But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words,” (Luke 24:1-8, NASB1995).

A strange phenomenon, this resurrection thing. The grave can’t seem to contain Him.

“this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2:23-24).

All those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior similarly live with this resurrection life in themselves. It is a living potential. The only trouble is, unless we are accessing the death of Christ daily, we will not live daily also in that resurrection life.

“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.” (Romans 6:4-9).

This is a profound and underappreciated passage. It reveals powerful mysteries of the kingdom of God. Yet, I did not understand its real implications even after 40 years of diligent Bible study.

I have come to realize this. Even as the grave could not contain Christ after He died, neither can the grave keep us as we learn to die with Him daily. Not that we would ever (wisely) attempt to crucify ourselves! We do not have the power to die with Christ. Instead, “or if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13).

Thus we can see it is Him who graciously causes us to “always carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus.” Why so? So that the “life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies!” (2 Corinthians 4:10). So then, if we are not living in that death which comes through Him (by faith as a gift), we are also not living in the resurrection life that is in Him.

I say emphatically this is the most crucial practical concept in a Christian’s life. All the other minutiae taught in the churches today are secondary to and subsumed under this principle. If you miss this, you live a fake Christian life.

Moreover, if you do miss this, you probably don’t even know why your Christian life is so pathetic and falls so short of the picture presented in the Scriptures.

I must say that I am constantly amazed at God’s power to raise me up daily, regardless of the loss and the wounds inflicted by others. It is a constant miracle of death and resurrection.

Oh, how I long for the Church to wake up and hear the message they are so tragically missing! How my heart aches to see the potential of His people released from their bondage and to shake the world with the power of the resurrected Christ!

The Church in the west is living in darkness. It is like a second Dark Ages period in history. God’s people are living in caves under the ground.

So then, do not be afraid, people of God! Fix your hope only on what He has done for you and entrust all things to Him and His adequacy. He will sanctify you by His power and raise you above every imaginable challenge that should come your way. Whatever problem you face, external or internal, He will prevail – He always prevails!

You will rejoice in Him with exceeding joy! You will fulfill the glorious and perfect will of Almighty God.

“But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

For this reason it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise” (Ephesians 5:13-15).

Read more here and here.