What makes you feel the most alive? I don’t know about you, but I’m always chasing it.
It comes in simple moments: With my family. Personal victories. Connecting with others. Enjoying the simple things. Heart fully engaged in the hard times.
Those are beautiful things, things I’m so grateful for. They make me feel alive. But…they’re not what give me life.
What does it mean to be alive in Christ?
The Bible brings up the contrast of life and death over and over again. And the Bible also points us to the source of life – Christ.
As we approach Easter, the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead, I’m considering this concept more and more. And I’m considering us as women right now – how so many of us feel a heaviness, a lack of worth and purpose, or struggle with mental, physical and emotional wellness.
We’re living in the before picture, not in the after.
How can we go from being absorbed in this decaying world to remembering the meaning of being alive in Christ? The Bible gives us plenty of scriptures to help guide our eyes back to Jesus, so we can stop trying to work for it on our own.
These verses are meant to be an incredible reminder of the life we have in Christ. No matter what our circumstances, we can find joy and freedom in him.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. – John 1:1-4 NIV
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – John 10:10 NIV
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 NIV
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourself dead to sin but alive in Christ. – Romans 6:8-11 NIV
Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. – Romans 8:33-34 NIV
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. – 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 NIV
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away; nailing it to the cross. – Colossians 2:13-15 NIV
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and you life is now hidden with Christ in God. – Colossians 3:1-3 NIV
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. – 1 Peter 3:18 NIV
Jesus offers us an incredible promise: “life to the full” (John 10:10).
If you are in Christ – if you have made him Lord of your life, gotten baptized and received the Holy Spirit – you are alive with him! Just think of the contrasting pictures between death and life – the sadness, gloom, and darkness of death, and the joy, clarity, and light of life!
If you haven’t yet made Jesus Lord and Savior of your life – now is the time. Don’t waste another moment living in the before picture. Study the Bible (get help! I needed it), choose to make Jesus Lord, get baptized, and start living in the after – in the freedom, purpose, and grace that come from being alive in Christ.
Dear sisters – let’s go back to these crucial scriptures. Let’s fully lean in to that “life to the full”, so we can be free to enjoy every moment with Him, and glorify Him right where we are.
Bible verses from BibleGateway.com: Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Photo Credit:
1 – Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
2 – Edwin Andrade on Unsplash
3 – Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Thanks so much