But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24:12)
If you will copy and paste; hymnbook.igracemusic.com/hymns/arise–my–soul–arise into a search engine you will find an Indelible Grace Music sight. You will see the beautiful lyrics of Arise My Soul by Charles Wesley. In the bottom right hand corner you will see an album cover with an invitation to Download / Buy CD. Click on it. (You won’t buy anything by doing this.) Click on #6 which is a modernized version of this hymn. Today, it might be a good idea to sing first – then read. My favorite line is from the chorus…
Arise my soul arise. Shake off your guilty fears and rise.
If “doctrine” is the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word “resurrection”, I pray that today’s MwM post will shake up your thinking. Sure, the resurrection is a doctrine, as is the virgin birth and the cross. The difference between these doctrines and the resurrection is that we were not born of a virgin nor were we crucified on the cross but we have been buried in Christ and resurrected into newness of life, in Christ. The resurrection is not just a doctrine, it is the essential experience facilitating our adoption as God’s children. Outside of Christ, we are walking in death (regardless of the doctrines we subscribe to). In Christ, we walk in a brand new realm – abundant life. The old things have passed away, newness of resurrection life has come. It is one thing to be an adherent of the Christian religion and its doctrines. Its another thing altogether to be raised from the dead. When we stand before God, we will want more than correct doctrine; we will want to be resurrected in Christ’s life.
Many of my dearest friends came to faith at a young age. They were attending Sunday School or a youth retreat and something clicked; they knew in their hearts that Jesus was alive and had died for their sins. I believe from that point, they have had Christ’s life in them. They typically confessed this to someone and were then baptized into the church (and into its culture). The classical vision of the evangelical church has been to help these newborn sheep, by way of sermon and Sunday School, to continue on in their mastery of doctrinal truths. The problem is that many people on this well established track have burnt out or are burning out. Why? I believe it is God’s grace.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27)
When a person believes in Christ, they are baptized into Him. This is much more than being baptized into the local community of saints (regardless of their label). I believe Christ enters a life when He is invited. I also believe the expression this new life is influenced by examples and the vision of the Church those examples portray. Are the impressionable young sheep presented with a vision of bible knowledge accumulation and compliance to church culture or are they presented with radical examples of resurrection life which caused them to marvel?
Many of my friends who have burnt out are starting to make claims upon the life of Christ within them. Why? By God’s grace they see that the institution itself was not the umbilical cord. The bricks and mortar and the programs were deficient representations of what they read about in scripture. By God’s grace many of them have had their hearts broken yet stand with fresh hunger, on the threshold of a personal discovery of Christ’s life within – the hope of glory.
While I anticipate heaven, my understanding of God’s kingdom (Jesus’ primary message) causes me to anticipate the expression of Jesus’ life in the here-and-now. This hope rests in Christ alone – Christ in us. I don’t believe many evangelical church’s have this idea embedded in the vision they have cast. If the vision cast is not a New Testament-sized-and-shaped vision, the local church has underrepresented the life of God. In light of this, I could imagine the lot of us, emitting a fowl aroma instead of a fragrant one. I could imagine us, creating a lukewarm kind of taste. I do believe God has it in mind to work on our odor and temperature. (Please keep in mind that nothing, even our odor or taste, can separate us from the love of God.)
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Transformation is a controversial subject, especially among those heavily steeped in the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. In this culture, God is in perfect control, which implies that what we have and what we see is here by sovereign design. Asking questions regarding the validity of anything is tantamount to heresy. I see sovereignty and election powerfully conveyed in the scriptures but I also see the apostles, prophets and teachers laboring to amend thinking that is in error. If these early leaders had been adequately equipped with the pure doctrine of God’s sovereignty, they should have let these errors go; God had permitted them. They were meddling.
There are other sovereigns at work in our story. A sovereign is anyone exercising authority within some sphere of influence. We are sovereigns in this sense as is the devil. Paul was waging an all out intentional war on the world, the flesh and the devil. To do this He needed to equip the Church with a vision. This vision included every beilever as a front line soldier in this sphere where three sovereigns (God, the devil and ourselves) were competing for rulership. The Church, those who are in Christ and have Christ in them are the swing vote. When they vote correctly, the kingdom of Light expands. Is this the vision young impressionable sheep have been indoctrinated with?
There is a generation of millennials who will soon inherit the leadership of this world. Many of them are question askers. What would happen if their questions regarding the old wineskin vision of the Christian religion led them to a fresh encounter with resurrection life? If the millennial leaders with Christendom were to experience resurrection life (i.e. Christ in them), the course of human affairs would be altered. My pray is that the apostles of the Church would rise up and infect this generation with a New Testament-sized vision of Christ’s life. May this be.
If you have wondered just what a millennial is, by all means check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLpE1Pa8vvI. Micah Taylor sings all four parts of “You Gotta Love Millennials.”