The first ones to discover the resurrection of Christ and to begin to understand its implications were those of his fol

I’m going to ask you to personalize this for a moment. What is it that you routinely do, that you are likely to do again, that you know is a very bad idea? It is destructive to you, it is unhealthy, and yet you find yourself doing it or thinking about it, acting in ways that you reject but you can’t resist. There is some kind of shackle that holds you in your thought life, your actions, how you treat people, your emotions. You are enslaved. Everybody does things they wish they could stop doing and can’t. At least periodically it comes back again with force and hurts them. That is the enemy exerting his power to ruin you because you are afraid to die.

God is for us; none can be against us. There are no exceptions. It’s not as if the Christian life works for other people but you somehow got passed over or forgotten. You will not miss out. God is for you, and death has been dealt a deathblow. You have everything to live for, and you don’t need to be afraid any longer.

Jesus’ death was an act of war. We have an enemy of our souls. The devil, who hates God and all those God loves, has held human souls in bondage all their lives. Jesus’ death came to break the shackles used by our enemy to enslave us.

The despair of Jesus’ death and burial, the sense of finality and loss, was undone on resurrection morning, the resurrection of Christ. That discovery was captivating to those people. The same pattern of despair, incredulity, joy, and proclamation was repeated in almost every case.

That is the opposite of the truth that the Scriptures present. Freedom doesn’t come from having everything taken away so that you have nothing left to live for. Freedom comes from having everything granted you so that you have everything to live for, and none of it can be taken away. All that is really worth having, you already have! If God is for you, nothing can be against you. He is your companion and friend, inviting you into a future that he controls. People who believe these things also ought to be dangerous—fearless, not controlled by the lies of the evil one, bent on giving away what they’ve been given, living life to the fullest.

Some topics in this essay:
DEATH Romans, God God, It’s Christian, I’m I’d, Satchel Paige, Scriptures Freedom, Death Proud, John Donne, Las Vegas, fear death, jesus’ death, University Press, “if god us”, heart broken, left live, “if god, god us”, set free, afraid die, question “if god, stop doing, question “if,