The Day After The Tomb Was Empty

Yesterday we cried, “He is risen!” Today is the day after. So what, if anything, has changed for us? Everything- if we understand the gospel. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ left behind an empty tomb and that is the absolute proof that the payment Jesus made on that cross on our behalf was accepted in full. God counted every one of our sins, past, present and to come but not against us. He counted them against the One who knew no sin, His beloved Son, our beloved Savior. We are now free to live the life we could not live because He paid the debt we could not pay. This is known in Christian circles as the Great Exchange – our debt for His payment – our sin for His righteousness – our forgiveness for His condemnation – our crown of glory for His crown of thorns. All who are in Christ by faith do not stand before God with a clean slate, but rather, a slate filled with the righteousness of Christ. Theologically this is known as justification. More simply put, it means “just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned.”

Only when this sinks deep down into our bones can we begin to live like sons rather than slaves. Only when this truth moves past instructing our minds to enflaming our hearts can we grow into the person God is calling us to be. And what kind of person is that? A God-centered, gospel-saturated, grace-driven Christian who is making an eternal difference in this world by being different from this world. Don’t mistake this description for one who is perfect or sinless. The apostle Paul put it this way, “None is righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10). Only One can claim that on this side of the grave and said it Himself, “I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29).

We do everything imperfectly. We stain everything with our sin. That is why it is only the gospel that keeps us going because only the gospel tells us we are accepted by God because of what Christ has done for us. That’s right. Accepted by God, in spite of our sin stained lives, because Jesus paid for every one of our sins and God only sees us clothed in the righteousness of Christ. What an awesome freedom to know at the deepest level regarding our place in the family of faith…not our performance, but His perfection. It is living out the truth of Galatians 2:20 “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So back to my opening question, “What if anything has changed for us the day after we celebrate the empty tomb?” If we continue looking to ourselves for our salvation (eternal life)…nothing has changed. If we continue looking to ourselves for our sanctification (everyday life)…nothing has changed. But if we look for both outside of ourselves to the finished work of Christ, understanding that we stand before a Holy, Just and Perfect God clothed in the Holy, Just, and Perfect righteousness of Christ, and we do it every day, then everything has changed for us. Pain is not so painful. Fear is not so fearful. Sorrow is not so sorrowful. Disappointment is not so disappointing. And challenges are not so challenging. Everything has changed for us because Jesus has secured all the grace we will ever need to run the race set before us. NEVER FORGET THAT…AMEN!