GodReflection: Power Words

I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. – Jesus (Revelation 1:18)

It doesn’t take a world-renowned doc to determine if I am dead or alive. A pulse check will do the trick.

Alive can be a powerful word in two ways.

Alive is a word of power in that it defines a time for me to act—while I am alive. Frankly, it doesn’t take much faith on my part to believe that I am alive.

It takes more faith to believe Jesus is alive.

The most important aspect of ‘alive’ rests in my belief that I can apply the reality of life to the historic Jesus. Some thought he was dead. I believe he is alive.

I wasn’t present at the resurrection. I did not witness the ascension. For reasons I will not go into at this point, I believe in both the resurrection and the ascension. I believe the alive Jesus will return to earth at a point in future history to gather us—His disciples—and escort us into life on a new earth with a new heaven.

What makes my ‘alive’ significant is the fact He is alive.

Therefore, I want the decisions I make on earth while I am alive to find roots in the reality of His being alive.

I am now more than alive. I am alive in Him.

My missionary mentor—the apostle Paul—explains how this works:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

What does it mean for me to believe Jesus is alive?

Here is what I think.

God is rich in mercy. It is who He is. I stand in need. I take part in the sin of transgression of God’s holiness as a child of the fall. That transgression killed me. It made me dead to God.

God’s grace raised me to life. I am saved.

I am saved because in trust I surrender my life to Jesus. That allows me to reside each day—forever—as a ‘made alive’ person with Jesus in the heavenly realm.

In the coming ages—forever alive—I will witness through Jesus’ rich grace just how kind God is. His grace is available to me through faith in Jesus that makes it possible to be alive forever.

To be alive through grace is a complete and total gift of God.

It is a gift.

It is not for sale. Satan couldn’t buy it from Jesus in the desert. Nor can I do enough for God or perform enough goodness to purchase it from Him.

To be alive in Jesus—created a new—I stand witness as a piece of God’s handiwork. I have a holy job description. God wrote my name at the top. He designed it for me.

I became a designed piece of God’s handiwork with a special assignment at the time Jesus made me alive.  I give witness to the handiwork of God as I walk through life each time I execute a good work from my assignment sheet.

I am alive. I get to work with God as long as I live on earth. It is only the beginning of an eternal relationship.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on Alive as a Power Word

Gary@GodReflection.org