The resurrection isn’t only something that happened to Jesus, it’s something that also happened to you.

+++++

Here’s why and how…

Jesus not only died in our place, He also lived in our place…

That is, He gives you His death and He gives you His life… and more— that’s actually just the tip of the iceberg.

Let me explain…

500 years ago, Martin Luther taught that Jesus walked among us and lived as a man from birth all the way to age 33 in order to capture the essence of being a truly alive human, one who lives fully to the glory of God. He lived a lifetime of obedience that neither you or I have.

Then, at the Cross, He doesn’t just give us His death, sacrificing His blood for ours. No, He gives us His life, too— the resurrected life.

Further, He doesn’t only gift us that resurrected life, He offers us full credit for all of His obedience, thereby taking all of our sin on Himself in the process.

This, Luther concluded, is what Paul meant when he penned, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).

Luther called it "The Glorious Exchange.”

Or, as some translators term it, "The Wonderful Trade.”

For sure, it’s a trade-up for whatever we’ve had…

And, once you understand it, it TOTALLY changes how you see your identity, who you are...

Paul says that— in light of the bigger reality of Jesus’ work on our behalf, everything we’ve been included in— we should no longer “regard” anyone according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16 ESV)…

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

That is, we shouldn’t value people based on what they look like in their mortal bodies-- the surface appearance.

(That's what everyone looks at-- the "outer shell"-- but there's so much more, so Paul tells us to look deeper, go internal and look eternal.).

How could we? There’s obviously so much more that’s true that we can’t see!

Jesus continues calling us to look at the things that are eternal, to the places in each of us where He’s already done that greatest work. He intends to infuse all of our lives, every bit of reality, with that…

You see, our physical bodies are simply our containers, the temples that carry around the Spirit-beings we truly are, the more-real-than-real versions of ourselves that transcended time and participated in everything Jesus did.

It's kinda mind-blowing, but we'll make it super-simple and pleasantly practical in this talk...

… recorded Easter Sunday, sitting in the office, reflecting on the weekend…

__________________

Links for this talk =

Some of this info is in chapter 3 of my LifeLift book-- learn about the book at www.LifeLift.online or purchase it on Amazon— https://amzn.to/2Zyvz6F 

Join the Facebook group I mentioned, the #Hilltop Hangout, at www.Facebook.com/groups/AndrewEJenkins