh, world, and the Devil
• FREE to serve our Father, Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit
• FREE to enjoy all the wonders of our NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
• FREE to live in complete UNION with THE TRINITY our FAMILY IN CHRIST
• FREE to love and forgive
• FREE to live in peace
• FREE to allow the life of our Father and purposes to be fulfilled
• FREE to experience the awesomeness of our Father’s Love and Grace!
• FREE to allow His Kingdom to rule and reign through us
• FREE to bear fruit of righteousness and of the Spirit through us!

The list goes on and on! Now we can celebrate with the understanding of:

THE LORD IS RISEN, YES HE IS RISEN INDEED BUT ALSO,

WE ARE RISEN WITH HIM, YES WE ARE RISEN WITH HIM INDEED!