What has actually changed after
Jesus' Resurrection?
by Andreas Eichberger
1. What did it mean for the people back then?
- Jesus simply can't be eliminated.
His enemies had tried it with all sorts of efforts. Firstly, it seemed to have worked out. But because of His victorious resurrection, He is not to be eliminated at all or not to be killed once again. Since then, even His teachings and His people can't be eliminated.
- From being the Lamb of God, Jesus became Lord of the World.
Not only is He responsible for coping with the past by His acting suffering as a sacrifice, but being the one who resurrected, He is responsible for the presence now and the future of the world and my own life. Forever He remains being the Lamb of God when it comes to guilt and sin, but He is now also Lord and supreme authority over all powerful people on earth, from Bill Gates to Ahmadinedschad, from Putin to Kim Yong Il.
2. What does it mean for us today?
- He has risen means: He interferes where He is wanted to and where we count on Him. But also there, where we don't count on Him, He can get in touch and show that He as being resurrected, is the Lord and is in the driver's seat.
- In 2 Corinthinas 5:15 we don't only read that He has died for us, but also that He had been resurrected for us. "For us" refers to both; both should be to our benefit, His death and His resurrection: we are not alone, for He is with us to the ends of this world. To the ends of this world can mean, to the last of generations, but also to the farthest spot where people are living; no matter where, be it Muehldorf, Hamburg, Tokio etc.
- But this scripture verse also tells us that, in the light of what He has done for us, that we are not to dwell around ourselves selfishly, but that we are to live for Him who has died and was resurrected for us. We can look away from ourselves, dedicate to others and tell them of this Lord.
- As to Romans 14:7-9, Jesus' resurrection also affects the fact that we are not not judge each other, as He alone is Lord. Everybody lives in a personal relationship to the living Lord, thus being directly responsible to Him, because He has risen. This does not exclude churches or pastoral ministries. But no church and no other can be Lord over the conscience of a brother or a sister. We may be the prolonged arm of this Lord and His voice, but we cannot replace Him and try and control each other.
So let us pray for His sovereignty as the one who resurrected, to affect our lives and our environments!
