We recently celebrated the resurrection of Jesus in an Easter service, and now I want to encourage you to not just celebrate His resurrection but live the resurrection life He came to give us. How do we live this resurrection life? We have to take hold of everything Jesus has given us through His death and resurrection. He took your sin and shame, everything that would ever try to come on you, and He paid your debt in full. "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). We don't have to walk in guilt and condemnation. We are free to go and live the resurrection life.
The apostle Paul says, "I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me" (Philippians 3:12). Paul had a resurrection mentality. He wanted to not just know about what Jesus had done, but he wanted to experience all of it. Paul knew that he had battles to fight and that he had the power to win. Keep in mind that before he came to know the Lord, Paul persecuted the church severely, sending believers to prison and contributing to their deaths. Can you imagine the guilt and shame that would try to come on him as he was preaching this good news? Have you ever thought, "I can't tell the good news because I've done something in the past; I'm not good enough?" That's what Paul was talking about. He was saying, "You have to press on and take hold of what Jesus Christ has done for you." Press into that grace and mercy. Press on through the shipwrecks and the prisons. God had an assignment for Paul, and he was going to keep pressing on.
Paul wrote nearly half the books of the New Testament. Because he lived with a resurrection mentality, we are reading his life-changing letters today. He left us a legacy to take hold of today. And I believe with all my heart that if you and I will press forward to take hold of all that Christ took hold of for us, we too can leave a godly legacy on this earth.
Press on and take hold. Jesus never said it was going to be easy. It wasn't easy for Him. It cost Him His life on the cross. But on the third day when He came out of that grave alive again, He turned that bad situation around and brought it out for our good. He wants to take the situations in your life and turn them around for your good. His plan is still working. It worked the day He was raised from the grave, and it is still working for us today. But we have to take hold of all the good things that Christ has done for us.