Life with Jesus Is Better

As certain as the Sunday morning when the tomb was empty, there will be a day when God dwells with His people in a place without even the faintest hint of sin. We will rest in Him forever. Until then, those with resurrection life can persevere in giving, celebrating, and serving because we know we are part of a greater story. We continue on, even when there doesn’t seem to be momentum or fruit, because we have joined the resurrection now. We remember that Jesus has been raised as a preview of the life to come. This is world-renewing resurrection.

When you are standing on the other side of the river, you know that resurrection life is worth believing in. You sense power in the mundane, a creative, life-changing power that resonates the closer you get to others. It motivates you to serve others for the flourishing of humanity. But at the center is a Person. You are now drawn into relationship with the most powerful, beautiful, creative Person in the universe — the risen Christ. The beloved disciple describes Him:

And in the midst of the lampstands [I saw] one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around His chest. The hairs of His head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength. – Revelation 1:13-16

The resurrection is like a river that seems impossible to cross when you first come to the riverbank. You can see the other side and it looks good, but you aren’t sure how to get there. But there is a ferry there as well, subtly hidden off to the side. Will you take the ferry of faith across the river of doubt? Will you redirect your faith to the radiant Jesus? When you do, you are transported to the other side, through no doing of your own, right into the resurrection. Jesus carries you there, where you begin to experience the benefits of the resurrected life right away — a new authority (a gracious King), a new identity (truly human), and a new purpose (joining God in the renewal of all things).

By faith, Jesus’ death and resurrection can become your death and resurrection, releasing you to live a truly human life. Best of all, when we turn away from trusting our unreliable selves to turn to the reliable, resurrected Christ, we gain intimacy with the most beautiful, powerful, creative, and gracious Person the world will ever know.

Life with Jesus is better. He offers deeper joy, more profound meaning, and true purpose.

Life with Jesus is truer. He is the one we were made for. If you join Jesus, you will join the Person who changes everything, even us.

Watch the Raised Video

Excerpted with permission from Raised: Finding Jesus By Doubting The Resurrection by Jonathan K. Dodson, Brad Watson, copyright Zondervan 2014.

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