Taken from – Waking The Dead by John Eldredge.
It’s not just that the Cross did something for us. Something deep and profound happened to us in the death of Christ. Remember–the heart is the problem. God understands this better than anyone, and he goes for the root. God promised in the new covenant to “take away your heart of stone.” How? By joining us to the death of Christ. Our nature was nailed to the cross with Christ; we died there, with him, in him. “The death he died, he died to sin once for all…In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin” (Rom. 6:10-11).
You’ve been far more than forgiven. God has removed your heart of stone. You’ve been delivered of what held you back form what you were meant to be. You’ve been rescued from the part of you that sabotages even your best intentions. Your heart has been circumcised to God. Your heart has been set free.
And there is even more.
The cross was never meant to be the only or even the central symbol of Christianity. Paul says so himself: “If Christ has not been raised , our preaching is useless ans so is your faith…
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:14,17).
“For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:22)
They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. (Acts 4:2)
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:33)
Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18)
The reason the first and closest friends of Jesus focused on miracles, healings, and hopeful aspects of the faith such as the Ascension and the Resurrection was simply that those are what God himself wants us to focus on. These are the point. Those make Christianity such very good news. A dead man is not a great deal of help to us; a dead God is even worse. But life, real life, the power of God to restore you… now that’s a whole nother matter.
We were therefor buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life… In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 6:4,11)
But because of his great love for us, God… made us alive with Christ. (Eph. 2:4-5)
The Resurrection affirms the promise Christ made. For it was life he offered to give us: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). We are saved by his life when we find that we are abe to live the way we’ve always known we should live. We are free to be what he meant when he meant us. You have a new life–the life of Christ. And you have a new heart. Do you know what this means? Your heart is good.
