The Risen Life: Living Like the Resurrection Actually Happened
Easter came and went. There is a good chance that you hunted a few eggs, gathered with friends or family, ate too many Peeps, and worshiped with your church. Easter Sunday is one of the most highly attended church gatherings of the year. For many, it amounts to nothing more than a dutiful obligation, a day to reflect on a historical event but then to live as though nothing significant took place.
However, something supernaturally significant did take place. In fact, time now hinges upon this incredible event. Lives have been lost as a result of it. Books and powerful testimonies written in light of it. Our world will never be the same because of it. We must be careful that the gospel is never lost on us—that it never becomes old news.
The gospel is life-changing news.
Are you struggling in marriage? Are you exhausted in raising your children? Are you struggling to find meaning in the mundane, an anchor in anxiety, and purpose in pain? Are you stressed in the hustle culture, feeling the constant tug to do more and be better? Maybe you are feeling overwhelmed by the uncertainty in the world, the plan-changing pandemic, and navigating our new polarized, post-Christian culture?
The gospel is not just a ticket into heaven—the gospel is the answer to life. It’s hope for this moment and every moment. It’s the foundation our faith stands upon and the message that breathes purpose into every situation we encounter.
We don’t live in true freedom until we live risen.
The freedom of the Christian life isn't just found in the head knowledge of Jesus or following a set of rules for behavior modification. It’s applying the gospel to the specific struggles of our lives, letting the miracle of Christ-risen speak into every area, inform our thoughts, change our hearts, and give purpose to our actions.
You can eat all the Peeps, hunt all the eggs, dress up and go to church every single Sunday of the year, but if Christ had not been raised, if death had not been defeated, if you don’t trust Christ as Savior and Lord, you will not be saved for eternity and set free in the present.
The risen life is the liberated life. When we recognize and believe that Jesus made a way and is the Way, the chains of death and sin no longer enslave us. For a brief moment of courageous honesty, ask yourself this question:
Do I live the freedom of a risen life?
Sin has left an ugly mark on this world, so struggle exists. We were never promised a life of ease. Jesus promised the opposite. He said don’t be surprised in trials (John 16:33). Jesus himself was afflicted, tempted, and suffered greatly in his obedience to the Father. As imitators of Christ, we should expect the same.
The risen life is not void of strife and sorrow, but it is filled with God-given peace. Ease is not the same as peace. We are promised Peace to go with us, strengthen us, provide for us, and give us a firm place to stand when the storms come.
The gospel promises a life-transformed, repurposed, and hope-filled.. Here are five ways we can live risen:
1. We have purpose.
As risen women, we have nothing to prove. When we repent of our sin and trust Christ as Savior, Jesus steps in and becomes perfection on our behalf. When God looks at us, he sees Jesus. That’s truly incredible!
The deepest longing of the human heart is to be fully known and yet fully accepted. God knows us intimately, from the number of hairs on our heads to the thoughts circling through our minds. He sees our struggles, sins, and failures. And still, he loves us. He accepts us through faith in Jesus. The risen life will stop striving for acceptance because we know that our worth is not the result of our worthiness, but the worthiness of Christ.
We find purpose, not in what the world values—appearance, approval, or performance—but in Christ’s victory on the cross. We can stand firm, rest well, and make a surrendered effort toward the mission he’s given us, with peace that passes understanding, no longer feeling the pressure to prove anything to this fickle world.
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:58
2. We love sacrificially.
Because of the gospel, we no longer need to protect our lives and build our own kingdoms. God has given us all we need. He promises to provide his Spirit, to equip and enable us to pour out our lives as a continuous drink offering, living for others and giving abundant grace. Because we have been forgiven, we can forgive. Because we have been given mercy, we can offer the same. Because our value is not based on how others treat us or if they like us, we can safely love them and live grounded.
The risen life finds greatest joy in the emptying. The kingdom of God has no shortage of resources or competition. When the Living Water and Bread of Life supplies the need, we can spend and be spent. We can cheer on our sisters, serve the least, give generously in private, and love the undeserving without reservation or hesitation. Christ is our satisfaction, and he never runs out.
3. We live authentically and vulnerably.
As risen women, we no longer need to pretend. The filters can be removed. We don’t need to hide behind the white-washed tombs of fake perfection. We can honestly confess our secret sins and bring them into the light for healing and freedom.
This culture craves authenticity. It is easy to be authentic when the world praises the hot mess. We often share enough to seem real, but not enough to appear inadequate. But when we live risen, we can appear inadequate. We don’t need to earn the favor of others.
The truth is, we need to understand that we are not enough in our strength. If we fail to daily recognize ourselves as sinners, we won’t look to the Savior. If we kind of get this, we will kind of follow. As we come to the humble awareness of our sufficiency in Christ, we find the strength and desire to live in the freedom of being fully known and fully loved. Only then will we be able to give abundantly to others.
4. We are bold.
To live risen is to live with courage. When we place faith in the risen Christ, we live without fear of the future or the fear of man. The same power that raised Christ is now present within us through the Holy Spirit.
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
The risen woman has no reason to fear death. No force in heaven or earth can touch the soul who has been redeemed by Jesus. This empowers us to live counter-culturally, proclaim the gospel in the face of opposition, stand firm in faith, and live in the confidence of the victorious King, who is also our loving Father.
5. We have hope.
Finally, as risen women, we have hope that transcends this world. When trials come, when the journey feels impossible, and when we experience pain and loss, we cling to a greater Hope, weightier Anchor, better Promise, and a more certain Plan—Jesus. Our tomorrow is coming, and it will not disappoint. We are not without purpose and meaning. Our suffering matters. Our disappointments matter. Our lives matter.
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
If the resurrection didn’t happen, we are most to be pitied. If Christ be not risen, our souls are not secure and our lives not freed. We are dead in our sins, enslaved to this world, and without hope.
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain...For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead...” 1 Corinthians 15:12-20b
But Christ has been raised, and we can live risen lives. As repurposed women, with our heads we acknowledge and confess that Jesus is both Savior and Lord. We believe that death was defeated when he was raised to life. We have been given hearts softened with new desires that want to glorify God and obey the trustworthy Shepherd. We now love God more than anyone or anything. With our hands, we are free and empowered to serve generously, love sacrificially, and live boldly for Christ.
Christ-risen is good news, not just for a particular season or a Sunday in April, but for an entire life. We can be free indeed!