And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Romans 8:11
Last year, around this time, I wrote a Daily Moment with God connecting our 'shelter in place' orders to Noah’s experience with his family in the ark. For me, the key verse was: “God remembered Noah.” This comforted me greatly (and I hope you as well), to know that God remembers us by name.
We are always on God's mind, even when Christ was hanging on a cross on Calvary. And we were most definitely on his mind when He defeated death and rose again on the third day. He kept his promise to us, the promise of salvation and everlasting life to all who believe in Him.
Jesus’ resurrection isn’t the only 'back to life' moment recorded in the Bible. We have Lazarus, of course. But there is another scene that has always fascinated me and set my imagination ablaze! The Valley of Dry Bones found in Ezekiel 37, where the Lord gives the prophet Ezekiel a vision of a valley full of very dry human bones.
In the vision, God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” And as he was prophesying, there was a loud rattling sound, and Ezekiel watched as the bones came together, tendons and flesh and skin covered them. They were lifeless bodies until the Lord commanded breath into them and the bodies came alive – they were a resurrected army!
Without Christ’s resurrection breathing new life into us, we would all be dusty bones scattered about without any hope. Thanks be to God that we were on his mind when He walked out of that grave! As the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:11, the same Spirit that resurrected Christ from the dead is IN US. Take a moment to let that sink in. As Christ followers, we are walking around with God's Resurrection Power in us. Amazing!
Now that we are on the other side of that life changing event, what did He raise us up for? He has raised us, called us by name out of the valley so that we can participate in bringing his Kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven. He has equipped us with his Spirit so that we might boldly step out in faith and obedience to love Him, and love others as Christ loves them!
Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!
Shireen
