Jesus Christ, Risen From The Dead

            Paul writes to Timothy, his son in the faith, “Constantly keep in mind Jesus Christ…risen from the dead…” (2 Timothy 2:8 AMPC). Paul wrote second Timothy from a dank prison cell shortly before his martyrdom. He knew the resurrection of Jesus was foundational to the faith. Why did he need to tell Timothy to constantly keep it in mind?
           
         When Jesus rose from the dead and conquered the devil, He did it for us. As the Son of God, He wasn’t subject to sin, sickness, or poverty. He was not defeated. But you and I were. Jesus won the victory on our behalf and gave it to us. Just writing this makes my spirit rise. We need to constantly remember what Jesus accomplished when He came out of that tomb.
           
          The Scripture tells us when Christ rose from the dead, we were raised up too. “He (God) took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah” (Ephesians 2:6 MSG). We became joint heirs with Jesus. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17 NIVUK).
           
         When Jesus rose from the dead, the Father put all things (except Himself) under the feet of His Son. “All this will happen to fulfill the Scripture that says, ‘You placed everything on earth beneath His feet...” (1 Corinthians 15:27 VOICE). That means that all things are under our feet because we are in Christ Jesus.

          God expects us to rule and reign in life. “If one man’s sin brought a reign of death--that’s Adam’s legacy—how much more will those who receive grace in abundance and the free gift of redeeming justice reign in life by means of one other man—Jesus the Anointed” (Romans 5:17 VOICE).
           
         When we remember Jesus, risen from the dead, Satan can’t talk us out of our victory. We won’t believe him when he tells us we’re going to fail, our bills won’t be paid, we’re going to get sick and die. We’ll tell that old liar Jesus rose from the dead and won the victory. Defeat isn’t part of our vocabulary, because when push comes to shove, we remember Jesus, risen from the dead.